O-k, things are officially weird now. Deer road kills are way low. Lower than we have ever seen them through this 70 mile I-24 corridor.

In almost 3 weeks of hunting between FIVE serious bowhunters, only a handful of mature bucks were seen. This includes driving to and from the stands in dark morning, mid-day, and dark evening.

We are getting scouting reports from hunters from Hamilton/Sequatchie Counties all the way up through Clarksville and on into Paducah,Ky. Even past Paducah into Southern Illinois we just have not seen good rutting behavior yet. NONE of us.

We saw the typical young buck/doe chasing early, and a VERY FEW scrapes, but nothing like last year.

On November 9th and 10th, two of the guys rattled in good P/Y bucks but these were the only two they saw.

Does were still in groups as were young bachelor bucks but movement overall was slow.

I am sure this activity varies dramatically from area to area but as for these areas that I and my buddies frequent, the rut is VERY different so far from last year. In the past, we generally will see chasing in open areas at mid-day. THen we see lone does and roaming young single bucks. Eventually mature bucks show themselves in daylight and the hunt is ON!

But not so far this year.

I did kill a good eight point on October 31, but I intercepted him on his way to bed at 11:40 AM.

We will see what happens in the remainder of the season.
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God, Family, Job, Bowhunting
Luck is where Opportunity and Preparation MEET!
When in doubt...back out!
SCAPAS.stay calm and pick a spot.