The rut is on in Duval County.....

Our neighbor and my son both shot 8 pointers that were swelling up weekend before last, but not chasing.

Neighbor's 8, 17" inside.


My son's first 8, only 15.5" inside but heavier.


Neighbor sent text this morning of another 8, 21" inside. Not heavy but I would have shot him. Said he wasn't chasing does but my BIL just left our place from across the road reporting two young 6's and a young 8 chasing hard. With this little cold front the rut should be in full swing in our neck of the woods this week, right on time. Can't wait to get there this weekend...



Bout time to do some more rattling.....here we go!

Good luck this weekend and congrats to the successful hunters

I think all of our deer switched teams this year. My season is over, spent 19 days hunting and need saw bucks chasing does, heck I only saw 2 bucks and 2 does.

Thanks fellers. I love the rut. My 3 1/2 yr old boy and teenage daughter both like to sleep in in the morning, so my oldest boy & I will be up & out there rattling wind permitting. I would love to rattle up a biggun' for him. I don't know how many people are going to be hunting during the holiday break, will have to play it by ear Either way I'm looking forward to it.

Im in Northern Duval off 59. Haven't seen any deer on our 100 acres in 2 weeks. Are you low or high fence? Id love head out this morning if the rut is on.

We are low fenced, along with our neighbors. Located in SE Duval. There is one HF ranch 2 miles away. Most properties around are small and have neighbors that shoot whatever. We do what we can as far as management and hope for the best. It is getting better but has taken time. I am near Concepcion, between San Diego & Freer. Our neighbor that shot the wide 8 & the first 8 I posted is hunting on 100 acres also right across the road. As of this week the rut is on. If I didn't have to work this week I would be there, I would say go!! The rut is on.

That's what I've been seeing. It is on!

This is great news! Those are awesome bucks. I'm headed out there right now until tomorrow evening. I have been on 5 hunts this season and seen 0. You give me newfound confidence lol thanks!

Good luck to you!

Good luck. Hoping that means its on in Bee county. I'm heading out Saturday until Christman Eve.

we are pretty close to each other. we are closer to Hebbronville. also smaller ac low fence. we play the management game as much as we can.

it takes time, but we've made some pretty good hunting out of the place. seen some nice deer. glad to hear from someone in our neck of the woods. I've been thinking that the rut is getting going. unfortunately not going to be able to hunt it any til January.

Glad to hear from you too neighbor! Hope you get on something decent. We normally still see them chasing some into mid January.

the rain has been good to us this fall. pasture is green, brush looks good. food plot looks good. deer are in great shape and haven't been all that hungry. we hunted pretty regular up thru thanksgiving week. we've taken 3 spikes and a doe so far. seen a few and gotten pictures of some good middle aged deer that we've passed on. got some pictures of some nicer older bucks that we've seen before but don't see very often in person. hopefully they'll show.

different year...the hogs have really layed low. we've only seen two hogs from the stands all year. normally would be more by now. still plenty sign of them in the pasture, but not making much appearance.

we've been on the place since 2007, prior to that is was pretty badly over hunted. its bounced back pretty well. we've taken some nice deer though and have good numbers. don't always see them...but they are there.

Yes the rains have been good to us this year. We've been on this place for over 15 yrs and have made lots of improvements. On the pigs, we have tons of them. They hammer our feeders and will see anywhere from 1 up to 30-40 per sounder. We like eatin' them though and shoot/trap the heck out of them. Finally going to build a few feed pens this Spring to help the deer out. We used to plant food plots but the last few years we did it was a total loss due to no rain. There have been some nice deer taken off of this place too but yes, you do a whole lot of hunting before you see one. We have better deer numbers this year than I've ever seen here.

We've seen a lot of pigs in the past too. numbers like you describe. we also are pretty tough on them. to the point that the hogs are very leary of the stands. this year they have just been fewer so far. we don't pass the opportunity to shoot them. and butcher or give away all the smaller/mid size ones. a lot of the larger boars end up going to the bone yard.

we're going to build some feed pens this spring too I think. my food plots have been up and down. a couple times have been very good. plenty have been bad. this year is a better one.

I'm heading back out there again tomorrow.

Me too, good luck!

You too!

Been in the blind since 3pm yesterday. Didn't see a thing. Slept in the blind and woke up at sun break this morning to see corn gone and water pale was flipped over. Hogs got to it. 5 seconds of corn was thrown at 7am and still hunting this minute. Nothing moving. Should also mention haven't seen any doe this season on cam. Just bucks. But the neighbor ranches shoot what they see so that's another problem. Anyways, gonna head over to a fenceline blind and feeder till sundown and head home. 5th tough season in a row. North Duval county, low fence.

How many acres?

100. Next to us is a 150 and a 40.

Man that stinks. I've got my fingers crossed for you.

I'm headed back out there in an hour. I'll report what I see!

Awesome, good luck!

Sat in the blind from 4-6. Saw just two doe. We'll see what happens in the a.m.

I won't be there until tomorrow, but report from the last couple days has been little to no activity until the front blew in this afternoon. Everyone saw decent numbers of does this evening but no bucks. My niece shot her first pig this morning. Just need the boys to come out and play.....one thing about hunting in this neck of the woods on a place like this..you never know what you're going to see or when especially during the rut but pays to be ready and quick....best luck to all.

I'm in the blind, locked and loaded.

Just shot a mature 10 pointer that I've never seen. Pics later. SCORE!!!!!!!! First buck I've taken at our little ranch we've owned for five seasons!!

Sounds like a 130ish buck, lol....Get them pics up soon so we can score.....I mean guess at score....

Not gonna break 120, but it's pretty good for this place.

Thanks for the reports Guys. I'm heading to Rios tomorrow for a three day hunt. Will report what I do.

Good luck.

Awesome!! Congrats! The ranch foreman on our place shot an 8 pointer Sat morning, but all chasing activities have stopped at the moment. They started chasing then hit the brakes here. Bucks seen this weekend showed no interest at all for the does. Any day now.... Put some pigs down though between trapping & shooting. Maybe next weekend......