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.

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.

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?

Good Deer Hunting Information To Tie You Over To The Start Of The Hunting Season

© By Othmar Vohringer

Here in British Columbia the hunting season started on the 1st of September but most everywhere else in North America it is still a few days of waiting and anticipating. To shorten the waiting period and to provide you with a few additional tips that might prove helpful I provide you here with a selection of great articles and information of all things deer hunting.

With the weather only getting colder each day as the hunting season goes on these “7 Rules for hunting cold fronts” provide valuable information that will benefit you ones the freeze is on.
Outdoor Life, 7 Rules for hunting cold fronts by Mark Kenyon

There are still a number of hunters who think that calling deer is a waste of time. The facts are, however, that under the right conditions and with the right set up deer calling can be just the ticket you need to lure that big elusive buck in. Alan Clemons tells you how in his article “Don’t be afraid of grunting for your bucks”.
Deer and Deer Hunting, Don’t be afraid of grunting for your bucks by Alan Clemons

For the hunters that do not fully understand how important scouting is and what knowledge can be gained from it in selecting the perfect deer ambush. Here is one of my own articles that was published in the Western Sportsman magazine last year.
Mapping out deer hunting success

Hunting from a treestand is without question the best way to ambush whitetail deer. However, for safety, comfort and ease of set up it is important to choose the right treestand for you and the environment you hunt. My article “Treestand hunting essentials” explains how to choose the perfect treestand model that is right for you personally and the habitat you hunt.
Treestand hunting essentials

I hope that these tips help you out and wish you the best of luck in the upcoming hunting season.

If you like you can share your 2014 hunting stories with the readers of Whitetail Deer Passion.

The Rut Is On – Prepare To Hunt All Day

© By Othmar Vohringer

November is the time we all have been waiting for. The rut is on. Bucks are cruising around day and night in search of does. Now is the time to find a good spot, set up a stand and though it out all day from dawn to dusk. The important thing is to find the right spot that bucks frequent daily and that provides you with the best chance to get a crack at a rut-crazed buck.

Here are my favourite locations to intercept a traveling buck.

Antler Rattling And Calling During the Rut

© By Othmar Vohringer

Antler rattling and calling can be an effective part of a smart hunting strategy during the rut, when bucks become more aggressive.

While rattling up a big buck is more effective in areas where the buck-to-doe-ratio is even or close to it, because bucks have more competition, it also can work well in areas where does outnumber bucks and with that have less or no competition. Meaning, there is no need to fight for breeding rights.

Still when a buck hears two others fight he may come in to your rattling to investigate what the ruckus is all about. Here are a few tips that will help you to maximize your antler rattling success.

Set up
The set up is very important for antler rattling success. Bucks that respond to antler rattling almost always approach from downwind as they try to smell first before they see. Whenever possible bucks stay in cover that camouflages them. A great deal of thought and planning is necessary to find a good stand site for rattling. The stand site must fulfil the following: Force the buck to leave the cover and cross at least one of you shooting lanes within shooting range as he tries to get downwind from you. The stand site also must prevent the buck from seeing for a long distance. This is a problem for many hunters. Hunters like to see for some distance but a buck that responds to your rattling fully expects to see two other bucks and if he can’t see them he will hang up. In order to prevent that the stand must be located in such a way that the buck has to walk into shooting distance to be able to see where the rattling is coming from. You also should be able to approach and vacate the stand site from several directions. There is nothing more detrimental to hunting success then approaching and leaving the stand site using the same route each time you hunt that stand. Deer are smart and will pattern your comings and goings faster than you can pattern deer movement. Keep them guessing.

Good stand sites for rattling are field corners, thicket tips and bottlenecks (See illustration, click on image to see larger version)

Wind
The wind is not your friend and you have to pay close attention to shifting winds and prevailing thermals. Ones a buck catches a whiff of you he is gone and gone for good, especially the older bucks that survived a few hunting seasons are no dummies. Do what you can to set up a stand in such a way that the prevailing wind direction is in your favour and not the bucks. Sometimes it may be necessary to set up two stands so you can switch locations if the wind should change direction.

Be Ready
Some hunters are so anxious to rattle a buck in that they start before they are ready to hunt. Big mistake and a sure recipe to be caught off guard. Always get ready to hunt first. Get comfortable in your stand, familiarize yourself with your immediate area, visualize the possible routes the buck might take, have the gun or bow ready to fire quickly if you have to and pick your shooting lanes.

While some bucks take their sweet time and sneak to your set up others will come rushing in like runaway trains. In the past I had encounters with sneaky bucks and the mad ones. In either case if you are not ready for them you might just as well sit by the campfire, the result amounts be the same. One time I barely put the antlers down and picked my bow up when I heard something that sounded a cattle stampede heading my way. The buck came running at full tilt, crashing over everything in his path, like there would be no tomorrow. He meant business and was ready to kick some butt. As fast he came as fast he was gone again before I could pull the string back on my bow. Another time I waited over a half hour and nothing stirred. I was about ready to move on to another stand when I noticed faint movement to one side of me. Raising my binoculars I spotted a buck stealthy as a Navy Seal, using every tree for cover, approaching my set up one slow step at a time. He never made a sound. I wish I could stalk like that.

Rattling done right
The grave mistake many hunters make when rattling is that they are too aggressive and rattle for to long. If you ever watched real bucks fight then you know that they do not get at each other with full force from the word “go”. Whenever possible animals, not only bucks, avoid physical confrontations. Animals instinctively know that fights could lead to injury or even death. To avoid this animals have developed behaviours to intimidate an opponent without having to resort to fighting. A fight is always reserved as a last ditch effort when all else fails.

Part of a whitetail deer buck’s pre-fight behaviour consists of pawing and stomping the ground with the front feet. Often bucks can be heard making deep guttural grunts as they paw the ground. This is usually followed with trashing the antlers violently against brush.

When this fails to impress bucks meet face to face, perhaps they circle around each other as to size each other up. By doing so they may gently engage their antlers in what is called “antler tickling”. As a few minutes pass without a decision of whose stronger the fight and antler engagement starts to increase in intensity and violence until one of the bucks runs out of steam or is defeated.

In my antler rattling I try to simulate the above scenario. Usually I start with a few buck grunts followed by stomping my feet on the ground and rake brush or tree trunks with the antlers. After that I usually wait a minute or two before start with gentle antler clicking and grinding. Slowly I increase the rattling intensity but never to the point of making sound like a full-blown fight of two giant bucks. As I rattle I move the antlers from side to side and behind me to make it sound like the bucks move about as they fight. There is another aspect of making rattling sound realistic that many hunters overlook. I never rattle from a tree stand because there is nothing natural about two bucks fighting high up in a tree. Deer have very sensitive hearing they can exactly pinpoint where sound is coming from.

I may rattle for up to 20 minutes with a few short breaks in between. During this breaks I pick up my bow or gun and listen carefully for any sound of an incoming buck. Always be ready to take first best shot that presents itself. A buck that comes to rattling never sticks around very long. As soon the buck arrives and sees no other deer he will be gone again.

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This blog post has been brought to you by Othmar Vohringer Outdoors


Tags: Whitetail Deer Rut, Antler Rattling Tips, Antler Rattling During The Rut, Rut Hunting Tips

Hunting the rut

© By Othmar Vohringer

Many hunters view the rut as the magical time to kill a big buck. But is it? Not if I go by my 30 plus year experience and the many requests for rut hunting advice I get on Ask Othmar. If I say rut I am talking about the actual breeding period, when big bucks seem to loose all common sense and caution.

The breeding phase is a two-week period, give or take few days, when bucks are actually breeding the does. As I said this is the time most hunters long for. Some hunters I know will not bother hunting at any other time of the season.

If the truth were known the rut is without question the least promising time to kill a mature buck. Unlike during any other part of the hunting season buck movement patterns become highly unpredictable during the actual breeding phase. The buck you see today might be miles away the next day. Oh sure there are many reports of hunters that kill a buck during the rut. But lets be honest about it. Most of these bucks are young immature, speak stupid deer. The mature and smart bucks seldom make the mistake to hang out with does in an open field during daylight hours.

To kill a big buck during the breeding phase forget hunting woodland and crop field edges or sitting over a trail. Instead do as the bucks do and become mobile. Stick to the thick stuff where big bucks hang out until dark. The only places where you get away with looking over open fields is if you live in open country like Alberta and Saskatchewan where bucks have no other choice but to cross large open fields to get from one woodlot to the next.

My favourite tactics during the breeding period is to scout several stand sites connecting near trail intersections in the thick stuff, preferably downwind of doe bedding and feeding areas. Often I don’t bother with treestand and instead use available vegetation, dead fallen trees and the like to hide behind. I might sit in a particular stand for an hour or so and if nothing happens I get up and move to the next location. As I move I do not just hike to the next stand, I still hunt. Moving slowly along cutlines, ridge tops and other terrain features where bucks travel and that provide me with cover and yet at the same time good vision of surrounding terrain.

While on the move I frequently stop to observe the surrounding area with my binoculars for any movement. Bucks travel constantly without rest and to get a chance at shooting a buck I move around too. The key to success is to be on the move all day and try to cover as much territory as possible. Always be alert, a buck in search of a doe could appear literally from anywhere at any time. This is not very scientific but I have found over many years of trying different tactics that this is just about the only way to get a chance to encounter a traveling mature buck.

Related Article: What’s The Best Time To Kill A Big Buck?

Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Tags: Hunting The Rut, Ask Othmar, Rut Hunting Tactics, Hunting Tips

The Rut Is Soon Here - Any Day Now

© By Othmar Vohringer

This past Sunday my wife and I went for a drive up north to the small logging town of Barrier. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed every minute of it. It might be the last sunshine we get before the long winter arrives.

In the way home we drove along a cattle pasture when I spotted about 25 deer. We stopped and started to take pictures.

Observing the deer we discovered several smaller and medium sized bucks among the does and fawns. These images are taken with a 600mm lens. In reality the deer are about 300 yards of off the road. We discovered the bucks when we looked through the photo lens.


Two bucks approached each other and after sniffing and dancing around each other they started to fight. The latest for well over twenty minutes. As you can see in the next image the does don’t pay any attention to the fighting. The fight attracted other bucks, 7 in all out if view staying just inside the tree line. The bucks showed no interest in the does whatsoever. The fighting is a sign that the rut soon will be upon us. Maybe in a matter of days even.


Now is a good time to pack your rattling antlers or rattling bag along on your hunting trips.

Related articles:
Early Season Antler Rattling
Deer Scent and Calling Tactics Trough the Seasons


Othmar Vohringer Outdoors

Tags: Antler Rattling, Bucks Fighting, Deer Hunting

Understanding the Rut

Lately the phone has been ringing a lot more and my email in-box has been filled up with emails from hunters across North America wanting to know when the rut begins in their area. As much as I would like to answer with, “here is what you do…” I cannot. There are many variables as to what triggers the rut and when it occurs.

While most hunters think that the rut is an event that only takes place a few days or weeks, a number of rut phases lead up and follow the actual rut, the peak rut. All of these phases involve sexual activity and are part of the rutting process. This process can take many moths starting as early as August in some southern areas of North America and lasting well into February in some northern parts of North America.

The most important aspect to learn about the rut is the timing varies from area to area as well as from one year to another. In short there is not a set date when the rut starts and ends. If you heard or read, as I did, that the rut starts everywhere during the second week of November then you would be very wise to doubt that statement. Because it just doesn’t happen that way, at least not in my experience.

You should also be aware that much what is reported as fact is actually theory. We simply do not know all the answers about why deer do whatever it is they do or when they do it.

Generally speaking bucks are capable of reproduction the moment they shed their antler velvet. But the does are not ready at that time. We have identified four stages that lead up to the peak-rut, where most does are ready to be breed, or follow that period.

Pre-Rut
As the temperatures begin to fall the bucks shed the antler velvet and begin their sparing matches. These are not life and death fights but simply a push and shove affair where bucks get rid of some frustration and test their competitors. It’s almost a joke on the bucks from Mother Nature that they are ready to breed but the does aren’t. At this time bucks still live together in bachelor groups.

Chasing Phase
About two to four weeks after the Pre Rut the chasing phase begins. The mature bucks begin now to leave the buck groups and lead a live in solitude, beginning to follow the does around, chasing them. At about this time the does begin to produce pheromones as the estrus nears. It is believed that this pheromones advertising the estrus cycle causes bucks to produce more male hormones.

At first bucks follow the does in some distance, shadowing the does. While there may be several bucks that follow a doe, it will be the dominant bucks that follow the doe at a close distance. As the doe nears her full estrus cycle the bucks chase becomes more intensified.

The Rut
The estrus period, where a doe is most fertile, only lasts about 24 hours. The doe will now stand still for the buck rather than run away from him the moment he tries to come very close to her. She will now tolerate that the buck mounts her. After breeding the buck will stay with that doe throughout her estrus period before he goes off to find a new estrus doe, commonly referred to as “doe in heat”. Bucks breed several does in a very short time frame. Not all the does come in heat at exactly the same day.

If a doe has not been breed the first time she will come in heat again after 28 days. Researchers have found that some does can go trough six to seven estrus cycles. However, most does are breed the first time around.

It is the few does that repeat their estrus cycles in 28 days that lead up to the post rut.

Post Rut
The post rut is the same as the Rut but very much less intensive as the first rut. Bucks are still wandering about and checking out doe feeding and bedding areas to find the last un-breed doe.

What triggers the rut? As I said before the doe entering the estrus cycle triggers the rut. The next question then would what makes the doe come into the estrus cycle? Well there are many different opinion and theories. In my experience, that is shared by many experts. The trigger is a sharp drop in temperature. The first cold snap may be what causes the doe to come into estrus. This also would explain why the rut takes place at different times in different areas and years. While in the north the rut may come with the first frost of the year in the south it may be just the difference of a few degrees in temperature. There are also theories that the moon plays some part in the rut too, but I have no data or experience to verify this phenomenon.

Researchers are constantly researching the rut and one day will perhaps find the answers we are all seeking. In the meantime, the best advice I can give to hunters is to be out in the woods as much as possible. The odds of harvesting a big buck are directly linked to the amount of time spent in the outdoors.

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