White-tailed deer management is about controlling the age, genetics, and nutrition of a deer herd. These components are the nuts and bolts of producing and growing big, healthy deer. Hunters understand that whitetail, like other game animals, are a renewable natural resource that can be used for both recreation and food. This is exactly why we enjoy getting out in the woods and doing a little deer hunting each fall. Although proper doe harvest is essential for maintaining a deer population within the carrying capacity of the habitat, let’s face it, hunters really look forward to hunting for big ole mature bucks.
There are several strategies that can be used to bag a buck, but for the most part hunters are limited to hunting food, water, travel areas, or deer sign. Whitetail bucks often leave visual evidence of where they have been in the form of rubs and scrapes. Of the two, scrapes can predict the location that a buck is likely to return. Despite the fact that many mature bucks check scrapes under the cover of darkness, hunting scrapes after a rain could increase your chances of crossing paths with a big whitetail buck. Continue reading “Hunt Scrapes After a Rain”
Fall is here, food plots are in the ground and the deer hunting seasons are underway. Except for conducting a couple of controlled burns in the near future, the only thing left to do deer management wise for me is to harvest and record the deer we need (or would like) to remove. Though most deer hunters hunt whitetail by setting up over a food source, whether it be a feeder or a food plot, there are much more active ways to bag a buck.
When it comes to hunting there really are only two ways to go: Either you can go to the deer, or you can bring the deer to you.
Rattling for Bucks
Though many hunters have read about rattling bucks in, or have at least seen it on TV, many have yet to give this method of hunting a serious shot. Or maybe you tried it once, but didn’t feel confident, it didn’t work so you packed it in. Ratting for bucks can work, especially if you incorporate the technique into your hunting on a regular basis.
I suspect many deer hunters have picked up a set of shed or cut-off antlers and have at attempted to rattle up a buck, but their lack of success caused them to quickly dismiss the effectiveness of antler rattling. Those antlers then went back to collecting dust at camp. So as effective as rattling can be for whitetail, most of time it will not work and you are not going to bring in a buck on a string. It does work, however, and when it’s hot, it’s hot!
Best Time to Rattle?
Rattling can work at any time during the hunting season, but it is typically most effective just prior to the rut, during the pre-rut. At this time, antler rattling can be an effective way to bring whitetail bucks right up into spitting distance. I’ve seen bucks come running out of the brush with as little as two seconds worth of antler rattling!
Of course many, many times I’ve rattled antlers together only to attract the attention of area squirrels, or even worse, nothing at all. During the pre-rut, bucks are busy establishing dominance for breeding purposes, setting up territories, and working off an excess in testosterone. It is also during this time in which they are most vulnerable to rattling, so this is the BEST time to rattle.
Rattling Antlers Attracts Attention
When it comes to rattling, let me tell you that you never really know what you are going to attract. I’ve had all sorts of deer respond to rattling. I can only guess they all want to run over and see who is fighting — and who will win? Some bucks want to participate, some are just curious. I’ve had does, spikes, middle-age bucks and mature bucks all come to a set of rattling antlers.
All age classes of bucks will respond to rattling more or less at the proportion in which they occur in the population. Younger bucks probably respond at a higher percentage overall and mature bucks probably a little less overall, but it’s not easy to measure since mature bucks are smarter. Older bucks often respond to the sound of rattling antlers by moving downwind of the action and then creeping in. Younger bucks do not always take such precaution, so there is a chance some of those more experienced bucks are detecting us before we detect them.
If a good percentage of the local buck herd is made up of young bucks, then that is probably what you will bring in. If, on the other hand, there are a good number of older bucks in the area, then you have just as a good of a chance of bringing them to you as younger-aged bucks. In fact, you probably have a much better chance of bringing them to you rather than simply sitting and waiting to see them — because they may have stayed “brushed up.”
Rattling, Battling Bucks
A friend of mine spotted a huge whitetail buck last year on public land right as the season started. The buck showed up on a couple of his game camera photos before season, but he got a glimpse of the buck the second day of archery season as the animal walked by at 200 yards. At that point, he then made it his personal mission to hunt that deer for the remainder of the season, even if it meant he ended the year with no buck at all.
To make a long story short, he hunted long and hard with no success, but one cold morning a few weeks later he decided he needed to be more aggressive. He had decided that if he didn’t change then his success rate was not going to change. The best trick in his book: try to get near the buck’s core area and rattle him up for a battle.
The right day came: Temperature perfect, wind great and he was able to rattle that buck to within 25 yards and made a perfect double-lung shot. He said after his first rattling sequence he could see the buck, which scored over 170 Boone and Crockett inches, running at him from over 400 yards! Sometimes it helps to bring them to you.
So rattling can work, but don’t expect it to work every time.
The General Deer Hunting Season has ended across much of Texas, but whitetail hunters still have an opportunity to take some deer during the Special Late General Season for spike bucks and antlerless deer. Although deer are very wary right now after a full season of being hunted, the late season gives deer managers one last chance to harvest the few remaining deer needed to achieve their deer harvest goals. Now, not all Texas counties have a Late Season in place for white-tailed deer, but most 5 deer counties do have the special season that runs from January 5-18. Make sure to review your county’s deer hunting regulations before heading out into the field.
As valuable as Texas’ Late Season may be for some hunters, it’s not the only option for harvesting white-tailed deer outside the General Season. For deer managers looking for some additional flexibility, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has the Managed Lands Deer Program (MLDP) that not only allows for an early start in some cases, for the early harvests of does, spikes, and other undesirable bucks, but for an extended season that runs until the end of February. I would recommend that any landowner interested in sound deer harvest and habitat management look into the specifics of the MLDP program. The winter weather is cold as I write, so deer are moving. Get out there and take advantage of Texas’ late season — and pray for rain!
In Texas, most of the white-tailed deer are on the tail-end of the rut. There are a few areas of the state that are notable exceptions, with the south Texas rut just warming up. However, deer in most parts of the state have finished the first and most important breeding cycle. Does that were not bred during their first cycle will come back into heat 28 days later, so bucks will continue to search out these ladies. But even if the rut is almost over and only a single un-bred doe exisits in your area, there are still some tactics you can use to be successful at late season, post rut whitetail.
Once the primary rut is over, does will search out winter food sources and start to re-group. Early season hunting strategy usually calls for hunters setting up along scrapes or rub lines, but the success rate of this technique drops rapidly after the majority fo the rut as occurred. Rather than looking for buck sign, look for signs of does. Find the portion of the property where you hunt that has the highest concentration of does. Go there. This is probably not the place where your stand is located. Deer can pattern hunters just as easy, if not easier, than hunters can pattern deer. After all, the deer are out there all of the time! Continue reading “Hunting Post Rut Whitetail”
When it comes to timing your deer hunting activity, every deer hunter knows that hunting during the rut is a great time to be in the woods. Sure, this can a great way to harvest a white-tailed buck because during the rut bucks can be downright stupid.
In addition to bucks having only one thing on their mind, they may stray up to several miles from their summer range in search of does or chasing does to breed. And as exciting as this may be, there is another way to bag your buck that can take some of the guess work out of the equation.
Pre-Rut Success: Pattern Bucks
The secret is patterning the movement those early season bucks way before the breeding season kicks off. Early season bucks are motivated by safety and food. Bucks feel rather safe during the early fall because for 9 months no one has bothered them — no hunters in the woods, no funny scents, no 4-wheelers running around both before and after dark, and nothing strange at all. It has been quiet.
It’s during this time of year that whitetail bucks find food sources and eat in preparation of the breeding season and winter. They may be hitting a feeder, a food plot, or an ag field, but they are all the same as far as you are concerned. If you can figure out a buck’s pre-rut pattern you drastically improve your chances of bagging that big boy.
Pre-Season: First Shot is the Best Shot
Now as I mentioned earlier the rut can cause bucks to travel long distances, so once the rut begins the buck you may have had your heart set on may no longer be in the area, so why wait? You don’t want him throwing caution to the wind somewhere else now do you?
But as easy as it is to say get out there early, early season hunting brings its own set of challenges. In addition to facing warm, maybe even hot weather, you will be heading out into the woods battling mosquitoes, chiggers, and lots of leaves that have yet to fall. Hey, I never said it would be easy even though hunting pre-rut bucks can be highly effective.
In addition to potentially tough environmental conditions, many hunters have another huge obstacle when it comes to patterning and hunting bucks early in the season. This is the fact that the rut actually occurs prior to hunting season.
This can happen in many cases. In Texas, there are many parts of the state where the general deer hunting season opens after the rut has already begun! Many hunters across the country know this fact — and in many cases it’s probably one of the important reasons they picked up a bow. In areas where the rut takes place prior to the gun (general) season, bow-hunters have the best shot at both pre-rut and early-rut bucks.
Pre-Rut Turns to Post-Rut Hunting
The rut kicking off prior the gun season opener is not unique to Texas so it’s important to know when the rut takes place in the area where you hunt, because timing can be everything. It is very difficult to pattern a pre-rut buck that’s locked into a feeding pattern when you show up a few weeks late, after the pattern has been broken.
But not all is lost, assuming that buck you are chasing is still alive. Once the whitetail breeding season is complete bucks will return to their pre-rut patterns, hitting food sources hard to replenish fat reserves before the worst of winter sets in.
However, increased hunter activity, hunting pressure, and colder weather may cause the buck to shift to a more nocturnal pattern. All of these factors contribute to a buck that is much more difficult to hunt, so take advantage of the hunting pre-rut bucks early and you will not have to hunt late.
