I was really worried that the hot weather was going to push through the rut resulting in a nocturnal rut. Ive been after a certain buck that comes through almost every night around 1:00-3:00am. The colder weather hit with the rain a few days ago and I told my wife not to expect to see me until next Saturday. My dad having already shot a nice buck was going to sit with me in hopes that the big one would make a mistake. The first couple days we were getting good action with young bucks pushing does but not really locking in and following them hard. Monday morning was more of the same but the deer didnt really start moving until around 8:00am. Yesterday morning, the full moon gave us an excuse to sleep in so we decided to get to the blind at 7:30, just as the feeder would go off the second time. The weather man had said 31* so I knew movement should be good. They usually over exaggerate the weather but yesterday was the exception. The truck hit 25* on the drive.
Got to the blind and thankfully no deer at the feeder. Tried to start the heater but the lighter didnt want anything to do with the cold. Finally got it lit and got things warming up nicely.
Settled in for an 11:00am hunt with a thermos of hot chocolate. Nothing but squirrels for the first hour. At 8:30, a yearly doe comes trotting in for some corn. Not far behind is momma with a young 6 up her rear. A couple minutes after that, a 3-4yo 8 that Ive never seen. They ran that poor doe around in my opening for a solid 5:00 minutes. Took a long video only to figure out I didnt have the phone on record.
A few seconds after that video cuts off, the 8 pushes the doe back our direction and about breaks his neck mid stride trying to stop and act like there's nothing going on. I know somethings up and see coming out of the does same trail- Mature buck! Three heavy tines on one side, plus a sticker all instantly pop out, short beams- dont care, knew I didnt recognize him. From the time I saw him to the time he was down was about 3 seconds. My dad was like "what the hell just happened?"
Knew he didnt need it but gave him about 15 minutes anyways. Once to him, he did not disappoint.
I run a ton of cameras and feeders year round. And every year, the biggest deer we see while hunting, I never have pictures of. I sometimes wonder just how far a big buck will travel when his mind gets messed up.
Got to the blind and thankfully no deer at the feeder. Tried to start the heater but the lighter didnt want anything to do with the cold. Finally got it lit and got things warming up nicely.
Settled in for an 11:00am hunt with a thermos of hot chocolate. Nothing but squirrels for the first hour. At 8:30, a yearly doe comes trotting in for some corn. Not far behind is momma with a young 6 up her rear. A couple minutes after that, a 3-4yo 8 that Ive never seen. They ran that poor doe around in my opening for a solid 5:00 minutes. Took a long video only to figure out I didnt have the phone on record.
A few seconds after that video cuts off, the 8 pushes the doe back our direction and about breaks his neck mid stride trying to stop and act like there's nothing going on. I know somethings up and see coming out of the does same trail- Mature buck! Three heavy tines on one side, plus a sticker all instantly pop out, short beams- dont care, knew I didnt recognize him. From the time I saw him to the time he was down was about 3 seconds. My dad was like "what the hell just happened?"
Knew he didnt need it but gave him about 15 minutes anyways. Once to him, he did not disappoint.
I run a ton of cameras and feeders year round. And every year, the biggest deer we see while hunting, I never have pictures of. I sometimes wonder just how far a big buck will travel when his mind gets messed up.
