The rut

[Treestand Sniper]

Joel,
Been in the woods everyday since the beginning of bow season.  It looks as though the big bucks are going to expend alittle energy now and chase off the smaller bucks.
 
You are right.  It is on.  The little ones had there fun.  Now it is time for the big ones to get it done.
Good skill on your weekend.

[WayneL]

The Rut?......What Rut! I have spent around 150 hours so far this season and I have only seen a few chasing bucks. Westchester has been very quiet. Even the does don't want to move this year. Obviously I know different properties produce different results but for me (Primarily in Bedford and Pound Ridge) the rut has been quiet. The last 5 days or so have been the most movement for my spots but again, I haven't even seen a shooter buck (for me it has to be 6 points or better - not because I am a trophy hunter by any means but I like to let the young ones get older). I even made a trip to my spot in Yorktown which usually has bucks running all over the place (100 acres of unhunted property) yesterday. I sat for 4 hours and didn't see a tail moving. Funny thing is when I was leaving the house yesterday morning I had 6-7 deer in my backyard!

[JOEL]

well wayne my idiot brother in law made quad trails where i built a ground blind so i havent hunted westchester freaking idiot i want to kill him[:@]

[WayneL]

I know of a bunch of nice bucks taken in Westchester so far but for me this season has been soooooooooo slow. My spots are usually very good and loaded with deer that move during the day but this year everything is happening at night. I see tracks and other sign but if I see 3-4 deer 50 yards away at a sit that is a great day. Past years I would normally pass up 5+ deer that were within 10 yards of me every hunt. Food is an issue too. It is usually loaded up with hard mast but this year it is very light.

[stormshooter4]

I got to agree too, what rut?  Sure, I've taken bucks this year, neither one was with company, chasing, swelled necks, or filled glands. I have seen doe out there, but nothing being harrassed. I have 2 friends hunting the area too, and neither one have seen it yet. Oh well, we'll try again tomorrow to fill my last doe tag.

[beagleman23]

Alsheimer's prediction of a hot and heavy rut in New York either happened at night or didn't happen at all.  Everyone pretty much had problems with  very little chasing reported.  The early scrapes dried right up and very few new ones made.  I dediated Nov 1st - 7th for bow in western NY and saw numerous does and yearlings but only 2 bucks both 1 1/2 yr olds.  I think the day temp was too warm for serious activity.  My brother-in-law killed an 8 point opening day(11/15) of firearms that the DEC said was 3 1/2 who was all rutted up.  I killed a 2 1/2yr old 6 pt(no brow tines) on 1st tuesday that wasn't.  Go figure.  Good luck. 

[stormshooter4]

Beagleman
  Perhaps you're right. In the snow the 1st of the week, a buck hit a scrape near one of our stands. A friend had used that stand and there wasn't anything renewed in snow the night before, but when I went by it 20 hours later, a buck had scraped the snow out and peed in it. Go figure! About every year I would see the bucks chasing the doe around. One would always run on by me, but this year it hasn't happened.
  Headed out tomorrow to harrass something in the woods.

[msbadger]

Through most of bow season I had bucks fighting and not just 2 in  group but numerous buck and buck chasing doe ...ALL in the dark hour before dawn and after dusk....6pt I shot was feeding in the dogwood brush all alone....

[sc hunter]

The rut was a week early this year. I took off for the first week in November and the rut came a week earlier haha. I seen alot of coyote at this time of year we have a big problem with them in chester sc.

[retiredsailor]

From several items and articles I've read, it seems that the rut will peak this year in our area (I also hunt WV) during the week of Thanksgiving, so that fits in very well with the opening of the season.

What area of WV do you hunt? I hunt in Hampshire County, in the Eastern Panhandle.