Oak Ridge Whitetail Adventure

Winter has finally found North Eastern Ohio and the hunting preserve. We have had our first snow cover and really cold temps this week. The snow fall by our standards was just a dusting but the high winds and temps in the teens have shown that winter is upon us. The deer trails are much easier to follow with the snow and it is good to know that our stand placements and food plots are all in the correct places. The younger does are starting to come in now and the mature bucks are giving chase again. The secondary rut is not as intense as the early november rut but it still has the deer all moving. Over the last few days I have seen bucks that I had not seen for three or four weeks. The younger bucks are not being as active with this rut and they seem to be settling in on their winter patterns. It is not unusual to see the older does and younger bucks coming to the food plots much earlier in the afternoon now. This is the time of year when our stand heaters come in real handy!