# 2021-2022 Catoosa-Walker-Dade



## RustyJeep (Jun 17, 2021)

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.


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## RossVegas (Sep 20, 2021)

RustyJeep said:


> 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.



Probably about the same in all these counties, but roughly where are you?


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## ChattBuck (Nov 4, 2021)

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 (Nov 7, 2021)

got him this morning..target deer been here till week before gun season and left. made mistak this morning. Had time to get him and get to church Sunday school ?
Dade county deer.


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## ChattBuck (Nov 7, 2021)

520ranger said:


> View attachment 1115148
> got him this morning..target deer been here till week before gun season and left. made mistak this morning. Had time to get him and get to church Sunday school ?
> Dade county deer.


Great buck!


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## cliffdweller (Nov 9, 2021)

520ranger said:


> View attachment 1115148
> got him this morning..target deer been here till week before gun season and left. made mistak this morning. Had time to get him and get to church Sunday school ?
> Dade county deer.


Woah nelly!! Great buck!


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## NGa.MtnHunter (Nov 10, 2021)

Walker County 
Got this buck Saturday morning at 8:30.


Got this one on Tuesday morning of opening week at 8:15 am, he was chasing a doe.


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## 520ranger (Nov 10, 2021)

Congrats good looking bucks


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## Bushhog Bob (Nov 24, 2021)

Do any of you think the rut is over in Walker and Chattooga county.  Have not seen any chashing this week.


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## 520ranger (Nov 24, 2021)

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


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## Otisman (Nov 26, 2021)

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.


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## tjgregory (Nov 27, 2021)

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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## 520ranger (Nov 27, 2021)

Great buck congrats


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## ChattBuck (Nov 28, 2021)

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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## Otisman (Nov 28, 2021)

I got a decent 8pt Saturday morning in walker. And tjgregory, I believe I spoke to you at the processor that morning when you dropped your deer off. Great buck.


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## tjgregory (Nov 28, 2021)

Thanks, Otisman.  Great to talk to you at the processor and that was a nice big eight that you brought in.  Good to know that a couple of big ones were on the move Saturday.  Maybe there is still some good hunting left this season in Walker.


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## tjgregory (Dec 5, 2021)

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.


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## Otisman (Dec 9, 2021)

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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## 520ranger (Dec 9, 2021)

Congrats that’s a great deer.


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## tjgregory (Dec 16, 2021)

Way to go, Otisman!  That makes two big ones for you this season and it takes some fine hunting to do that.


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## Otisman (Dec 16, 2021)

Thank you. I call it dumb luck mostly. But I’ll take it.


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## MCBUCK (Dec 30, 2021)

This is a river bottom Whitfield county buck from October 26.
Saw great rut activity with lists of chasing from Nov 15 thru Thanksgiving then it slowed down pretty good. Then all of a sudden the week before Christmas I have a pretty big dude come roaming thru after sunset that I’ve been trying to get into daylight. Maybe the warm spell turned me off. We will see what happens next week.


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## 520ranger (Dec 30, 2021)

Good buck congrats. Rut activity gone in Dade county. Warm weather must have something to do with it.


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## NGa.MtnHunter (Dec 30, 2021)

MCBUCK said:


> This is a river bottom Whitfield county buck from October 26.
> Saw great rut activity with lists of chasing from Nov 15 thru Thanksgiving then it slowed down pretty good. Then all of a sudden the week before Christmas I have a pretty big dude come roaming thru after sunset that I’ve been trying to get into daylight. Maybe the warm spell turned me off. View attachment 1125637View attachment 1125638We will see what happens next week.


Nice one Moe!!
Can't believe you hit him with that ole bolt gun..


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## Bushhog Bob (Dec 31, 2021)

Congrats on a nice buck


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## 520ranger (Nov 14, 2022)

The chase is on in Dade County. They just starting getting busy. Good times  are on the way.


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## tjgregory (Nov 19, 2022)

Hunted Walker this cold morning and I will be in the stand many mornings and afternoons this week.  Saw a young eight-point prowling cautiously today around 8:30 and saw a single doe browsing around 9:00.  Lots of shots fired from different points off in the distance, so the deer seemed to be on the move somewhere.  This part of November is always prime time at the farm and my plan is to put one mature-bodied buck and one doe on the ground by the 27th.


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## tjgregory (Nov 22, 2022)

Scored a double bonus on coyotes yesterday from the deer stand.  Killed a big male at 7:10 on the morning hunt and a female at 5:50 on the afternoon hunt.  I sat in a different stand each hunt and both overlook food plots at base of ridge that was clear cut twenty years ago and replanted in pines.  These were the only howlers that we’ve had on the trail cameras this fall.  

Saw some does with fawns and some small bucks.  All of the deer were on the feed, both clover and cereal rye.  Still waiting for some rutting action to start up, and I know that it can happen any day now.


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## tjgregory (Dec 2, 2022)

I got a chance to slip up to the farm Wednesday afternoon and killed this big five-point.  A doe stepped out and he was about a minute behind her and began curling his upper lip upon entering the plot.  I got in the stand at 3:00 and squeezed the trigger at 3:53.  Saw four deer in all: two does, a spike, and the big five.  He had no brow points and had one tine that was completely broken off.  It was just a thrown together hunt on a windy afternoon.  The best time to go hunting is anytime that you can.


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## Bushhog Bob (Dec 3, 2022)

Congrats.  Good looking buck


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## WalkerStalker (Dec 3, 2022)

Congratulations on a good buck!


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## NGa.MtnHunter (Dec 5, 2022)

Congrats!!


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## 520ranger (Dec 26, 2022)

Got this one this morning about 8:00. It’s a tight 12 pointer.


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## tjgregory (Dec 27, 2022)

520ranger said:


> Got this one this morning about 8:00. It’s a tight 12 pointer.


That is a great reward for sticking it out on what was a very frigid morning.  Nice buck.

Are those Hoffman boots that you have on in the pic?


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## Bushhog Bob (Dec 27, 2022)

Great looking buck.   You really deserved a good one like that, for hunting in freezing weather.  Were you hunting out of a blind or out of open stand.


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## 520ranger (Dec 27, 2022)

Blind.


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## NGa.MtnHunter (Dec 27, 2022)

Nice buck! Congrats!!


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