Whitetail Hunting photo
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Overall activity status: With the first days of deer season upon us, I try to stay out of the woods until it’s time to hunt. During this period, scouting from roads is a great way to keep tabs on what deer are up to, and from what I’m seeing and hearing, the answer is not much. August came to a close with higher than average temperatures gripping much of the region. This undoubtedly kept deer on the down low during daylight hours. Still, some deer were spotted up at mid-day, most likely to find a little water before bedding down again until the blazing sun finally set.

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Fighting: Bucks are still running in bachelor groups, though with horns turning hard, you can expect to see some tickling of antler tips in the coming weeks. These will mostly just be initial tests and play-fighting. We won’t start to see the real battles until well into October.

Rub/Scrape making: Other than some shedding of velvet on whatever brush is handy, not much in the way of rubs or scrapes is expected.

Daytime movement: As mentioned, not much in the way of deer spotted from sunup until sundown, other than this nice buck, which was caught on his feet during daylight hours by a camera at Twin Chimney Outfitters, which operates in Kansas and Missouri.

Estrous signs: Most does still have fawns at their side. It’s encouraging to hear reports of twins and even triplets as Mother Nature works her mysterious ways to rebuild the deer population.