Glad this election is over and we can concentrate on the important things, such as hunting the rut. I have been out numerous times over the past few weeks and noticed that the bucks are starting to heat up (as early as later October). Warm weather pauses the seeking phase, but this weekend looks like a cold one and will definitely turn up the buck activity. I was able to shoot a buck in New York this past weekend, but not much action other than him showing up on Sunday morning. The weather was horrible with it being warm and extremely windy. I shot him walking down hill from a major rub line and think he was pushed off by a bigger deer. Most of the buck activity I’ve seen on cameras is at night, but there were a ton of new scrapes/rubs popping up daily.
If you plan on taking time off during November, I would start right now. Temperatures in the Northeast look pretty good and if you are up for a long sit, folks who hunt all day tend to have the most activity. I plan on heading back to NY to film some buddies on a few of my private land spots. Friday looks like a “hella” wind day, but chilly. I’ve had success hunting less than perfect conditions usually near thick cover, swamps or in some sort of conifer location/draw. Deer like to hang tight in those areas and not wander too much. Hunt where the does are, bucks are sure to catch the scent and make a mistake. Capitalize on this! November is my favorite time to be in the woods, because you never know what can happen during the rut.
Pretty cool watching this deer grab a licking branch and make a scrape.
I hope to have some exciting footage of a first time hunter taking his first deer this weekend. More to come. Thank you for reading. Be sure to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages for more great pictures!
-Michael
Since most of my hunting spots are located on private plots that border state land, I want to do everything I can in attracting deer and keeping them on my property. State Land in Central New York and Massachusetts becomes the wild west, bringing “hunters” from the cities that end up shooting at anything brown. After a week sit, I checked one of my Massachusetts spots and found positive initial results. I did not have a deer on camera the first night, then every day following, there was a tall 1.5 yr old 4 point and big doe coming to the Big & J BB2. Early results in Mass seem positive and hopefully these deer stick around all season. They are 95% running on nocturnal time.
Last season I bought a handful of trail cameras to test and with high expectations this fall, I plan on doubling my output. I really enjoy the simplicity of the Wildgame Innovations Cloak. Battery life is slightly above average, but my favorite aspect is how moderately priced they are. I picked up four more this year and spread them throughout field entry/exit pinch points, food plots, active trails and the “honey hole” spots on the property. Along with the Wildgame lineup, the trigger finger gets pretty itchy in the off-season and with Amazon prime being idiot-proof, we picked up four additional “test” Moultrie M-88Oi cameras as well. My wife doesn’t seem to understand that only one trail camera is not nearly enough. The arsenal is full now, going 15 strong in three different states! The Moultrie cameras are pretty sweet, especially when you get nice text surprises with deer pictures. Makes the work day more enjoyable and fuels the hunting fire. Efficient scouting at it’s best! My buddy in Mass is utilizing them almost exclusively with positive results.
Green Lake Chronicles 