For a bowhunter, Christmas, Birthdays, Holidays and all other important times of the year take a back seat to the anticipation of the rut. For us die-hard bowhunters this is what we wait for all year. For me the anticipation, the day dreaming, the past memories and the preparation that go along with hunting the rut are priceless. Working and tending to the responsibilities of home and family are what we do most of the year, for me when the rut rolls around my responsibility meter bottoms out.

There has been so much written about the rut as far as scrapes, rubs, lures, etc., that it is almost overwhelming to the novice as to what he should or should not do. I have gone full circle on hunting scrapes and rubs and have used countless scents, it has been my personal experience that the best tactic is to locate some decent sign and hunt it as much as you possibly can. The best scent I`ve found to use is no scent at all. Sure I`ve had bucks come in to scents, but I`ve also?had plently of times that deer came in and were spooked by the scent. In many instances even when a buck did come in to a scent, he came in on full alert, looking, listening, and smelling. The best bet is to catch a buck going about his normal mating ritual. If you spend many hours in?your stand you will do much better than using everything on the market for just an hour or so each day.

Some days during the rut I won`t even hit the woods until an hour or?two after light, I can only sit so long and want to be there when the bucks are traveling around checking for does, jumping hot ones from their beds and chasing them through the woods. I`ve harvested more bucks late morning and mid-day during the rut than I have at the usual hours of dawn and dusk.

Ruts around here are different from year to year. Some years there is not much sign, other years the woods are completely torn up. Some years you may witness bucks fighting or see several bucks chasing a single hot doe like a pack of dogs. Other years you would be hard pressed to tell the rut was even on. Either way, make no mistake the rut is happening whether you see the signs of it or not.

The weather plays a big part in what we see, cold weather seems to have the deer up and moving during the day, while warmer weather seems to keep activity down, moon phase also plays a key role, during a full moon the bucks might be up all night chasing does and spending more time during the day resting or waiting for a bedded doe to get up.

I always take vacation in early November to capitalize on the peak of the rutting activity. During one particular rut a few years back I was sitting on stand about 2:00pm when I heard several deer crashing through the woods about 100 yards behind me. In the time it took me to stand up a doe came charging in and ran past me at 30 yards or so to my left. Close on her heels came first one buck, then another, then a third,??"Man look at this" I said to myself,? in an instant they were past me and heading off after the doe. Then I heard fast walking from the same direction and turned to see a real nice eight pointer following the same trail with his nose to the ground like a bird dog. He was moving almost at a trot, but not going crazy like the younger bucks, at thirty yards he paused behind a tree. Offering no shot and preferring one a little closer I didn`t even bother to draw. The buck lifted his head and smelled all around, he knew something was up but couldn`t pinpoint me, he stayed frozen in his tracks for at least five or six minutes, then very cautiously moved off. Twenty yards later his head went right back down to the ground and he continued to trail the hot doe.

Bucks do make fatal mistakes during the rut, but the survival instinct is still there. Without drawing the bow, it remains today one of my favorite rutting experiences. The next day I did shoot one of the three smaller bucks from the same tree, but never did see the big eight pointer again. If you`ve found good sign and you put your time in on stand, You will see bucks during the rut.

Enjoy the rut, and remember if you bowhunt you belong in the United Bowhunters of New Jersey, and support your local chapter of the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmens Clubs.

NJ-Hunter.com Pro-Staff
DougBrown