Based on your notes, I believe we are hunting at about the same elevation and the deer patterns in the area I’ve been hunting are very similar to what you’ve described. I’ve been hiking into areas I know hold deer and I've been still hunting out of natural ground blinds (bushes, downed logs, etc…) whenever I come across fresh sign. I’ve been using code blue to bring them in for the past 4 years; I’ve noticed that it works really, really, well in the peak of the rut ~Jan 8th but it loses its effectiveness about the 15th, that could explain why the doe you saw on Friday acted so weird.… I had the same luck as you this weekend, I didn’t see or hear a deer, the rut sign I found was at least a week old so it looks like this round of the rut is over. I imagine the estrous may start working well again in early Feb as the unfertilized does go back into heat. Hopefully a big one walks by before then. Best of luck.
