Last week Inside Archery called “rut on”, and this week the “rut on” echos remain the same. The rut meter is maxed out for the second week in a row. It may be reading a solid 100% on your little piece of paradise but it may be hovering in the 60’s over on the neighbor’s but that’s how the rut plays out, super here, not so hot, there. It all depends on which does are in estrus and where.
Many hunters call “rut over” after a few “little to no activity” sits which often occur during the November lockdown. That can be a serious mistake., this is no time to be watching football on a Saturday afternoon. Experienced Whitetail hunters know that the buck they have been holding out for is moving from doe to doe and can turn up at any time. Ridges, funnels and other travel corridors are still a good bet. Also food sources will begin to come into play more and more each day.
Whitetails still need to eat, thick spots are packed with leaves and woody browse and standing crops like dried off corn and soy beans are great late season attractors as are food plots full of luscious greens Brassicas and Turnips. Late season sits are often weather driven so timing hunts around the weather often makes sense, deer are more often to be out after a blizzard than during one. Of course, deer become super scarce as hunting pressure increases, so be sure to keep your scent to a minimum and dig deep into your deer hunting bag of tricks, but most of all, hunt often and hunt hard, deer hunting doesn’t get much better than this.
