What now? Is the rut over?

S

Shooter

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Now that the rut is winding down How do I place myself to get a deer. Their patterns are up in the air. I'm not seeing as many deer and I'm wondering what I should do to get my deer before shotgun season starts, and the bucks really get dispersed? I have been seeing big bucks but they are alone and in tall grasses, with out accompanying does. How do I hunt these wondering bucks? I've been seeing quite a few while pheasant hunting in the oddest places. If anyone has any info please help. I need a few tricks that I can use. The old stands just aren't producing anymore. I know they are there but don't know how to get to them.
 
Just my opinion I believe that you are right that the rut more than likely is in the final stages. What I generally do is start hunting the edges of timber close to food sources. I find that they start going back to food sources after the rut. If your stands are not producing you may have overused them although I have favorite stands where I hunt I try not to use them too often! Good luck and hunt hard the next two weeks. Just my .02
 
Hello,

Don't believe for a moment that the rut is over!

The peak is over, yes, I believe that. But hunting is tough during the peak anyway usually (because the bucks are holed up with the does).

I've seen dramatically increased buck movement, since Saturday, over what I was seeing a week ago. The bucks are looking for does again and are on the roam! That is a very good thing in my book!

If you've got the opportunity. Hunt the periphery of doe bedding areas and in funnel areas and other travel corridors that lead bucks to doe hangouts. Most does don't want anything to do with bucks right now -- but that's not stopping the big boys from looking for them!

Saturday, a buddy videotaped a 160 inch typical 12 point that bypassed my stand without getting arrowed at 30 yards (a brushy shingle out was in my way!) The next morning, Sunday, he videotaped a 125 8 pointer out of a different stand that I passed up. We saw several other bucks, including a monster that same morning in the distance.

Sunday, all day in fact, the bucks were going bazerk and roaming all over the place. I had a basket rack go past my stand at 2:30 in a windy miny blizzard, in which I could see but 25 yards tops. Then I saw a 110 inch buck, a 135 inch buck and a true monster, when the snow let up 1/4 mile distant, working up a finger timber. Fortunately, I was able to end my season by tagging the monster on a 21 yard shot as he was trailing a doe that wanted nothing to do with him. On the way back to the house, I saw a 125 inch buck crossing the road in another area.

I think the hunting for the bigger bucks is just reaching it's peak. Happens every year it seems -- I see the biggest bucks of the year late in the bow season. I think it should be very good up until the great Iowa slug fest. I think you should see significant buck wondering, rutting, activity up until then. The baskets often give up the rut activity first. But the bigger bucks usually keep at it until the first shotguns begin to roar. But this is just my opinion.

However, every year I do see more big boys late in the year than I do early. Last year, I shot a 135 inch buck on the same day as I did this year, right before the season was about to expire. Don't give up! The hunting is very good and your fortune can go from fair to super in the blink of an eye if you keep at it!

Good Luck! Raven
 
I agree with raven. I think it is going to get good. Much like fourth season turkey hunting. The big boys are running out of willing partners and in a frenzy to find just one more dance (decoy = pretty girl in the corner all alone at the end of the night (too good to be true)). The number of deer sightings may drop but I think the quality will increase. Many guys are going to give up but if it was me I would be on a field edge with a decoy...
 
Raven- did you post a pic of the buck you shot? sounds like he must've been big.

I'm gunna agree with these two also, I posted somewhere else today that I saw 7 different bucks working one hot doe last night. The big boy was holding off the would be suiters fortunately. I think this next couple weeks the bucks will be really moving a lot, this saturday is predicted snow, should be a good trigger for the movment. I would assume that 10am-3pm is going to be prime pickings for a good ambush ona roamer at this time of year. That and like Limb Chicken said, get that decoy out there and spray her up so she smells purdty!! Good luck!!
 
Raven when you say they are holed up with does what do you mean? Are they just hanging with the does, bedding,?? I have a good population of does in the area that I hunt. I have also noticed that a lot of the does in this area are still being followed by last years offspring. Does this send signals to the bucks that they aren't interested?? I do think you rright about the food plots. If I were to get on a corridor wherre they travel to feed it would be productive. I have taken the time to run a spot light after my hunts only to find the bucks moving well after daylight. Will this continue for the rest of the year??? I used to see a lot of bucks earlier in the day around 3-4 now it seems they aren't coming out till later. It worries me that I'm not going to get another chance. What kinds of smells should I be using this time of year? I have tried using stop scents, like doe in heat urine. Is this to much? What about using decoys? Has anyone had any luck with decoys. some people swear by them while others say they can make deer spook. I guess I'm just getting frustrated because I know they're out there and I can't get them to come out. Frustration!!!!!!
 
Limb chicken

Sounds like your a decoy believer. How does one use a decoy properly. I have access to one and don't know how to use it. What kind of scents should I use with the decoy. Another ? I have season stands"permanent" and a portable that I have been using lately. This weekend I have four days to hunt and I do have my favorites. But should I try a differnt stand everyday or stick with the hotter spots. That decoy buzz sounds good though. More info more info!! keep it coming
 
I am a believer! I have had success and I have had friends that have had good success. When I use a decoy I will face it broadside to quarting away upwind about twenty yards from my location. Most of the time the bucks will swing down wind and check the decoy sent. Usually they are so wired they pay no attention to anything else. Different deer react different it is not a cure all but I think at this point in the season the bucks are tired and let their guard down. As far as spraying the decoy, I have never done that. I drilled a small hole in the bottom of the tail, I then attach a sent wick and douse it with urine and leave the bottle under the decoy as well. Look at the picture gallery the Daver buck fell to a decoy as a few others on this site did. As far as where to hunt that is a call you have to make. It always helps to switch things up a little though. Keep to the fields with good visibility to use the decoy. The further away it can be seen the better. The buck that I shot with my decoy came over 300 yards. Good Luck and keep us posted. Hunting with a decoy can be very exciting... but as I said before it is not a sure thing and you will get some negitive reaction from some deer but for the most part I have had overall good reactions to mine.

Here is a link to the picture of the buck I took with a decoy.

http://www.iowabowhunters.org/Photopage.asp?pic=35
 
Thanks

I'll give it a try and keep you posted on how it goes, one more ? before I try this. Is time a factor right now I hear a lot of guys are getting movement between the hours of 10 and 3, what kind of thoughts do you have on this?
Thanks again Limb chicken.
I'm starting to get some confidence back.
 
Going in to my stand Sunday caught a big 12 with a mature doe at the the end of a brushy point about 75 yards away. I circled and saw that they had bedded down together. The jig was up at about 50 yard, no shot, but as I watched them run away, he was obviously tending her as he headed her off and turned her 2-3 times. If anything the big boys will be more responsive now as the pool of eligible mates is dwindling. While not as agressively, they will breed all winter provided they don't get the shaft...
 
Hello,

I think many bucks were holed up with does last week, when many were in heat. Now, I believe, most does have been bred and the bucks are out wondering, some even searching for does in small tag-team buck groups.

Does in family units really mean nothing to a wondering, rut crazed buck, I think. Though a doe there is probably not in heat. They will still get checked out by bucks combing the area. In fall, these family units only break up temporarily -- for a few days -- when one of the does comes into heat. Then, they normally regroup until late winter and early spring dispersal.

Decoys do work! I've got a Montana decoy and it has pulled in several bucks for me. And like limbchicken says, when they come in, they are keyed to the decoy, giving you a nice buffer zone for any movments you need make to get off a good shot. A decoy could pull in a big buck for you right now, no doubt.

However, I would be very careful and analyze each particular area and situation before placing one! I have found that approximately 25% of does will spook at a decoy because they know every member of the region's deer herd and you're decoy ain't a member -- and they know it! Some does will stomp and snort at your decoy! Other does will come right in and investigate or feed near it, others will tolerate it in the same general area but may be nervous about it. Keep in mind, that a doe in heat usually wants to be by itself -- therefore if one is heading toward your stand, and sees the decoy, she may head another way, taking any and all bucks in tow with her!

I would be very careful about using a decoy around a field that lots of does feed in (last year a doe decoy raised alarm to a lead doe around a feeding area my buddy was hunting in -- of course a 140 inch buck was part of that doe group. They would have all walked in if it wasn't for the decoy alarming the matriarch doe!) And if you are hunting a good funnel area, a decoy shouldn't be necessary. A decoy can and will work -- no question -- but one should be aware of their pitfalls as well. They COULD cost you a giant buck just as easily as they could produce one for you! So be careful and cautious when using one -- I always spray a scent reducer spray of some sort on them after I set them up and I use rubber gloves to keep scent off.

I don't use any scent at all in my deer hunting any more. I've seen them spook trophy bucks and that is all I need to see! Often, though, big bucks just ignore them, I think. Sometimes they spook. They will work sometimes for some people. But I just don't trust them. I don't like walking around my stand to put them out. Deer must be downwind to smell them and I don't want downwind deer testing and scent analyzing the air for nothing! Or maybe the reason I don't use them is because I'm just too cheap!

Good luck hunting.....hey muddy blew up your buck photo on my computer and, hey, you look familiar! I'll try to catch you at Scheels some time to see what's up. Good luck during the smokepole season. I'll try to post a snapshot I have here as soon as I get it scanned in and figure out how.
 
Raven

Good advice, thanks, Everyone has been really helpful. Now I need thursday to get here, Of course a little more prep time never hurts.
 
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