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2011 Rut Camp Recap

jagermeister

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I really wish I had some amazing story... or some amazing success pictures... or at least a close-call or two to share with you all. Fact is, this year's rut camp was anything but exciting for me. I hunted hard, I hunted long, I hunted flat out smart... and still couldn't get it done.

We arrived late Friday morning, checked in to the cabin, and did a little bit of scouting early in the afternoon. I went in to Saturday with some high hopes, even though I was hunting a "new" spot. Saturday morning was o.k., but it was fairly warm and the wind began to pick up. I passed up a 115" 8-pointer that came cruising through around 9:00 a.m. By Saturday afternoon, the wind was blowing steady and gusting hard... and of course stayed that way for three days straight. Temps in the 60's and high winds... needless to say, deer movement was virtually non-existant.

The wind came and went, but the forecast only got worse. A cold front came through, bringing 2 straight days of downpouring rain with it. I brought the rain gear so I hunted right through it... but even with the FroggToggs I still managed to get a cold wet ass. Once that rain came, the creek bottoms flooded and the only know entrance to my honey hole was blocked off. I was cold, I was wet, I was seeing no deer... no signs of the rut whatsoever... I was dejected, to say the least. Wednesday night I made a desparate last-ditch effort by converting my goatee into a fu manchu... a "rally cap" if you will. I also discovered a new entrance to my honey hole that night, which would allow me to come in from the ridgetop instead of the creek bottom.

Thursday came and the weather was finally looking better. The front moved through and the temps dropped, and the wind quit. I sat in that funnel for sunup to sundown, never climbing out of the tree. The only thing I saw was a 1.5 yr old 4-pointer at 3:45 p.m. He walked right underneath me, and got a free pass of course.

Friday morning was my last chance. We were checking out at 1:00 p.m., so it was a now-or-never situation. The weather that morning was absolutely perfect. It was down right cold, and the wind was blowing just slightly out of the North. At this point, I was just hoping for a doe to walk by me. But it just wasn't in the cards. I saw zero deer that morning.

Last season we saw more deer in that week than ever, so I had high expectations for this year's trip. Strangely enough, I think this year we saw fewer deer than ever before. I honestly believe the weather played the biggest role in that. We saw some deer, had a great time hanging out together, and enjoyed God's great creation... I just wish we could have brought some meat home with us. Heck, I even lost my title belt in our annual ping-pong tournament while fighting off an in-game nosebleed. It could have been a better trip, but it was a good vacation nonetheless. Hopefully next year we have a bit more success.
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
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Man Jim, as far as deer sighting and weather, that sucks! It sounds like you hunted your ass off and laid it all out there in the woods. I hope and wish you success thru the remainder of the season buddy! It ain't over yet!
 

hickslawns

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Thanks for sharing Jim. Good or bad, that is hunting. Would have been nice to at least get a crack at a doe or two, but sometimes I guess it just isn't in the cards.
 

bowhunter1023

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Mirrors the season I am having dude. Glad you were able to spend a week in the woods and have fun with friends. There is always next year I guess...
 

Curran

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Same here Jim, but I'm not packing it in until it's all over in February. Taking a few more selective hunts here & there, but gonna concentrate on the birds for a while. Still always good to get to deer camp though no matter what.

Good luck the rest of the way!!
 

aholdren

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Im having a similar season dude. It sounds like you made the best of it and came away with some advantage points for future hunts and you gotta like that.
 

jagermeister

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Where were you hunting Jim? Maybe most of the bucks were locked down.

We were in Morgan County, Gern. I just couldn't believe the bucks were in lock-down... based on what I was hearing as far as rut reports for SO before I left. It sounded to me like before I left the rut really hadn't kicked into high gear yet. Now, I don't know what to think, to be honest. I've been an Alsheimer follower for years, and I think he knows what he's talking about, so my gut is telling me that the weather was my worst enemy last week and not the rut lock-down. I'll be real interested to see what Ol' Charlie has to report about 2011 in his 2012 rut prediction article.
 

Buckmaster

Senior Member
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Portage
From Jefferson Co. I blame the warmer weather, windy days, and moon phase. It sent most deer into nocturnal patterns. I did see lots of small bucks over the past 3 weeks but nothing over 125". I saw very little in terms of rubs and scrapes this year too. I covered half of 3,500 acres throughout my search for activity.
 

jagermeister

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From Jefferson Co. I blame the warmer weather, windy days, and moon phase. It sent most deer into nocturnal patterns. I did see lots of small bucks over the past 3 weeks but nothing over 125". I saw very little in terms of rubs and scrapes this year too. I covered half of 3,500 acres throughout my search for activity.

I'm thinking the same thing. The areas we hunted, which are pretty much crawling with deer every time we go, were absolutely littered with fresh sign and tracks. Only thing was, we didn't see squat during the daylight hours... leading me to believe they were mostly nocturnal at the time. We even found a really secluded area at Wolf Creek WA that had a standing 20 acre corn field, with fresh sign all over it! We hunted it one evening... surrounded this field with 4 guys back in the timber, and not one of us saw a single deer. I couldn't believe it.
 

Dannmann801

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I like your attitude JB - it is what it is, and you made the best of it.

I only hunt weekends - and alot of the weekends this year the weather has been less than ideal. And things on the ground are definitely different than they were last year.
What worked last year for me isn't working this year, so I've had to do some changing up. But adapt we shall.

And even though Charlie A's "ten magical days, that period from Nov 10th thru the 20th" has now passed, I believe there are still deer in the woods.
And in the dang corn that's STILL standing. Ugh
 

jagermeister

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I like your attitude JB - it is what it is, and you made the best of it.

I only hunt weekends - and alot of the weekends this year the weather has been less than ideal. And things on the ground are definitely different than they were last year.
What worked last year for me isn't working this year, so I've had to do some changing up. But adapt we shall.

And even though Charlie A's "ten magical days, that period from Nov 10th thru the 20th" has now passed, I believe there are still deer in the woods.
And in the dang corn that's STILL standing. Ugh

Yea man, it's amazing how much corn is still up. There's a lot of deer season left so we gotta just keep trudging on and stay optimistic... It only takes a matter of seconds for everything to turn around.