Rut Hunting Tips

October 29, 2007

CHAPTER 21

RUT HUNTING TIPS

This tip chapter supplements the more detailed chapter in this book on the rut. To be frank, I could dedicate an entire book to all aspects of the rut biologically, strategically and scientifically. But until I get around to writing that one this chapter and the more detailed chapter will give you a lot of straight information on a subject eliminating all the horse crap that is often spread about the rut.

What you read here and in the other chapter will be material you can rely on and not have to question. It is information that has taken me years to accumulate. I have tested it through trail and error and share with you the cream of information that rose to the top.   

I’m confident between this tip chapter and the full chapter on the rut you will gain insight to this often misunderstood and misspoken subject. It will hopefully shed some light on the inner workings of rut behavior, biology, as well as some new tactics you can try on the very next rut.

Using a scent out of season, like estrus-urine before the breeding or the “chase phase” starts, won’t attract bucks. They interpret the aroma as unnatural and will only shy away from it. Pay attention the timing of using scents, and use such scents only when the rut is clearly under way. Use them sparingly and you will also get a more natural response.

You have heard me say over and over again that it is hard to judge what size buck made a rub. As a rule, the larger the diameter of the rubbed tree, the larger the buck that made the rub. Big antlered bucks do rub small saplings, however, and although young bucks don’t usually rub large trees—they do on occasion. Look for hook marks in the tree trunk or little indents or holes. These are made by the tips of antler tines. Usually, this is a good way to judge if the buck that rubbed the tree at least had a multi-pointed rack.

Biologists say that the scrape of a mature buck averages 18 to 36 inches in diameter. Find one that is greater than 24 inches and you have a scrape to hunt over.

Biologists don’t have a definitive explanation why the quantity and quality of the acorn drop affects how many rubs bucks make each fall. Basically, when there are fewer acorns, there will be fewer rubs, so finding only a few rubs in a particular year doesn’t necessarily mean that the buck count is down. There may be a lot more bucks in an area with lower acorn drop than the lack of rub sign would lead you to believe!

When you’re setting up a stand so you can watch a scrape, don’t get too close or a returning buck is very likely to detect you. Since bucks commonly scent-check their scrapes from 30 to 40 yards downwind, the spot for your tree stand should be 50 to 60 yards downwind of the scrape if you’re a bow hunter, and further still if you’re a firearm hunter. Then the returning buck should pass right between you and the scrape with his attention focused in the opposite direction.

Don’t pay much attention to scrapes and rubs made around field perimeters bordering woodlands. Most of this rutting sign is made and revisited only after dark.

When you’re scouting, never touch a scrape, licking branch, or rubbed tree with your bare hands or clothing. Even the tiniest amount of human scent transferred to the sign will alert deer to your presence and cancel the sign’s significance.

The rut is triggered when a decreasing amount of daily sunlight passes through the eyes of deer. This reduction of light stimulates the pineal gland, which in turn sends messages to the pituitary gland to increase testosterone levels in bucks and progesterone levels in does.

Bucks are capable of breeding whenever they have hard antlers, which is a five-month time span. But does are capable of breeding only when in estrus – a 26-hour time span. So in reality, it’s the does that “go into rut,” not the bucks.

When does are in estrus, it’s virtually impossible to call in a buck with a grunt call. Use a doe bleat or fawn call to call in does instead. Any responding does that are in heat will have bucks trailing behind them, right to your stand.

When you rattle antlers, don’t rattle too loudly at first. Just tick the tines to make “click-clicking” sounds that simulate the sparring of immature bucks. If you start off loud and aggressive, you may intimidate and scare away bucks.

If a doe comes by your stand with her tail extended straight back, freeze! She’s at the peak of her estrus and is signaling to a following buck that she’s ready to breed.

The most intense action during any region’s well-defined rutting period occurs when there is a 10 to 20 degree drop in the temperature. Conversely, rutting action slows dramatically when the temperature suddenly rises above the norm. This is not to be confused with the rut-regulating influence of sunlight; it’s a separate, year-round phenomenon. Deer are always more active in cool weather, becoming lethargic when the temperature rises above the norm.

 Biologists tell us that the types of places where bucks most frequently make scrapes are (in descending order of importance) field edges, ridge crests, terraced hillside benches, narrow bottomland flats adjacent to creeks, and old logging roads.

During the rut, bucks have been known to travel as far as seven miles per day and as little as 300 yards per day. It all depends upon how many does are available to a buck in a given region.

When you’re rattling antlers, simulate the sounds of a genuine buck fight by stomping the ground with your boots and raking the antlers through brush. Since the buck will come in focused on your sounds, make sure you are well camouflaged.

Many experts agree that hunting a scrape area is more likely to result in success if you use a portable, climbing stand that you carry in and out each time you visit. If you use either a fixed-position stand with screw-in tree steps or a ladder stand and leave it in place, a buck visiting the area during your absence is likely to see or smell the stand and avoid it from then on.

If you’re hunting a scrape area and either spook a mature buck or shoot at one and miss, it’s unlikely that he’ll give you a second chance in the days or week to come. It’s better to relocate your stand to another scrape area at least 300 yards away.

If you see a buck approaching a scrape cautiously and in a timid manner, with his head held low and his tail tucked between his legs, you might want to pass him up. He’s exhibiting subordinate behavior that indicates the scrape he’s investigating was made by another, higher-ranking buck.

Bucks commonly scrape in the same locations year after year. They may even lay down scrapes beneath the exact tree branches and rub the very same saplings as the year before. When scouting, be sure to check the scrape and rub locations you hunted the previous years. You may even find yourself being able to use the same exact tree for a stand as you did last year.

Ignore so-called estrus-response scrapes. These are small in size and are commonly found in open fields and meadows. They’re simply places where an estrus doe has urinated and a buck (in his random travels) has detected the scent and briefly pawed the ground. The buck may never return to that spot again.

If a scrape you’re hunting begins to dry out and is slowly becoming covered by windblown leaves and forest duff, it’s no longer being visited and freshened by the buck that originally made it. Scout somewhere else for a hot scrape that’s being regularly tended.

Severe weather ordinarily causes whitetails to lay up in cover, often for several days, until things blow over. The exception is the peak of the rut. When most of the does are in full estrus, they are very restless and continually on the move. Bucks, likewise, are on their feet, traveling and searching for does, regardless of what the weather is doing. So don’t stay home just because high winds or driving sleet are ravaging your favorite deep woods.

Woods N Water | PO Box 10 South New Berlin, NY 13843 | 607-548-4011