Great update this morning from our friend Dean Weimer.
Things are looking good here in Indiana right now. I got reports that the south side of my buddy’s farm had 2 bucks fighting over a presumed hot doe Saturday a.m. by goose hunters that were out in the corn stubble on the farm. Then a buddy of mine who lives out in that same area saw a big mature “8 or 10 pointer” crossing into my buddy’s land at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The buck was alone and didn’t seem to be spooked.
I knew I had to go check it out. Yesterday afternoon I went out and threw up a blind in the fencerow very close to the woodlot in question. Sure enough, just after 6 p.m. a lone doe came out and began feeding in the alfalfa. Not long after a mature 8-pointer (big body, gray face, roman nose) showed up. A bit later 2 young bucks joined the party.
The doe fed for a bit but eventually laid down about 60 yards out in front of me. The big boy kept chasing off the younger 2 bucks. His rack wasn’t quite up to snuff so I just thought I’d enjoy the show. A bit later the little 8 meandered over to the woods towards a different fencerow and disappeared. By this time the other 3 were all bedded up in front of me. Based on what I’d heard, I think this breeding party had been going on for at least a day, maybe two.
Anyway, a bit later I saw a deer come out the woods where the little dude went in and assumed it was him coming back out. Wrong! I got the binos up to see a giant 8 with extremely tall tines come out. I thought for sure he’d see the others and come over to see what was up, but he didn’t. At that point I assumed that perhaps the older buck may have gotten the better of him in the couple days leading up to this encounter.
One cool thing: the doe literally fell asleep in the hay. I have never witnessed that before. She was flat tuckered out from all of the activity from the last 24-48 hours. It was cool. She put her head into her belly and conked out for a bit. Poor girl!
The 8 is a definite shooter. Maybe a 150-160 gross looking dude. There is a bigger 10 on the farm that I want more, but if the big 8 comes close again… I will take him without hesitation.
Hope everyone is having a ball out there. Good luck!—D.W
Let’s update the rut from across the country! Please comment below with the rut activity in your area or email me your rut info/photos at: mikehanback@yahoo.com
