First off I hunted about the same as usual this year which is quite a bit after ML kicks off. I didn't get on as much in the last few days as I have been hunting almost all day long most days. I get back on and had 7 pages of kill threads to go through, so congrats to those that got it done.
I didn't see anything I wanted to shoot. This year has been weird to say the least and my little 32 acres just isn't producing bigger bucks like it used to. This is due to "progress" and things building up around me changing the deers patterns, but enough about that, on to the purpose of this thread.
While I was hunting I see a lot of things going on with my own two eyes, as well as pictures from multiple cell cams. When I first bought the place I had 1-2 3.5+ yr old bucks per year running around and maybe a 2.5 yr old or two. They would shift and I would get 1-2 more coming in. As things have grown up around me, no more bucks older than 1.5yr old in the summer. Then come Nov. I get one or two good ones that show up to chase. That didn't really happen this year. I did get 2-3 2.5 yr. old bucks to show up, but that was it. However, I did start seeing bucks chasing does as early as Nov. 6th and did start getting daylight pics of those 2.5 yr old bucks around the 12th-16th. Then everything shut down. Then around the week of Thanksgiving I saw a wide open chase, saw another buck chasing a doe on another property, but at the same time saw does that had abandoned fawns back around the 16th, back with the fawns.... some bucks were back together. Saw a 2.5 yr old buck thanksgiving morning and passed, but he was just walking through.
This got me to thinking. I have read on the deer restocking efforts of the TWRA and it appears that the main 3 states they used deer from were Michigan, Wisconsin, and Virginia. I have heard they got some from NC, and TX too though. It seems yearly I have does that go into estrous in early November. This usually brings in the bigger deer starting anywhere from Nov.10-16th. When that happens I will see lonely fawns about. When mom returns I see them together and small bucks may pester them, but that is it. Then without fail I will see full on chases the week of thanksgiving. Had a 2.5 yr old 8 chasing last year. This year it was a small buck but he was grunting and at a full sprint.
Sorry for the long post, but wanted to give the background info for my logic. My question of course is do you guys think we have a weird rut in TN due to deer being from other regions of the country?
I feel like it is always a trickle and starts early and goes through Thanksgiving. This can be good and bad, depending on how the deer use your land. My land is just a pass through property that deer pass through to feed, etc. If they are there you have a chance, but if you are working or something you may miss your only chance of the year.
I didn't see anything I wanted to shoot. This year has been weird to say the least and my little 32 acres just isn't producing bigger bucks like it used to. This is due to "progress" and things building up around me changing the deers patterns, but enough about that, on to the purpose of this thread.
While I was hunting I see a lot of things going on with my own two eyes, as well as pictures from multiple cell cams. When I first bought the place I had 1-2 3.5+ yr old bucks per year running around and maybe a 2.5 yr old or two. They would shift and I would get 1-2 more coming in. As things have grown up around me, no more bucks older than 1.5yr old in the summer. Then come Nov. I get one or two good ones that show up to chase. That didn't really happen this year. I did get 2-3 2.5 yr. old bucks to show up, but that was it. However, I did start seeing bucks chasing does as early as Nov. 6th and did start getting daylight pics of those 2.5 yr old bucks around the 12th-16th. Then everything shut down. Then around the week of Thanksgiving I saw a wide open chase, saw another buck chasing a doe on another property, but at the same time saw does that had abandoned fawns back around the 16th, back with the fawns.... some bucks were back together. Saw a 2.5 yr old buck thanksgiving morning and passed, but he was just walking through.
This got me to thinking. I have read on the deer restocking efforts of the TWRA and it appears that the main 3 states they used deer from were Michigan, Wisconsin, and Virginia. I have heard they got some from NC, and TX too though. It seems yearly I have does that go into estrous in early November. This usually brings in the bigger deer starting anywhere from Nov.10-16th. When that happens I will see lonely fawns about. When mom returns I see them together and small bucks may pester them, but that is it. Then without fail I will see full on chases the week of thanksgiving. Had a 2.5 yr old 8 chasing last year. This year it was a small buck but he was grunting and at a full sprint.
Sorry for the long post, but wanted to give the background info for my logic. My question of course is do you guys think we have a weird rut in TN due to deer being from other regions of the country?
I feel like it is always a trickle and starts early and goes through Thanksgiving. This can be good and bad, depending on how the deer use your land. My land is just a pass through property that deer pass through to feed, etc. If they are there you have a chance, but if you are working or something you may miss your only chance of the year.