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Bucks break rules
My experience last year was common. Big bucks don't seem to
follow any rules.
Just when you think you've deciphered their daily patterns,
they vanish. The field and timber they use for food and cover
all year is suddenly vacant.
And this deviation from their habit is generally just before
hunting season.
The reason for their erratic behavior typically doesn't have
anything to do with food or security.
Just as with other warm-blooded males, it's often lust that
causes them to do unpredictable and even hazardous things.
Understanding how the rut affects bucks — both whitetail and
muleys — will help you consistently bag bigger deer.
And it may even help explain why the deer you've been
watching all year suddenly disappear in mid-November.
Last year, I was sure that the big 5-point whitetail had
either been shot on a neighboring field or had become
exclusively nocturnal, coming out to feed only well after dark.
I figured I was out of the game, so I started hunting mule
deer in the uplands, where I had seen a good buck while grouse
hunting.
I ended up settling for a 23-inch 3-point that I shot the
third week of the season.
My success meant more time at home, repaying some domestic
debts and scanning the alfalfa field.
I was puttering around the yard the week before Thanksgiving
when I saw the big buck, running the entire herd of 20 does
around in a circle.
In broad daylight.
I couldn't believe it was him, but I had seen that buck so
often there was no mistake. With my deer tag notched, all I
could do was watch his antics.
He was dead by the end of the week, shot in a field behind my
alfalfa patch.
The waiting game
Patience is a real virtue when it comes to deer hunting, and
it's one I'm still developing.
If your state allows deer hunting in the rut, which generally
starts early in the second week of November and peaks late in
the third week of November, you shouldn't settle for a modest
early-season buck.
I know first-hand that's hard to do, but the entire game
changes once bucks get swelled necks, start sniffing does and
start sparring with their rivals.
You'll see bucks you didn't see before, and big bucks lose
their famous inhibitions.
They get careless, and hunting can be as easy as finding a
gang of does and then looking for their attendant buck.
The rules are pretty similar for both whitetails and mule
deer. Here are the top five tips to mind if you're after a good
November buck:
Hunt the does
For the past couple of months, bucks have been hanging
together in bachelor groups.
That changes as the rut nears in early November. But does
don't migrate toward the bucks.
Instead, the males congregate wherever they find aggregations
of does.
That generally means you should hunt the core habitat —
river-bottom cropland for whitetails, upland ag land and
high-quality native range for mule deer — or wherever you've
seen good numbers of antlerless deer the remainder of the year.
Look for monarchs
The rut can be physically draining on lead bucks.
My experience with mule deer is that the top buck in a herd
will often try to breed in the early to midmorning, then bed
down in the middle of the day.
I've had good luck stalking a herd of does, then scanning
cutbanks, little bunches of brush and timber and other bedding
spots for bucks that, just like sultans, can look over their
harem before breeding again in the evening.
Wait out the whoppers
You may see a decent buck working a group of does. Don't be
in a hurry to whack him.
Instead, look to any hiding cover, neighboring field or gully
for the real bruiser.
Often the herd buck will breed and then rest while junior
bucks chase around does. The big buck won't be far away, but he
may be resting.
Hunt the hard country
Often the most intense mule deer rutting activity takes place
in gentle country adjacent to rough escape cover.
Deer will filter out of breaks to breed in nearby fields, or
they'll come out of the mountains to gather in foothills.
But they're never far from security. The biggest bucks may
have already sensed your presence and filtered back into the
broken timber.
If you don't see a quality deer in the visible herd, try
working the rough country nearby for a savvy buck that doesn't
want to abandon his harem.
Use tricks
Bring rattling antlers. Bring doe-in-heat scent if it's
legal. Set up a decoy. Any of these tools will work during the
rut.
Rattling is especially successful in areas with high
densities of younger bucks, especially late in the rut when
there's serious competition for a few remaining unbred does.
Estrus scents can work well to concentrate bucks in dense
cover, and decoys — especially ones that imitate younger bucks —
can work like magic in areas where the herd buck feels
threatened by an interloper.
If you're especially picky, and decide to eat your tag
instead of venison, you have a consolation.
Those smaller bucks you passed on this year should be even
bigger next year. But, come November, they'll be just as dumb. |
