By Scott Bestul

Overall activity status: Deer movement has been affected by two main factors this week. The primary influence is pressure from firearms hunters in states where the gun season is open. Second, a significant warm-up hit the region mid- to late-week, causing temps to climb into the 60s in some areas. This negatively impacted deer movement.

Fighting: I’ve heard no reports of fights breaking out, though the evidence that such fights have occurred are there; many hunters are reporting bucks with broken tines and beams.

Rub making: Some rubbing is occurring, but we’re definitely past the peak of this behavior in most areas. Some rubs will be started (or reworked) as mature bucks start traveling again, looking for does.
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By Brandon Ray

Overall Activity Status: I have a mixed bag of reports this week. Some sources in north Texas report good movement and multiple buck sightings, while others report few to no sightings in the same area. Bucks that disappeared have reappeared on trail cameras, and frequent faces are missing. During the rut, virtually every buck will make at least one excursion outside its home range, traveling anywhere from 1 to 5 miles. So it’s possible to lose track of familiar bucks and see new bucks you’ve never seen before. Hunting can be hot in one area and ice cold just a few miles away, ice cold. Most folks in north Texas and the Panhandle agree the rut is on and gaining momentum.

Fighting: I’m hearing no new reports of actual fights, but many reports of quality bucks missing tines. Any time you hunt in an area that has a close buck-to-doe ratio, there’s going to be more competition between bucks. Broken tines are the result.
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By Brandon Ray

Overall Activity Status: Action is really heating up the past few days in the central and northern parts of the region. Bucks are on their feet, covering ground, flirting with does and making themselves visible. I saw five bucks one evening at a corn feeder. Every one had at least one broken point and two were missing an entire antler beam!

Fighting: I have not seen any fighting, but lots of “posturing.” These bucks are circling each other, hackles on end, not very tolerant of each other when does are around. And all the broken tines I’m seeing certainly indicate they have been fighting.

Rub Making: Lots of rubs are visible, although I have not witnessed any bucks making new ones.
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By Brandon Ray

Overall Activity Status: There is definitely an upswing in movement across the region. Despite warm weather--75 to 80 degrees or higher in many parts of Texas--hunters are still seeing good bucks despite summer weather. The first and last hour of the day are still prime time. November is “the” month in central and north Texas, while south Texas usually sees the best rut action in December.

Fighting: I have no new reports of actual fights witnessed, but multiple reports of bucks in central and north Texas responding to rattling, grunt calls and snort-wheeze calls. It's pre-rut and a good time to try calling. Expect responses to calling to only get better the closer we get to Thanksgiving. I passed a fine 140-class 10-point last Friday morning that had a broken brow tine. It's the second buck in that creek bottom I’ve seen missing a brow tine. Expect more broken tines as we progress through the rut.
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By Brandon Ray

Overall Activity Status: I’m getting mixed reports up and down the Lone Star State. But there does seem to be a common theme: there are fewer-than-normal bucks at the corn feeders. I expect that to change as the weather cools. Also, bucks should start seriously sniffing does next week. If does are hitting your feeder now, it’s just a matter of time before a buck investigates. That should significantly ramp up buck sightings in the central and northern parts of the region by mid-November.

Fighting: A friend hunting the eastern Texas Panhandle saw two mid-sized bucks shove each other back and forth. As he watched, another fight broke out behind him in the trees. On Friday, October 26, I went after a specific buck I’d seen before--a mature 10-point with a symmetrical rack of about 140-inches. He came in with about ten minutes of shooting light left, but through the binoculars I could see he’d broken off one of his 5-inch brow tines. I decided to pass him and hope we meet again next year, with all tines intact of course. Expect to find more and more bucks with broken antlers as we get closer to the rut.  [ Read Full Post ]

By Brandon Ray

Where I live in the Texas Panhandle, mule deer and whitetails share similar habitat. That means I have to split my time, scouting and hunting whitetails some evenings and mule deer on others.

I have lots of history with the buck in the photo above. I’ve seen him off and on for three seasons now. Last year, his rack shrunk noticeably in the drought. So even though I figured he was mature, I decided to gamble and hope I’d see him again in 2012, with bigger antlers of course.

I found one of his sheds this spring. Then I started seeing him in rough canyon breaks country in August and early September. He seemed to have a home range of about 1 ½ miles. He went missing for about one month, then I saw him once in late September and again on October 5. That evening, he was feeding in a wide-open CRP field with a smaller buck at sunset. Both bucks’ racks were still in full velvet.
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