Free: Contests & Raffles.
lots of new rubs...tracks from overnight. Torn up ground from sparing....all going on at night. They are running so hard at night they are sleeping the day away....
I am a little skewed toward full on rut starting a little earlier, like last weekend. But I hunted Sept Archery pretty hard and then a couple weekends of the ML season w/my bow and then I host a few guys for Mod Season so... I had only shot pheasants one day until last week. I suggested that the guys coming out for Mod Season wait until last weekend and they didn't wait, and were pretty well shut out the opening weekend (I got a fat doe w/my bow, but I had been out and had them pretty well figured out). They made up for it last weekend, but had to travel every day because I was bird shooting and not hosting deer hunters. I am taking Monday and Tuesday off and will hunt deer again from about noon Sunday after bird shooting, through Tuesday evening. I kinda' think the best BT hunting is from about the 20th of Oct for about a week, but more of the guys whose opinion I really respect think it's Halloween that is best.I'm confident, we'll see what happens. I feel an obligation to my dogs to get them out on birds as much as I can and am satisfied with my choices. If I don't close the deal on a nice buck this next week I will lay off until December.
stay hidden and be downwind of where you expect them to come from. Also, expect that they will circle you and try to get downwind to see who/what you are - not always, but more so than not.Hunted up in Kitsap today. No rubs or rutting activity apparent at all out past Purdy. Dead in the woods - no action on a scent wick. Missed a long shot with my slug gun on a buck that stood up in a cut at 10:30. Heard maybe four other shots all day.