Eastside Rut Activity

[Gentrys]

Heading over next week for the last couple days of the late season.  With the cold weather and snow over there are you guys seeing much rut activity yet?

[boneaddict]

Whitetail?

[CSherwood]

I was out last weekend in the light snow and cold in NE Wa and didn't see any rut activity yet.  I think they should be getting close though.

[Rutnbuxnbulls]

Whitetail bucks are moving in daylight. Got two pics today from buddies that both killed 3 year olds.   It’s on. Get after it!

[hunter399]

I really haven't seen it yet.
Some areas seem to hit first.
Maybe tell us where your hunting so we all can enjoy the rut
   

[Rutnbuxnbulls]

I’ll send pics if I kill something this weekend. I usually hunt Mt Notellum north drainages esp Shutup Crick.

[Skyvalhunter]

Theres no animals there

[boneaddict]

I usually start rattling them in consistently on the 12th.  I don’t imagine this year is much different. 
There do seem to be way less whitetails this year.

[hunter399]

I’ll send pics if I kill something this weekend. I usually hunt Mt Notellum north drainages esp Shutup Crick.

I definitely know where that spot SW of the river where the crow flys.

[Moe the Sleaze]

Been hunting NE corner for 5 days now. ZERO signs of rut activity so far.

[TommyH]

Lol, there’s way less deer but they have been active. NE WA. 2 solid bucks found early this week locked together, one died, saws all was used to cut the dead bucks antler to free up the one that was still alive.

[buckfvr]

Solid rut activity here last night.  5 bucks, pretty aggressive sparring, running and chasing, does and fawns trying to avoid the bucks, just constant motion.  Solid 9pt doing some serious bird doggin of the lone does. 

[mcrawfordaf]

I'll be pulling a cam this afternoon that's been up since the early opener. Had very good activity going into the season but they went hard nocturnal around mid September. And then all but disappeared early October. Will update on how things have looked over the past week or so.

[jrebel]

I've yet to see it....and expect this next week it will really be getting good.  My experience is 15-25 is prime.  This year it should be closer to the 15 with the cold weather.  Last year was super late due to warmer weather and lack of snow. 

[walt]

Watched a decent buck following a doe at 11 am yesterday north of Kettle Falls.

[hunter399]

I got to agree .
Definitely hit or miss depending on the area.
I would call it pre-rut activities at best.

[WoodHacker]

I get photos of does every day but haven't seen a buck on camera in at least a month. (East of Colville)

[mcrawfordaf]

So as far as my cams go:  The does have been out more during the day in the past week. Had a big buck on a finger ridge cam the last week of October. Was at 8pm though. Most recent pictures had deer activity during the day. Where as all of October I only had night time activities on this cam.

[buckfvr]

With the low, low overall number of deer (north east wa.), this years rut will NOT resemble the rut of past years, not even recent past years.  Except for a few random areas, we are in a new, maybe even all time low.   

[bb76]

Just got back and only saw a couple does and lots of road hunters.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

[dr.derek]

25 does yesterday 1 buck. Nothing chasing around my place but does seem to be out during the day

[snake]

what dates do you guys consider the "Peak" of the rut for NE WA an Idaho?  If you had 1 week to hunt, what dates would it be?

[hunter399]

With the low, low overall number of deer (north east wa.), this years rut will NOT resemble the rut of past years, not even recent past years.  Except for a few random areas, we are in a new, maybe even all time low.   

Totally agree

[boneaddict]

what dates do you guys consider the "Peak" of the rut for NE WA an Idaho?  If you had 1 week to hunt, what dates would it be?

Thanksgiving week, starting about the 19th.

[hunter399]

I could tell ya what I'm seeing boots on the ground stuff.
But the "peak" of the rut will be right after modern closes.
That's not to say that little bits and pieces that lead up to the peak are happening right now.

[rasbo]

nice muley at 330 am chasing  one tired doe in town

[morgan]

Where I hunt in ne Washington the muleys are hot and heavy during late buck. Whitetail I see no evidence of rutting behavior. So I will have to agree on after late buck for the whiteys

[elkboy]

what dates do you guys consider the "Peak" of the rut for NE WA an Idaho?  If you had 1 week to hunt, what dates would it be?

Thanksgiving week, starting about the 19th.

Agreed. Sometimes even gets better over the course of that week (for whitetails).

[nwwanderer]

Several little WT bucks on the hunt the last few days, will take time to find the ladies, few and far between

[bmc02]

113 - had a couple spikes moving in daytime on my cam ealier last week. ALSO had a couple cougars... Also had a cougar and lone wolf pass by within 3 hours of each other, 2 hours before I got there... not looking good out there.

[Rutnbuxnbulls]

what dates do you guys consider the "Peak" of the rut for NE WA an Idaho?  If you had 1 week to hunt, what dates would it be?

Thanksgiving week, starting about the 19th.

Agreed. Sometimes even gets better over the course of that week (for whitetails).

Why I bow hunt them late. Bigger deer come out in daylight. Less hunters screwing up my hunt. Stay home and cozy. I’ll be in a tree freezing my ass off just for one chance!

[RugerRay]

Watched a 2 point and a little basket 3 point locking horns yesterday afternoon in the field in front of my house. 30-40 does out there, but nothing pushing them around or chasing going on.

[buckfvr]

2 good bucks following, scent checking, lip curling from one doe to the next about 500 yards apart, young bucks still hangin around does showing off but to be sure less deer means less activity, less competition as a few decent bucks can cover most of the does.  Im seeing fawns/yearlings on their own as mom is out on a date, and I see lone mature does feeding (not on bait piles) and bedding down solo and those are the ones I watch, not the ones where the young bucks are.

[hunter399]

6 miles walked yesterday in snow.
Seen 6 does about 1 doe per mile.
Not one buck with any of them.

[Sandberm]

I hiked a few miles yesterday in my spot, got up onto a high spot where i could see a good distance with my binos...didn't see one deer, and only a couple tracks.  Like almost no signs of life bad.

This time of year i usually see at least a few groups of does, perhaps a buck or 2 with a fair amount of evidence of movement on game trails meaning there are deer in the area somewhere. 10 years ago I'd see lots of deer. If herd sizes are cyclical i guess we haven't hit bottom yet as I have noticed a decline over the past 5 years 

The only good thing was i only saw one set of boot tracks. 

[Moe the Sleaze]

NE corner. After seeing no signs of rut activity all last week, we have finally started to see scrapes and chasing the last couple of days.

[kramman]

Spent this a.m. in the n.e. corner seen does bedded out in the open with fawns. All on private no chasing that I'm seeing. Son coming in today hopefully we can get on a whitetail here in the next couple days. But I was surprised all the does I saw still had fawns and no bucks.

[Ridgeratt]

Spent the last week watching a south facing hillside and haven't seen a single deer moving on it.
But they are there after dark and all night long.
Right now, I have 6 does and fawns in the pasture and not a horn to be seen. 

[Ridgeratt]

10 minutes ago, had a basket head 4 point show up and promptly chase all the does out of the pasture.

[TeacherMan]

Little bucks are rutting hard

[Lincoln4]

NE corner.  Yesterday where I was hunting the deer were moving all morning and into the afternoon.  Several spikes chasing does.  Today, just a few does acting unpressured.  Haven't seen anything better than those spikes...

[mburrows]

Can’t speak to NE WA but the WT here in MT are rutting hard right now. Took the spotter out on a short walk today with the dogs and watched a field full of deer. All the bucks are harassing each other and chasing does.

[hal]

20 does and 2 bucks chasing in ellensburg yesterday. hwy 10 near 97. In a private field w/ alfalfa

[ALLTERRAIN]

North east of colville right now, have  seen 1 scrape this week. Few does and a couple of small 3 points following but the big ones  have been staying nocturnal still here.

[jstone]

Mburrows stop rubbing it in.!!

[TommyH]

Took the wife out, about 3/4 mile in had a 3-4 W.T. buck chasing a doe back and forth. We circled them and had him at 50 but she couldn’t see him from her angle, he trotted off, she almost got a second opportunity on him but he lived. Had a real small spike with a couple does that also lives tonight. Seen another buck with a doe in some fields on the way home. Good activity threw the day.  Good luck to all.

[kramman]

Not seeing any of that activity where I'm at. Seeing groups of does 3 or 4 no bucks following. Only saw 1 little.spike in 2 days of hard hunting. Tomorrow is last day doubt things will change on a dime. Good luck to all.

[10thmountainarcher]

The buck I shot yesterday was out cruising at 10:00AM all by his lonesome. He was just starting to stink so I’m guessing we are getting close. I think a lot of it is just location dependent, but I’ve always seen the best movement the last week of November. That’s when the majority of the big boys are out and about in the daylight hours.

[Sandberm]

Change spots yesterday afternoon from where I scouted on Monday here in the basin. Walked 40 minutes in to a high spot. Saw 5 groups of 4-7 does each. 2 of the groups had a good sized buck with them. One group I watched for about 45 minutes with my binos had a horney buck on the tail of a doe doing figure eights all over the desert. She just wouldn't relent. In his horney state he also had to fend off 2 smaller bucks who came in for a challenge.

The weather was so nice and crisp. I hiked out with a big smile on face. Good times.