With a new hunter and five days left in the season, I had one buck in mind. We had passed the buck four days earlier while on a mission for another buck. I spent the morning searching to no avail. My anxiety was through the roof, as I could not keep tabs on the buck between the first sighting and the first day we could hunt him. We only had four days, but that’s enough time for the deer to have been shot by a neighbor, poached from the road, hit by a high-school girl in a Chevy Cavelier, or have caught a whiff of something special and move on to another herd.

We were there early that afternoon, with a plan to spend most of our time watching the does I had seen him with. After an hour or so, we got bored and decided to do a little poking around in case he was with another group of ladies. A half-mile away or so, we ran into a big group of does with a selection of adolescent bucks. We picked apart the landscape for about 20 minutes. Confident we had seen everything we needed to see, I turned around to leave and noticed our buck, by himself, walking 75 yards behind us. I was shocked and immediately went into guide mode. “Holy crap. He’s right there. Can you shoot him free hand?” Any screwing around would likely spook the giant. My hunter was confident, and with one quick, precise shot, we had a world-class buck on the ground.

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I believe that buck was headed to the group of does I thought he should be with, but he wasn’t living with them. He was living close but by himself until a doe went into estrus. Had we sat on the does until dark, he likely would have showed up, but as it was, we got lucky to be in the right place at the right time and caught him cruising. During this time of year, I always say that your time is best used checking does and watching travel corridors.

The consistent report I’m getting from the mountain states is that the rut has started, but the unseasonably warm weather has kept it muted. Tim Andrews of Gypsum Creek Outfitters in Colorado said that the rut had picked up some, with deer traveling and fighting. He even witnessed a doe getting bred. It just shows that even if the rut is slow, its still happening. The good news is that weather is on its way. The high country across the Southwest is forecast to get its first real snow of the year this week.

Jordan Christensen of The Draw said things are picking up in northern New Mexico, with some bigger bucks cruising early in the mornings. He added that it’s still very quiet south of I-40. Watching social media, I have noticed a definite increase of big buck photos from New Mexico. I had multiple reports from the Kaibab in Arizona that younger bucks were acting “rutty,” but mature bucks weren’t having it yet. This cold front will hopefully kick the rut off in earnest in those areas.

In Texas, I heard reports of pretty good rut activity for everything in the central and northern portions of the state. Trevor Hancock, a Texas hunting guide, was near Lampassas this past week and said bucks were chasing hard. The Panhandle and western Texas are getting going, too. The brush country of southern Texas seems to be a few weeks or maybe a month away yet.