| Missouri Rut Hunt 2007 |
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| Friday, 30 November 2007 09:10 |
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It was time for our annual trip to Missouri for the opening of 2007 rifle season. We arrived a few days in advance to hang stands and scout. Things did not appear different from last year with the same spots being active. All things were lining up in our favor: the on-coming rut; the dark of the moon and hopefully the weather.
The season opens on Saturday so participation is huge. The surrounding properties sounded like a war in progress. We were secure in the knowledge that our property only held us and our landowner so pressure would be minimal. We would be the oasis in the middle of chaos with all three of us holding out for big deer. We saw plenty of semi-big deer chasing does but not a lot of does and very few big bucks. We held out for 3 full days before the first buck was taken on Tuesday. It was a nice wide 11 pointer but not exactly what we were hoping for. One thing we didn’t count on that went against us was the timing of the rut. We think it started a day or two prior to the start of our season. Most of the big bucks were paired up and laying down with mature does when the season opened. We think this is the explanation for the missing big bucks. Last year we each saw 20-25 bucks in the 120-140 range as well as a few real giants after we had taken our deer. We expected them all to be back and bigger this year. Maybe when they get to be that larger size they graduate across the road to that 1300 acre farm and join the fracas going on over there. We are not totally sure. By the time the bigger bucks were ready to get moving again, the warm weather struck and most daytime movement slowed drastically. I was fortunate to take a nice 20” wide eight pointer later in the week but he wasn’t what we were holding out for either. We watched the rut unfold until it was time to come home. We never did see those giants from last year. Although we saw dozens of deer that we would have taken instantly at home, we just never got into the big bruisers. Very late in the week, our landowner attempted to help us by doing one of his unique “walk abouts”. He accidentally ended up pushing a giant 14 pointer off his place onto the next-door-neighbor’s who promptly shot it. Oh, well his intentions are always great! The big ones were there but circumstances never came together enough to allow us a crack at them. That is why they call it “hunting”! We had a great exciting time. Hopefully, we’ll be back next year and maybe things will be different even though the moon chart shows a full moon for that week – that is never good news! Well I am sure we will enjoy it just the same. You just never know….! |
