My buddy Frankie just shot this 9-point buck in Fauquier County with a muzzleloader, deer “had a swollen neck and started to stink,” he said. Frankie saw several little bucks pushing does earlier in the morning. Getting multiple reports of small and medium-size bucks pushing/chasing, which indicates the peak chase for mature bucks is 7-10 days away.
Trail cameras were slow until yesterday, when bigger bucks started showing up at scrapes (night mostly). Five shooter bucks showed up this week on one farm I hunt, and I expect more.
Scraping phase in full swing now.