We are finally getting some much needed rain this weekend in Northeastern Ohio. It had been about three weeks since the last showers and everything was beginning to show the effects. The rain has brought with it some cooler fall temperatures and it is triggering a lot more pre-rut activity in the bucks. There are plenty of scrapes being put down every night and the territory fighting can be heard in the early evenings. The leaves have been changing colors over the last couple of weeks and the rain has brought many of them to the ground in the preserve. Many of the smaller trees have dropped their lower leaves and the visibility in the woods is much better now and makes spotting the deer much easier this week.
The Lodge is almost complete and will be ready for hunters before October. Once the rain lets up I will be posting pictures on the website to show off the fruits of our summer labors. Everything came together even better than our expectations and we are very proud of our new accommodations. We look forward to adding the lodge to your hunting experience.
From the different bucks I have been seeing this week I would guess that they are about all in hard antlers and the ones that aren’t will be in the next several days. I have been seeing alot of trees that have assisted in the process and one scrap that I would guess is the starting of a territory. All of the bucks are still in groups and the smaller bucks are still mixed with the trophy bucks.
This week has been the best one of the summer in NE Ohio with the days reaching the eighties and the nights dipping into the forties. The deer enjoy the nights and with the full moon it makes spotting them in the food plots much easier. Most of the fawns have started their winter coats and the spots are almost gone at this point. I have even seen a couple of does chasing the fawns away at feeding time so the rut is just around the corner!
Fall is now here and the hunting seasons have started. We had low forties this morning and the early goose and squirrel seasons opened and with a beautiful sunny morning it just felt and sounded great. We have also seen another fall indicator with the arrival of hard antlers here at Oak Ridge. I had trail camera photos this week of three bucks that had lost their velvet and at least two others that are headed that way. The new food plot is greening up and with the new growth the deer are hitting it hard. I have several photos that will be posted shortly.
The lodge has reached the final phase of completion and we will also have the photos posted in the next week or two.