The weather and the autumn color has been spectacular! I went for a walk the other morning as the sun was rising, attempting to break through the ground fog. The wind was still, the sun was lighting up the colorful trees, and the temp was perfect at 53. I think God out did himself that morning. I could hardly contain myself!
As for the bucks, they started tending scrapes Oct. 2, or very late on Oct. 1. I checked cameras at two properties with bucks at both properties becoming active with scrape activity at exactly the same time. Funny how that works! We’ve seen bigger bucks than what’s on camera so far….. and have heard our friends typical reports for this time of year, “12 pointer with 2 foot sprerad”. I’m fairly certain we’ll be getting some of these Super Star western WI trophy bucks on camera soon. That’s been the norm for our monster bucks, 12 or 14 points scoring in the 170 to 180 range.
By the way, stopped by the local tavern a couple days back, and they showed us photos of a 32 pointer that was shot nearby last year. The 32 point buck scored around 210. While we haven’t seen a 32 pointer on our property, 16, 18, 24, and now 32 pointers have been taken within a few miles of us over the past 5 years. So, don’t freak out (easier said than done, I know) when a huge basket comes walking through the woods looking like an abnormality he’s so huge. No kidding, it’s happened here at Turtle Creek Outfitters. When a trophy buck ran out of the woods, into an alfalfa field, with 5 interested doe, the hunter spotted the obvious rack and started counting points…… until the buck was gone. From a 100 yard wide open shot, to poof! The hunter stopped counting at 12, but it was to late, no shot was fired. Just getting to see one of those big boys is still something I never forget.
Be safe and good luck!