If you’re hunting in one of those states that ends its early archery season on the second Saturday in November, don’t shoot the messenger! Every year I get phone calls and e-mails from hunters asking when they should use their vacation time to hit the peak of the rut. That’s a lot of pressure to put on me because I don’t want to be the one to blame for a person’s bad hunting vacation. That being said, I’m not afraid to confidently make my prediction each year because history shows that I’ve been right on give or take a day or two.

On my website at www.whitetailwriter.com, I will write a more detailed article about how I come about picking the peak rut date each year, so I’ll only cover it briefly here. First, I am a pretty firm believer in moon phases impacting the timing of the rut. Hunting Whitetails by the Moon by Charlie Alsheimer is perhaps the best book ever written on the subject, and I encourage you to buy a copy. Second, I use in field observations and a bit of history to settle on an exact date.

Mature bucks will be moving during daylight hours the most during the peak rut..

Drumroll please! The peak of the rut will occur on November 16 (give or take a day or two) in the north. I define the peak of the rut as the time when the seeking and chasing phases overlap. I don’t define it as the peak breeding time because that is actually a very difficult time to take a mature buck. My rut date reflects the time when bucks are on their feet and covering the most ground during daylight hours.

As I mentioned above, check my website later in the week for a more detailed description of how I arrive at the date. In the meantime, put your vacation request in to coincide with November 16, or as close as possible to that date. Many laughed when I predicted a very early rut last year, but in the end I was right on. Take it to the bank!

GlenDel Full Rut Buck
Rating:  4

Now that my wife and I have a good place to shoot our bows, I decided that it was time to make an investment in a new target. I already had two lower end targets that were wearing out, so I made the decision to actually fork out a little more cash for something on the higher end of the quality scale. After doing a bit of research, I settled on the GlenDel Full Rut Buck.

I chose this target for two reasons. First, I’ve heard nothing but positive things about The Block targets. Second, I wanted a 3-D target as opposed to a simple square design to better simulate what I’ll be shooting at in the fall. The GlenDel Full Rut buck offers both of these options in one. The easy to remove and adjust insert is essentially a Block target covered with a light layer of foam, and the deer itself is fairly realistic.

The GlenDel Full Rut Buck is versatile and durible.

Arrow pulling is a dream with this target as I can easily remove my arrows with one hand. It seems durable, and I like that you can switch the insert around to shoot at four different vital locations based upon angles, tree stands, etc. It’s a little heavy, but that’s what you’d expect for a larger target. If you want a lighter one, you can go for the regular GlenDel Buck, which is basically the same but a bit smaller.

I would have given this target a five star rating, but I felt the retail price of $219.00 was a little high. Maybe if it was just $200 I would have rated it higher, but they always seem to squeeze that extra $20 out of you. I guess you have to pay for all of that advertising somehow. That being said, if you’re looking for a great target that will last you a few years, I feel confident recommending the GlenDel Full Rut Buck.

When I got to my second trail camera location on Sunday morning I saw that my Moultrie had 59 new images after only a week. I was sure that they would include at least a photo or two of a shooter buck given this location’s history of great photos. Quickly scanning through the photos on my Cuddeback field viewer, I saw at least one image of a good buck, and I was excited to get it back to the computer where I could see it more clearly.

Once home, I immediately scrolled to the big buck photo to get a better look. Would it be yet another shooter that I didn’t know about? Was it the Ponderosa Ghost? As the photo filled my screen, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Staring back at me was a stud of a buck with only the right side of his rack remaining. My immediate response was “not again!” After what I went through last year with the largest buck on the property ending up with only 50% of his headgear by late season (see previous post titled Getting the Itch), I couldn’t believe this was happening again.

My heart broke when I saw that this bruiser was missing the left side of his rack.

The good news is it isn’t the Ponderosa Ghost, and I’m not sure if I’ve seen this deer before or not. I have an earlier photo from mid August of a buck in velvet that it could be, but I can’t say with full certainty. Doing my best to find a bright side to this unfortunate sequel to “I Can’t Believe He’s a Half Rack – Part I,” this deer has a reasonable chance to make it to the 2009 season. Judging by his body size and already heavy rack, he has potential to rival the Ponderosa Ghost. I know that nobody on the property will shoot him in archery season, but the same can’t be said of my rifle carrying, blood thirsty neighbors. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Is this the same buck that I got a photo of in mid August?

So if it wasn’t enough that we just built our house and moved in at the beginning of May, I decided I needed to have my hunting room built in the basement in time for the archery season opener. Add to that the fact that I still have some staining to do on the house itself, you have a lot of unneeded stress this close to hunting season.

Framing took longer than expected, as well as way more lumber than I bargained for.

My delimma is this. I have a ton of hunting gear, everyhing from several camo outfits to tree stands to gun safes, etc. When we moved into the house, I really didn’t have a place to put all of my gear, and it ended up scattered around the house, with most of it ending up on the basement floor. I can count at least three piles of camo clothing throughout the house, and if I don’t find a suitable place for them soon, they may end up outside the house with me following shortly! The only option seemed to be rush construction of the hunting room, and that’s where I’m at now.

I opted for a rustic wood siding on two walls.

I’ve always wanted a room like this, so of course, you end up going a little overboard when you realize you’re probably only going to get one chance at this. I went from just hoping for four walls to decking the place out with wood, ceiling, flooring, scent-free closet, and even camo trim! In just a couple of weeks, my Dad and I finished the framing, wiring, and wall construction. Over the last couple of days, Angela has helped me with putting joint compound on the walls, among other things. I’m still not sure if we’ll make it in time, but I’m going to try like hell. I’ll post more about the hunting room as the project evolves.

Putting up the drywall.

Finishing the walls with a rough coat of joint compound.

Last year I spent the majority of my season hunting an exceptional 3 1/2 year old ten point that I first spotted just prior to the season. It wasn’t until very late October that I spotted him again across a large goldenrod field about 300 yards away. It was a chance encounter as I was returning from checking one of my trail cameras and saw him standing at the woodline. When he turned to run, I thought maybe he had lost half of his rack, but I wasn’t sure since it was a brief glimpse. I was hoping my eyes were deceiving me.

I waited all season before climbing into a stand location that I was reserving for just the right day. It rained most of the morning, but then quit about 10:00 a.m. Almost immediately I saw a nice 7-point climb the ridge behind me, obviously seeking out hot does. Then, about 10:20 a.m., I saw the huge-bodied buck working his way in my direction. I slowly turned to get into position, and it was then that I realized my worst fear was in fact reality. The buck was only sporting his left side, which sported five beautiful pearly white points. I had no choice but to let him pass, and hope that he’d survive until this season.

The Ponderosa Ghost

In mid July I got an e-mail from a soon to be neighbor describing a monster of a buck that he got on his trail camera, which was set up not more than 200 yards behind my house. He sent the photo my way and it was obvious. This was the buck I was after the previous year, and he grew even bigger. I was pumped when I saw the photo, and immediately got my cameras back into the woods hoping to get more photos, as well as some clues as to where he was hanging out. Just like the previous year, however, I have yet to get a single photo of the “Ponderosa Ghost.” Just yesterday I positioned yet another camera where I think he’s hanging out, so we’ll see what happens.

Apparently others know about the buck as well as I’ve been told that one of the neighbors also got a photo of him, and it’s now the talk of the town. Just what I needed. I think when the rut comes he’ll spend most of his time on my property as he did last year, but is that enough to hold out for the entire season for this one deer? That’s the decision I’ll struggle with from now until I have the opportunity to release that fateful arrow. With several 130 class deer around, it will be hard to wait for the 150+ inch Ponderosa Ghost. On thing is for sure. I’m looking forward to the challeng, and seeing how I respond when the good Lord puts me to the test!

Oh how the time flies! I think it finally hit me that the 2008 Pennsylvania archery season is less than two weeks away. It didn’t matter that for the past several weeks I’ve been positioning trail cameras around the property and getting quality buck photos, hitting area 3-D shoots, and even setting a couple of stands. It wasn’t any of these things that finally lit the fire.

This buck, who I named Crabby for the crab claw on his right side, is one of several mature bucks captured by my trail cameras.

Yesterday I made my usual Sunday morning run to check my trail cameras and when following along the ridgline to what has been my hottest camera location so far, I came across a freshly made scrape. It wasn’t particularly impressive, but it was enough to send my hunting senses into high gear. As I continued along the rough tram road to my camera, I passed a couple of other small scrapes and some fresh rubs.

This may be the earliest I’ve ever seen scrape activity, and I have a hunch I know why the pre rut is kicking off a little sooner than usual. I’ve captured no less the five mature bucks on camera thus far on my property, which is only a little under 200 acres. I theorize that there’s a little “sizing up” going on among the big boys, and competition for breeding rights is more intense than usual. This activity, along with my photos, is pointing toward an exciting season.

Now that I knew there was scraping and rubbing activity, I decided to check a draw that had three nice scrapes along it last year to see if the area had been revisited. I got photos of three different mature bucks using the scrapes, so I was anxious to see if they had been visited yet this year. Sure enough there were two sizable scrapes below last year’s licking branch. In addition, a 6″-8″ diameter tree was freshly rubbed adjacent to the scrape, and there was no doubt that one of the big guys was responsible. As I approached for a closer look, the unmistakable smell of dominant buck urine hit me like a freight train. It was that moment that finally ignited the spark, and made me mutter the words, “It’s on!” I immediately placed one of my cameras over the scrape with the hopes of catching the culprit on film over the next few days. We’ll see.

This nice 9-point was reopening a primary scrape on the morning of 9-19. The scrape has been there each year for at least the last eight years.

Upon returning home, I popped my memory card into the computer to check the few images that my field reader wouldn’t display. Two of the images were of a really nice 9-point reopening a primary scrape that’s been there for at least the last eight years. Things are starting to happen in the world of the whitetail, and that’s my signal to get my act together for what has the potential to be an unforgettable season.