Rut Report: Ohio
Posted by: Gregg Ritz, WildComm on 10/18/2008Reporting in on Game Trails of "Ohio".
Game Trails recently partnerd with Joel Snow and Five Star Trophy Outfitter who currently operates in west central Ohio. Through the resources and experience of the Game Trails management team we have expanded the Ohio operations to include 10,000 acres of the finest deer hunting habitat in Ohio. Gregg Ritz has nicknamed this area "little Iowa" for its diverse woodlots that are surrounded by some of the most fertile soils that produce monster whitetails. To date this ground has produced four deer scoring over 200" to include the buck Stan Potts killed on North American Whitetail. "Joel Snow has an instinct for hunting big bucks and is the finest big buck guide I have ever hunted with," says Ritz.
The deer at Game Trails in Ohio have been hitting the oak laden creek bottoms that are now dropping their fruit. The soybeans are now brown and unpalatable to the deer, however, as the corn is being harvested the deer spend their early morning and late evening hours picking at the remnants of the harvest. During the day, the deer’s activity is confined to the creek bottoms and thickets. Generally speaking the deer’s activity level is low and they are not moving any great distance. We are still three weeks away from the pre-rut and the warm afternoon temperatures and the emerging winter coats on these whitetails are keeping their movements to a minimum.
The lazy afternoons in October are difficult to hunt. With the deer activity at a minimum a hunter needs to be careful not to pressure the deer and hunt the fringes of their feeding grounds. We are avoiding pushing too close to the deer’s bedding grounds. During the midday hours the deer staying close to their bedding grounds and are feeding on acorns. In Ohio (little Iowa) we have the benefit of being able to "glass" the deer we are hunting so our guides are spending countless hours watching newly cut corn fields and our hidden food plots. This time of year we are putting our hunters on "known" deer. Hunting specific deer is the truest form of hunting and one that brings the greatest rewards to both hunter and guide.
To kill a deer with a bow and arrow you need to be within 30 yards and when the deer are spread out this is difficult. In Ohio it is legal to bait. Now I know I am hitting a hot button for a some of the hunters out there, but used wisely and sparingly baiting is an effective way to harvest mature bucks in the early and late seasons. Our strategy at Game Trails is to work with the existing movements and feeding habits of the deer. When we find a buck comfortably feeding in a specific location, call it a neck of a picked corn field, we will map our the bedding areas, look at the prevailing winds and establish a bait site that draws that buck to within bow range. We are careful to only hunt these locations when all of the conditions are perfect and we have spotted the buck from a vantage point or captured the buck on a trail camera in day light hours. Then we go in and "kill" the deer. The hunting has been done days and weeks ahead of time in the preparation for sitting the stand location. Hunting in this case goes well beyond sitting in the field. In fact, the time on stand is minimal when compared to the hours of preparation.
We have run two hunters threw our Ohio operation and we are 100%. We have killed a great 132" eight pointer and an awesome 149" ten point. Both hunters were put on specific deer and when the conditions were right killed the first night sitting that stand. Both hunters made great shots and made the trailing job a dream. Just after the hunters departed we captured a 190 class, split browtine buck on the Cuddieback trail camera. We had early velvet photos of this buck and now that he is hard horned we have picked him up nearly a half mile from his early season stomping grounds. He is currently moving only during the late night hours. As the pre-rut begins to come into full swing in late October we hope to see this buck begin traveling during daytime hours. Stay tuned for more great hunting stories and tips from our Game Trails operation and see if we connect on our giant 190" monster buck.
