The Rut is here

By By Mike Giles / outdoors writer
Jan. 3, 2003
Although many deer hunters are pretty much burned out by now, for those remaining diehards the peak rutting activity is now upon us. That translates into more deer movement and a better chance at getting that trophy buck. As the does begin to come into estrous, the wise old bucks seemingly lose their heads and throw caution to the wind. Sometimes these old monarchs will follow the does as if on an invisible string, going places that they would otherwise never frequent during daylight hours.
Even people who are not deer hunters relate stories of seeing huge bucks in their yards, along roadways and yes, even in town during daylight hours. By this time of year the deer have usually patterned hunters and move at night, or early and late during daylight hours if at all. When bucks have does on their mind, however, they will throw caution to the wind and they may be spotted at any time of the day.
Find the does and you'll find the bucks
Although the deer are spread out early in the fall, they will now be more concentrated around any available food source. That translates into areas such as food plots, rye grass fields and any type of unharvested grain fields. Just a week or so ago, my daughter and I joined a friend and his son on a hunt to harvest a doe. They have a lot of does in the area and some needed to be harvested.
Not long after we arrived at the stand overlooking a large rye grass field, we spotted two does moving out of the woods. Seconds later a large rack buck followed suit. They fed to within 300 yards of us and stopped for a few minutes. Since my daughter had never shot at that range, we decided to pass up the buck in hopes of a better shot later.
However, after about 5 minutes a shot rang out across the property line and the does promptly left the scene. Of course the big buck followed them as if on that invisible string. Most likely an accomplished marksman could have taken the buck at the long range, but our purpose on this day was to get a youngster a shot at a deer.
Thickets and cutover areas
While it may sound contradictory, thickets and large open areas are good areas to watch while the rut is in full force. By hunting in thickets that have a lot of deer sign hunters may observe increased deer movement during the day. However, the shots presented will be close and must be taken at a moments notice. Many hunters prefer hunting the edges of the thickets in hopes that they will spot the deer moving along the edges.
A lot of hunters prefer hunting large cutover areas, pipelines, agriculture fields, or any type of vast opening in deer country. This will allow hunters to cover a much larger area and increase their chances of spotting that big buck. However, you must be a skilled marksman and ready to make a long distance shot at a moments notice.
Deer calls
While many people do not use grunt calls, these calls have been known to coax deer within range for a shot. One of the most popular calls at the moment is "The Can," which is an estrous call manufactured by Primos Game Calls. While we can never say for sure what causes a deer to come our way, when deer repeatedly respond to a certain call, we must give some credence to the actions.
This past week, Phil Yarbrough used The Can to call up a nice 8-point buck. He had spotted the deer just out of his range. After Yarbrough called with The Can, the deer turned and promptly headed his way. Seconds later he had his first kill of the year. Whether you use an estrous call such as this, or any one of a myriad of grunt calls, the odds of success may just tilt enough to let you harvest that big buck.