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One person I always talk to about the phases of the rut is my taxidermist. He says the lockdown phase really started 2 or 3 days ago and should last into sometime next week. I think taxidermist are very reliable with this type of information cause they talk to everybody.
I agree 100 percent that it is, the peak of the rut is always around the middle of November, which is when lock down occurs.
Agree too, guys I've been talking to aren't seeing anything, last wk oct first wk nov was good now lockdown, next wk into gun season should be good again
I have to disagree here in Ashtabula CO. a lot of hunters I talked to did not see any rut activity. now since the cold and snow hit yesterday and today all kinds of rutting going on and pics of bucks shot in the last 2 days. they are finally seeing bucks chasing here. no lock down here it is just getting exciting. more snow on Fri. and cold but partly sunny on Sat. there should be some bucks hitting the ground on Sat. one size does not fit all when it comes to the rut it depends on the area.
Here is another reason I say lockdown is not happening here where I am hunting. here is a few Pic's of a buck I call Big Boy by my swamp stand. of course he was there on Fri. when I was working.Attachment 10818Attachment 10819Attachment 10820
I saw a dozen deer yesterday morning. 11 does basically trying to hide from bucks. But the buck I killed was locked down with a doe. I had seen him with her the night before. They crossed the road and he had her holed up in a fencerow in standing corn.
I had a 6 pt walk by at 3:15, 8pt at 3:35pm and a 4pt walk by at 5:15. They're still moving! The 6 and 8 wouldn't stop for no reason - we know what they're thinking!!
I'm gonna say we're not in lockdown yet either. I just went and checked my cameras and I have a fair amount of pics/videos of different bucks and
does separate from each other. Granted I only have 2 good bucks (the 10 I've been watching all year and a new guy which is a another BIG 10) and all the others are smaller bucks. But several does eating corn without bucks in frame. Seems like this cold snap really got them on their feet. Hopefully something good happens soon, would really like to tag a buck before the orange army hits town!
I just spent 8 days in the Ross Co woods. Scraping activity just started booming there the 11th with Bucks seeking. They were just starting to chase when I left Sat. Rut seemed to be slightly later than I would have thought. Unfortunately I think they'll be locked down for the kids during the youth season this coming weekend.