Thanksgiving Day – So Much To Be Thankful For

© By Othmar Vohringer

Thanksgiving Day is a time to be together with family and friends.

For me Thanksgiving Day is also a time to remember and be thankful he people that helped me along the way of becoming a hunter. Most of them are now long gone but will never be forgotten.

I am thankful to my wife for her understanding and support of my whitetail deer passion, my family and the many friends with whom I share my passion for the hunt. It is all these people that helped me to become the person that I am today. I give thanks to my mentors that gave freely of their time to teach me how to become a responsible hunter and steward of nature. 

I also must give thanks for the hunt. I give thanks to the animals that provided the healthy organic meat for our meals and the lasting memories I carried away from each hunt. And finally, I am thankful to live in a country where it is my right to be a hunter and pursue my own happiness.

I wish all our American Whitetail Deer Passion readers a very Happy Thanksgiving Day.

Tip of the Week: Whitetail Deer Behavior and Movement Pattern Studies Reveals How To Hunt Mature Bucks

© By Othmar Vohringer

In this "Tip of the Week" I would like to draw your attention to two interesting studies that had been done in order to learn more about buck travel patterns. Knowing how bucks behave during all stages of the rut enables hunters to make the right decisions on stand placement. In my profession as an animal behaviorist I have studied whitetail deer behavior at great length and I am convinced that the knowledge I gained from these studies ultimately were the biggest contribution to my success as a hunter.

Knowing the habits and behavior of whitetail deer will lead to a better understanding why animals do what they do. With that understanding we can develop strategies that ultimately will result in more encounters with mature whitetail deer bucks.

Where Are Bucks Hiding? New Study Reveals Insights into Buck Behavior is written by Daniel Xu for the OutdoorHub.com

GPS Reveals Early Season Buck Movement Patterns This article, posted on the Quality Deer Management Website, provides lots of charts and aerial images to illustrate buck movement patterns. 

Hunting Bucks On Public Land

© By Othmar Vohringer

I am probably not wrong with the assumption that most hunters in America and here in Canada hunt on public land. Here in North America we’re extremely lucky to have so much public land available to hunt. No matter where you live you never have to drive far to access public hunting land. The downside of public land hunting is that you have a lot of competition from other hunters, and that means hunting educated deer that are masters at humiliating hunters. Many hunters are of the opinion that public land does not hold big mature bucks, but looking at the Pope &Young or Boone & Crockett records will quickly reveal that every year a fair number of trophies are entered that have been taken on public land.

With that said, it is absolutely possible to take a big buck on public land. However, to do so you have to abandon everything that you have read or heard about buck hunting strategies. Most of the tactics discussed in the hunting media pertains to private land deer. Since I hunt most of the time public land deer I will reveal here what I have learned over the past 10 to 15 years.

Pay attention to the competition.
Humans are lazy and habitual. This means that hunters rarely venture far from the truck and almost always walk the same route and hunt the same spots season after season. Knowing this is important for the successful public land hunter. One of my preferred public land scouting times is right after the season closes. It is then that I am able to see the “sign” hunters have left behind and make notes of it. Just remember this, on public land hunters influence deer movement patterns.

Scout from home.
Google Earth has become for me a vital public land scouting tool. It is on Google Earth where I can clearly see the structure and layout of the land before I even set foot onto the land. When I look at Google Earth I look for spots that other hunters often overlook. Out of the way places and locations that don’t look like deer holding areas peak my interest. Often a small woodlot out in the open is overlooked by other hunters and so are small swampy areas and places that are not easily accessible. Most hunters head for the field edges and the big timber. These are the areas deer go to ones the pressure intensives knowing that no hunter will bother them there.

Check the boundaries.
Public land often borders onto private farmland. Walking the boundaries will reveal deer trails that lead from the public land onto private land. Often times these trails are used by the deer during hunting season as escape routes, hanging a stand near such trails can provide you with good hunting opportunities. Just be early in the stand and wait for the other hunters to enter the land and push deer your way.

Barriers.
Many public hunting lands have rivers and streams flowing through them. Most hunters wouldn’t think of crossing waterways or are not equipped to do so. Deer on the other hand have no hesitation whatsoever to get their feet wet crossing rivers and streams to escape from hunters onto small islands, into swampy or tall grass patches. Walking along such waterways after the hunting season closes will show where deer cross rivers and streams. I’ve made it many years ago a practice of mine to always carry a pair of hip and chest waders with me when I scout and hunt on public land.

Conclusion.
Hunting public land can be frustrating and almost always is hard work. But rather than letting hunting pressure get to you, do as the deer do. Avoid the hunting pressure and other hunters by finding the places that other hunters overlook or can’t be bothered to get to it. With a little effort and scouting right after hunting season closes you will find these deer refuge areas.

Call and Rattle In Rutting Bucks

© By Othmar Vohringer

In all fairness it needs to be said that there are places where rattling and calling simply does not work well, mostly because deer wised up to the excessive amount of fake buck fighting and calling. This holds especially true on public land. It also holds true in areas where the buck to doe ratio is skewed in favor of the does. In such areas, which is almost everywhere were deer are not managed for an equal buck to doe ratio, bucks simply have no need to fight for breeding rights.

Yet, even in areas with skewed buck to doe ratios you can have success with calling and rattling a buck to your stand. Forget about aggressive calling and mimicking life-and-death buck battles. Instead tone it down a notch or two. Instead of aggressive rattling stick to “tickling” the antlers together, mimicking a sparring match between two bucks. This is often all it takes to get a buck curious and come investigating. Actually to tell the truth, I have much more success with gentle rattling than with banging aggressively the antlers together. My thinking is that even a large buck would rather come to investigate a sparring match than a full blown fight where he has to risk getting his butt kicked.

What applies for rattling also applies for calling. My experience is that many hunters make three mistakes when calling deer. These are; calling to loud, calling too often and to aggressive. Deer are gentle creatures that don’t like to be yelled at they also do not talk nonstop with each other and are seldom aggressive. When I call deer I strictly call deer that I can see. Blind calling has seldom worked for me. To call in bucks during the rut I stick to soft doe bleats. I keep it short, no more than two to three bleats and then I put the call away. If the buck hears the call he will either respond or not. If he doesn’t respond more calling will rarley change his mind. In fact I found quite often that by calling more the buck becomes suspicious and either walks away or if he does come in will hang up in thick cover.

How you’re set up will also play a big role in how effective deer calling and rattling works. Setting up a stand on deer trail intersections and near funnels yields the best results, deer rarely go out of their way to investigate a call. In the morning stands near doe bedding area are a good choice as bucks will frequent these places in the search of does. In the evening take a stand near a doe feeding area as the bucks will be hanging out there too. While it is true that bucks travel constantly during the rut they do not so randomly. The bucks know where the different groups of does bed and feed and they cruse from one group to the next on established routes. In other words, where the does are bucks aren’t too far from them.With that said, stick with the does and the bucks will not be far away.

Conclusion:

Tone your calling and rattling down a notch or two. Set up near the does because that is where the bucks will be too and if you want to make the illusion perfect to fool a buck with rattling and calling use a decoy as well. Attract a buck by sound and then confirm what he heard by providing him with a visual stimuli.

Rut Tactic: The Sure-fire Rut Setups

© By Othmar Vohringer

A heavily used overgrown fence-row.

To get you one giant step closer to filling your buck tag during the whitetail rut make sure that your stand is set up at the right location. When choosing stand locations think funnels and wind. As bucks frantically travel back and forth in their territory in search of hot does they use funnels that provide them with quick access and cover to get from one place to another one. Bucks are masters at using the prevailing wind and air currents to their advantage to sniff out danger and hot does.

Here is what to look for.
If you did your pre-season scouting you know where the doe bedding and feeding areas are, from there look for features in the landscape that “funnel” deer movement through a small spot between the two locations. Buck funnels are everywhere you just have to find them.
Here are a few examples of what constitutes a funnel.

• Narrow fingers of timber leading out into an open field or connect two larger wood lots.
• Narrow and shallow creek crossings.
• Overgrown fence-rows.
• A segment of broken barbwire fence where deer easily can cross.
• Saddles (shallow points between two hills).
• Woodland corners.

These are just a few examples of landscape features bucks frequently use to access doe holding areas. To make the set up work in your favor make sure you are downwind from the buck travel route. Bucks always travel downwind from doe holding areas to scent-check if any does are in heat yet. If you can set up in a funnel and downwind from the doe feeding or bedding area and the path the buck travels you got yourself a sure-fire whitetail rut setup.

Here are a few examples of buck travel funnels. (Illustration © By Heidi Koehler)

Rut Tactics: Using Decoys To Bring In Bucks

© By Othmar Vohringer

Using a deer decoy during the rut to lure a buck to your stand or ground blind can work extremely well. But like everything else, decoying has to be done right. Just randomly setting up decoys and hope for the best is bound to fail. In this segment of Rut Tactics I will provide you with a few tips on how to make your decoy set ups get noticed by bucks.

Timing:
To have any chance at decoying success the timing has to be perfect. Used at the right time, a decoy can significantly increase the chances of a buck responding to it. Fail to get the timing right and bucks will ignore the decoy, or worse get spooked by it. My experience is that the best time for decoying begins in the pre-rut phase and right up to the peak of the rut. The closer it gets to the peak rut the better is the likelihood that a mature buck will respond to your decoy.

Why is timing so important? During the rut bucks are single minded driven to breed every doe that they can get and to fight every buck for it. In their breeding frenzy a roaming buck will be attracted by anything that looks like a deer.

Another important consideration of timing is to set the decoy up when you hunt and not before. This seems to make sense but I have encountered hunters that set up decoys the evening before they hunt. It’s a big mistake to do this. The whole premise of decoying is to fool a buck into believing that there is an actual deer and not to give him time to figure out that the decoy is a fake deer.

Presentation:

A typical decoy set up using existing deer travel funnels .

Next to the timing of using decoys, the success of decoying boils down to presentation. In order to have any chance for the decoy to be taken seriously by a buck and to give you a good shot at it ones he comes in, you have to pick the right place to set the decoy up.

First, the decoy has to be set up where deer are traveling, meaning active deer travel routes. Deer, even a lovesick buck, will not go out of their way to investigate something that looks like a deer when he knows that it is not an active travel route. In fact he will get suspicious about it. In my experience the best place for decoys are funnels and crossing points. The bottom line is. You need to be where deer will travel and see your decoy.

A decoy should always be placed where bucks can spot them form a fair distance away (see image above). You also have to pay close attention to the wind. Bucks often try to approach decoys from downwind. Make sure that the buck cannot go downwind from your stand position without stepping into one of your shooting lanes first.

Next pay close attention in which direction the decoy faces. There are several opinions where a decoy should face, while some believe a decoy should face away from the hunter, others are of the opinion that the decoy should face the hunter. From experience I share the later opinion. Here is why. When a buck approaches a deer he tries to get downwind from it to scent check it. Then the buck approaches the deer from the front, he wants to look the other deer into the eyes. As the buck turns to face the decoy he will at some point come broadside of me and give me a shot. By doing so the buck is fully focused on the decoy, he will not notice when you shoulder your rifle or draw your bowstring. Conversely, if the decoy faces away from you and the buck approaches it he will look in your direction and might see you move. Because of how a buck approaches another deer, in this case a decoy, it is important to place the decoy in such a way that the wind blows directly from the decoy to you and that the decoy faces you.

How far should the decoy be placed from the hunter’s position? That depends what you’re shooting with. If I hunt with a bow I place the decoy no more than 30 yards from the stand, preferably a little closer. With a firearm the decoy can be placed further away from the setup, provided the decoy is still clearly visible to any approaching bucks. Distance from the hunter to the decoy is important because a buck will typically keep a safe distance from the decoy before they walk right up to it. Preferably I like to get a shot at the buck before he walks right up to the decoy. It doesn’t take very long for some bucks to figure out that a decoy is a fake deer, then swaps ends and departs in a hurry.

Should I use a buck or doe decoy?:
Most of the time I use a buck decoy and sometimes a buck and doe together, the later seems to work especially well if the buck decoy mimics a smaller buck. A larger buck will have no hesitation to come rushing in, trying to run the smaller buck off.

I rarely use a single doe decoy, as my experience has been that it attracts mostly other does and fawns. What I have experienced a time or two with single doe decoys is that an older doe got suspicious, somehow these older girls seem to have sixth sense of things that are not quite right. It is these older does that can make all other deer nervous with their paranoia and eventually convince the others deer to vacate the area and by doing so take bucks that might lurk around with them. By using a buck decoy the does will usually stay clear of it. Bucks on the other hand will approach the decoy with the full intention of kicking this intruder’s butt, especially if the decoy as I said earlier mimics a smaller buck.

Complete the illusion:
When I use decoys I want to create a lifelike illusion. To do that I use scents, calls and rattling antlers that are appropriate for the time of the rut.

Conclusion:
If you haven’t had much luck decoying deer in the past, try some of the tips provided here and see how decoying deer can work for you too. I am often asked whether full body or silhouette decoys are better. Personally I like the silhouette decoys from Montana Decoys. These decoys look lifelike and fold up to a small format that will fit easily into a backpack. To me this is important. Especially when I use a climbing treestand, spot and stalk or have to hike a long way to my stand, I don’t feel that I also should burden the load by carrying a life-sized full body deer decoy when the are other options that work as well as a Montana Decoy.

Deer Hunting Tip: Always Check The Wind

© Othmar Vohringer

The number one defense of deer is their nose and it is the hunter’s biggest enemy. More hunts fail because deer got a nose full of human scent than by anything else that could go wrong. When I hunt, the wind is always foremost on my mind. I am very particular about checking the movement of the air flow regularly around me.

Before a hunt I check the local weather station to find out what the prevailing wind directions are. I do not own a smartphone but for those that do there are various applications available that provide you with regular updates on wind directions, wind speeds and other weather conditions.

I am old fashioned and check the wind and air currents with the aid of scent free chalk powder. I purchase the chalk that commonly is used for chalk line boxes. This fine powder comes in various colors and is cheap. A big one pound bottle of that stuff lasts me usually up to two years. I prefer the red colored chalk that I fill into a small nasal spray bottle that I can carry in my shirt or jacked pocket. A squeeze of the bottle releases a small cloud of red chalk into the air that, because of its coloration, I can watch for a very long distance drifting in the air current. This provides me with a good indication of what the wind does around me and further away from my stand.

I also use quite often seeds of plants such as Milkweed, Dandelion and other seeds that float in the air and make perfect wind movement indicators that too can be seen for a very long way floating in the air. This becomes particularly important in hill country where the wind is often subject to changes of direction and swirls back and forth.

Regardless of what you use to check the wind, important is that you make a serious commitment to continuously check the wind during your hunt. If you want to become more successful as a hunter you have to pay close attention to the wind and use any available method to check the wind, be they high-tech or old school. Never underestimate a deer’s nose, because it will detect your scent even if you wear scent blocking/absorbing garments and boots.

Getting In And Out Of Your Stand Undetected

© By Othmar Vohringer

As hunters we invest a considerable amount of time in scouting and finding features that promote deer travel, locating food sources and the perfect stand locations. Yet, few hunters pay any mind whatsoever to finding out how they will get in and out of their stand locations undetected by deer. I lost count of how many times I heard stories of hunters that got busted by deer on their way to and from their stands. It happened to me too, more often then I care to admit.

But I learned from my own mistakes and for many years now pay close attention to the routes in and out of my stands. Choosing the perfect route to access or depart your stand is just as important as finding the perfect stand location. Before hanging a stand, find out how you can access and leave without letting deer know that you’re in the area. Because if you can’t do that the best stand location will be ruined for future hunts, you might just as well pull it.

When I chose a stand location I make careful notes of where deer will be during those times that I hunt a particular stand, pre-season and careful in-season scouting will reveal these areas. If deer can hear, see or smell me on my way in or out I am done. Deer stay alive by exactly knowing what is going on all around them and who’s coming and going.

When choosing entry and exit routes we have to pay close attention to wind directions and how air currents behave in the area. That is the reason why it is so important to know your hunting area so well, not only to figure out deer movement patterns but also to figure out how you get undetected in and out. Finding the perfect stand access and departure route means that we often have to choose several routes, quite often the route we come in to the stand might not be the same we can use to leave the stand. Quite often it also means that we have to walk a considerable detour. One of my best stand locations required a boat to access and depart from it. It took me an extra half hour instead of the 15 minutes the direct route would have taken me. The extra minutes and requiring a boat was well worth the effort and time as the stand kept producing deer hunt after hunt and season after season. Seldom is the shortest and easiest way also the best way.

The next time you experience that your stand doen't come up to your expectations give it some serious consideration about how to get into and out of your stand location without alerting every deer in the vicinity to your presence.

Tips On Hunting All Day From Your Treestand

 

© By Othmar Vohringer

During the rut, when bucks move at every hour of the day, sitting from dawn to dusk in your treestand can be a great way to kill a mature buck. Sitting up to ten hours, or more, in your stand is no easy task, but if you plan ahead and use the right gear and set of mind an all day treestand sit can be very productive and will not become a battle of endurance. To that end I share with you a few tips that I learned over the years to make hunting all day from a stand comfortable.

1. Confidence: The lack of confidence is the biggest killer of staying all day in your treestand. There are times when nothing moves for hours. I’ve spent sitting hours upon hours without seeing any deer and it lets you question the purpose of sitting in your stand, especially when you hear a shot or two going off in the distance. You have to have confidence in your skills to scout and hang stands accordingly. Without that you will start to doubt and wonder if the grass is greener elsewhere. Without confidence all other tips that follow will become useless as the lack of confidence that will make you to abandon an all day stand sit in.

2. Comfort: The next important aspect of all day treestand hunting is comfort. If you’re not comfortable you go home to early. To be comfortable you need to wear the right clothing for the weather that keeps you warm. During the rut weather patterns can change often during a single day, frost in the morning and evening, warm during midday hours. Always check the weather forecast of the area you’re hunting and make clothing choices accordingly. Dress in approbriate layers of undergarments. I usually pack rain gear and extra insulated clothing that I carry with me to the treestand in a day day-pack. On my walk to the stand I dress in lightly to avoid sweating. At the stand location I add an insulated parka and bib pants over the clothing I already wear. As the day progresses I shed some of the outer layers and add them again in the evening as it gets colder. Don’t forget hands, feet and face. Cold hands, feet or face will make the whole body feel cold. To cover for that I always carry an insulated neck and face cover, insulated cloves and wear thick will socks over a pair of lightweight socks.

When we talk about comfort treestands come to mind. Although treestand seats have come a long way from the old canvas sling seat or foam covered wooden board, it still can take a toll on your posterior so sit on these things for a full day. If you have to carry an additional thick foam mat or one of those inflatable seat cushions and a padded backrest that you can attach to the tree to make you comfortable for many hours of sitting. If you’re not comfortable seating on your stand it will lead to moving around too much and eventually leaving early because your backside just can’t take it anymore.

3. Nutrition: In order to stay warm and content the body needs fuel to keep the internal furnace going and the mind sharp. In other words, you can’t hunt all day without eating and drinking liquid. When I hunt all day I do not carry full pre-cooked meals with me, instead I substitute with high energy foods that a lighter to pack than a thermos filled with stew. Such high energy foods are trail mix containing various sorts of nuts and dehydrated fruit, an assorted collection of chocolate and granola bars and maybe even some beef jerky. To drink I always have two to three small bottles of plain water with me and occasionally a thermos with chicken or beef broth. Snaking all day long is better than eating lots in one go. Eating a “meal” makes you sleepy and that is not what you want to happen in a treestand.

4. Preventing boredom: Sitting all day in a treestand can get boring, especially if you there is no deer movement for hours, and it can quickly lead to a nagging desire to leave. To relieve boredom I bring a book along to an all day treestand sit-in. I choose a book that does not need my full concentration to follow a story, but rather choose a bock for entertainment value. If own a cell phone or similar device you can download a book or your favourite hunting.

However, I strongly advice not use the device to cruse the internet and get distracted with social media discussions, not even the discussions on the Whitetail Deer Passion Facebook site, save that for later when the hunt is over. Also video games can relieve boredom. Whatever it is you do to keep from getting bored, make sure it does not distract you from what is going on around you, always remember. Your main purpose is to hunt and pay attention. If you forget this it can happen to you like to a friend of mine who sent me a text message during his hunt. As we texted back and forth my friend texted back; “Shit a big buck just walked by the stand and I couldn’t drop the phone and grab the bow quick enough.” Yes it can happen that quickly. Nothing moves for hours and then when you least expect it the buck of your dreams walks right under your stand. Don’t get distracted.

5. Answering the call of nature: Nothing puts a damper to hunting more than having to go and not being able to go. As the saying goes; if you have to go you have to go. At one time there has been a big market for an assortment treestand nature call gadgets. Here is what I do when nature calls. I answer the call! For years I was worried that the scent of human urine and feces would spook deer. Then I read about a research that has been done on that matter and what you know? Deer are not spooked one little bit by it. Actually the research found that deer are attracted to the smell of human urine. So if I have to go I “let it rip” right then and there over the edge of my treestand and it never has bothered the deer any. For a bowl movement I get one in the morning before I leave the house and that usually takes care of it all day long. Avoiding a bowl movement in the middle of an all day hunt is another good reason snack rather than eat lots of food in one go.

Rut Myth Debunked – When the weather is to hot the rut will be delayed

© By Othmar Vohringer

Myth: When the weather is to hot the rut will be delayed.

Fact:
Remember when I wrote in an earlier segment of “Rut Myth Debunked” that the rut is closely tied to the time of the fawn birth. Weather therefore will have very little influence on the rut activity because the fawns need to be born during a very particular time of the year or else their chances of survival will drop significantly. While it appears that a freak warm weather front shuts the rut down, the truth is that the rut is going to happen regardless. Deer biologists have done a great deal of research on this myth of a delayed rut and found out that warm weather may force the bucks to slow down somewhat but they will keep on seeking out and breeding does regardless. While in cold weather bucks cruse around during daylight hours in search of receptive they will rest during warm periods and search for does mainly at night.
Whatever the weather conditions are the rut will happen regardless because nature demands it to happen.

Hot weather will not delay the rut for weeks, or as some hunters have suggested, cancel the rut. Conversely, a premature cold snap will not result in kick-starting the rut weeks earlier either. If you’ve figured out at what time the rut is on in the area you hunt then go hunting regardless of the weatherman’s predictions of a warm weather front. During these warm weather periods take up a stand further back into the timber, near a buck bedding area, and expect buck movement right at dawn and shortly before dusk.

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Rut Myth Debunked – Does the full moon have an effect on the timing of the rut?

© By Othmar Vohringer

Myth: The full moon has an effect on the timing of the rut.

Fact:
This is another myth that many hunters have unquestioningly adhered to for generations. I know of quite a few hunters that won’t go hunting until the “moon is right”, despite the fact that science has never been able to support that moon theory. Many notable deer behaviour scientists have examined this issue at great length and all they could come up with is that there is no definitive relationship between the moon and the timing of the rut.

If you look at the bigger picture this makes sense. The moon phases are the same across North America and with that we can assume that if the moon would have any influence on the timing of the rut that it would have that affect across the continent. But that is not so. The timing of the rut varies from the south to the north by as much as two months. There are more questions to the deer rut then we have answers for but one thing scientists are very sure about is that the timing of the rut is directly linked to the time when fawns are born.

The fawns are born when the climate and food availability guarantees the best possible survival chances. In Florida the best climatic conditions for deer to raise offspring is March and further north, like British Columbia, Canada (the most northerly extension range of whitetails) the best conditions occur around the end of May to the beginning of June for most regions. To establish the beginning of the rut all one has to do is pay close attention to the time of when the deer fawns are born. From there count back 120 to 125 days (the gestation period of whitetail deer) and that will provide you with a good ballpark figure of when the rut starts in your particular area.

Here is another interesting bit that refutes the full moon rut trigger myth. When a southern Texas game ranch imported whitetail deer from Wisconsin they found out that it took the Wisconsin deer a full two years to adjust to the Texas deer rut cycle. Why? Climate! When southern Texas deer give birth to fawns most of Wisconsin is still under a blanket of snow and frost.

If you still doubt that the moon has absolutely nothing to do with the rut then you might want to read what modern whitetail deer researchers have discovered.

Read the next segment of "Rut Myth Debunked"
Is the rut the best time to hunt mature bucks?
Hunting bucks by setting up over a scrape

Rut Myth Debunked – Hunting bucks by setting up over a scrape

© By Othmar Vohringer

Myth: During the rut taking up a stand near a fresh scrape means better odds that a great buck will come by.

Fact:
Here’s the skinny on scrapes. Did you know that over 90% of all scrapes are random? Meaning, the buck that made them will never return to it again? But hang on, it gets worse. Does make scrapes too and no, you can’t tell the difference from a buck and doe scrape. Scrapes come in all sizes from as big as a car-hood to as small as a dinner plate and neither is an indicator of what size deer made them. Some scrapes are only used by bucks, others only by females and again others are used by both sexes. Then there is the little known fact that the majority of mature bucks visit scrapes primarily at night as a recent study revealed with radio collared bucks. Now add to this confusion that a buck can make up to 40 or more scrapes in his territory of which none is regularly visited and others never attended to again and it becomes obvious how slim the chances are to plan on encountering a buck at a specific scrape.

All these limiting factors may be the reason for the answers I got from “scrape hunters” when I asked them about the success ratio they have by employing this particular hunting tactic. It can be summed up like this: if you hunt over the same scrape from dawn to dusk for several days, even weeks, and a buck will eventually walk by it. To me that sounds more like depending on luck - not a sound strategy.

Read the next segment of "Rut Myth Debunked"
Is the rut the best time to hunt mature bucks?
Does the full moon have an effect on the timing of the rut?

Rut Myth Debunked – Is the rut the best time to hunt mature bucks?

© By Othmar Vohringer

Hunting is riddled with myths that have been passed on from one generation to the next. Without a doubt one of the most myth-ridden segments of the hunting season revolves around the deer rut. Many hunters plan their hunting strategies around these long-held but flawed beliefs. To become a more successful hunter this fall you first want to separate fact from myth.

Here on Whitetail Deer Passion we will help you in the next view days to separate myth from facts.

The first installment of “Rut Myth Debunked” we will examine the long held belief that the rut is the best time to kill a big buck.

This myth is so deep rooted in our mind that many hunters don’t think about pursuing mature bucks until the deer rut begins. This is too bad for them because the rut may very well be the worst time to be chasing a mature buck. You can confirm that fact by consulting one of the many trophy record books. Reading through these books shows that more trophy whitetails are taken during the early and late part of the hunting season not during the rut.

It makes sense too when you think about it. In the early season bucks are still on a predictable feeding to bedding travel pattern and again so after the rut. When the rut kicks in bucks travel randomly day and night in search of hot does. In other words, during the rut a buck could turn up any time and anywhere. To hunt the rut effectively hunters have to be mobile too. This is not the time to sit all day in the same stand hoping a buck will eventually walk by you.

Prepare to hunt all day long but instead of hunting one or two locations choose several stand sites that promote deer travel through well-defined bottle necks. Stay close to the doe groups as bucks will be there too.

Read the next segment of Rut Myth Debunked:
Hunting bucks by setting up over a scrape
Does the full moon have an effect on the timing of the rut?