To the Bibb County Hunters

Ok, I am just learning how to seriously hunt deer, any body that hunts around the Bibb county area have an idea as to what is going on? Had a buck come running to a buck grunt two weeks ago, since then nothing, rubs looking kinda old(found one possible fresh one Friday) no scrapes(had one that was made the friday before opening day)may have found a recent scrape today but very small(maybe 1'x 8") mostly have had deer mowing down the food plots this last week. Any thoughts as to where they might be rut wise? The last two seasons it's about mid/late Dec when the rubs and scrapes start popping up everywhere but this yr there seems to have been less activity even though I have had three times the number of bucks show up on the trail cam.

wide open in north Bibb. I saw a big six point chasing a doe thru my yard a few days ago

Yup, S Shelby and N Bibb bucks are chasing, shadowing, cruising, on their feet.

yep wide open in Bibb been seeing bucks chase hard for the last 3 weeks

Ruts been going good since around Dec 20th in N.Bibb with plenty of chasing going on over the week of Christmas and New Years, which probably explains lack of interest in working over those scrapes. They probably just stopped working scrapes and went to scent checking them (and doe bedding areas) while cruising along. Probably time to start finding isolated bedding thickets, especially if you can get in a location that allows you to be downwind and see the upwind side. You may catch him swinging below the thicket to scent check for a hot doe or you may see him moving out of the thick cover if he has finished breeding a hot doe or the doe tries to ease out and get a few bites of food. Just my thoughts on it.

It's on!

Would any of you recommend a doe decoy w/some estrus scent and estrus bleats? Unfortunately where I hunt the does are bedding where I can't hunt.

I killed a big 8 near Centerville Friday. He didn't have any does with him but he was no doubt on the hunt for one. They are usually about to wrap it up by this time but are a little late this year.

Not sure about the decoy, it may not hurt anything. You might want to put some buck scent and estrous out and do some bleats followed by some grunts. Nothing like hearing a buck chasing a doe and then smelling a hot doe and another buck in their area, it tends to drive them a little mad unless they already got a doe of their own.

When the rut is on, how likely are does/bucks to feed, do they for-go feeding until the rut is over? I have heard that they will feed heavily prior to the rut because they dont feed while rutting, is that true?

Deer feed up prior to rut because they burn more calories than they take in during the rut hence the reason you hear about them being run down (ex.- a buck weighing 180lbs in early season may only weigh 150lbs after the rut), but deer still have to eat. Think of it more like grabbing fast food instead of having a sit down meal. Even though they will eat, often times bucks aren't going to spend a lot of time in any one place when love is in the air because it isn't what is most important to them at that time and does won't spend much time because bucks are harassing them.

If you can't get to the bedding area, then try to find faint trails cutting across main trails going to and from bedding and feeding areas. Bucks will often cut across the main trails because it is more efficient for a buck to find a hot doe that way rather than running each trail. If you are hunting hilly areas, look for these on or near the top of ridges or on saddles, morning thermals will also lift scent up to them from bottom areas where does may be feeding. Don't over look the top of deep ravines that cause pinch points, they are also a good area to catch one this time of year. Hopefully this info will help you.

Thanks to all of you for your input, looks like I am going to set up on the top of the ridge overlooking a food plot to the rear, old road bed to the right and a 6yr cut over in the front. The does are bedding down about 30yds up the road bed and in the woods, there is a network of trails running across the road bed/cutover, several lead to another food plot and one goes from the cut over to the larger plot behind the stand. The last week there has been alot of eating on that plot so I am going to put a decoy up with some estrus scent at the bottom of the road bed where the cutover meets the old road bed and couple of trails intersect. Hopefully I can lure one of the big boys over and drop him. At least I have a better idea as to when the deer go into rut around here, will be useful come next season.

Ours were hot from Dec 15th thru Christmas. They are still out searching for more. Wouldn't you.....

Second round should be coming around for those not bread during 1st round in Dec.

yeah I might just sit in the stand and do estrus bleats with a decoy for the next week or so, it's either that or sit on a food plot, guess I could to both.

Well, hunted on Monday afternoon w/doe decoy and estrus scent and calls, no luck. Today I went back this afternoon same setup, noticed that deer ate on my large plot some and when I put out the decoy I saw where something had pawed two 4" circles where I put some Code Blue doe estrus on the ground, went and checked a mock scrape and found that the scrape was untouched except for the same 4" circle in the middle where the estrus in the dripper was hitting the ground. What could have made those pawed areas? I would think that a deer would have made these cirlces bigger than 4", any ideas?

I have seen both fox and coyotes pawing in my mock scrapes before... Could have been a buck who only had a second to spare prior to chasing some love.

definitely have plenty of foxes in the area, couple yotes to as well as a bobcat that uses that trail alot.

Been sick the last couple of days so I havent been able to get in the woods, tried Friday but between the coughing in sniffling didnt work out. So any updates as to what has been going on in the area? Still time to hunt the rut or has it played out?

I hunt about 2 miles south of the Bibb county line and for the last 20 years, the rut has been wide open somewhere around Christmas Day then dies down around new years day and then the second rut comes in around the 18th of January by about the 22nd it is over. The first rut tends to feature more evening chasing while the second rut tends to have deer more visible during the morning and mid day periods. That is just what I have observed and truthfully I see a difference on one side of my property and the other. Bucks will run does closest to the bedding areas on one side during the 1st rut and will then the same bucks show up on the other side which features less bedding area during the second rut so stay positive the bucks may be about to come your way

Thanks for sharing that information, I tried to get out there today but was rained out after about 45 mins. things are really dead out there from what I can see though so I will keep what you said in mind, in fact I am going to be looking at the calendar and start planning my next hunt. Thanks again.

they might be turkey scratchings. check for likcing branches. this will be a sure fire way to identify the difference between a scrape and turkey scratch

I'm by far no expert but I don't get into all the scent stuff. IMO unless you have a decoy out in a big open area it's a waste of time. If you are in an area where visibility is limited by the time he would see a decoy you should have the crosshairs on him and ready to take the shot.
Pay more attention to wind direction and have stand sites picked out so you can hunt accordingly. It sounds like your setup is good. You are close enough to the bedding area. The more you put in time in the woods the better your odds are.

One thing that I have picked up on in the past few years is that bucks like to use east/west trails during pre rut/rut. The prevailing wind this time of year is either north north west or south south east. Bucks can more efficently check scent by running the east west trails.

Well no deer sign in two weeks now, its as if they have all up and left, used to be able to tell where they have been eating on the food plots but now, nothing. Is this normal?