Grow the Hunt

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Creating a mock scrape in front of your camera is a great way to pattern bucks on your land. Deer are naturally curious about other deer, so mock scrapes get a lot of attention. The problem comes in keeping the scrape fresh. Moultrie’s Scent Boss is a great solution. This battery-operated scent dispenser holds enough scent for up to two months so you won’t have to disturb the scrape as often. Dispensing deer scents in a controlled manner allows the hunter to set up the trail properly by dispensing only what you need at the time you need it. Visit the scrape and don’t disturb it again until it is time to refill. To create a mock scrape, clear a tire-sized area under your scent dispenser with a stick. Use a doe estrous scent during the peak breeding phase of the rut. Buck urine can be used all year. Even hang two scent dispensers across each other over your mock scrape - fill one with doe urine and the other with buck urine. You’ll be amazed at the bucks that will investigate.

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"Notice the Scent Boss in the foreground, bucks hit these scrape with the scent boss from the day I put it up in early September until late November last season. Pictures were taken with a Moultrie Game Spy camera, awesome user-friendly product."

Thomas E.
Batesburg, SC

A Different Aspect of the Rut

-By Randy Cooper

While hunting this morning, a familiar big doe and her two fawns came down a trail near me. The fawns are now about half the size of their mother and have lost their spots. I’ve been privileged this year to witness almost the entire process of the fawns coming into this world. Through trail camera observations, I’ve seen the doe go from being normal-sized to getting so big I thought she was going to pop. She and most of her doe group ate at my feeder almost every day and night.

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Around the mid-June, the doe quit coming to the feeder as often. There is a drainage area surrounded by dense brush close to my feeder. I started seeing her come to the feeder from that area mostly at night. Then, after a short stay, she would go back to the drainage and disappear. I believe she gave birth to her two fawns in that cover and that’s where they spent the first 8 weeks or so being nursed by their mother.

Many times in the past while hunting, I’ve often seen small spotted fawns even into mid-October. I used to wonder if these late births were a genetic imprint from the stocking programs that started back in the 1960’s, but after studying deer for many years and keeping my nose between the pages of deer hunting magazines, I’ve found out why we see the spotted fawns well into the hunting season.

A doe’s gestation period is 7 months, or about 210 days, from the time of conception. When a doe goes into estrous and conceives during the first days of November she will give birth to one or two fawns around the middle of June the following year.

Here is where you need to listen up because what follows could have a huge impact on hunting the rut this year.

If a doe DOES NOT conceive the first time she’s bred then she will come into estrous again 28 days later. If she does not conceive during the second rut, she will enter another estrous period 28 days after the second one. I’ve seen scrapes that were dead as a door nail become active again as late as January 1st, the last day of the season. The reason they once again became active is because a buck in the area had picked up on some estrous scent and had once again began to work his scrapes in the area. When you see spotted fawns late in the hunting season, you’re looking at the result of a doe that didn’t conceive during the first rut or maybe even the second one. Consequently, she gave birth to her fawns as much as two months late. AUGUST!

This is SO important to remember. Just because you didn’t score during the RUT, don’t go home and take an overdose of anti-depressants. You’re going to have another chance for sure about a month from the first noticeable rut and maybe a third one as well. The same tactics that worked during the first rut will work again when the second one arrives. I use drag-rags with a doe in estrous scent on one rag and a buck lure (tarsal gland, territorial infringement, or buck urine) on the other. The idea is to make any buck coming across the scent think a hot doe is being chased by an alien buck in his area. He WILL follow this scent right to where you’ve tied the rag up in a tree limb.

Take heart, if you don’t get to take advantage of the first rut during the first few days of November, you’ll have another chance the first days of December and you’ll see another flurry the first days of January again. When it gets late in the season, remember to hunt trails leading to food sources. If you put in your time in August and September you may be among the lucky ones to have a food plot to hunt over on your property. Deer are in survival mode and their stomach will dictate where they travel. It goes without saying that where the does are, there also will be bucks. Find the doe groups on your property and you’re in business.

5 Terrain Hunting Lessons

-By Brandon Wikman

When I think about shooting mature whitetail, I think of that old saying (with a twist): “There’s more than one way to skin a buck.”

With over a thousand products to choose from to increase your odds of harvesting a deer and more than a hundred different strategies to put to use, it is difficult to narrow down what works for you. I’d like to share a strategy I’ve learned from some of the most successful deer hunters, terrain hunting.

Using land terrain to your advantage has been used for centuries. In fact, Native Americans used landscape to kill buffalo in the vast plains and western regions of the United States. To ensure their survival during the long winter months, Native Americans cornered buffalo on a cliff or ledge and ran them off. Today, hunters can tailor their odds of having a giant walk within range by using some general characteristics on their property. It may not be a cliff, but something most hunters have seen or at least heard of: a “funnel”.

Funnels are whitetail hot spots, especially during the rut. They are simply terrain features or manmade objects that condense a whitetail’s travel route. Here are 5 lessons on where to look and how they work for many of the outdoors best and brightest:

1. The Finger: Finding a wood line that has a jut, or a point of woods that outcrops into a field, is an ideal spot to find a big buck cruising. Fingers are found easily by studying aerial maps. Considering deer like to stay concealed, they’ll be able to scent check that cornfield or CRP field without ever taking a step out of the woods. Fingers are found everywhere, but Illinois and Iowa are known for them specifically.


2. The Underwater Advantage: If you’ve ever hunted a swamp, you may know what I mean when I say it’s difficult and it can be really tricky! The fact is that deer prefer to stay dry and walk along the higher regions of marshy or swampy areas. Try to spot cattails or bogs, and then look on the outskirts of those regions. You may find a dry trail that deer will use most of the time compared to trudging through the nasty stuff. Now, I’ve personally seen deer splash through some knee high algae infested water, but when it boils down to it deer are going to stay on the high side.


3. Farmer Brown’s Fence: You’ve probably heard about this strategy before, but it’s one of my favorite setups. Take a walk along a fence line and if you find a spot where it’s busted or low, you’ve found yourself a fence funnel. Deer travel most routes according to the ease of access. You can set up on either side of the fence according to wind direction and where you think they’ll be coming from.


4. Sky High Pass: I primarily hunt the bluff regions of western Wisconsin. This offers some immaculate hunting, and it’s beneficial for anyone who really wants to tag a monster trolling for doe. As you look across the horizon of bluffs, you’ll see something in between each bluff that we call “saddles.” These saddles are perfect locations for deer to cross without having to walk the incline of a steep hillside. When a buck’s got a doe on his mind, the only thing he’s really thinking is how fast he can get from point A to point B. The more miles he covers, the more likely he’s able to find a hot doe. This valley feature is an ideal way for bucks to save energy and make an easy pass across the low side of a bluff.


5. The Waterway: Creeks and streams are beautiful geological evidence that deer hop from one side to the other by using the lowest or driest part of the streambed to cross. Granted that deer can swim, but, like I said before, they prefer crossing a creek or stream without getting soggy. Not only are they conserving body heat, but making their life easier and more pleasant. This is why you see deer trails that slice through the bank and are carved through the soil - it’s a major highway!

Sometimes, we as hunters have the ability to over think hunting, but that’s what makes it so much fun. It’s a thinking game that involves strategy and technique. Although the strategies we put to work can be extremely complex, we need to stop and think quickly and ask ourselves, “If I were a deer, what would I do?” You’ll be amazed by the answers you find and the secrets that are revealed. Hunting funnels are a fun tactic to try out, and may potentially help kill your next buck.