[Salmo trutta]

I saw a lot of activity in mid November where I'm hunting in northern Montgomery County, MD. Then once firearm season came in I didn't see much except button bucks and does. No chasing or fighting like in early to Mid November.

But the second Saturday of guns season I saw a small doe, probably a yearling, but her hind legs were soaking wet, almost black and her tail was almost black as well. It was raining very lightly but her inside of her legs were wet. So I figured she was just coming into heat. Who knows.

Well, today, December 19th I checked on a new place to hunt for a few minutes, looking for access, trees, funnels and likely spots. As soon as I pulled up to a sechluded parking area there were two does, one much larger than the other, probably mommy, and a massive buck hanging with them. Of course the buck took off much faster than the does did but I'm wondering if he's hanging with them, than maybe the fawn was just coming into heat?

How long might the "Second" rutt last? How long if I saw the original rutt peak on around November 14th?

Thanks

 

[judge88]

this years rut has been wierd where i hunt. last saturday i saw 3 different small bucks chasing does. alot of half racks around also. i say there in the second rut right now.

 

[Salmo trutta]

Would you try and rattle even now or would that scare more deer than attract them?

 

[crabby and son]

Salmo trutta, I hunt in Boyds and Damascus and I haven't seen any chasing lately. Any does that did not get bred in November will come back into heat around December 15th. It's probably not too many but I would imagine a few here and there. Where are you hunting?.....Gary

 

[J.DAUGHTREY]

Any does that havent been bred will be coming back in estrus.I went rabbit hiunting today and saw plenty of scrapes and rubs where they are starting to mark territory.Bucks that have been killed will have others try and move in and take over territory.I f you hunt in the swamp in va the gun season is out but bow and muzzle loader are in and it would be a good time to sit on a bull,especially where deer have been pressured alot. GOOD LUCK!!!!

 

[J.DAUGHTREY]

One other thing I forgot to mention is if you are hunting in an area with a high doe to buck ratio its going to be hard to call or rattle because there are plenty of does and he doesnt have to compete for territory and travel far to find a girfriend,thats why it is important to harvest all the does you can to even out the ratio.Any bioligist will tell you this

 

[Salmo trutta]

I'm huning in northern Germantown, just on the Damascus border. It's a private farm owned by a friend of mine that is 70 acres. He leases it to a variety of people, including soy bean farmers who harvested the soy beans on Veterans Day morning I believe. Moments before the combines moved in the deer were chasing each other all over that field that morning. When walking through the field even now, it almost doesn't look like they picked up a single bean because the ground is still littered with them.

The geese have been coming into those soy bean fields all along 27 by the hundreds. We were supposed to goose hunt there this afternoon but plans fell through. So I'm off to hunt in a tree for the last two hours of light on the coldest day of the year.

The area where I saw the buck with the does the other morning was on Private property near Potomac off of Turkey Foot area. I've always seen some giant deer back there and after reviewing the tax map, MNCPPC owns most of that land. But no managed hunts excpet for Great Seneca Creek state park. OH well.

 

[Salmo trutta]

Hunted yesterday evening for the last couple of hours of light. Thought I was going to have to amputate my toe even with underarmour socks, 400 grain insulate goretex boots. It was beyond cold out there.

I didn’t' see a thing while up in the tree so I thought I'd get down just before legal shooting time ended and take a look at a field that has had quite a few deer in it at last light lately. Sure enough, there's a nice deer directly under the other stand on the opposite end of the field about 120 yards away. This stand was initially intended for gun hunting because it's low and looks over the entire field. But this one deer, a nice buck, was directly under it. Go figure, I used the bottom land stand today.

I managed to stalk up to the tree line in the fading light as the deer worked its way towards me exposing itself now in the center of the field. The air was so dry and so cold that I swear every leaf snapped like corn flakes and I just couldn't stay quiet enough. I almost lost my balance once just trying to tip toe as quietly as possible. But as luck would have it, the deer kept working its way towards me. This was the largest deer I've seen all season too. It still had broad shoulders, thick neck and a beautiful rack. Then I noticed a few other dark shapes at the top of the field. There had to have been another dozen or more deer working their way into the center of the field almost following but remaining far behind the one buck I was trying to stalk. It was at the point now where I just had to call it but I still wanted to see just how close I could get. I had drawn my bow at one point when the deer was around 45 yards but it was just too far for a fair shot. That's when I thought I could get a few feet closer by going around a large black berry bush. This bush kept catching my face mask, pulling it over my eyes or catching my jacket and making too much noise. By now the tail of this monster started to raise with the occasional flag and his head started doing a boxers dance in the ring while weaving and bobbing to get a better look at me. I knew I had blown it but the deer gave me a few more moments which would have been a pop shot with a riffle/ muzzle loader, shotgun.

I swear these deer are nocturnal. But they still give you that 5 to 15 minutes of last light to keep you on your toes and to keep you wishing for tomorrow. Probably won’t go out until after Christmas so I don’t make my two young sons think I just killed Prancer or Rudolf.