I've spent quite a bit of time down in the hoosier nat'l forest bowhunting this season and only this week am I beginning to see any ground scrapes. I've seen a lot of does but thus far no bucks in pursuit. Anyone else hunting down there and seeing any buck activity yet?
I spent the weekend of October 21st down there and between two people we saw about 17-20 deer over the weekend. No good shots on any of them. We also went down this past weeked and I saw 2 little bucks and that was it. We only found one small rub and 2 fairly fresh scrapes. Usually this time of year there we find rubs and scrapes all over. I'm not sure whats going on there.
I may be going down this saturday, there is usually quite a few guys down there opening weekend. There will be around 20 or so guys down there with me. We camp down there every opening weekend. Just try to stay in the stand all day. Most of the guys there are walking out for lunch around 10:30 so I just stay and let them run the deer to me.
I just hunted a beautiful private farm in Martinsville, rich with big bucks and mature does and on 165 acres, only found a few rubs and two scrapes. I think the rutt is going to hit late this year. Bad for gun hunters but great for muzzle loading and second bow season.
The rut occurs at generally the same time each and every year. The best days to be in the woods are always November 4-8. With firearms season opening the earliest it possibly can this year, expect to see a higher buck harvest this year than in years when it opens later.
Even though I'm hunting mostly private property, there is thousands of acres of Hooiser National Forest around me (Orange County). I can tell you last week the bucks were very active....scrapes and rubs everywhere and they are chasing does. I took a first year bow hunter down with me last week and he scored a 4 pointer the first evening that we were down there.
I'm going just camping at the HNF this Sat. I hope the Orange Army doesnt put a damper on it. Some people dont get that theres thousands of acres, and its not real great practice to hunt right off the trails