Southern Ohio Rut?

Started a thread looking for the best dates to hunt Middle Georgia to potentially hit the pre-rut/cruising phase. Got great feedback -was very helpful.

Now I'm asking for the same thing with Galia county Ohio. I have a couple of farms there that I've been granted permission to hunt and also a small property in Licking county, which is middle part of the state east of Columbus. Any Ohio hunters that could help me out? I want to carve out a four day hunt in Gallia County and possibly stretch it out and do a trip for a couple of days to the property in Licking County. I should add the Licking county property is only 50 acres and Gallia county I have over 500 acres.

This is fairly last-minute and I'm trying to decide when to go. My schedule is flexible from the last week of October through the third week of November.

We always shoot to be there between the
9-16…. Most always kill between them dates. Highlands and Brown County on private. The 12th has always been a dang good day for me personally.

Yep Nov 4-18 is good unless it's 85F. Deer will be full rut then.

I live on 100+ acres in SE Ohio (Athens County). My recollection (pretty poor now days) is that the gun season starts right after Thanksgiving. You can check this online. The rut is usually just before the gun season starts.

As for 50 acres vs 500, I think the big bucks favor wooded areas. If your 50 acres are wooded, and if you're looking for a buck, that would be a better choice. If you're happy with one or more does, 500 acres of corn would be a good place to look. If both places are wooded, the 50 acre plot might still be better, because 500 acres of woods could be pretty dense and hard to move around.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE, EVERYONE! GUN OWNERS ARE TYPICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE VOTE!

epoletna said:

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE, EVERYONE! GUN OWNERS ARE TYPICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE VOTE

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Amen, yeah verily!

The Ohio rut shouldn't be much different than the PA rut. The rut is typically during the first two weeks of November. However, you can never discount the last week of Oct when bucks are tending scrapes and actively looking for any does that come into heat early.

The Ohio season dates may become an issue depending on what type of hunting you intend to do.

Varmint Hunter said:

The Ohio rut shouldn't be much different than the PA rut. The rut is typically during the first two weeks of November. However, you can never discount the last week of Oct when bucks are tending scrapes and actively looking for any does that come into heat early.

The Ohio season dates may become an issue depending on what type of hunting you intend to do.

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Guessing archery hunting as gun season doesn't come in until Monday after Thanksgiving. I lived in Ohio for the past 9 years and just moved recently.

There were 11 deer in the field down from the kitchen window yesterday afternoon. When they bunch up like this, the rut is not far away.

Please vote this year!

I'm thinking of penciling in the week of
Nov 4-9 and then if the weather doesn't look good I will push I to the week of Nov 11-16. I have the benefit of a flexible schedule. This is all very helpful. Appreciate the input

epoletna said:

Please vote this year!

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I second that motion.