#TheHuntingPages 2017 Rut Tracker- Most deer hunters will agree, there is no better time to hunt deer than just before or during "the rut". What some whitetail hunters don't fully understand though, is that the rut is a drawn out marathon not a sprint! What stage are the deer in around your hunting areas? with Stealth Cam and Wildlife Research Center, inc. by Craig Dougherty
Posted by Hunting on Saturday, October 14, 2017
Tracking The Rut 7%
In case you haven’t noticed, the bucks are making scrapes to show off their newly rubbed headgear. Sparring matches are breaking out and everybody’s jockeying for position. In a week or two the “king of the mountain” will emerge until a tougher buck takes his title away. The testosterone is flowing but the time for estrus is still weeks ahead. It may begin to look rutty in the woods but the rut you are looking for is still weeks ahead. The sign you are seeing is but a preview of what’s to come the big show lies ahead. The does are allowing the bucks to share their space, as long as they don’t get too close and don’t get any “frisky” ideas (there will be time for that later) the fawns are feeding with momma and wondering why those bucks are beginning to hang around the food.
The woods are a virtual cornucopia of food stuffs, the acorns are falling and the soft mast has ripened and on the ground in most places. Fall food plots are prime and the deer are covered up with food. They are packing on the pounds making ready for the rut and winter ahead. As “selective feeders” they will move from one preferred food to the next, hunting last week’s foods yields little more than tracks.
The savvy hunter takes advantage of the deer’s need to feed (6-8 times per day). The big bucks are in their fall feeding patterns and can be caught with their guard down. Pattern that buck and catch him while he is still summer stupid, he’ll smarten up soon enough and disappear before you know it. Don’t waste your time with those early scrapes and rubs, they may have been made by the buck you want but chances are he has moved on or busy filling his belly getting ready for winter.
