Pre-rut maintained solutions
The rut can be either the most successful time of the year, or the most frustrating, it all depends on pre-rut tactics to keep a hunter on the cusp of success.
Before the rut, if bucks are un-disturbed, they can be fairly predictable based on precise scouting of bachelor groups, trail cam inventory, and crops that are planted in the feeding areas of the local deer population. If a person doesn’t “score” an early victory while whitetail patterns are sound, then the rut can add a new puzzle to the equation.
To be sure, once hormones take over a mature buck’s mindset, all bets are off for getting a Swhacker broadhead into the vitals. But, there are a few ways a hunter can put their best foot forward, for optimum success once hormones overpower the need to feed, and even survive.
The easiest way to keep bucks in a huntable area is to make sure that does are present. Whether it’s a bedding area, or travel pinch-point, hunters can still make a reasonable game plan to make sure that their stand of choice is a solid one.
Priority should be made on keeping does in the area you have to hunt.
The way to achieve that is to make sure does have something they like to eat that is still in the given property a person has access to. Whether a person is applying Red Alert to a stump, or Corn Coat to an ample source of protein, apples, or corn, you want to keep a buffet of deer-friendly foods accessible. Bucks, at this time of year, can be “stupid,” much like the awkward guy who thinks he can pick up a date at the local restaurant that women like to frequent, a mature buck knows he needs to spend some time where the gals like to eat.
It’s a simple equation really, make sure that the food source, from the nourishment it provides, to the smell that attracts them, is the best diner or dance in the area. By using C’Mere Deer products like 3 Day Harvest, Corn Coat, or Red Alert, a hunter can make SURE that they are providing the best doe-eats around, and mature bucks will know where they need to be for a date.
Spray it, pour it, and they will come.
And you, as a hunter, will have the rare opportunity to make sure your stand is in the right spot when that Pope and Young buck comes courting. It’s a once-a- season chance to manipulate a mature buck, even when his hormones are besting predictable activity.
Set them up by keeping does, their sole purpose for moving, within striking difference of an arrow or bullet.
Dan Durbin has written for Deer and Deer Hunting, Bowhunter, Wisconsin Outdoors News, Minnesota Outdoor News, Ohio Outdoor News, Michigan Outdoor News, and other national and regional publications. He also has a syndicated Outdoors Column for several daily newspapers.
