Are You Rut Ready? Six Tips to Score.

Wading a shallow stream was an asset, and I sloshed my rubber boots to remove as much scent as possible.  Once on the bank, I squirted buck lure on each sole to lay down an alluring trail to my stand.  Twenty yards further I hung a scent wick, doused with Golden Estrous to help disguise my location.  Finally, as daylight arrived, I settled in against a large tree.  This is my favorite hunting spot in the world and I’d be more effective from a tree stand, yet that would give my location away.  At first light, I began a rattling and grunting sequence and within two hours had an 8-point on the ground.  Rutting whitetails are so fun to hunt.

Play the Scent Game

Scent during the rut is ironic.  You want to eliminate as much of yours as possible and lure in deer with as much of theirs.  You wait 50 weeks of the year to hunt just two, so do all that you can to eliminate your scent.  Begin with a shower and a clean body.  Add scent-free clothing that has been sprayed with scent eliminator or purified with an ozone generator.  Wear rubber boots that have not been worn in a vehicle and either put buck lure on them or use a trail drag.  Once near your stand, hang the drag in your best shooting lane.  The buck shown above was distracted by my drag line and walked directly toward me as it raised it’s head to sniff the scent.

Grunts Can’t Hurt-

I never go deer hunting without a grunt tube, in any season, any weather, any time.  I believe it’s the most effective deer call a hunter can use, especially fors bowhunters that must draw a buck in close.  You can’t screw up a grunt call unless you start playing music.  If a doe snorts because she sees or smells me, I use a grunt call to calm her down.  If I spot a buck and want to draw it closer, I grunt.  I’m also a believer in “cold calling” and grunt every 15 minutes or so.  If I’m stalking or moving through thick cover a grunt can cover my sound and make deer believe I’m in the rut.  Eddie Salter gave me the HS True Talker call 30 years ago and it still works.  The Primos can call is easy to use and you never know what it will bring in.

Bang those Bones-

“Do you have rattling horns,” the local hunter asked as I climbed from my stand at midday for a chat.  “They work well in early November.”  Taking the friendly hunter’s advice, I rattled in the biggest deer of my life the next morning- a 14-pointer that scored 164 1/8th.  Up until that time, I’d rattled hundreds of times with no success, but as the saying goes, “It only has to work once.”  Since that time, I’ve used the faded rattle bag shown in the picture many times and use it extensively during the rut, even when bowhunting in rifle season.  In a normal sit, I rattle every half hour or so.  The biggest buck I’ve missed, I rattled repeatedly for twenty minutes to bring him 50 yards closer and then shot the wrong sight pin.

False Scrapes Work

Finding a series of hot scrapes is an adrenaline rush and most archers can’t wait to hang a stand.  However, sometimes the wind is wrong for the best tree or there is no suitable tree to climb.  A false scrape allows you to use your best stand locations and bring bucks to you.  This “Active-Branch” kit from Wildlife Research has all the tools you need to make a mock scrape, all you need is a branch.

Late is Great

Getting up early and hunting before work makes for long days and can be dangerous depending on your job.  The great news about hunting the rut is late morning through early afternoon is a great time to be in the woods.  I recently read that a detail-oriented hunter used 10 years of trail camera research to pinpoint the time of day when the biggest bucks were caught in daylight.  The answer was 2:00 pm.  If you have the whole day to hunt, make the most of it by packing a lunch, take plenty to drink and if you get sleepy, climb down and take a nap.  The more time you hunt, the “luckier” you become.

Stay the Course

The best rut trick is the combination of all the tricks.  If you ask, which of the above five tips is most important, the answer is “All of the above.”  The best grunt call in the world won’t work if the wind is wrong and you stink.  Likewise, a buck isn’t going to follow a lure-laden drag if it’s paralleled with the smell of gasoline from your last-minute tank fill-up.  Develop this system and you will succeed.