Latest / Wired To Hunt Podcast / Ep. 323: Rut Fresh Radio 12/6/19

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Ep. 323: Rut Fresh Radio 12/6/19 · Wired To Hunt Podcast

0:02
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your home for
0:06
Speaker 1: deer hunting news, stories and strategies, and now your host,
0:11
Speaker 1: Mark Kenyon. Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast. I'm
0:17
Speaker 1: your host, Mark Kenyan, and this is episode number three
0:20
Speaker 1: and two, and today we're back with a late season
0:23
Speaker 1: edition of our Fresh Radio, getting you up today intel
0:26
Speaker 1: on current deer activity, how weather other conditions are impacting them,
0:30
Speaker 1: and what you can do right now to fill a tag.
0:42
Speaker 1: All right, welcome to this week's episode of Wired to
0:45
Speaker 1: Haunt's Fresh Radio. This is your host Spencer Anymore and
0:49
Speaker 1: we're without Mark Kenyon this week as he's in the
0:51
Speaker 1: field looking for Tran and I just got home from
0:55
Speaker 1: Nebraska after three days. They're hunting in the western part
0:58
Speaker 1: of the state. Ordinary really. During this part of the podcast,
1:01
Speaker 1: Mark and I would talk about some of our own
1:03
Speaker 1: observations that we've had while hunting, and while we can't
1:06
Speaker 1: get his input this week from Michigan, I can tell
1:09
Speaker 1: you what I was seeing in Nebraska. For starters, The
1:12
Speaker 1: conditions were really tough. The area just gat pounded with
1:16
Speaker 1: a big snowstorm and that seemed to move a lot
1:19
Speaker 1: of the deer from public lands down into the obvious
1:23
Speaker 1: places that had really good cover, really good food and water.
1:28
Speaker 1: On our first day there, Ryan Calahan and I walked
1:30
Speaker 1: seven miles and we're only able to glass at one
1:33
Speaker 1: mule deer dough. That was it. But what was telling
1:37
Speaker 1: was that when we left in our vehicle a few
1:39
Speaker 1: miles away, we drove by this little river bottom that
1:43
Speaker 1: was a cut corn field, and in that field there
1:46
Speaker 1: were probably fifty different white tails. As far as any
1:49
Speaker 1: secondary rot activity. The places that we did see deer
1:53
Speaker 1: these private land areas, UM, these urban areas like city
1:58
Speaker 1: parks that had deer hanging out there. The deer were
2:01
Speaker 1: so grouped up that there was just naturally some sort
2:05
Speaker 1: of running activity where these bucks would be pushing around doughs, um.
2:09
Speaker 1: But it didn't seem to the point where it would
2:12
Speaker 1: change the pattern of these deer or anything like that,
2:16
Speaker 1: or cause them to go on these really long walkabouts.
2:19
Speaker 1: But when you put that many deer in one area,
2:22
Speaker 1: there's just going to be some of that where the
2:25
Speaker 1: bucks are nosing around doughs and that kind of thing.
2:29
Speaker 1: So if I were putting tea, so if I were
2:32
Speaker 1: putting together at late season, plan to kill one, like
2:35
Speaker 1: I said, with the snow on the ground in a
2:37
Speaker 1: lot of the country. Just look for that obvious stuff,
2:40
Speaker 1: the food, the water, the shelter, and go from there.
2:43
Speaker 1: Use that snow to figure out where these deer entering
2:46
Speaker 1: and exit in the field, and get there plenty early
2:49
Speaker 1: in the evenings, because it seems like the dough and
2:51
Speaker 1: the fonds of the first ones to file in and
2:54
Speaker 1: usually right towards sunset, the bucks are the ones to follow.
2:58
Speaker 1: If you want more info like this, in a little
3:00
Speaker 1: bit more details on how to kill a buck late season,
3:03
Speaker 1: head over the media dot com. We're on our homepage
3:06
Speaker 1: right now if you're going to find a recent article
3:08
Speaker 1: from Mark Kenyon called the Late season Deer Hunting Guide
3:11
Speaker 1: to Success, where Mark talks about what you need to
3:14
Speaker 1: know and what you need to do to pull off
3:17
Speaker 1: a successful mature buck hunt this time of year. Besides
3:21
Speaker 1: my report from Nebraska, this week, we're going to hear
3:23
Speaker 1: from Joe Call from Minnesota Rack Stars in Minnesota. Did
3:27
Speaker 1: we go to Alabama and talk to Andrew Maxwell from
3:29
Speaker 1: the Southern Outdoorsman podcast, and then in Pennsylvania from East
3:33
Speaker 1: meets West Hunt podcast, we talked to Beau Martinic and
3:36
Speaker 1: then we go to Missouri and talk to Kolby Bailey
3:38
Speaker 1: from Commit Outdoors. All right, and with that, let's get
3:42
Speaker 1: to the first collar alright, and joining us on the
3:45
Speaker 1: line next is Joe Call from Minnesota. Rack Stars in Minnesota. Now,
3:49
Speaker 1: Joe in Minnesota, what would you say the buck activity
3:51
Speaker 1: has been lately on a scale of one to ten,
3:54
Speaker 1: I would say probably around three, just because our firearms
3:59
Speaker 1: season just ended here not too long ago. Um, you know,
4:04
Speaker 1: the deer a little more skittish right now, a little
4:07
Speaker 1: more cautious. But you know that second rut is occurring
4:11
Speaker 1: right now, so I mean there's that opportunity to catch
4:13
Speaker 1: that buck cruising and uh yeah, I would just say
4:17
Speaker 1: things things tighten up a little bit once firearms season
4:20
Speaker 1: ends around here. But uh, you know, we we have
4:22
Speaker 1: been seeing some deer moving around, that's for sure. You
4:25
Speaker 1: mentioned the secondary rut there. How do you think this
4:28
Speaker 1: season is going to be for a secondary rut in Minnesota?
4:31
Speaker 1: And what's your strategy for killing one of those deer?
4:34
Speaker 1: You know, I think it's gonna be all right. We
4:35
Speaker 1: actually had a decent buck show up on camera that
4:38
Speaker 1: we haven't seen all years. So that's a good indicator
4:43
Speaker 1: that these bucks are really starting to move around trying
4:45
Speaker 1: to find those last doors. Um, but I think overall
4:49
Speaker 1: it's gonna be fairly decent. We just got dumped on
4:51
Speaker 1: here with a lot of snow. We're starting to see
4:54
Speaker 1: exactly where these deer traveling. So that's that's kind of nice. Uh.
4:58
Speaker 1: You know, you can run to all cameras all you want,
5:01
Speaker 1: but if you're you know, ten fifteen yards off, you're
5:04
Speaker 1: not gonna get those deer on camera. But once you
5:06
Speaker 1: hop out in the snow and out in the woods
5:08
Speaker 1: and you start seeing these tracks, you kind of have
5:10
Speaker 1: an idea of where these deer traveling. But I would
5:12
Speaker 1: say a second secondary rut here is is gonna be
5:15
Speaker 1: pretty good just because whether it's a lot cooler, those
5:18
Speaker 1: deer gonna be moving a lot more. And then also
5:20
Speaker 1: with the snow, uh, they're limited where those food sources are,
5:23
Speaker 1: so a lot of things are adding up for a
5:25
Speaker 1: pretty good secondary rut here in Minnesota. You mentioned that
5:29
Speaker 1: you've been seeing some new deer on your trail cameras.
5:31
Speaker 1: What is your trail cam strategy this time of year?
5:34
Speaker 1: They don't find those trails where we're seeing deer tracks
5:37
Speaker 1: and and get the cameras on there. Also, food sources
5:40
Speaker 1: are big right now. We have you know throughout the state.
5:43
Speaker 1: I know up north, they they end up getting close
5:46
Speaker 1: to twenty inches of snow up there around where we're at.
5:50
Speaker 1: We probably ended up with the foot so you know,
5:53
Speaker 1: instead of you know, digging around the snow for acorns
5:55
Speaker 1: and stuff, these deer hitting acorn or the uh the
5:58
Speaker 1: corn fields and also the bean fields, alfa alfa fields.
6:02
Speaker 1: So I think, uh, you know, those those field edges
6:06
Speaker 1: are a great spot to have trail cameras set up.
6:09
Speaker 1: But then also those those heavy trails that you're seeing
6:11
Speaker 1: in the snow. You mentioned food sources there. What other
6:14
Speaker 1: food sources should hunters be focused on in Minnesota? Um,
6:18
Speaker 1: anything that's standing, you know, you know, harvest fields, they're
6:22
Speaker 1: they're still attracting, but anything that's standing with the deep snow,
6:26
Speaker 1: it's gonna be easier for those deer to access, you know,
6:29
Speaker 1: if it's a standing corn field. UM, I think those
6:31
Speaker 1: are great spots right now, standing beans. I know a
6:35
Speaker 1: lot of farmers did not get in their fields to
6:37
Speaker 1: harvest because it was such a wet fall. Um. You know,
6:40
Speaker 1: anything that's standing is that I think it's gonna be
6:42
Speaker 1: a great attraction for for deer this winter. You mentioned
6:46
Speaker 1: the recent snowstorm that Minnesota just got. How does that
6:49
Speaker 1: change things for you? You know, just the travel routes
6:52
Speaker 1: are are totally different now. The ditches are are filled
6:55
Speaker 1: up completely with snow. And you know, these deer aren't
6:59
Speaker 1: just roaming around anymore. They're gonna stay on trails. They're
7:02
Speaker 1: gonna go where there's less snow. I know, in my yard,
7:04
Speaker 1: I have a trail going through my yard now because
7:06
Speaker 1: there's less snow in my yard. But um, you know,
7:09
Speaker 1: just try to find those pinch points with the snow now,
7:12
Speaker 1: I guess, and and try to get on them. Um
7:15
Speaker 1: what what has made it difficult overall? As But you
7:19
Speaker 1: know after rifle season, uh, you know, those deer get
7:22
Speaker 1: a little more cautious. I had a buck come in,
7:25
Speaker 1: a young buck come in a week before rifle season,
7:29
Speaker 1: and he walked right over my track, no problem. And
7:33
Speaker 1: then I end up going out the weekend after rifle
7:36
Speaker 1: season and that same buck came through and he caught
7:39
Speaker 1: my track and you know, it was very alert right
7:43
Speaker 1: after he caught that. So these deer are a lot
7:45
Speaker 1: more cautious now they're moving just after you know, sunset.
7:50
Speaker 1: So it makes it a little more difficult, but it
7:52
Speaker 1: makes it more of a challenge, and that's what makes
7:53
Speaker 1: it fun. Do you notice a change in betting come
7:56
Speaker 1: December in Minnesota, No doubt. Um. You know they're gonna
8:00
Speaker 1: go where there's good thermal cover, whether it's cat tails
8:04
Speaker 1: or pine trees are a good source of cover. Come
8:08
Speaker 1: you know, December and January. Uh, we're supposed to be
8:11
Speaker 1: getting a really hard cold front coming through here pretty quick,
8:16
Speaker 1: so those are great areas to key in on. Uh.
8:18
Speaker 1: You're gonna start seeing a shift in their in their patterns,
8:21
Speaker 1: that's for sure, just because of the snow in the
8:24
Speaker 1: cold going forward. Then in the sex week or so,
8:27
Speaker 1: what do you think that buck activity is going to
8:29
Speaker 1: be on a scale of one to tend in Minnesota?
8:32
Speaker 1: I would say it's probably gonna be the same butt
8:34
Speaker 1: around the three or four. Uh. You know, like I said,
8:38
Speaker 1: it's it's getting more difficult now, but there's still gonna
8:41
Speaker 1: be some some bucks moving around yet looking for those
8:44
Speaker 1: last available dose. Uh. And and that's what makes it
8:47
Speaker 1: so rewarding taking a deer this time of year, because
8:51
Speaker 1: you're faced with more adversity and then when you're able
8:53
Speaker 1: to overcome that, it makes it really rewarding. All Right, Joe,
8:56
Speaker 1: good luck to you and everyone else from Minnesota Rack Stars,
8:59
Speaker 1: thanks for jo to me. Sound's good thing. Spencer alright
9:03
Speaker 1: and joining us on the line. Next is Andrew Maxwell
9:05
Speaker 1: and Alabama from the Southern Outdoorsman podcast. Now, Andrew in Alabama,
9:09
Speaker 1: what would you say the bucket activity has been lately
9:12
Speaker 1: on a scale of one to ten. I'm gonna go
9:15
Speaker 1: ahead and go with probably like a six, maybe a seven. Um.
9:19
Speaker 1: The reason I say that is because in my particular area,
9:22
Speaker 1: we're just now kind of teetering on the edge of
9:24
Speaker 1: rutt and I've been doing a little pre rut hunting lately,
9:28
Speaker 1: and um, I have. I've had a few encounters, but
9:31
Speaker 1: a couple of friends of mine have actually already had
9:33
Speaker 1: success and killed some bucks and talking to them about
9:36
Speaker 1: how they did it. Um, it was mainly killing them
9:38
Speaker 1: in the betting areas. UM. So the deer really aren't,
9:41
Speaker 1: you know, cruising out in daylight a whole bunch, you know,
9:44
Speaker 1: like they would be probably later in this week, but um,
9:47
Speaker 1: but they're definitely there to be having They're running a
9:49
Speaker 1: lot of scrapes right now is for is what we've seen.
9:53
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean i'd put it like a six.
9:55
Speaker 1: How about the rest of Alabama. What phase of the
9:57
Speaker 1: rought the other parts of the state in right now? Um,
10:02
Speaker 1: the vast majority of Alabama right now is pretty far
10:04
Speaker 1: out from the rut. You have pockets here and there,
10:07
Speaker 1: which my particular area I'm talking about, like kind of
10:09
Speaker 1: bib County area Alabama, kind of central Alabama. Uh, we
10:13
Speaker 1: have a rut that comes in mid December. The majority
10:16
Speaker 1: of Alabama has kind of a mid January rut, and
10:19
Speaker 1: you have other parts of Alabama that have a February rut.
10:22
Speaker 1: So I mean we're very strung out, um, and I
10:25
Speaker 1: would say that the majority of guys are still not
10:27
Speaker 1: even in pre rut yet in the part of the
10:29
Speaker 1: state that you're hunting that's currently in pre ruts. Are
10:32
Speaker 1: you hunting mornings at this point? Oh yeah, for sure. Um,
10:37
Speaker 1: we're definitely getting aggressive with it this time of year,
10:39
Speaker 1: especially because rifle season has already kicked in. And while
10:42
Speaker 1: on a lot of these w mays you can't rifle
10:45
Speaker 1: hunt every day, you can rifle hunt on the weekends,
10:48
Speaker 1: which is when we typically get to get out. So
10:50
Speaker 1: our strategy has been, you know, go in in the
10:53
Speaker 1: mornings and just try and get in really early and
10:56
Speaker 1: watch over some thick cover. Um, not necessarily hunting any
10:59
Speaker 1: kind of food sources or anything. Mainly hunting travel corridors
11:03
Speaker 1: right on the edge of bedding areas, or if we can,
11:06
Speaker 1: we'll get up like in a tree overlooking a bedding
11:09
Speaker 1: area where we can see down into it. Hunters who
11:11
Speaker 1: are looking for food sources, what kind of areas should
11:14
Speaker 1: they be focused on right now? Um, If you have
11:17
Speaker 1: water oaks in your area, those are always a really
11:20
Speaker 1: good choice right now. Um. Our white oaks are mainly
11:23
Speaker 1: dried up at this point. There's just not many of
11:25
Speaker 1: them go around. Of course, your red oaks are gonna
11:27
Speaker 1: be good, so maybe some higher elevations if you got them. Um,
11:31
Speaker 1: if you've got big hills, you know, try and get
11:33
Speaker 1: up on those hills find those red oaks. If you've
11:35
Speaker 1: got swamp lands, I would walk the swamps until you
11:38
Speaker 1: find some water oaks, because they're really hammering water oaks
11:41
Speaker 1: right now too. Outside of that, I would definitely recommend
11:44
Speaker 1: trying to find some kind of greenery within some good
11:47
Speaker 1: cover or in like very close proximity to it. When
11:50
Speaker 1: I say greenery, I mean greenbrier, honeysuckle, or really any
11:54
Speaker 1: other kind of fine that, uh, that that stands out
11:58
Speaker 1: right now is being green. I mean one thing that
12:00
Speaker 1: we talked about with people who were bringing out the
12:03
Speaker 1: hunt with us for Like, man, when I when I
12:04
Speaker 1: find a thick area and it's just got all kinds
12:06
Speaker 1: of vines and everything hanging down in it, and I
12:08
Speaker 1: can see green in there, even though it's mid December,
12:11
Speaker 1: you know that's gonna be a good area because there's
12:13
Speaker 1: typically gonna be a lot of deer hammering that green stuff,
12:15
Speaker 1: even though there are still acorns out there. They really
12:18
Speaker 1: hammer that green stuff hard. Are you seeing much for
12:20
Speaker 1: signmaking at this point and how does that factory into
12:23
Speaker 1: your decision making for a haunt? Yeah, we're seeing a
12:26
Speaker 1: ton of fine making right now, Like this is probably
12:28
Speaker 1: peak time making. You know, there's great every logging road's
12:31
Speaker 1: got scrapes going down it. Uh, there's just rubs popping
12:34
Speaker 1: up all over the place. So we're not necessarily hunting
12:38
Speaker 1: based off that. I mean, it's a confidence thing. If
12:41
Speaker 1: you see that's there, and I mean if it's just
12:43
Speaker 1: screaming red hot, then then we're definitely gonna hunt in
12:46
Speaker 1: the area, but really with with scrapes and rubs at
12:49
Speaker 1: this point, if we don't look at it and think
12:51
Speaker 1: it was made, you know, within the last twenty four hours,
12:55
Speaker 1: we almost don't pay attention to it. Um. So, I mean,
12:58
Speaker 1: it's it's nice to know it's there, but it's not
13:00
Speaker 1: really making a decision for us. Are you using any
13:03
Speaker 1: aggressive tactics like calling or decoying at this point? We
13:07
Speaker 1: have been calling a little bit, um, doing a little
13:09
Speaker 1: bit of rattling. I haven't had any success with it yet.
13:12
Speaker 1: But again, a couple of other guys that I hunt with,
13:14
Speaker 1: they've been rattling and they've had a little bit of success. Um.
13:18
Speaker 1: But really, it just it doesn't seem like it's it's
13:20
Speaker 1: worked that well for any of us down here just yet.
13:22
Speaker 1: I don't know if the timing is off for our
13:25
Speaker 1: setups just aren't good. But uh, as far as Colin,
13:28
Speaker 1: we haven't done a whole lot of it and we
13:29
Speaker 1: haven't seen a lot of success with it so far.
13:32
Speaker 1: If you're currently in pre rut, when do you expect
13:34
Speaker 1: to start seeing some seeking and chasing. I think that
13:37
Speaker 1: by the end of this week we're gonna see some chasing.
13:39
Speaker 1: I mean, we're, like I said earlier, we're right on
13:42
Speaker 1: the edge of it. It should blow wide open here
13:44
Speaker 1: pretty quick. UM. I killed my buck last year on
13:47
Speaker 1: December fourteenth, and which is this coming Saturday, will be
13:50
Speaker 1: a year ago, and he was out actually killed him
13:53
Speaker 1: in a betting area and he was pushing through that
13:55
Speaker 1: betting area chasing a dough. UM. So I fully expect
13:58
Speaker 1: it should be that way again this year. I mean
14:00
Speaker 1: pretty much every year around the tenths to like the eighteenth,
14:05
Speaker 1: it's just wide open in this area. UM. And you know,
14:09
Speaker 1: weather conditions might have an impact on that. UM. You know,
14:12
Speaker 1: people say like the rut happens sooner or later, but
14:16
Speaker 1: the breeding dates are always pretty much the same. So
14:18
Speaker 1: you know, you know they're out there chasing and doing
14:20
Speaker 1: their thing. You know, it's just a matter of if
14:22
Speaker 1: you're in the right spot or not. Going forward. Then
14:24
Speaker 1: in the six week or so, what do you expect
14:26
Speaker 1: that bugget two need to be on a scale of
14:28
Speaker 1: one to tend in Alabama. I'm gonna go with like
14:31
Speaker 1: an eight or nine, because again, you know, the weather
14:34
Speaker 1: conditions this weekend aren't all that fantastic. We're looking at
14:37
Speaker 1: like probably highs in the mid sixties, UM and kind
14:41
Speaker 1: of rainy. But again, like I said, the breeding dates
14:44
Speaker 1: are consistent year to year, so you know that that
14:46
Speaker 1: there has to be out there doing their things somewhere.
14:49
Speaker 1: It's just a matter of if we're on top of
14:51
Speaker 1: them or not. So I think the buck movement's gonna
14:53
Speaker 1: be there, but whether or not we can capitalize on
14:56
Speaker 1: it's definitely gonna depend if we can push into the
14:58
Speaker 1: right areas. Right, Andrew, Well, I'm jealous at the best
15:01
Speaker 1: rudd hunting still ahead of you. Good luck and thanks
15:03
Speaker 1: for joining me. Appreciate his spencer alright and joining us
15:08
Speaker 1: on the line. Next is Colby Bailey and Missouri from
15:11
Speaker 1: Commit Outdoors. Now Colby and Missouri, what would you say
15:14
Speaker 1: the buck activity has been lately on a scale of
15:16
Speaker 1: one to ten. Uh. Lately, I would say probably at
15:20
Speaker 1: a four to five. In the last week or so,
15:22
Speaker 1: it is dramatically dropped. UM. Any cell cam activity that
15:27
Speaker 1: we've had has been mainly after dark. Uh. I was
15:31
Speaker 1: lucky enough to harvest my first book or my second book,
15:35
Speaker 1: I guess of the season um during a rifle season,
15:38
Speaker 1: but that was November nineteen and I think I was
15:42
Speaker 1: lucky enough to catch kind of a late cruiser that
15:44
Speaker 1: had been bouncing around, I think, from betting area to
15:48
Speaker 1: betting area, and I was happy just to be set
15:51
Speaker 1: up outside of a small, small little betting area that
15:56
Speaker 1: was pretty pretty wolley as far as uh cover goes. UM,
16:02
Speaker 1: And yeah, I got lucky enough to uh slip one
16:05
Speaker 1: on him. You just mentioned the intel that you've got
16:08
Speaker 1: from your cell cameras. Where are you running your trail
16:10
Speaker 1: cameras late season? Um? I have kind of moved them
16:14
Speaker 1: around as far as uh as the season has progressed. UM.
16:20
Speaker 1: Early season, I had them kind of on my food
16:22
Speaker 1: sources and travel corridors. Um. Midway through to the cameras
16:27
Speaker 1: that I could access pretty easily, I kind of moved
16:30
Speaker 1: more towards the betting areas and outside of betting areas
16:34
Speaker 1: that I could check relatively easy. UM. And then I
16:38
Speaker 1: have kind of moved him more towards the food sources
16:42
Speaker 1: here lately. UM. I'm still I've got a couple on
16:46
Speaker 1: the travel corridors, but it's it's been pretty interesting, I
16:50
Speaker 1: guess to see the dramatic decrease of activity on the
16:53
Speaker 1: cameras and kind of correlate two and two together as
16:56
Speaker 1: far as how the season's progressed and how the rests
16:59
Speaker 1: went on, What food sources should hunter as the Missouri
17:02
Speaker 1: be focused on right now? Um, there is still a
17:08
Speaker 1: lot of corn and beans out um that are still
17:13
Speaker 1: that the farmers haven't been able to get out yet. Um.
17:15
Speaker 1: There's it's actually been pretty pretty tough to uh to
17:20
Speaker 1: hunt any food sources here in Missouri, really really Um.
17:25
Speaker 1: Like I said, it's been I think, really wet for
17:26
Speaker 1: the farmers to get in and get some of those
17:28
Speaker 1: crops picked. So if a person could um sit on
17:33
Speaker 1: some bean fields or agg fields as far as that
17:35
Speaker 1: goes corn obviously makes it a a little tough to seem
17:37
Speaker 1: thing in, but you might catch something sneaking in and out.
17:42
Speaker 1: Is the gun pressure significant enough in Missouri that you
17:44
Speaker 1: notice a shift in buck movement this time of year? Yeah,
17:49
Speaker 1: that's we mainly in north central Missouri where I'm located at. Uh,
17:54
Speaker 1: there's not too many farmers that have any large parcels. Um.
17:59
Speaker 1: I know of a few people that have, you know,
18:01
Speaker 1: three acres, but um, I mainly hunt small fifty eight
18:07
Speaker 1: acre parcels, and it seems like if you can let
18:12
Speaker 1: them lay low and kind of stay out to the
18:15
Speaker 1: best times of the season. UM. I think that has
18:18
Speaker 1: definitely helped in our scenario. Is just not pressure spots
18:22
Speaker 1: that we want to go into UM and kind of
18:25
Speaker 1: let everybody else put their pressure on them and have
18:29
Speaker 1: kind of a sanctuary more or less form when time
18:31
Speaker 1: does come. Do you notice a change in betting this
18:34
Speaker 1: time of year? Yes, Actually we uh. One of the
18:38
Speaker 1: properties that I hunt is basically a CRP grass tall
18:43
Speaker 1: grassy area, UM and as the season progresses, m I
18:50
Speaker 1: have twice actually this year we uh kicked up a
18:55
Speaker 1: solid with your buck with a dough right out in
18:59
Speaker 1: the middle of the CRP grass. So as the season
19:03
Speaker 1: progressed from early season where they wanted to be in
19:06
Speaker 1: in the cover, they've kind of ease their way out
19:10
Speaker 1: and they are in the open I guess a little
19:13
Speaker 1: bit more. But they're locked tight when we have found them.
19:16
Speaker 1: And so I think the bucks are just following the
19:18
Speaker 1: dose and wherever they want to cruise to. They're just
19:21
Speaker 1: tagging along going forward. Then a sex week or so,
19:24
Speaker 1: what do you think that bucket activity is going to
19:26
Speaker 1: be On a scale of one to tendon Missouri um
19:29
Speaker 1: from a week ago, it is dramatically decreased in my
19:34
Speaker 1: nuck of the woods. Um, like I said, from the
19:36
Speaker 1: trail cameras and the pressure the weeds put on them.
19:39
Speaker 1: As as as far as like rifle season and postseason
19:43
Speaker 1: starting back up, I would say, if you're lucky, you
19:47
Speaker 1: might be a five. I would say in most areas,
19:50
Speaker 1: probably a four three area. All right, Colby, well good
19:53
Speaker 1: luck to you and everyone else from Commit Outdoors. Thanks
19:55
Speaker 1: for joining me since I appreciate you man. You guys
19:58
Speaker 1: have a good one and good luck this season, alright
20:00
Speaker 1: and joining us on the line. Last it's Bow Mortonic
20:03
Speaker 1: from the East Meat West Hunt podcast in Pennsylvania. Now
20:06
Speaker 1: Bow in Pennsylvania. What would you say the buck activity
20:09
Speaker 1: has been lately on a scale of one to ten.
20:12
Speaker 1: On a scale one to ten, I would say that
20:14
Speaker 1: the buck activity has been around a four lately, and
20:18
Speaker 1: most of that is due to rifle season. So gun
20:21
Speaker 1: season came in last weekend and a lot more pressure
20:25
Speaker 1: has been added to the woods. So I think that's
20:27
Speaker 1: been one of the key factors into the lower number.
20:31
Speaker 1: As a public land hunter, how do you adjust for
20:33
Speaker 1: that rifle hunting pressure? Honestly, it's at the beginning of
20:37
Speaker 1: the season, it's more or less trying to get to
20:40
Speaker 1: a place that you think that the deer are going
20:41
Speaker 1: to be pushed to and you know, using the hunters
20:44
Speaker 1: to your advantage. As we get later into the rifle
20:47
Speaker 1: season here, trying to find some of those those honey
20:50
Speaker 1: hooles that they're you know, you're getting thermal cover from
20:53
Speaker 1: the pressure as well as the snow and the storms,
20:57
Speaker 1: so getting back in the hemlocks pine ease and you know,
21:01
Speaker 1: kind of keying in on some logging cuts. In the first,
21:05
Speaker 1: first and last light, he talked about finding those honey
21:09
Speaker 1: hooles on public land, described me what that looks like,
21:11
Speaker 1: what you're looking for as far as betting, food sources, traveling,
21:15
Speaker 1: all that stuff. So usually it's more of an overlooked
21:19
Speaker 1: area than anything. It doesn't necessarily have to be you know,
21:23
Speaker 1: far back in the woods or anything, but usually thick
21:26
Speaker 1: cover and and terrain features that kind of keep people
21:30
Speaker 1: from going in. There might be a steep valley on
21:33
Speaker 1: each side that can be real thick with hemlocks rocks
21:38
Speaker 1: and um old clear cuts. Anything like that is what
21:41
Speaker 1: I'm looking for because even with the gun pressure and
21:44
Speaker 1: people walking through it, they can hunker down and hide.
21:47
Speaker 1: Unless you step right on top of them, They're not
21:48
Speaker 1: going to move. What are some of the primary food
21:51
Speaker 1: sources that hunters and Pennsylvania should be focused on right now?
21:55
Speaker 1: Right now? I mean, I think with the cold weather
21:58
Speaker 1: coming in here and everything, a fresh logging cut is
22:02
Speaker 1: about as good as it's gonna get with the tops
22:05
Speaker 1: laying down, and basically that the deer around here are
22:09
Speaker 1: browsers for the most part, so they're gonna feed on
22:11
Speaker 1: those tops and BlackBerry briars, any sort of um twigs
22:17
Speaker 1: that are coming up in those areas. So that's where
22:19
Speaker 1: the most of the food sources. Acorns are a little
22:22
Speaker 1: bit tough um just because usually those areas are a
22:25
Speaker 1: little bit more open woods and the deer aren't coming
22:29
Speaker 1: out in that in the daylight right now. With the pressure,
22:32
Speaker 1: sometimes this time of year, hunters can see some secondary
22:34
Speaker 1: rout activity. Is that something that you normally observe in
22:37
Speaker 1: Pennsylvania or do you not count on that with your hunts?
22:40
Speaker 1: I don't count on it, but I definitely see it
22:43
Speaker 1: a little bit. Last year this time of year, I
22:45
Speaker 1: was able to call in my buck that was bumping
22:48
Speaker 1: around a dough at the beginning of December, and actually
22:51
Speaker 1: just today I received a photo from my cell camera
22:54
Speaker 1: of black work and a scrape pretty good here like
22:58
Speaker 1: at noons. So it's, uh, there's definitely some of that
23:02
Speaker 1: that goes on, but I don't really count on it.
23:05
Speaker 1: You mentioned the trail camera there where your trail cameras
23:07
Speaker 1: focus this time of year, and is that different than
23:10
Speaker 1: where you've had them in November and October. So I
23:13
Speaker 1: don't run a whole lot of trail cameras this time
23:15
Speaker 1: a year, just from the standpoint of worrying about them
23:17
Speaker 1: getting stolen. But for the most part, I'm keeping them
23:21
Speaker 1: on food sources as an entry and exit going into
23:24
Speaker 1: logging cuts as well as I'm still running some on
23:28
Speaker 1: scrapes because they'll they seem they've still work those licking
23:31
Speaker 1: branches all the way through January. How did this reason
23:33
Speaker 1: snowstorm change things for you guys in Pennsylvania? It definitely
23:37
Speaker 1: seemed like the deer hunker down a little bit um,
23:40
Speaker 1: you know, during and after the storm, But leading up
23:45
Speaker 1: to it, there was a lot of deer movement um
23:48
Speaker 1: just before dark and I think in the next few
23:51
Speaker 1: days that it could be a really good um for
23:54
Speaker 1: that movement and they're gonna be up on their feet.
23:57
Speaker 1: Wanted to feed a little bit going forward. Then in
23:59
Speaker 1: the sinks week or so, what do you think that
24:01
Speaker 1: bucket activity is going to be on a scale of
24:03
Speaker 1: one to ten in Pennsylvania. I'm still gonna say probably
24:07
Speaker 1: no higher than the six. And the reason I say
24:09
Speaker 1: that is because of still they're a little bit afraid
24:13
Speaker 1: from the hunting pressure that they've had with with the
24:15
Speaker 1: weekend coming up and everything else, it's still gonna be uh,
24:19
Speaker 1: it's still they're gonna be hunkered down a little bit more,
24:22
Speaker 1: but with some cold weather coming in and a little
24:25
Speaker 1: bit less pressure, they still might be moving more than normal. Alright,
24:30
Speaker 1: BO would look forward to following your ventures on East
24:32
Speaker 1: meets West. Thanks for joining me in good luck. Thanks Spencer. Alright,
24:37
Speaker 1: that concludes this week's episode of a rut Fresh Radio.
24:41
Speaker 1: Thanks to Joe, Andrew Colby and Bo for joining me,
24:44
Speaker 1: and thank you guys for listening. As they say, the
24:47
Speaker 1: late season is the great season. So I hope everyone
24:49
Speaker 1: gets out there for some December whitetail hunting. We'll talk
24:52
Speaker 1: to you next week, but until then, stay weired to hunt.