At its core, deer hunting is a numbers game. Stay at it long enough and you’re bound to have an encounter. During the rut, buck movement increases, and so do your odds. But a few slow sits, missed opportunities, or unseasonably warm days can mess with your head.
If you’re not careful, you’ll convince yourself to save your vacation days for a trip to Disney World or wherever else you decide to go during the summer. Whether you pack it in early or not, the rut will go on. The key is being there while it happens.
Keep It Simple
It’s easy to fall into paralysis-by-analysis in deer hunting. I’ve been guilty of this myself. You might have to consider buck bedding, wind direction, wind shifts, and a host of other factors when you’re trying to pattern a mature buck, but those factors might not be as important during the rut. I’ve had the opportunity to interview a ton of stone-cold big buck killers. Almost all of them will tell you to forget buck sign once the rut hits—it’s all about the does. Instead of trying to decode a buck’s habits, look for the does. This might mean hunting downwind of general bedding areas or well-used trails. Either way, look for the doe sign and let them bring the bucks.
You should also take a simple approach to hunting terrain. During the rut, stick to proven terrain features and edges. Bowls, saddles, benches, pinch points, beaver dams, high spots next to a slough, creek drainages between bedding. All of these are solid, proven options. Find the does in these areas, and you’ll likely have an encounter. As long as you see fresh droppings and tracks, you’re headed in the right direction. Research shows that bucks move more during the rut than any other time of year. Spend time in one of these terrain features, and you’ll have an encounter eventually.
Take A Walk
If you throw a few sits in one area and the action just isn’t there, it’s not the end of the world. You just need to find the deer. One way to do that is by still-hunting through to a new spot. Not only does this breakup the monotony and get the blood moving, but it can also give you one of your most exciting hunts in the deer woods. I’ve had more encounters and buck kills in the past three seasons while still-hunting. A lot of those encounters also happened during the midday stretch, when most hunters head back to camp for a sandwich.
You should also consider still-hunting if all-day rut sits aren’t your thing. All-day sits get talked about a lot, but they can be brutal, and most hunters aren’t doing them. For those of us who prefer new sights, still-hunting can give you that.
However, I do have one caveat for still-hunting during the rut. If you hunt low deer density areas, you should probably find a terrain funnel and stay put. In places like the big woods, deer can (and do) come from almost anywhere. If there’s only one major focal point within miles of the woods, plan to hunker down and wait it out even when the action seems slow.
Pack the Snacks
Time in the woods kills deer. That applies to time on stand and scouting. The longer you stay in the woods, the better chance you have of killing a rutting buck. If you’re looking for an excuse to head back to the truck or town, your stomach will be the first one to nudge you in that direction. No good all-day sit was ever achieved without the proper snacks (or meals).
Whether you’re planning an all-day sit or not, a cache of food can help you stay in the woods longer. If I’m pulling a dark-to-dark hunt, you can bet I’m bringing at least two meals and plenty of snacks to boot. If I don’t eat before I hike in the dark, I’ll pack a breakfast burrito or biscuit. Midmorning, I’ll usually have a protein bar and some type of fruit. For lunch, I pack a sandwich with extra meat. Sometime around the afternoon, I’ll have another protein bar and some type of sweet treat to bring it home (my personal favorites are chocolate no-bake oatmeal cookies).
If you’re not packing a similar array of snacks, you might find it hard to stay in the woods. I’ve found that these snack breaks dice up those long sits into manageable blocks of time. They also serve as a reward for making it that long on stand. I set strict times for when I can eat on stand, and psychologically, that helps the day pass.
Keep Your Head in It
For the most part, whitetail hunting isn’t the most physically demanding pursuit you can undertake. However, it can be a wild mental ride. As long as you keep it simple and don’t talk yourself out of hunting, you’ll at least put yourself in position to have an encounter. The rest is up to you.
Read the full article here