Submitted by Corey Graff, Online Editor

Based on Saturday morning's deer sightings it looks like Charles Alsheimer's 2008 rut predictions are right on the money. Lunar activity indicated -- as reported in Deer & Deer Hunting -- that the searching phase of the rut in the north was near peak this past weekend, with the chasing phase ramping up leading into next weekend.  
 
One decent 2 1/2 year old buck was seen chasing two does at first light. All other bucks spotted seemed to be searching for scent trails. An enjoyable time was had photographing these deer. The largest buck pictured below walked within 10 yards of my ground blind. It would have been a dandy shot with the bow at that range, but I was just as thrilled to get a good picture.