Horny Bucks

Ah the rut...that special time of the hunting season when bucks get sloppy and often dead. If there is a time you are going to take some vacation days the rut is it! Bring food and drink and be ready to stay out in the woods all day cause things will happen outside of the normal dawn/twilight activity peak. Bucks are more likely to move and are traveling outside of their home ranges looking for love. It's your best chance for that wall-hanger you've been dreamin' of.

The rut starts based on the amount of daylight, according to most experts. Some people claim it can come early or late due to weather or other factors. Here in Illinois the rut peaks right at first gun season, around November 15th. The rut build up period starts around late October and will wind down in late November. Rub lines (an area of torn up bark on saplings) before the rut may indicate the home turf of a buck. The bigger the tree the bigger the buck. Pay attention to the which side of the trees are rubbed to ascertain direction of travel.

Another pre-rut sign are scrapes. Scrapes are areas of dug up earth left as markers by bucks; usually under hanging branches that the bucks will chew on. Bucks will urinate over their tarsal glands ( glands on the insides of the rear legs at the joint) into the scrape and does will then urinate in the scrape when they pass by. I've tried fake rubs this year with an automatic dripper with no luck so far.

Bucks will be hunting for a doe that has gone into heat up and down deer trails and going from one bedding area to the next looking for love primarily with their noses. Mongo and Tard are big believers in doe estrus urine to attract bucks. We generally lay a trail to our stands and then leave the estrus scent pad up to attract bucks. Something that's very important with using scents is to not expose them to air and thereby change their smell. I prefer to use rags that have been washed in a scent killing detergent, put them in Ziplock bags, add the estrus, and then freeze the bags for use when hunting. Tard uses Hunter Specialties Primetime spray estrus which keeps the air from getting in the bottle. Either way, when handling the pads don't contaminate them with human scent. I recommend wearing rubber gloves.

When you lay a trail to your stand don't make a beeline to the stand. Circle up wind 20 yards or so. This way you won't encounter the problem I had last year of a buck walking right up to my stand from behind me and blowing when he saw me first. I did not get that deer and helped to educate him about hunters. Consider using one of the estruses collected from an individual deer to add realism. Every new bottle will smell like a different doe to your bucks. Scent trails have definitely produced results for Mongo and Tard. Some people claim estrus will scare off does but we've seen does walk right past scent pads without even looking up. You can start using estrus as early as mid October cause those boys are primed and ready. I took my buck this year on October 17 and he came right to the estrus and into a shooting lane.

I know people use grunt tubes and rattle to draw in bucks but I have never had success with calling or rattling yet so I can't give much advise there. Rattling, calling, and fake scrapes/rubs may work best in areas with more competition for breeding does. If you were a buck and had all the does you could doink why go to the trouble of making scrapes to announce your presence or fight over the babes? So far estrus has worked most often. Just remember to keep it fresh!