The weather in NE Ohio has been showing the effects of summer time arriving. We have been really humid and temps reaching into the ninties. I know that by our southern friends standards this would be a cool break but in NE Ohio that is getting hot. The deer tend to lay pretty low on these hot days and it makes them easier to watch in the early mornings and late evenings. We have been doing our preserve chores as late as possible and it is always exciting to approach a food plot and see who is feeding.
The older fawns are all out following mom in the evening and they are really fun to watch. Their energy is like that of a puppy and they do not stand in one place very long. We have seen a couple of the yearling does that look like they are getting close to dropping their additions. This timing would put the second rut somewhere toward the end of December or early January.
Our bucks are all adding quickly now and the main beans are pretty much where they will finish. All of the growth now seems to be on the tine length and we are seeing several strong eight points and a few that have already started the ninth and tenth points. We have seen one buck that is going to be a main frame twelve point and he looks really great. I also had one trail camera picture this last week of a heavy eight point that clearly shows a drop tine starting on his right beam. This is very special and if he can keep it growing it looks heavy enough that he shouldn’t break it off fighting right away this fall.
We did post some new buck pictures this past week on the “2010 Photos” page and I will keep adding them as I get more quality pictures.
The holidays have come and gone for another year and they brought us some successful hunts at Oak Ridge along with some new friends. We had two great hunts last week and also our first measurable snow. With the second rut still going we took a 156″ buck right after Christmas and then a 203″ the following Monday. Both of these bucks will be posted on the photo gallery very soon.
The secondary rut has never been as heated as early November but it has been proven to produce when you can find a hot doe near your stand. We had a young doe coming running in on us last week after a quiet morning and what she had in tow was amazing. We went from no deer in nearly three hours to one doe and five mature bucks in about twenty seconds. As is the case with the primary rut they all stayed well into the brush but it gave us about 30 minutes to watch the bucks before she took them off on another chase.
After lunch in a lake effect snow storm the doe helped us out again and this time the biggest of the bucks made a mistake and we took our largest mature buck to date at Oak Ridge, 203″ with a 22″ inside spread! We all had a great hunt and hopefully the video will be coming to the website this month.
New Years Day started out 2010 in great way with my nephew Nathan getting his first deer, a mature doe. It is always exciting to share in the “first deer” experience. The preserve bucks were not the only ones to make it a great day as the OSU Buckeyes brought home a Rose Bowl victory to finish out our day.
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!
The weather in NE Ohio has been showing the effects of summer time arriving. We have been really humid and temps reaching into the ninties. I know that by our southern friends standards this would be a cool break but in NE Ohio that is getting hot. The deer tend to lay pretty low on these hot days and it makes them easier to watch in the early mornings and late evenings. We have been doing our preserve chores as late as possible and it is always exciting to approach a food plot and see who is feeding.