How to Bag a Monster Buck During the Whitetail Rut

Every hunter with any experience knows that a bucks behavior during the rut season evolves quickly. In order to capitalize on the whitetail rut, you must evolve your hunting strategy rapidly as well. in order to do this, it is important to match your tactics to match the exact point of the rut you are hunting in.

The whitetail rut can be broken down into three distinct phases, the pre-rut, peak rut and post rut. Most hunters believe that the best time to bag a monster is during peak rut, however, if you have done a bit of homework before the rut season, you will find success elsewhere.

No two parts of the rut season are the same.  Let's take a look at each.

 

The Pre-Rut, sometime called the seek and chase phase, can be the best time to hunt for big bucks. By scouting at the end of the previous season, you will already know where the bedding areas, rub lines and travel trails are located. The good news is, the bucks who survived last season will likely be back in the same areas this season.

This phase can often fool hunters who have less experience.  Hunters sometimes mistakenly assume that the rut is getting underway because they see a few bucks chasing does early in the season. These bucks are usually the younger bucks who are experiencing the rut for the first time.

Resist the temptation to follow the does and focus your attention in these areas:

1. Focus on early season food sources.  Take time to glass these fields at first & last light.

2. Learn the bucks entrance & exit routes.  Bucks are creatures of habit, by learning the places that they enter and exit the food sources, you can place your tree stand accordingly.

3. Stick to the rub lines.  Even though the peak rut is not on you, look for the rubs.  As the rut season progresses the bucks will begin to strengthen their neck muscles for the fighting which will be starting soon.

As the whitetail rut heats up you will need to change your tactics.  The change in the rut season to peak rut will happen seemingly overnight, so be ready to switch it up. Stick to these strategies:

1. Look for rubs on trees and scrapes on the travel routes.  Dominant bucks mark their primary travel route.  This is the prime time to hunt these areas.  There has been no pressure, you have the element of surprise.

2. Switch your attention over to following the does.  As the bucks hormones kick into high gear, they will be looking to find a doe who is in estrus.  Find an area with a high density of does and stick to them.

3. Get aggressive with your calls, scents and decoys.  Use the bucks increase in sex drive and aggressiveness to your advantage.  Combine aggressive calling such as rattling with doe scents and decoys.

4. Set you stands up in natural funnels.  If you must use a tree stand consider setting it up between two doe bedding areas or a bedding area and a food source.

5. Consider using ground blinds.  Once you locate their travel corridors used by the mature bucks, you may find that these bucks are resting in places you would least expect.  Putting yourself on the ground floor gives you added options for bagging this monster.

The post rut or secondary chase phase is still one of the best time to kill a monster buck. Though peak breeding is coming to an end, there will still be some does who will come into estrus late in the season. This gives the hunter an opportunity to still use scents to lure a buck.

However, your best bet for locating a big buck at this point in the whitetail rut is finding a food plot, preferably one which helps them increase their fat stores.

Consider the following when hunting the post rut:

 

1. Return to your pre-rut areas.  As the bucks hormones return to normal, so will their patterns.  Heading back to some of the original, pre-season travel routes will often lead to an encounter.

2. Try using scents as bucks will be looking for does coming into estrus late in the season.  Though most bucks have mated, there will still be some still looking for a bit of loving.

3. Find a food plot.  Not just any food plot, preferably a food plot high in carbohydrates.  As you glass, don't worry if you don't see a buck.  His survival instinct is back and he's probably sticking to the timber.
 

 

Taking time to do your homework, utilizing trail cameras, food plots and everything else in a hunter's arsenal, you can almost ensure that you will not leave your tag unfilled. 

The bottom line is that your buck hunting success does not depend on what part of the rut season you decide to hunt, but rather how you hunt the time of the whitetail rut you are in.