May not find the trophies but their there

Buck Fight!

I got to my stand about three this afternoon, kicked two deer out on the way in. My still-hunting skills aren’t what they once were.

No sooner did I get settled in, was just putting my gloves on, when I saw a deer about eighty yards out. I eased the M70 up and scoped the head, it’s a buck. I see a second deer, it’s also a buck! I crank the scope up to 9X and examine both their heads. Both are four-points and, even trying as hard as I was, I couldn’t locate a third point on any of the four antlers which would have made either deer legal.

They face off and walk towards each other and ever so gently put their heads together and start a friendly shoving match. This continued and intensified over the next hour. The “ring” seemed to be centered on a small creek and they never went more than fifty feet from it. At least a dozen times they were both standing in the creek sparring.

They’d slowly butt heads then start twisting each other’s heads and necks and shoving downward. At one point one of them actually dunked the others face under the water of the creek!

As the match intensified they’d lock up and drive hard with their back legs, shoving each other back and forth while trying to twist each other off-balance or pin the other’s head down.

Every couple of minutes they’d break apart and stand looking at each other before reengaging. At first these breaks only lasted 20-30 seconds but became longer as the deer tired. Towards the end the breaks were several minutes long.

Even though they were eighty yards away, I could hear the antlers clicking pretty clearly.

They were pretty evenly matched but one was slightly smaller in body and rack. Towards the end of the match he would break and dash off ten or fifteen feet before reengaging or being reengaged.

After an hour and ten minutes, the smaller one simply walked off after the last engagement. The victor, who was again standing in the creek, watched him go then took a long drink of creek water. He climbed the low bank out of the creek and took a healthy dump before browsing his way out of sight down the swamp.

The whole time I kept scanning the area around me hoping the ruckus they were making would bring in a bigger buck, like the ice eight-point I saw several times during archery. Or at least a doe…

Some great bucks.

I’m hunting private land(family). Public land is pretty abundant. Can be lots of pressure in rifle season especially, but there are good bucks. you’re gonna put in some time and may spend a whole day or days chasing a ghost. Any buck 3.5 or older can be pretty wise here on public land, but he’s still gotta eat, drink, and spread his genes. Pre scouting is crucial. Group hunting drives through the thickest, nastiest laurel, north faces, or high ridges has always been an effective way to get some really nice deer. Lots of deer here, some places are thick with deer, mainly depends on food or pressure.

my legs are sore and never caught up with mr black butt.but he headed the right way before dark.hunting from my house to a buddies 2 miles downstream with a small group.none of it hunted yet,slow two man pushes to 2 guys.

Lugnut,been a big ten bedded across the river from your carp spot.the guy downstream with the new cows is my buddy and we are gonna hunt down one side and back up the other.he was shocked when i made 2 phone calls and got us the do whatever you want from the other landowners.

I’m back in the saddle again headed out to my ladder stand in a few minutes

i was just realizin i'm the only one without a deer tag and will be walkin full time.

Good luck, maybe you'll see a bear today. It's nice to have permissions, especially the "do whatever you want" kind!

It's more shop work for me this morning then another afternoon hunt until quitting time.

I'll be out all day tomorrow.

the water is over the road going down back and that bear swam across just below the 2 rivers twice yesterday.if i had sat where i first saw his track,i coulda killed him and on my own property.him and other bear may be around on this stretch today.

Not much shootin today I’m about ready to head back to the shack and cuddle up to that nice warm cook stove and take a snooze lol

its pouring here and actually quite a bit of shootin for no doe.

on break figurin out the weather now.5 doe and 37 turkeys in the cornfield not smart enough to get in out of the rain.

whats everyones opinion on where the rut is??seem to really be chasin here but maybe its just my imagination.

Seen a 8 point chasing 6 doe last nite and last weekend up md seen a 8 pointer chasing 4 doe.

A young family friend shot a big 10 Wednesday right after he watched him breed a doe

Big gang on the mountain this morning, i assume driving for Bear/Deer. Didn't run anything past me....

Tomorrow will be hopping with Doe season starting so i'll be there again.

i been practicing my doe huntin while lookin for bear tracks this morning.

I don't have a doe tag so i'll be horn hunting. I have a muzzleloader stamp so if i don't connect, i can use my buck tag then.

Seen 11 doe today and 1 tail. 2 bears were spotted tearing everybody’s garbage apart last night. 175 lbs they guestemated. I still got my bear tag. I’m guessing it’s in till tomorrow

Still-hunted my way to my stand at the head of the swamp this afternoon, the one where I saw the buck fight last evening. About an hour after I got there I saw two deer moving in the thick stuff. One of them, a yearling, takes off at top speed. I'm wondering what spooked it. The other one, a bigger deer I'm assuming was it's mother, stayed in the area, milling around in the thick stuff.

Turns out the yearling wasn't spooked at all, it was just burning off excess energy.It did a big circle at full speed, came back to it's starting point then started on a second lap. I didn't see it after that. I could see the doe moving away towards where the yearling had been headed. She was on a trail that leads to another one of my stands farther down the swamp.

I've seen them doing this before on several occasions. Always in the overgrown field I watch. They usually start by kicking up their heels then just go flat out at a dead run in big circles. I've also seen them do false charges at the adult deer. My guess is they are trying to get them to play. The adults just ignore them.