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| Forkie came to a grunt call tonight |
This journal will chronicle my Rut-cation and review tactics based on weather and timing to hunt NE Ohio whitetail deer. I look forward to sharing this ongoing story with you.
Good Luck Everyone and – Stay Afflicted with Whitetail OCD
- Pressure 30.00 and rising
- SSW winds 5 to 15 MPH
- Temperature high near 68 degrees
- Moon waxing Gibbous
- Rise 5:48 PM
- Set: 5:46 AM
- Funnel
- Hunt transition zone between bedding areas
- Afternoon sit 2 pm to 6:45 PM
- Afternoon sit to avoid bumping deer in the AM
- Timber set between bed and food and along a ridge
The second deer responded to a grunt call. A small button buck that appeared at 5:30 PM and walked in directly behind the tree stand and stopped to look for the buck who made that noise. He passed up the trail towards the agricultural fields.
Fifteen minutes later, a deer that I’ve named Forkie (yes, not too creative but he is a fork horn), responded to my grunt call. This deer made a beeline to the tree when he heard the grunt, looked up and picked me off. He didn’t spook, but made 2 jumps and stopped. He turned back towards me and moved along the ridge walking directly to my downwind side. Thankfully the Ozonics and my scent control measures worked. He stopped directly downwind and smelled the air repeatedly. He would raise his head and smell, drop his head and raise it again. He did this for 3 or 4 minutes before slowly slipping up the ridge into the timber. He didn’t like seeing me in the tree, but he couldn’t smell me so he just slipped away.
The final deer was a fawn that ran through as I was preparing to climb down for the night.
The weather was a factor in crushing the movement until later in the evening. The hunt had a feel of an early October hunt versus an early November hunt. Movement was subdued until right before dark. In line with the rut, the deer are responding to calls now. With the weather forecast filled with rain and warmer than normal temperatures for the next 4 days, my concern is that the rutting activity (seeking and chasing) will be under the cover of darkness.
More to come… Stay Afflicted with Whitetail OCD!
