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Went yesterday morning from 6:00 to about 12:00. Then had to take the boss to town. Got home and went back from around 2:30 until dark. Didn't see any deer at all. Lots of squirrels but no deer. Also, other than a guy way down the ridge target shooting for a few minutes, never heard any shots. Not one.

I usually don't hunt on Sundays but decided to go for a couple hours today. Made it extra challenging by only taking my pistol and left the rifle at home. Finally saw one coming toward me through the brush around 3:00. Just my luck, my phone rang and I had forgotten to turn the ringer off. Once it started ringing that deer turned left into thicker brush never to be seen again...

But I realized something while out there. In 30 years of deer hunting with BP guns I've never killed a deer during muzzleloader season. Shot many with BP but always during rifle season. Turns out the deer aren't really moving around here until about Thanksgiving week when it cools off. Not giving up until then though. Will be back out there early in the morning before work. How'd you guys do?
 

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@Hermit Tim I didn’t see a deer. Saw turkeys and squirrels only. The spot I’m hunting has a lot of rubs this year. One is on a hemlock tree almost as big around as my thigh. Didn’t hunt yesterday evening or today. The wife is a fishing nut so evenings are usually spent smallmouth fishing with her.
 
@Hermit Tim I didn’t see a deer. Saw turkeys and squirrels only. The spot I’m hunting has a lot of rubs this year. One is on a hemlock tree almost as big around as my thigh. Didn’t hunt yesterday evening or today. The wife is a fishing nut so evenings are usually spent smallmouth fishing with her.
Well brother there are alotta worse ways to spend an evening. Wish my wife liked to fish... I haven't seen any rubs this year in the particular spot I hunted this weekend. That spot pictured is less than forty or fifty yards away from my shop and very close to the road. It's a pass through spot. There's an old, large, wooded property across the road that used to be phosphate mines. It's chock full of deer and they pass through this spot pretty heavy once the orange army invades the mines and runs them out in the mornings and evenings. Some years there is no sign at all but lots of deer pass right through there. And I'm close to a bathroom. Which is important once you pass 50... my other spots around my small property generally show good sign but they must be coming around at night. That'll change when silly season hits.
 
I am taking down the electric fence around my food plot today, this is much later than usual, it only takes the deer a day or two to realize that the fence is down and off, they flood the plot when they figure this out.

electric fence removal 10-31-23.JPG


I still have a god bit of deer meat in the freezer so I will probably hold off one killing one for now. I thought I was going to run out a few months ago and did some deer meat panhandling, my friend Dan loaded me down with his excess.

Tim, we have a mini rut around Thanksgiving, some chasing but not like the big rut around Christmas.

Tim and I live about 50 miles apart and probably have the same rut periods. The Alabama M/L season starts on the 18th.
 
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