How To Hunt Deer - Guide for New Hunters - Part Two

How To Hunt The Rut


The number one factor controlling buck movement in November is does. As the rut kicks in bucks will be cruising doe feeding and bedding areas, scent checking for estrus does.  So the hunter has to pattern the does, then you will find the bucks. Here are some pointers for how to go about doing a doe search.

Bedding Areas

You need to find the concentrated doe activity. Fall food sources such as acorns, standing corn and food plots are the likely targets. Next, you need to find the nearest quality bedding cover.

Morning movements

The early morning is when does will be feeding and then heading back to bedding areas. You need to set a stand up between the bedding and feeding areas. Set the stand closer to the bedding area( no closer then a 100 yards), as bucks will cruise these routes throughout the morning. Hunting these travel routes is your best bet for lots of buck sightings.

Mid-day movements

Does like to wander and browse between areas of bedding cover but only short distances. You need to set up between two known bedding areas. Leading up to the peak of the rut a good strategy is to hunt all day because
bucks will keep checking for hot does all day.

Evening Sits

Set up a stand 20 yards or more off the field edge inside the timber for the perfect ambush.

Look For Escape Cover

When the bucks are in the full chase mode, you need to find secluded thick cover that the does are escaping to.
This kind of cover includes dense stands of native grass , grown-up clear cuts, very heavy dense vegetation where does can get out of sight quick.

Rut Suppressors

High winds, warm temps and heavy rain or snow or a combination of these weather conditions will shut down all deer movement. In the case of windy days, when the wind dies down in the evening, is when bucks will be on their feet again and is a great time to hunt them.

More points to consider when hunting whitetail deer

. From mid-summer until late Fall, deer go to water two or more times a day and drink two or three litres of water a day. Deer get a lot of the moisture they need by eating plants covered with dew.

2. Acorns are the number one preferred food of whitetails The red oak usually drop some acorns every year. When the acorns are dropping deer will forsake all other foods to stuff themselves.

3. Apples are also a big favorite food of deer. But their feeding session on them is short, eating only three or four apples before looking for a place to bed.

4. Deer can smell anywhere from a hundred to a thousand times better than man. Research indicates the average deer can smell ( under favorable scenting conditions ) a human, or other predator, from half a mile, and possibly farther.

5. For optimal deer activity during the hunting season, daytime temperature should not exceed 45 degrees F.

6. Deer can see about 310 degrees of a circle. Their eyes are geared to detect the slightest motion. It has been calculated that deer can see at least one thousand times better than humans do in low light.