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Here's a shot of my friend David Brugh with an awesome buck he killed Monday afternoon in Pulaski County.

David, who's another one of those guys who gets that hunting is about more than hanging antlers on the wall, has been hunting the place for four years, patiently passing up shots at smaller bucks. This is what happens to good people who are patient.

From the many reports I've gotten the past couple of days, action has been kind of slow. Maybe the warm spell had something to do with it. Today's wind certainly isn't pleasant.

But, usually, things do get kind of quiet right about now as bucks hole up with does.

I think things may be a bit quiet for a few days but it will pick up again.

Chuck Sharp has scouted and hunted hard this year, and the payoff came quickly the past few days. On Thursday he killed a mature six-pointer (he sent me that shot, too, and I can assure you it was a big six) in Franklin County.

His Saturday hunt in Botetourt County got off to a rough start when he saw three coyotes. But then this unique eight-pointer showed up and Chuck will now be back to hunting east of the Blue Ridge this week. (Hunters can take only one buck in Western counties during the early muzzleloader season, one of the strangest and least sensible rules in Virginia's hunting regs book.)

So, the question everyone wants to know now is "What's going on with the rut?"

I wish I knew.

On Nov. 2, I saw a four-pointer aggressively chasing a doe. But that's been the only real chasing I've seen. Granted, I haven't been out there a bunch, but I've been out there a decent amount.

I hunted with a muzzleloader in Botetourt County on Saturday afternoon and saw a bunch of does in a big field. I would have expected to see at least one small buck out there bothering them. But I didn't see a one. A decent six-pointer showed up right at last shooting light, and walked by me at 20 yards. He was a big deer and at least 2 1/2. But he was nowhere close to the six I shot last year so I passed on him.

My friend who hunted the same property saw six bucks that morning and none seemed to be chasing or even seeking. He said they were feeding.

Supposedly the key to the timing of the rut is photoperiod, or length of daylight and dark. So, it really shouldn't change from year to year. But it really does seem like things are kind of slow to get rolling this year, and we can't really blame the weather because it's been fairly cool, unlike in some recent years.

I know one thing is really behind -- leaves on the trees. I'd expect to see the woods in this shape about the last week of October. So maybe the bucks are chasing and we're just not noticing because we can't see them through all the leaves that are still out there.

I plan to hunt this afternoon and tomorrow morning, back in Botetourt. I have several buddies out there this morning and haven't gotten any text messages from them, so I'm assuming it's been pretty quiet.

In an earlier entry I mentioned that my buddy Freddy McGuire and several of his friends had a 38-point morning on Wednesday. Here's the carnage, plus a bonus deer killed the previous evening.

I'm sure the animal rights crowd, who apparently have found this blog, will really appreciate this shot.

The guys responsible for this huge pile of venison and antlers are typically strict about game management, but were hunting a piece of property where the landowner wants them to kill every deer possible. Freddy calls it the "If it's brown it's down farm." But it just so happened the first deer they saw Wednesday morning were bucks, including a couple of real trophies. (These guys are also great at hero shots, so it's not like this was the only picture they got.)

I had a great hunt this past Saturday, seeing about a dozen deer. I also realized just how lucky I was to get that early-season doe kill on video. I had three does fairly close but just couldn't put the camera thing and shooting thing together. I hurt myself by trying to zoom a little closer. I actually left the camera at home for my morning and afternoon hunts yesterday so I wouldn't have the distraction. So, naturally, it was slow.

I've got to take my girls to ballet in the morning so won't hunt until the afternoon. I plan to hit a place in Botetourt with my muzzleloader. It hasn't been hunted for deer this season as the landowner doesn't allow bowhunting. It has potential.

South Carolinian Jeff D'Agostino, one of the stars of this great turkey hunting video from last spring, was back in the area for some deer hunting this week and scored on this incredible six-pointer. Clearly, this buck put some of the energy that would have gone into points seven and eight into the extra length on its brow tines.

Jeff Hansen sent in this shot of his awesome Floyd County 12-pointer, which he killed with a bow on Oct. 15. I love the forked G-2.

Carl Camper sent in this picture of the great Bedford County nine-pointer he killed Tuesday morning at 8:20 a.m.

More pix or more bucks to follow later today.

The rut is rolling, folks.

The past few days I've gotten a bunch of pictures of great bucks. This one features my friend Amy McGuire with a great nine-pointer she killed with a muzzleloader Saturday morning in Franklin County.

I'll post some other pictures throughout the day.

If you're a hunter, I hope you don't see those pictures until tonight. That's because you should be in the woods today and not at your computer (unlike me). I had a feeling things would be smokin' today, and that seems to be happening.

I just got an e-mail from Amy's husband, my good friend Freddy McGuire, saying he and several friends had killed a total of 38 points so far this morning. They are hunting a farm in Bedford where the landowner wants them to shoot everything, but it just so happens they're seeing bucks and some good ones. The tally so far includes a 6-pointer, 8-pointer, 10-pointer and 14-pointer. So, they're a 12-pointer short of shooting for the cycle.

I expect things to stay hot through Saturday, which is good news for those hunters West of the Blue Ridge who will be out there with muzzleloaders Saturday.

For hunters who use dogs, it's a proud moment when a puppy tastes its first success. For Norma and Carson Quarles of Roanoke, they got a double-dose of excitement on Oct. 27, opening day of the first segment of Virginia's fall turkey season.

Norma killed this turkey with the help of young Boykin spaniel sisters Missy and Mandy.

The hunt was bittersweet. Missy and Mandy are the successors of the Quarles' previous turkey hunter, a Boykin named Brandy, who died last year.

Brandy was a great turkey dog and I was responsible for dozens of fall turkeys -- including several for me. It looks like these two are off to a great start.