Last week in the Hot Springs area I had 6 deer in front of me. 2 old nanny does both of which had twin yearlings with them. There was no sign of the "early rut" this year that I have been reading about. What are others seeing in AR?
JW
we seeing some chasin, The weather is tropical though, This is the time to get after them!
Don't know about AR, but it is usually on here now, and I have seen nothing yet!
Bisch
Last weekend I had two younger bucks grunting and chasing does. A bigger buck came through later but he was more interested in working rub lines hard.
Last weekend I had two younger bucks grunting and chasing does. A bigger buck came through later but he was more interested in working rub lines hard.
Saw a few smaller bucks pushing does around 2 weekends ago. The mature bucks i have seen have been very early in the morning. Hopefully this cool front coming in this weekend will have them on their feet.
2 weeks ago is normally when I see the first signs of rut activity, I have seen some cruising and a friend killed a nice 8 that was chasing. but we had a full moon and warm weather. I think we should see a real increase in activity these next 2 weeks
I was hunting a couple of afternoons ago and saw my first buck of the season. He was just crusin' and looking for a girlfriend. I grunted to him and he did turn but never came close enough for a shot. It's been in the 80's lately and too hot for much action I presume.
Seen several does- I lil spike. Very little chasing going on.
Well an update from Saturday afternoon. I was in my stand had been watching 3 does for about an hour feeding on acorns. They were from 50 to 15 yards at times. I decided to try to take the largest doe at last light. I heard a crash on the ridge across from me and then some relatively high pitched grunting. I refocused on the doe that was now at 15 yards when a yearling ran right to her side. Then out of no where a monster buck came in thrashing and throwing his head not even sure how many points but his body was huge and he was bristled up. Then in a split second they were all 3 gone up the draw. It was crazy how fast it happened. I do believe the chase is on.
I hunted Sat and Sunday evenings. Nothing Saturday, and watched a big doe yesterday evening about a half hour before dark. Had a large 8 point come in right at dark, that I screwed up and bounced and arrow off his back. Buck was interested in acorns. Rut normally runs later than normal here in the Fort Smith area river bottoms. I quit hunting when duck season opens due to all the traffic, and I rarely see any rutting activity. I do start seeing some bucks though, come late October.