The Right Time to Get Aggressive with Rutting Bucks

Question: The rut is coming, and I’m tired of watching all the chasing going on in the deep bedding areas. But I’m paranoid about getting too agg-ressive and blowing my deer out. Am I overthinking this? — N. Cartwright, via email

Answer: If you’re after a specific buck and fear he will flee at the first hint of pressure, your paranoia may be justified. On the other hand, if you just want to put yourself in the middle of the action, you may have to take your aggressiveness up a notch, and now is the time. If you don’t already know where the bedding area is, you must find it. Spend some October evenings and early mornings glassing from a vantage point or an observation stand, watching for travel patterns. Hang trail cameras on travel routes and pay attention to the direction of travel at specific times of the day. Study satellite images on apps such as onX Hunt, looking for deep cover where the deer, and not just the bucks, are spending their daylight hours. A real golden nugget is a “rutting woods,” a patch of timber where bucks rub, scrape and chase does every November.

The next step is best done in mid-winter to early spring, but since it’s October, things are about to get dicey. Pick a windy day (with a favorable direction), grab a pole saw and go deep in search of your tree. Go in boldly, like a landowner cutting wood. Don’t bother sneaking around, because you can’t possibly be sneaky enough. Will you spook deer? Yes. Will the deer completely abandon the bedding area because of one bold incursion by a human? Highly doubtful. They are bedding in there because of the heavy cover. The important thing is that the does come back, and they will.

While you’re in deep, locate intersecting trails with a suitable stand location based on prevailing winds. The wind direction, as it relates to getting in, is more important than it is once you’re in. Why? Because during the chase phase, you’ll have no clue where the deer will be coming from. It will be random and without pattern, so avoid paralysis by analysis. Trim the tree, clear some shooting lanes, mark the tree with reflective tacks, hang a cellular trail camera and leave a track on your mapping app as you walk your designated approach path on the way out.

This daring plan works best if you’re a saddle hunter. If not, you could hang a lightweight stand while you’re in there, but the goal is to get in and out quickly with minimal wandering around.

Now, take a deep breath. Agonize a little that your move was too aggressive, but then bask in the glow of anticipation for the chase phase of the rut, which runs roughly through the first nine days of November in the Midwest. The best of those days will be a weekday with a frosty morning and light winds, but not dead calm. Go through your scent-control routine, pack your grunt and bleat calls and a lunch, and go in an hour earlier than you ever have before. Sit all day, until pitch dark, and stay alert. The action can be abrupt and over quickly. If the firearms opener is in that time frame, that’s a free day. Hunt it regardless of wind or weather. If you can bowhunt during the gun season, wear your blaze orange and go in early on opening morning.

It’s going to feel unnatural, but this quote from Joseph Campbell seems appropriate: “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” Shed your fear and be bold.

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