By Mike Bleech

Overall Activity Status: Deer activity is better than it has been through most of this fall. It is not, however, universal throughout the region, nor is it a great deal of activity.

Fighting: Some hunters are still reporting signs of serious fighting. Robert Rogan, in Connecticut, noticed that a 10-point buck he has been chasing was missing 3 inches from its G3 tine. This seems to be awfully late for so much visible fighting. Signs of fighting seldom are found in great numbers.

Rub & Scrape Making: Finally, a report of rutting activity in Maine. From northern Maine at Matagamon Wilderness Camps,  owner and guide Joe Christianson said that bucks have been scraping for two weeks. I hunted with Christianson a couple seasons ago and took a bear that qualified for the Maine Antlers & Skulls Record Book. While there I saw more game than I usually see in the north. At least some of this I attribute to the acorn crop. Oak trees generally are so not common in the North Woods as they are along the East Branch of the Penobscot River.

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By Jeff Holmes

While several other rut reporters are noting that the rut is over or winding down in their regions, bucks in northeastern Washington and northern Idaho are continuing to rut into December.

Word from archers hunting northeastern Washington is that bucks are still rutting hard in Stevens and Pend Oreille Counties, home to the state’s highest concentration of whitetails. Across the border in northern Idaho, the same scenario holds true. Next week, I’ll focus a detailed report on the two states, with intel from late archers on buck movement, including reports from hunter Troy Pottenger targeting 170-class bucks in both states.

Meanwhile, rutting activity in far western Montana appears to be hotter than most of the rest of the state, where rut activity is still occurring but sliding down from its peak. Just before Thanksgiving, Nuridia Nulliner of Missoula took this dandy whitetail on a backcountry hunt. Here’s how she tells it:

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By Scott Bestul

It’s been a long season for Alan Mote, my neighbor and hunting buddy. He passed a bunch of bucks during Minnesota’s archery season, and had close encounters with a couple of dandy deer that, for one reason or another, didn’t present a good shot. In late October, Alan enjoyed a high-action bow hunt in Missouri with Tri-State Outfitting, where once again he saw several great bucks but didn’t put his tag on one.

Never one to call it quits, Alan grabbed his muzzleloader for the opener of Minnesota’s blackpowder season this past weekend. And on Sunday evening Alan’s patience was rewarded when this beautiful 3-1/2-year-old 8-point showed up. Alan made good on the 30-yard shot, and tagged the biggest buck of his life. [ Read Full Post ]

By Jeff Holmes

Oregon is probably better known as the home to most of the world’s Columbian whitetail deer, a diminutive coastal subspecies, than it is for its expanding population of whitetails. But that doesn't mean whitetails get no attention.

While the Beaver State is still home to far more mule deer and blacktails than their white-flagged cousins, whitetails now inhabit not only river bottoms and agricultural country in Wallowa, Umatilla, and Morrow Counties, but also forested elevations above 5,000 feet in the Blue Mountains. I photographed this doe in classic mule deer country at 5,300 feet earlier this month on a snowy blue grouse/chukar hunt near Hells Canyon.
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By Will Brantley

I’m hearing one word above all others from the deer woods right now: Slow. My brother Matt was in over the long Thanksgiving break, and he spent most of his time in a deer stand. Three near daylight-to-dark sits yielded exactly one doe sighting. Matt dropped that deer in its tracks.

Depressing as it may seem, that’s common this time of year. Two big factors come into play. The rut is winding down fast. Some breeding is still taking place, but for the most part, deer are worn down and resting.

The bigger factor is hunter pressure. Gun seasons have been open for weeks across the Mid-South. Many of those bucks that were up and cruising fields in broad daylight a few weeks ago are dead. Those that survived have figured the game out.
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By Brandon Ray

Overall Activity Status: Last week was hot. Friends hunting central Texas report temperatures over 70 degrees. The week of Thanksgiving is typically an excellent week to hunt deer in middle and north Texas, but warm weather likely subdued activity this year.

Fighting: The number of bucks I’ve seen this year with broken racks is unbelievable. On one lease I hunt, all the hit-list “shooters” now appear broken to some degree, according to recent trail camera images. In one of my favorite river bottoms, a winding one-plus mile stretch of good habitat in the Texas Panhandle, I’ve seen 11 different bucks this season. They range in size from 1 ½-year-old small fries to 5 ½-year-old studs. Six of those 11 have busted-up racks. Naturally, the big ones I want are the ones missing the most bone. The buck-to-doe ratio is 1 to 1, or maybe even tilted more to bucks. So there is lots of competition and fighting for breeding rights and rank in the herd.
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