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Hunting & Fishing Nebraska whitetail Rut

R

Rustybroadhead

Anschutz North America
Full Member
Minuteman
May 15, 2012
376
7
Alabama
I am leaving Thursday night with a buddy of mine for a short little drive and a weeks stay in Antelope County Nebraska. We are going to be bowhunting all next week before gun season starts. I was hoping some of you guys that live in that area might could let me know if the deer are rutting at all. I have read and researched all I can but there is no substitute for "boots on the ground". EHD really hit the property we hunt hard last year so I am really curious how it is going to effect deer movement this go around.

Thanks in advance guys!
 
I'm in southeast nebraska I was duck hunting this morning and saw a small buck chasing a doe it's still early tho. I'm sure they will be moving around chasing the early does. Ehd killed a lot of mature bucks last year good luck and enjoy your stay
 
Thanks for the info. Last year was really bad! We found 12 dead around the property and the numbers of deer we saw dropped off significantly. This will be our 4th year taking this trip and I have eaten 3 "tag sandwiches" so far..... I am ready for my luck to change!

Just got word from the land owner that they have not cut the corn yet due to the amount of rain they have had so I know that is not going to help our chances.
Good to hear you are seeing some activity. Hope they are really getting love struck in the northern part of the state.

Thanks again!
 
We are leaving tomorrow afternoon for our short little 20 hour drive. Probably won't get to start hunting until Saturday due to getting in pretty late in the day Friday afternoon. We usually go to the property and glass the first afternoon and the next morning just to get an idea of what is moving around and where.

Thanks Rhyno. From talking to the land owner, they haven't been able to cut any of their corn either so that is going to make things tough. I know they got 6" of snow yesterday and last night and from looking at the forecast there is more expected the end of next week. Hopefully that will have the big boys fully motivated and moving.

I am going to take a bunch of pics and I will try to post them once I get back. I hope to have pics of more than just pretty scenery!
 
Well, good news is this last bit of snow has been melting pretty fast.

A buddy of mine just got a picture of a buck who appeared to be in rut.

Your biggest challenge will be the corn, especially now that it snow it'll be slow going.
 
Rhyno do you mean that getting the corn cut will be slow going or do you mean that now that it has snowed the deer will quit moving as much?? I have always thought the worse the conditions got the more the deer tended to move. Of course I am basing that primarily on my Alabama experience. I am sure it is different there
 
Oh no, because of the snow, which all pretty much melted today, it's going to be muddy, so the combines if they run will be going slow, and getting stuck.

What part of Antelope County are you hunting in?
 
Yeah that drive sucks I've got a buddy that lives in Lillian Alabama. We made it in 16 hrs with a good radar detector and only stopping for fuel
 
I don't know if they will be cutting corn or not. I am sure if things will dry out a bit they will.

We are hunting just north of Royal which is actually not farm ground. We have a lot of farm ground to hunt but we have always seen a lot more deer in the pastures and rolling hills. We will not be making it in 16hrs, I can assure you of that. My buddy thinks that 66 in a 65 zone it pushing it..... Whatever, it is his truck. Besides, he likes to drive and I like to sleep, so it works out well!

We will be hitting the road about 5pm today so we will be in tomorrow afternoon at some point. Thanks everyone for your input and updates on the conditions. I will update week after next hopefully with some trophy pics. Tag sandwiches are getting old!

Rhyno, if you see a big white 4wd ford with Alabama plates running around, flag us down!

Brian
 
I actually use to drive through Royal everyday to work.

If you need a good place to hang out and watch Football head over to O'Neill and go to Chesterfield West. They might even have a band this weekend.

Otherwise good luck hunting, I've seen a few good bucks taken over here already.
 
I am pretty sure we ate there last year while we were there.

Thanks Rhyno, a good watering hole is sometimes better than a good hunting spot!

I haven't decided if I am going hunting Saturday afternoon or if I am going to watch Alabama and LSU. That game is always interesting....
 
I said I would update this thread so I guess I will. Just got back in Saturday morning after our marathon return road trip. We had a great time but ultimately came home empty handed. We saw a bunch at distance but I couldn't get it together to even collect a little meat for the freezer. Weather was good for the most part but Tuesday morning the temp was 4 degrees according to the truck on the way to hunt. That is just slightly colder than the typical Alabama morning to say the least! I actually stayed pretty comfortable in it though except for may feet but even that was not really that bad.

All in all we had a lot of fun. We hunted hard, I guess it just was not meant to be. Sure does get frustrating though... 4 years= no deer.

Anyone know anything about voodoo, curses, hexes etc???? I got a bad one I need to get rid of!

Thanks everyone for the field reports. I don't know what happened to the rut but we only saw one buck with any interest in a doe. We didn't even see many rubs or scrapes until the last two days we were there. I guess it is going to be late this year. Hope everyone has good luck this week for gun season!
 
Don't feel bad EHD really took a toll on the deer last year. Its been pretty slow.
 
Thanks bribri but I made 2 hunts prior to the die off and it still didn't make any difference.... I freakin jinxed!

I think next year we are coming back with the rifles..... I love to bow hunt but I am just not a lucky person when it comes to hunting and I need every advantage I can get.

Land owner did give me a skull and horns he picked up over the summer. i would guess him about a 145 inch 8 pt. that I am sure EHD got.

What part of the state are you in bribri? Are you seeing much rutting activity where you are? We saw less than we have seen the past 4 years. I figured the decreased population would intensify the rut. Maybe we just were there at the wrong time.... Who knows
 
I hunt in Knox County just north of where you were and the rut activity was almost non existent on the 16th and 17th. It's suppose to get colder this weekend. We'll see what happens. My brother did end up taking a nice 4.5 year old 6x4 buck with alot of mass.

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Wow, tell your Brother congrats! That is a really nice deer. Did he take that with a bow or gun?

Post some pics if you have any luck. I will keep checking this thread back for a week or two.

Your brother's deer sure does help motivate me to make the trip again next year. I know there are some good ones running around, I just have to get this damn curse off of me so I can get one close.

Good luck!
Rustybroadhead...... aka...... Vegetarian
 
He got him with his 308. I'm going to try and make it back at 2 more days before rifle season ends and will keep you posted.
 
I've been seeing and hearing mixed results on the rut.

I saw a small buck chasing a Doe. Haven't seen anything at all this year really.

If you come back next year, I know of some state ground that should be really good, I'm told not a lot of people hunt it.

If you want to see some deer shot in the area, go to kbrx.com they have deer pictures. Everyone I've talked to has said the same, deer are no where to be found right now.
 
I hate the rut has not really fired up for you guys. Maybe it is just one of those strange years..... who knows. If it is any consolation, we never have a rut here. Well let me rephrase, not much of one. For that matter, there are parts of the state that they have documented the peak of the rut in Feb and early March some years. (our season ends Jan 31). You can still catch up to them but it is a whole lot harder when they are still thinking with there big head.

Thanks for the link Rhyno. You guys have some really nice deer running around up there. The mass of the horns is what gets me. That last elk was enormous....

The State ground you are talking about wouldn't be Grove lake would it? We drive by that everyday and have never even driven through it. In the last four years I don't think we have seen but one or two hunters parked at the gates. I am sure there are a few more but I don't think it is covered up. Doesn't seem there are a lot of bowhunters period up there. Am I wrong?
 
I don't really know, a lot of guys I know bow hunt.

The public land I was thinking about is the Redbird area up on the Niobrara River, I know guys that own land around there and they say no one hunts it. I've scouted it a bit but got out of bow hunting when I went to college, and was pleasantly surprised, I never saw a monster but there was some nice bucks.
 
We may look into that although I don't think that the problem we are having is enough shooter deer. I think the problem is getting them close enough to get a shot. It has been a real adjustment for us hunting in Nebraska as the deer act completely different than they do here. Our deer do not break cover much at all (at least not in the daylight). Also, they are very much nocturnal. Nebraska deer, will cross a pasture or field where ever they please and at any time of the day. Several times we have seen really good deer in the middle of the day either driving around or walking the property. That does not happen in Alabama... Too many idiots shooting at them from the roads I guess.

My buddy and I have been talking a lot about next year and what to do. We may come up for gun season and leave the bows at home. We are both avid bowhunters and much prefer to hunt that way but after 4 years of empty tags... I think we are mad at them! We have also discussed taking a hunt closer to home. Who knows, a long time until next November.

Did you get out at all for gun season? Any luck?
 
The first thing to over come is, never hunt with a tag. The deer know who has what type of tag. Example: I had a antlerless only bow and a 10 point walks by making his mark day before rifle season. No does. First day of rifle, NO deer! Some people have better luck but, everyone says this year has been super tough. Next year will be better as the doe pop. will be up. Saw two mature bucks chasing one doe.( a joining property, no permission to hunt) Good luck next year.
 
The rifle season was interesting haha.

The deer movement was very weird, I've never seen the deer down there walk the paths they did this year. First weekend all I saw was bucks, small bucks, the second weekend first day all I saw was does, 20 different ones, but they stayed out in the sand hills they didn't enter the woods or swamp at all.

Eventually we all saw enough to get some venison in the freezer. I didn't see a big buck all weekend.
 
Anyone ever hunt around Rockford lake area? My family has a farm that borders the park. The BIL and I have been wanting to take a trip out there to hunt, maybe next year.
 
Stranded... We have considered that and I appreciate the advice, however, I have found that I am highly allergic to small town jails. It is funny you said that though. I have found that if I take my camera fishing, I never catch anything... I really do think they know!

Rhyno, glad to hear you got some meat in the freezer at least. Maybe next year will be better. I hope what stranded said about more does helping the deer movement is right. Hopefully I can talk my hunting partner into making the 18-20hr road trip again next year. He seems to be hung up on going to Giles Island next year to bow hunt. I am sure we will be back though even if it is not next year. I really enjoy the country up there.

kengel2... Rhyno and I are hunting in Northern Nebraska not too far from the South Dakota border. Stranded may have some experience in that area though

Thanks guys, stay warm
 
Cool, used to have an uncle/aunt that had a farm in bloomfield, but they retired last year and moved out west either into or close to colorado. Might have to get with them and go out there instead of the southeast.
 
Rustybroadhead, Sorry to hear of your allergies. I have only hunted S.E. Nebraska since moving from Iowa. Lincoln - Neb City area. Have fun/good luck which ever way you go.
 
I hunt about 2000 acres around the Crete area sw of Lincoln. It seems the ehd killed more along the slew areas than around were we hunt by the Big Blue river and the farm lands. I hunt bow and rifle. Shot two big does and a smaller buck in mid October. During rifle season I take a few friends out to hunt.

This year one of my buddies shot a nice 4x4 I'd seen on my cameras. He also shot a small 3x5 and another buddy shot a big doe. All I got was a big ole 8x4 on the 20th that was bedding a doe in some cedars. We saw lots more deer than that but passed them up as they were smaller does and bucks. I'll post a thread later with some pics.

Hope you come back next year. I know of some great bow spots up near Valentine but never seem to make the it up that way due to so many down around where I live.
 
Thanks DropZone. I would love to see pics of the deer you are killing. 8x4 has got to be a freak! Congrats.

I hope we come back too and honestly, we probably will. Right now the biggest problem is that my buddy is an Auburn fan and I am an Alabama fan so we aren't talking much (LOL). In all seriousness, the trip is too much fun and I can't imagine not going unless some extenuating circumstance comes up. The drive sucks but it is all worth it in the end. Too many great times.

I will have to look up Valentine. I am not familiar with it right off so I have no idea how far it is from us.
 
Rustybroadhead said:
Thanks DropZone. I would love to see pics of the deer you are killing. 8x4 has got to be a freak! Congrats.

I hope we come back too and honestly, we probably will. Right now the biggest problem is that my buddy is an Auburn fan and I am an Alabama fan so we aren't talking much (LOL). In all seriousness, the trip is too much fun and I can't imagine not going unless some extenuating circumstance comes up. The drive sucks but it is all worth it in the end. Too many great times.

I will have to look up Valentine. I am not familiar with it right off so I have no idea how far it is from us.
Click to expand...

Valentine is about 2 hours West of O'Neill.
 
Here is the 8X4 I shot...like I said, he is a bit weird.



Here is the 8X8 I've been watching on my camera. Last year he was a 6X7 that was wide but not very tall...this year...well...ya...

 
That cam pic is motivation to start poaching!!!!! That dude is big. Hope you can catch up with him, he looks like one of those "once in a lifetime" deer.

The one you killed is really nice! He looks like he has got really good mass especially on the "normal" side. I am curious, did he have an injured leg? I have seen stuff like this around here a few times and it sometimes is a result of an injury usually to the opposite side. I love the unique ones. He will make a really cool mount. Congrats!
 
Rusty,

Ya, that big one may have to be killed by the wife in the next couple of weeks...

The mass on the one I shot is pretty incredible. Didn't notice any "recent" injuries, but I did notice that his right foreleg was a tad shorter than his left. The area where I shot him is not hunted but a mile over it is like infantry wars on opening day of deer season. My suspicion is that at some point he had been wounded and decided to find a better home where there are not quite as many hunters.
 
That buck has looked the same for the past 3 seasons. We wanted to get him out of our gene pool as we strive to manage bucks and not shoot anything under 150 inches or 4 years old. Your buck should be 5 years from all the pictures I have.
 
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