Monday, October 31, 2005
Bucks Are Moving Throughout The Day
I’ve written about it lately, so has my buddy Dave Richey
The mid-day hours during the rut came generate some very exciting action. And, the best thing about it is there is little competition.
Driving around my land today produced sightings of several bucks. Jeremy Castle, a friend of mine, saw a huge buck this morning. It was too far away for a bow shot, but this critter was up and moving.
He and I went out later, after his morning hunt, and drove around the ranch. We saw bucks at noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and just before dark. Where are most of the hunters during those mid-day hours?
Most are not hunting. Many are working, but those who aren’t working are seldom sitting in a ground blind or tree stand.
A photographer friend stopped in to take photos, and took photos of two different bucks at 3:30 p.m. One was a spikehorn but another was a beautiful 10-pointer that jumped up from his bedding area in a marsh as he drove past, and he had time to click one good photo of the buck before it ran through a nearby woodlot.
Hunters, even on state land, should try hunting the mid-day hours if possible. The hours between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. are ideal. Few hunters are afield at those times, and many of the bucks are up and moving around. We hunted tonight, and of the five people who hunted, three saw bucks and two didn’t see a thing.
I saw a good buck and let him pass, and one of the other hunters had a buck walk past his ground blind at 10 feet. It was a husky 10-pointer, but it was by him before he had a chance to draw.
The other hunter sat in a ground blind as well, and saw two 8-pointers. One had a rack with seven-inch G2s and a 22-inch spread. The other buck was a smaller animal, and the big guy chased the smaller buck around the field for 15 minutes. He also saw 25 does and fawns, and some other bucks 400 yards away right at the end of shooting time.
It’s difficult for hunters to get out at mid-day during the work week, but I’ve known some guys to hunt their one-hour lunch period and score on a buck. It’s certainly worth a try, and it’s can be a time period when some of the largest bucks are on the prowl.