nocturnal rutting

[Team Hoyt]

Do you have any ravines, old logging roads, or brier bushes? Deer love all of them I've noticed

[Robhuntandfish]

2 hours ago, Bionic said:

I do need a few more stands, I have another double person 18' ladder to go up for next year, and I know just the spot.  However, due to the lay of the land, I can only access these stands, from almost the same path.  I will draw a pic to show, and post.  I sat in my "far stand" Saturday, and Sunday since I had left it be for a week.  I have sat in my "skyscraper" Tuesday, Wednesday, and until 11ish this morning, feet were in pain so cold. Monday, I sat in thr far stand for a couple hours, and had to leave unexpectedly, so no hunting that day.  I honestly don't know where there is bedding here, I have suspicions, but when theres snow, I see the melted ovals, and they are just so random, no cover, or anything.  Food? No ag for 10's of miles, only our few yards, and aside from that its just woods, that allllll looks the saaaaame.  I am not seeing any horns at all really now.  Thank you Rob.  I should sneak to my far stand for the afternoon, i typically sit full days, but my feet couldnt do it today.  Oh yeah, by the way, my Skyscraper is only about 200' in from backyard, this is just prior, but within view of that path I get rut action on cam, and rubs, yearly.  The lay of the land makes sense for this stand being so close to the house, sort of a funnel.  Again I need a pic

I have one spot a lot like that where you have to go thru stands to get to others. And we actually hunt them in stages as much as we.can. Hunt the closest spots first and stay out of the back area near beds til later in season.  I try to let them feel more protected there. 

I usually try for an early doe for the freezer in close.spots or by the field edges, then work my way back. Tomorrow I am hunting the very far back corner of our lease and it's only been hunted once and sat or Sunday we have two stands on a side that haven't been touched yet and I will be in one of them. 

Def less time in the best spots til closer to end of October.  I try to save some for the best time of the year and hunt the fringe spots early . Esp fields. 

Good luck , you got some grit to you for sure.  I think a lot of the mature bucks are most active at night anywhere. But prob is if there is just one or two around makes the odds tougher .

[Bionic]

18 minutes ago, Team Hoyt said:

Do you have any ravines, old logging roads, or brier bushes? Deer love all of them I've noticed

Uhhh, not here at home, no.  Theres is a spot just out of my hunting area, its not hunted, but land owner does not want me hunting across the stream.  This spot was an old landing for loging YEARS ago, like in the 70s i think she said, it is tall grass, about a 1/2 acre.  I think they bed there, but never put cams there.  The stream itself is practically worthless, since there's always puddles down in here I feel like.  

[Bionic]

16 minutes ago, Robhuntandfish said:

I have one spot a lot like that where you have to go thru stands to get to others. And we actually hunt them in stages as much as we.can. Hunt the closest spots first and stay out of the back area near beds til later in season.  I try to let them feel more protected there. 

I usually try for an early doe for the freezer in close.spots or by the field edges, then work my way back. Tomorrow I am hunting the very far back corner of our lease and it's only been hunted once and sat or Sunday we have two stands on a side that haven't been touched yet and I will be in one of them. 

Def less time in the best spots til closer to end of October.  I try to save some for the best time of the year and hunt the fringe spots early . Esp fields. 

Good luck , you got some grit to you for sure.  I think a lot of the mature bucks are most active at night anywhere. But prob is if there is just one or two around makes the odds tougher .

I see, makes sense. I will draw a pic like i said, show you the land, should realistically be a sort of funnel.  There are 2 parallel "hills" with a flat low lying area in between, one end is swamp, the other is an old pond thats dried up pretty much.  I wonder if this was all a big body of water at some point since the little creek connects the swamp, and dried up pond.  Yes, swamp...you will have to see a pic to see why I dont go to that end to hunt.  I feel like the far hill could have bedded deer watching the low area, so if i travel through, im busted.

need more stands, and cams.  Really need to scout too next year

[nyslowhand]

Almost all of what GRAMPY mentioned is great advice. 

With deer being driven by only three instincts, survival, food and breeding, you'd think it'd be easy to pattern their movements. Right...!?! You can evaluate topo or aerial maps, do your due diligence with scouting, have numerous trail cams operating .. and.. it'll still take you a few years to figure out what's going on around the area you hunt. I could offer advice per the terrain, food sources & seasonal deer travel around where I hunt, but it may not be pertinent to your area!! Then there's the big wild card, trying to figure out mature bucks so you can catch them in daylight when their main instinct during Nov is breeding. They will do dumb-a$$ things at some point during the rut and hopefully it'll be in front of the stand/blind that you're sitting in! And it may not even be one you've seen on your cams previously. Whitetail biological fact - mature bucks can travel as much as 5 miles seeking does during the rut!

What you're seeing with nocturnal movement of BBs starts about late Sept when the velvet comes off, every year! Bachelor groups break-up, they get elusive, don't move around much outside their small core area mainly in the darkness and they are no longer buddies with other BBs. This doesn't apply to younger bucks since they are fairly new to the breeding game! When a majority of the does go into estrous, these studs move around more freely, going from one doe to the next. They do attempt to maintain their secure nocturnal pattern, but they are thinking with their small (breeding) head at that time and may show-up at any time. LOL. This is when, eventually all your hard work pays off for this <1 minute/1 time encounter.

[Bionic]

15 minutes ago, nyslowhand said:

Almost all of what GRAMPY mentioned is great advice. 

With deer being driven by only three instincts, survival, food and breeding, you'd think it'd be easy to pattern their movements. Right...!?! You can evaluate topo or aerial maps, do your due diligence with scouting, have numerous trail cams operating .. and.. it'll still take you a few years to figure out what's going on around the area you hunt. I could offer advice per the terrain, food sources & seasonal deer travel around where I hunt, but it may not be pertinent to your area!! Then there's the big wild card, trying to figure out mature bucks so you can catch them in daylight when their main instinct during Nov is breeding. They will do dumb-a$$ things at some point during the rut and hopefully it'll be in front of the stand/blind that you're sitting in! And it may not even be one you've seen on your cams previously. Whitetail biological fact - mature bucks can travel as much as 5 miles seeking does during the rut!

What you're seeing with nocturnal movement of BBs starts about late Sept when the velvet comes off, every year! Bachelor groups break-up, they get elusive, don't move around much outside their small core area mainly in the darkness and they are no longer buddies with other BBs. This doesn't apply to younger bucks since they are fairly new to the breeding game! When a majority of the does go into estrous, these studs move around more freely, going from one doe to the next. They do attempt to maintain their secure nocturnal pattern, but they are thinking with their small (breeding) head at that time and may show-up at any time. LOL. This is when, eventually all your hard work pays off for this <1 minute/1 time encounter.

Great advice, I like that, THANK YOU.

I have to say, I do not get buck pics even in September when velvets coming off.  I feel like my big buck pics in November, are of these 5 mile wanderers! They are 9 times out of 10, a one pic event.  This is why I get so curious as to why...although 2 spots year, after year in a path show rubs.  Is this possibly the path of least resistance like a deer highway....

[nyslowhand]

From what I understand.. rubs are territorial "posted" signs warning other bucks to stay out. I've seem clusters of rubs which I'm assuming are out of frustration and mainly near the doe's seasonal travel routes to/from food sources. Sort of done while waiting to ambush a doe!?! You might even see early Sept/Oct rubs on small-ish saplings, which again I'm assuming is to remove the itchy velvet. I also have seen rubs in same general area from year to year, on different trees/saplings. Don't think there is much science basis or predictability behind where & why rubs occur where they do. All I know is when I see rubs, there's been a buck there! There are some "rule of thumb" things you can get from a rub to determine guess the bucks size.. tree diameter, height of rub, aggressiveness & possibly even direction of travel.

BTW - The 5 mile journey of a rutting buck is distance away from his core are & NOT distance traveled.

I get a lot of May to Sept photos/vids of bucks. Cams are great entertainment and inventory tools. Nice to sit in the stand in Oct/Nov with the hope one of these local BBs will show up. Big BUT here... after velvet comes off my photos of bucks also becomes... sparse and if at all during the night time. At this time BBs disperse and s/u home-bases away from the typical summertime sighting spots. Some may stay close-by, but still separated by some distance from their brothers. This is when the BB hunting becomes unpredictable with the who/what/when/where/why.

[Bionic]

4 minutes ago, nyslowhand said:

From what I understand.. rubs are territorial "posted" signs warning other bucks to stay out. I've seem clusters of rubs which I'm assuming are out of frustration and mainly near the doe's seasonal travel routes to/from food sources. Sort of done while waiting to ambush a doe!?! You might even see early Sept/Oct rubs on small-ish saplings, which again I'm assuming is to remove the itchy velvet. I also have seen rubs in same general area from year to year, on different trees/saplings. Don't think there is much science basis or predictability behind where & why rubs occur where they do. All I know is when I see rubs, there's been a buck there! There are some "rule of thumb" things you can get from a rub to determine guess the bucks size.. tree diameter, height of rub, aggressiveness & possibly even direction of travel.

BTW - The 5 mile journey of a rutting buck is distance away from his core are & NOT distance traveled.

I get a lot of May to Sept photos/vids of bucks. Cams are great entertainment and inventory tools. Nice to sit in the stand in Oct/Nov with the hope one of these local BBs will show up. Big BUT here... after velvet comes off my photos of bucks also becomes... sparse and if at all during the night time. At this time BBs disperse and s/u home-bases away from the typical summertime sighting spots. Some may stay close-by, but still separated by some distance from their brothers. This is when the BB hunting becomes unpredictable with the who/what/when/where/why.

Great info to reread a bunch of times, thank you!

this is my 20th deer season, and I have never tried to learn, in order to better the odds until 2014, when I got my big buck.  

I wish I paid attention sooner...

[Renegade Hunter]

I would try and make moves on them. Hunting the same stands seeing the same results should indicate the bucks are moving elsewhere. Right now you’re hunting with the hopes of a good buck trailing one of those does past your stand. Invest in a climber. Move around to different areas that have good sign, climb, hunt, scout, all at the same time. I hunt from a climber 90% of the time and my buck sightings have increased ten fold. Be unpredictable. You will get on them. I have climbed in random spots and found bucks. Over hunt it and they won’t show up. Scout and move and you will be on them again. I always try and hunt where no one has sat in a while. Stands get burned out and the deer re route. Good luck! Lots of good advice in here. 

[nyslowhand]

1 hour ago, Bionic said:

this is my 20th deer season, and I have never tried to learn, in order to better the odds until 2014, when I got my big buck.  

I wish I paid attention sooner...

Everyone gets a "blind squirrel" buck, occasionally! A lot of those monster bucks profiled on BP's Big Buck TV shows and their traveling tractor trailer display are literally walked upon and killed. Little skill, simply a good shot and it's entered into the record books.

There is NO "one way fits all" hunting style. Lots of hunters stalk deer with long bows, others change locations frequently using a climber, some sit in a sole tree stand, some go out their backdoor and hunt while others venture miles into the woods, sitting up in a tree or a ground blind - all are successful to some degree!!!

Never too late to learn, grasshopper! Lots of hunting advice on the internet, TV shows, books, Whitetail Biologist and of course the free stuff offered here. The key is to sift thru all of it and figure out what can or will apply to your style of hunting, hunting area and habits of deer there! Hard part is to determine what's useful or some you just have to call BS on.... Best advice I can offer is to paid attention to what's going on in the area you hunt in all seasons and use that info for the following deer season(s). Keep a detailed journal if it'll help. Always good thought provoking reading for the winter months.

Oh yeah, the biggest detail about being successful I almost forgot - perseverance! Being in the right place at the right time!

[Bionic]

4 hours ago, nyslowhand said:

Everyone gets a "blind squirrel" buck, occasionally! A lot of those monster bucks profiled on BP's Big Buck TV shows and their traveling tractor trailer display are literally walked upon and killed. Little skill, simply a good shot and it's entered into the record books.

There is NO "one way fits all" hunting style. Lots of hunters stalk deer with long bows, others change locations frequently using a climber, some sit in a sole tree stand, some go out their backdoor and hunt while others venture miles into the woods, sitting up in a tree or a ground blind - all are successful to some degree!!!

Never too late to learn, grasshopper! Lots of hunting advice on the internet, TV shows, books, Whitetail Biologist and of course the free stuff offered here. The key is to sift thru all of it and figure out what can or will apply to your style of hunting, hunting area and habits of deer there! Hard part is to determine what's useful or some you just have to call BS on.... Best advice I can offer is to paid attention to what's going on in the area you hunt in all seasons and use that info for the following deer season(s). Keep a detailed journal if it'll help. Always good thought provoking reading for the winter months.

Oh yeah, the biggest detail about being successful I almost forgot - perseverance! Being in the right place at the right time!

Great info, thank you again.

this early snow cover has helped me really see the deer trails, etc.  I have noticed a random bed, etc, and one new stand location, I can see a good ways out, so it’s all good info I am retaining for next seasons scouting.

as you say, right place, right time, some luck, that’s how I got my big deer, and it definitely changed me! Looking to shorten the time in between, and try to better my odds.  

Thanks for all the input!