2021-2022 Catoosa-Walker-Dade

RustyJeep

Senior Member
Saw the first newborn fawn on the farm this week. If I did the math correctly, it puts the breeding date during the first 2 weeks of December.
 

ChattBuck

Senior Member
Every deer in Catoosa county was moving last night. Front came through, temp dropped, combined with light rain had them up and going. I have a 5 acre dove field/food plot in north Catoosa county. On a good night I'll see 5-6 deer. Last night I had 14 deer in the plot at the same time. Never seen so many. Heard quite a bit of shooting around me too.

Had a nice 8 and a 6 that both stayed in the field for over 30 minutes.

In the pic the 8 is on the left, the 6 on the right.

Tried to get my 12 yo to come with me but we has tired from school basketball practice. He made a very poor choice! Let the nice 8 walk hoping he can get it this evening.

Going to be a good few days to be in the woods.
 

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520ranger

Member
Should start this weekend in dade county. The little bucks are getting wound up. In the past from thanksgiving till Christmas is usually good.
 

Otisman

Senior Member
I don’t think it’s over at all in walker. Have killed my best bucks first 2 weeks of December. Have seen groups of bucks pushing/fighting over a hot doe twice. Both in first 2 weeks of December. I don’t even hunt much until then.
 

tjgregory

Member
I have been in the Walker County woods since 11/19, hunting mornings and afternoons and trying hard to kill one for the wall. The farm that I hunt is usually on fire with rut activity between 11/19 and 11/28, but this has not been the case in 2021 and deer movement has been poor in the mornings and good in the afternoons, though no rut behavior outside of the stuff that young bucks do. I had a flurry of daytime buck activity on the game cameras the from 11/1 to 11/6 that featured a large 9-pointer running road beds and hitting scrapes in both the morning and afternoon. I had gotten nighttime pictures of him since late July and then he disappeared after showing up in the daylight for a solid week. The empty hours in the stand this week in freezing temperatures and high winds had me second guessing my vacation schedule to go all in on late November. A season that once carried the promise of great things seemed to be fading away.

Today was my ninth straight morning and it was another cold one. I settled up in the tree before daylight layered in wool and goose down and immediately began wiggling my toes inside my wool socks and insulated boots. I was in my number one stand and I had not been able to hunt it much this week because of recurring south winds. The wind was calm this morning and in the early dawn, about 7:10 or so, I heard steady walking in the leaves out in front of my stand. I looked down and saw a large deer slowly moving toward my tree on a trail that I have seen many bucks travel since I began hunting this stand back in 2011. It was daylight, but still hard to see in the timber, so I lifted my binoculars and saw antlers that were dark, tall, and wide. I tried to quietly get into a shooting position and lost sight of him in the brush. Then he stepped back out on my weak side and I had to stand up and turn to the right to get on him. At 7:15, he turned broadside and I fired.

I studied him through my binoculars as I waited for both the woods and my nerves to settle down before climbing down. I tried to identify him as one of the game cam bucks, but could see nothing telling about his rack from where I was at in the tree and where he fell. This was the first buck that I have killed that actually got bigger once I was down on the ground and started walking toward him. He was none other than the big 9-pointer that had been missing on camera for the last three weeks. I have deer hunted only in Walker County and he is the best deer that I have ever killed, and I am so glad to have him. Many early cold mornings and many hours of sitting still went into getting this hard-earned trophy. I will never again doubt late November at the farm. My three biggest bucks have hit the ground between 11/19 and 11/27 in their respective years 2006, 2018, and 2021.
 

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ChattBuck

Senior Member
tjgregory - fantastic buck!

I'm hunting in far north catoosa. Seen a lot of young bucks chasing past two weeks. Does are all of their pattern. I passed on a real good 8pt as neither of my children (11,12yo) was with me and they both have got their first deer but not a good buck.

Had one of them sitting with me for 4-5 hunts and never saw him. Then I sat Wednesady evening by myself and sure enough he came out. However he's lost his left G2. Been doing some fighting. I let him walk again. If one of the kids doesn't get him he'll be a really, really good buck next year.

As for Walker/Dade both my best deer came on Lookout mtn right on the Walker/Dade line on Dec 3rd. Both trailing a hot doe through timber. Always felt in my 10 years hunting up there that last week of Nov/first week Dec had the most rut activity.
 
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tjgregory

Member
Went to the woods yesterday morning with a re-sharpened knife and some fresh Core-Lokts to see what I could see. The wind was not good for either of my two favorite stands, so I spent the morning in a stand that I had not yet hunted this season. It turned out to be a no deer morning, but I did see a mink fishing and swimming in a branch that runs next to where I was hunting. This was the first one of these critters that I have ever seen.
 

Otisman

Senior Member
Got a fairly wide 8pt this morning around 1030 traveling alone. Only saw a spike other than this one. Happy to have him. Freezer is full so I’m done for this season. Good luck everyone.
 

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