2020 Whitetail Watch- pre-rut/rut activity

[elkboy]

Rattled in a 4x4 to 40 yards just before dark. I was calling for a friend, who didn't see the buck come in (terrain blocked his view, not mine). At any rate,  rattling is starting to work!

[Mossy]

Buddies buck we picked up this afternoon. Swollen neck hangin with a doe

First lite gets them every time

[Rutnbuxnbulls]

Hunted all day, rattled and grunted and no takers. High winds may have doused our chances, I’m thinking any deer within a hundred yards winded us due to shifty high winds in our area. Or maybe we just suck at whitetail hunting!    We hunted on a field for evening and my brother filled his tag with a fat doe, his first deer in 3 years.

[elkboy]

Shifting winds will mess up any hunt. Glad your brother was able to put good meat in the freezer!!!

[Naches Sportsman]

Friend killed a very nice buck in 10A today. Made me drool looking at the picture!

[Bango skank]

Moved to a new spot in unit 1 today.  Way more deer sign here.  Hopes up for tomorrow.  Saw my first bit of (whitetail) rut action today.  Watching a dink buck for a bit, a doe comes down the hill.  Hes mildly interested.  She started little runs trying to get him to chase.  Stopping to pee for him, all that.  He was sniffing and lip curling and followed her into the dark timber.  He made a rub and a scrape, and the scrape was directly on top of my backtrail, wiped out one or two of my boot prints.  Also saw a damn moose all rutty today this late still.  Long story short he got in my face all aggressive and hounded me for a few hundred yards as i looked for a tree to climb, thinking i was going to have to shoot him.  He eventually let me go, but man, it was unreal.  Couldnt believe he was acting like that.  Almost crapped myself.  Not fun.  Had him as close as 15yrds at one point.  Ive had them bark at me and flex, but nothing like this.  This dude was serious.

[dr.derek]

saw some more night time cruisers.

[huntnnw]

saw a small 4 chasing a doe past me today. First time in weeks that not a single buck showed at my house last night

[andersonjk4]

My wife and I were out all day Saturday (14th) on the Palouse. Daytime deer movement was very limited. Saw a handful of does and no mature bucks during the day. A few spikes were out “cruising” and grunting. We found plenty of fresh buck sign so I know they were around. We chose a good draw to sit for the evening. About an hour before dark the does started moving out into the seeded fields to feed. We could see 3 different groups of does off in the distance and each one had a mature buck in tow. But not chasing or showing rut behavior just shadowing the the does and casually feeding. A few minutes later I heard a grunt from the brush below us. He grunted several times and was thrashing brush. When he finally showed himself he was showing running back and forth and showing some of the careless rut activity we all hope for. I think the wind may have been limiting deer movement a little, but I don’t think the days of bucks loosing their minds has hit where we were.

[huntnnw]

this is the best few days if you are a rifle hunter. The 20th to 25th to me is the best .. imagine that

[huntnnw]

This guy was out and about. He’s past his prime these days. Guessing he’s 7 or so

[greenhead_killer]

Should probably put him out of his misery.

 Side note, talked to the Idaho fng the other day. Told him I’d be there the 18th thru end of month potentially. He said we should be hitting it at just the right time. Said bucks just starting to move and it will continue to ramp up the next week or two. I’m excited!

[huntnnw]

That buck is 3rd or 4th on my list of bucks I’m hunting .

[jjhunter]

I’ll be chasing them with the muzzy from the 25th-5th.   I hunted the 21st - 2nd last year.  Saw first big buck on the 25th.  Killed my deer on Dec.  2nd.  First time I had seen him hunting the same spot for 11 straight days...

[dmoua]

Bucks are starting to move. Saw two does crossing a ridge and a small buck followed the same path shortly. Should be good hunting the next few days for tag holders if the weather holds.