IOWA GUYS!! What stage of the rut are we in?

23feetupandhappy · November 16, 2011, 04:33:00 PM

This year has been tough for me and although iv given it a good go I realy havnt seen a whole lot of rutting activity

doug77 · November 16, 2011, 04:46:00 PM

It's real hit and miss where I hunt. 1 day their all over the place and the next day you don't see a deer.

doug77

23feetupandhappy · November 16, 2011, 05:37:00 PM

Ya doug but I seem to hit all the days where the deer seem not to exist.....................Iv had more sits this year where I didnt see a single deer then Iv had since I was 15 and didnt now what the heck I was doing

Like right now im sitting at work and its in the fortys out side and this weekend there calling for it to be 60 again

I need the weather man to give me some good weather

I guess it makes it all the sweeter when it all comes together

doug77 · November 16, 2011, 05:41:00 PM

I've had to many all day sits and only saw 1 or 2 deer. Hunted Iowa since 2000 and it's not good.
I've only seen 1 good buck this year.

doug77

soap creek · November 16, 2011, 05:53:00 PM

Jason Kendall · November 16, 2011, 06:04:00 PM

I seen a lot of chasing, rubbing and thrashing around Halloween weekend and the week after that. Been pretty slow seeing deer ever since in south central IA.

23feetupandhappy · November 16, 2011, 06:08:00 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by doug77:
I've had to many all day sits and only saw 1 or 2 deer. Hunted Iowa since 2000 and it's not good.
I've only seen 1 good buck this year.

doug77

1 good one for me as well but I seen him twice, ounce at 8:00 am on the 10th all alone and again on the 12th at 9:00 am chaseing a doe.

Theres sign all over the place and we have sheds of several good bucks from this last year so thats still giveing me hope that at some point they will come out of the wood work

doug77 · November 16, 2011, 06:11:00 PM

I had all last week of and my sightings were poor to say the least,I also have all of thanksgiving week off so we'll see what happens.

Maybe I will get lucky this week-end.

doug77

23feetupandhappy · November 16, 2011, 06:17:00 PM

Good Luck Doug..............

rkelly · November 16, 2011, 06:30:00 PM

I am in western Iowa, Harrison county to be specific. I've spent around 60 hr or more in 7-8 different stands I have out. Haven't seen what you would call a really good buck. Not much chasing. Don't know what's up.

November 16, 2011, 07:20:00 PM

It seemed that the larger bucks were more out and about a month ago than they are now. I should have shot the ten pointer opening day. I saw the local dominant buck come out of his bed with a bunch of other deer the other day after shooting hours, he did not seem like he was interested in anything other than the alfalfa/clover he was eating.

JGoemaat · November 16, 2011, 09:35:00 PM

Interesting posts. I've actually seen a lot of deer movement in the last two days driving around in the country from farm to farm for work. Bucks have been on their feet a lot in the middle of the afternoon in my part of Iowa. I keep dodging them with the truck. This past weekend was slow with warm and windy conditions for November, but buck activity has really been good the last two days.

Lefty · November 16, 2011, 09:50:00 PM

Guys around here are saying that they are seeing does back with fawns. That would indicate that these older does have been bred. Car/deer accidents are still up though, so the deer are still moving. Last weekend I still had bucks cruising. A little cold air just blew in, so hopefully this weekend they will still be on their feet. My daughter and I plan to punch a tag!
Good luck everyone! Hunt Safe!!

Lost Creek Bows · November 16, 2011, 10:41:00 PM

I hunt alot. It was very good till about the 9 th of november and then the lock down week and the terrible full moon, now its starting to get good again. I always see big bucks this last half of the rut. It will be good or better then its been for the next seven to ten days. I hope

November 17, 2011, 12:06:00 AM

I hope you are right, my wife's NAT has not seen much action this year yet.

23feetupandhappy · November 17, 2011, 06:42:00 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Lost Creek Bows:
I hunt alot. It was very good till about the 9 th of november and then the lock down week and the terrible full moon, now its starting to get good again. I always see big bucks this last half of the rut. It will be good or better then its been for the next seven to ten days. I hope

Thanks Guys

Altiman94 · November 17, 2011, 10:16:00 AM

The weather this weekend looks questionable. I think Friday and Sunday will be great days to be afield. I will have a doe tag left to fill here in eastern IA also.

doc_engler · November 17, 2011, 10:19:00 AM

I have seen more deer this year than I have in the past two where I am hunting (public land just inside Delaware county). However, I have only seen a couple of bucks and they seem to not be chasing with the exception of the one I saw last night. But he wasn't really chasing, just responding to that grunt style.

Altiman94 · November 17, 2011, 10:22:00 AM

I saw some good chasing Friday night and Saturday morning. Both of them were small fork horn bucks running does. I had something come in Friday near dark and chase off that fork horn. I couldn't see the rack size, but it looked like a nice bodied deer.

Of course, I only had a doe tag left so all the small bucks were given a pass. I did harvest Saturday night though and will be getting one more doe tag on my lunch break.

I can't imagine finishing out November without being in the woods. Thank goodness your second doe tag is reduced fee!

doug77 · November 17, 2011, 04:20:00 PM

Had a long talk with a friend from Michigan even though it's been a tough year for most of us we still live in Iowa and need to remember that. I moved hear from SW Minnesota where a 90 inch buck was a very good deer.

It's going to be a great week-end for all of us.

doug77