Looking back at the last 3 weeks...

Well, I’m finally going to slow down a little and take some time to write. I hunted alot between October 26 and November 14th. With the exception of working a few days, I spent every possible minute in the woods in either New Jersey or Ohio. This year I hunted a total of 14 days in Ohio, all but 4 of them in that 10/26 to 11/14 time span. We had a tough time finding mature deer. I saw plenty of 1.5 yr old bucks, and a few 2.5 year olds that would have been shooters in New Jersey, but were just too small in Ohio. I did pass on a shot at a nice 2.5 yr old 10 pointer that looked a lot like the buck I killed last year. This one was a 3.5 year old buck.

The 2.5 year old I saw this year was just a bit smaller, and quartering away at 12 yards. I just couldn't drop the string. He should be a good one next year.


Overall, the rutting activity was disappointingly slim in Ohio this year.
I saw very little chasing, heard only a grunt or two, and never really saw it bust loose like it has in the past. There were a lot of acorns in the woods, so maybe that kept the deer from moving much. One other thing I observed is that in the last 5 years, the amount of hunting pressure during bow season where we hunt has increased tremendously. It’s almost as crowded as New Jersey is during 6-day firearm season during the rut in SE Ohio, it’s really crazy there now. I have to believe that the huge increase in the amount of human activity in the woods has also affected deer movement, especially mature buck movements.

I had a few close encounters in New Jersey during that time. The farm I hunt in Alloway Township was a bit of a disappointment again this year, but I had a good encounter on another small piece of land I hunt. A gusty rain storm had ended just before noon, so I headed to the stand at 12:30. I climbed into the stand, pulled my bow up, placed it on the hanger and then began searching my backpack for my release. Before I even dug it out, I heard a snap and looked down to see a great buck passing 10 yards from me. It was very windy, and the woods were still dripping from the rain, so he never heard me come in and I never heard him walking towards me. He was through my shooting lane in about 2 seconds and gone from sight shortly afterwards. He was a big buck, and I hoped he would come back. At a few minutes before 2:00pm, I saw sunlight glint off an antler and watched as this nice 10 pointer came in the same way as the big buck had.


I decided to give him a pass, hoping to use my tag on the bigger buck and let this one grow another year. He should be a real slammer next year. Other than that, so far the rut has been pretty uneventful for me this year in New Jersey. There is a little time left to catch bucks searching, but it's winding down. Hopefully the late season will be good to us as the deer turn back onto food sources.

Good Hunting-DV