Northeast Ohio has truly been blessed this year with a great November so far. The deer have started to slow down on the chasing stage and the does are now accepting the bucks. There still seems to be a fair amount of activity out of the big bucks but the smaller bucks have been staying out of their way. My guess would be that the peek of the actual breeding will come this week and then start to return to normal. Several of the older does have already been returning to the food plots in the early evening and other than being checked occasionally the bucks are leaving them alone.
November 18, 2009
October 31, 2009
November
The trophy bucks have offically began the rut this last week here in the preserve. There were several mature does that are getting close and they are not in need of company. The bucks seem to have all established themselves in the pecking order and the mature bucks have won the initial rights to begin the breeding. Everytime we were in stands this week there were plenty of bucks on the move and the activity seemed to be at its highest in the mid-morning and early evening. With the moon being so close to full this week they were moving all night and the sounds of antlers clashing could be heard about anytime day or night.
We are expecting cooler weather this coming week in NE Ohio but the hunters should have plenty of action to help keep them warm.