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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your guide to

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Speaker 1: the White Tail Woods presented by First Light, creating proven

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Speaker 1: versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind. First

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Speaker 1: Light Go farther, stay Longer, and now your host Mark Kenyon.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast.

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Speaker 3: This week on the show, we're conducting a comprehensive review

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Speaker 3: of the tactics for hunting mature bucks during the month

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Speaker 3: of November and the many different ways experts have shared

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Speaker 3: how to do that over the course of Wired to

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Speaker 3: Hunt's seventeen year history.

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Speaker 4: A really all right.

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Speaker 3: Welcome back to the Wired to Hunt podcast, brought to

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Speaker 3: you by First Light, and today we are looking forward

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Speaker 3: into the month of November and we're going to do

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Speaker 3: something very similar to what I did almost exactly one

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Speaker 3: month ago when I conducted my first major review of

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Speaker 3: a month. I talked about this being like a meta

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Speaker 3: analysis or a literature review, as some kind of call

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Speaker 3: it in other worlds. But basically the idea here is

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Speaker 3: to review the many different approaches or the many different

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Speaker 3: examples or ideas around one particular topic and really try

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Speaker 3: to give a thorough kind of kind of many different

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Speaker 3: perspective provided type analysis of the topic at hand, and

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Speaker 3: the topic at hand today is the month of November.

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Speaker 3: How to hunt white tails in November, specifically, how to

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Speaker 3: hunt mature bucks. It's the rut. You know, when people

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Speaker 3: think November, they think the rut. This is the most

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Speaker 3: exciting time of year. This is what we've all been

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Speaker 3: looking forward to all you know, the previous ten to

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Speaker 3: eleven months up to this point.

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Speaker 2: It has been for this moment. It's here. So what

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Speaker 2: I want to.

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Speaker 3: Do is review this wide swath of different ideas, the

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Speaker 3: core pillars of rut hunting, and then some specific ideas

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Speaker 3: from different individuals from different angles of how to approach

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Speaker 3: this kind of thing. So I'm going to share with

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Speaker 3: you kind of my synthesis of this, so like my

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Speaker 3: summary of the major things that you need to know

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Speaker 3: about hunting during this month, and then I'm going to

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Speaker 3: read some excerpts from different books from expert whitetail hunters.

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Speaker 3: And then I'm also going to play for you excerpts

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Speaker 3: from some of our older podcasts. So those things that

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Speaker 3: you know we're aired on here years and years and

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Speaker 3: years ago, that probably a lot of you missed, we

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Speaker 3: are going to cut up and feature a few short excerpts.

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Speaker 3: So you're going to get examples from people like Andy May.

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Speaker 3: Five minutes from Andy May, five minutes from Aaron Warburton,

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Speaker 3: a couple of minutes from Will Primost. We've got excerpts

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Speaker 3: and perspectives here from Jared Mills and John Dudley and

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Speaker 3: many other experienced, well rounded successful deer hunters. They're going

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Speaker 3: to be able to provide you, hopefully by the end

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Speaker 3: of this episode, a very very far reaching, well rounded

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Speaker 3: set of ideas for how to have success over the

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Speaker 3: next few weeks. So, without any further ado, we should

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Speaker 3: just get right into it. Let's start talking about the

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Speaker 3: month of November, and when you think about the month

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Speaker 3: of November, you are thinking about the rut. Last week

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Speaker 3: on the podcast, if you didn't listen to this one,

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Speaker 3: go back and listen to last week's episode, because we

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Speaker 3: clearly define some very important parameters around the timing of

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Speaker 3: the rut. There's a lot of theories around, you know,

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Speaker 3: can the moon impact the timing of the rut?

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Speaker 2: Or you know, if your.

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Speaker 3: Cousin doesn't like you know, such and such class and

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Speaker 3: the sun shines you know, for two minutes longer on

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Speaker 3: a given day, and you happen to roll Triple Seven's

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Speaker 3: will that impact the timing of the rut? Or a

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Speaker 3: world coal front impact the timing of the rut? YadA, YadA, YadA.

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Speaker 2: None of it.

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Speaker 3: The science has shown impacts the timing of breeding for

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Speaker 3: whitetail deer across the vast majority of the nation. So

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Speaker 3: right out the gate, we need to make sure that

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Speaker 3: everybody's clear on that. For much of the country, the

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Speaker 3: white tail rut is defined by when does you know breed?

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Speaker 3: When conception dates are, And there's a whole slew of

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Speaker 3: different studies that can actually back that can actually measure

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Speaker 3: a fetus, so measure a baby deer and be able

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Speaker 3: to backdate to determine exactly when that deer was conceived,

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Speaker 3: and so they can then map exactly when all those

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Speaker 3: conception dates were, and year after year, if you look

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Speaker 3: at any given region, the basic spread of those conception

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Speaker 3: dates is always the same. For my part of the

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Speaker 3: country here around Michigan, it's almost always the peak of

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Speaker 3: that breeding is right around the middle of November, and

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Speaker 3: then it looks like a belk or if you were

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Speaker 3: to chart all this on a graph, you would see

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Speaker 3: that breeding begins sometime in October. Most of the time

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Speaker 3: it rises up and then really escalates into November. The

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Speaker 3: peak of that breeding typically happens November thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth,

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Speaker 3: somewhere around there, and then it slowly tails off on

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Speaker 3: the other end. So any theory that tries to tell

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Speaker 3: you that breeding dates will change, you know, from year

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Speaker 3: to year, is not backed up by science. So that's

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Speaker 3: the first thing we need to think about now. All

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Speaker 3: that said, the activity that we see as hunters that

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Speaker 3: can be different, that can be influenced by many different factors.

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Speaker 3: It seems like the actual running activity, the peak of

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Speaker 3: running activity, the things that we dream about, the chasing,

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Speaker 3: the seeking, the fighting, all that kind of stuff, you

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Speaker 3: know that's on this huge scale. You know, that kind

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Speaker 3: of thing could happen in October. That thing could happen

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Speaker 3: in late October, late November, anywhere in between, but the

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Speaker 3: month of November typically is that time of year we're

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Speaker 3: expecting it to happen. I want to read for you

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Speaker 3: a little bit about some confusion about this. There's a

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Speaker 3: lot of labels around different stages of the RUP, about

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Speaker 3: definitions of how the rut is supposed to progress and

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Speaker 3: what you should expect in each different phase as you

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Speaker 3: go through November. And I thought there was a really

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Speaker 3: great excerpt here from this book White Tails from Ground

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Speaker 3: to Gun by Kneel and Craig Doherty that I think

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Speaker 3: explains this and sets the stage very well for how

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Speaker 3: we should think about the month and in the whitetail rut.

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Speaker 3: And then I'm going to read to you a little

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Speaker 3: bit more about how they define the difference between the

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Speaker 3: hunter's rut and the biological rut, and that difference is

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Speaker 3: very important as we go forward here, all right, So,

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Speaker 3: numerous outdoor writers and white tail deer authorities have advanced

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Speaker 3: the notion of stages of the rut. According to the models,

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Speaker 3: the rut progresses through a series of three to five

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Speaker 3: or six phases or stages, which unfold in a more

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Speaker 3: or less orderly fashion over a two month period of time.

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Speaker 3: These models tend to label the stages with one word

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Speaker 3: descriptors of behavior, which are easily grasped by the hunting public.

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Speaker 3: The models have been widely accepted by the outdoor community

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Speaker 3: as they provide a useful construct for understanding rut related behavior.

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Speaker 3: Depending on who you read, all kinds of labels are

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Speaker 3: attached to the phages the phases such as trolling, scraping, chasing, courting,

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Speaker 3: pre rut, pre be reading, breeding, sparring, peak, etc.

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Speaker 5: Etc.

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Speaker 3: Fortunately, most models have become oversimplified with time and are

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Speaker 3: often misunderstood by the hunting public. Most hunters believe the

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Speaker 3: rut progresses through a series of preordained, well ordered, and

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Speaker 3: discrete behavioral stages. As one stage ends, the next one begins.

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Speaker 3: They tend to interpret the models literally and wind up

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Speaker 3: believing buck behavior progresses in a lockstep manner through the

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Speaker 3: various stages of the rut. To hear some hunters talk,

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Speaker 3: every buck is chasing during the chase phase, and every

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Speaker 3: buck is trolling during the trolling phase. Every buck is

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Speaker 3: right there breeding when the breeding phase arrives. Even though

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Speaker 3: most rut models discuss how the phases overlap and how

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Speaker 3: individual deer exhibit unique characteristics, many hunters still view the

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Speaker 3: rut as a series of stages which are being played

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Speaker 3: out among all white tails in a given location at

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Speaker 3: the same time. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

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Speaker 3: So key takeaway there is that while many people, communications, writers, podcasters,

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Speaker 3: video TV hosts have tried to break down the rut

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Speaker 3: into easily understood. You know, sections or periods or phases.

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Speaker 3: Nothing is simple on the rut, and there's going to

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Speaker 3: be stuff happening at you know, all sorts of different times.

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Speaker 3: You're gonna see chasing in early November, and then you

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Speaker 3: might see it again in late November, and then you

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Speaker 3: might see in the middle of November, where you might

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Speaker 3: see none of it at all. Breeding, like I just

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Speaker 3: told you, typically for most parts of the country peaks

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Speaker 3: in the middle of November, but it doesn't always happen then. Like,

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Speaker 3: there's also going to be breeding happening in late October

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Speaker 3: and ever once in a while, right, there's a low

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Speaker 3: part of that bell curve, maybe even early October or

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Speaker 3: late November or early December. So don't get too hung

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Speaker 3: up on how things are supposed to be or you know,

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Speaker 3: like they said that, you know, seeking has to happen

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Speaker 3: in early November. This this thing is fluid. You need

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Speaker 3: to be able to adapt and adjust based on that.

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Speaker 3: Excuse me, now, the next thing that's very important is

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Speaker 3: to remember this difference between the peak of the rut.

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Speaker 3: You'll hear that phrase used a lot and what that

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Speaker 3: actually means and kneel and Craig break it down, is

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Speaker 3: to the hunter's rut, which is the peak of rutting activity.

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Speaker 3: That's what a lot of hunters think about when we

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Speaker 3: think about the peak of the rut. And then there's

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Speaker 3: the peak of the rut from a biological standpoint, which

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Speaker 3: is when actually the most doze are being bred. And

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Speaker 3: that's a whole other thing entirely, and you're going to

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Speaker 3: have different behaviors and different sets of hunting ideas even

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Speaker 3: for both of those. So I want to read you

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Speaker 3: what they say about that as well. So the hunter's

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Speaker 3: rut rut behavior at this time is at a fever

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Speaker 3: pitch just prior to the breeding as buck testosterone peaks

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Speaker 3: and most doughs are still unreceptive. Bucks cover greater distances

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Speaker 3: and recklessly chased dos. Dos avoid food plots and social

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Speaker 3: gathering areas. Family units break up due to buck harassment

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Speaker 3: of dos. Receptive or near receptive dos attracts multiple bucks

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Speaker 3: and bucks battle for breeding privileges. This is what is

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Speaker 3: happening leading up to the actual peak of breeding. So

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Speaker 3: for me and Michigan and most folks across the Midwest

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Speaker 3: and the East, and honestly almost all of the country,

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Speaker 3: with a few exceptions that being in the South. The

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Speaker 3: South has this unique set of different breeding dates and

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Speaker 3: they're very localized in certain areas. So unfortunately, I can't

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Speaker 3: speak to you with those exact dates in mind. Like

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Speaker 3: I know, in like the Mississippi delta, that's going to be,

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Speaker 3: you know, past Thanksgiving in early December when this might be.

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Speaker 3: But for most of us, the very end of October

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Speaker 3: and then the first two weeks of November is when

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Speaker 3: we are typically going to be experiencing what the dorties

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Speaker 3: here are describing as the hunter's rut. This is the

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Speaker 3: ramp up to peak breeding. But this is peak activity,

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Speaker 3: all right. So here are some markers what to look

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Speaker 3: for to help you identify that this is actually happening

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Speaker 3: at this moment in your area. Mature bucks are necked

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Speaker 3: out or muscled up and no longer nocturnal doughs, pull

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Speaker 3: away from food plots, bonds, feeding without does or single doughs,

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Speaker 3: nervous or scarce, and often seen in strange areas. You'll

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Speaker 3: be seeing bucks pursuing doughs, buck sightings outnumbering doughs on

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Speaker 3: deer cameras, and in real life, abnormally high level of

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Speaker 3: buck activity and a dramatic increase in deer auto collisions

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Speaker 3: and tarsal glands stained almost black, as well as lower

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Speaker 3: rear legs. So all of those things might be signs

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Speaker 3: that this is happening in your neck of the wods.

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Speaker 3: At this moment, it's for hunting strategy. The hunter's rut

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Speaker 3: is on, but will only last a couple of days.

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Speaker 3: This is prime hunting time, as is generally the time

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Speaker 3: buck activity peaks and one of the few times when

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Speaker 3: a mature whitetail might actually be vulnerable. It's time to

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Speaker 3: get in the woods and stay there. Anything can happen,

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Speaker 3: and often does. Hunt travel areas like ridges, saddles, tween ridges,

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Speaker 3: and natural neck downs. Food sources are generally less productive

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Speaker 3: as doughs have been driven from them. Temperatures fifteen degrees

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Speaker 3: or more above average can suppress dailight activity and hunting success.

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Speaker 4: Now they add that.

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Speaker 2: As a little qualifier.

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Speaker 3: So that's some high level thoughts on the hunter's rut

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Speaker 3: that first portion of November, and I'm kind of previewing

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Speaker 3: a lot of what we're going to discuss here in

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Speaker 3: a little bit that next period. The biological rut, the

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Speaker 3: true rut. The true peak of breeding, as I mentioned,

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Speaker 3: is typically more the middle of the month, but there's

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Speaker 3: a sliding scale there, and here's what the Doerties have

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Speaker 3: to say about that. The most noteworthy thing about the

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Speaker 3: biological rut is the marked decline in deer activity. This

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Speaker 3: is principally caused by a sudden increase in estraus does,

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Speaker 3: who are now receptive and no longer avoiding bucks. An

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Speaker 3: abundance of receptive dos means fewer bucks searching and moving

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Speaker 3: about looking for dos. Bucks locked down with dos in

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Speaker 3: heavy cover or out of the way places for two

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Speaker 3: to three days before relocating does move very little Biologically.

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Speaker 3: This is the peak of the breeding rut, or the

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Speaker 3: time when most does conceive. This period generally lasts approximately

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Speaker 3: three weeks. Markers of this would be a marked decrease

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Speaker 3: in deer sightings, fewer deer on food sources other than fawns,

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Speaker 3: dominant bucks, tending dos with satellite bucks sometimes present does

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Speaker 3: being receptive, and buck behavior can vary between really all

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Speaker 3: the other breeding type behaviors chasing, traveling, relocating, betting, fighting, breeding, etc.

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Speaker 3: As for hunt strategy, the Doughties say that this is

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Speaker 3: the period of the rut, when many hunters erroneously.

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Speaker 2: Call the rut over and pull out of the woods.

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Speaker 3: Accustomed to seeing great buck action during the hunter's peak,

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Speaker 3: they get discouraged with the downtterm and occasional absence of activity.

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Speaker 3: Successful hunters know that breeding lasts a good two to

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Speaker 3: three weeks, and they put in their time during the

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Speaker 3: biological rut. Hunting near or in heavy cover where bucks

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Speaker 3: and doughs are locked down often pays dividends during this

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Speaker 3: time period. Neck downs and other funneling travel routes can

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Speaker 3: also be good or get food sources. They are mainly

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Speaker 3: mainly occupied by fawns and doughs that have already been bred.

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Speaker 2: But whatever you.

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Speaker 3: Do, put in the time, and eventually that buck will

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Speaker 3: show up. All right, So there is a high level

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Speaker 3: overview of really what the month of November entails.

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Speaker 2: It's those two things.

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Speaker 3: There's the hunter's rut and the biological rut. If we

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Speaker 3: had to oversimplify, rather than doing what you know they

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Speaker 3: mentioned at the beginning, which is, try to break this

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Speaker 3: thing down to the trolling and the chasing and the

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Speaker 3: seeking and the breeding and the YadA YadA YadA. Let's

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Speaker 3: just consider these two kind of overlapping sets of behaviors.

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Speaker 3: And with that mind, we're going to walk through a

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Speaker 3: bunch of different ideas about how to hunt during those

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Speaker 3: periods of time. All right, So the hunter's rut, this

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Speaker 3: is that time, as I mentioned, where testosterone levels are

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Speaker 3: basically at the peak for Bucks.

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Speaker 2: Bucks are ready to.

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Speaker 3: Breed, and now dos are starting to come into heat.

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Speaker 3: So you're gonna start seeing an increasing number of dos

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Speaker 3: coming into heat every day, more and more and more

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Speaker 3: and more as those first two weeks of November progress,

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Speaker 3: So you're going to get you know, more and more

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Speaker 3: Buck activity. As those first does start to pop, Bucks

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Speaker 3: start getting very excited, they start chasing them all around,

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Speaker 3: and you have a several different sets of behaviors happening,

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Speaker 3: but everything is revolving around the dose because at this point,

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Speaker 3: you know, we talked in October, how dear are slaves

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Speaker 3: to their stomachs, how a Bucks world revolves around going

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Speaker 3: from bed to feed, bed to feed. That is no

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Speaker 3: longer the case. You know, when November hits for almost

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Speaker 3: all Bucks, bed defeed is almost not even on their

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Speaker 3: mind at all. It is now does does does all

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Speaker 3: day every day. That's what they're thinking. About and so

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Speaker 3: as a hunter you have to be thinking about that

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Speaker 3: as well. So very simply what a buck's life typically

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Speaker 3: looks like at this time of year.

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Speaker 2: We'll start, you know, in the middle of the night.

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Speaker 3: In the middle of the night, he's out searching for

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Speaker 3: does dose are on their feet, off feeding somewhere likely,

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Speaker 3: so the bucks are going to be.

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Speaker 2: Where those doughs are. As those doughs.

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Speaker 3: Come back to bed in the morning, the bucks are

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Speaker 3: following them. The bucks are then doing one of two things.

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Speaker 3: They are either actually on a dough that's ready to

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Speaker 3: breed or chasing her, or if they don't already have

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Speaker 3: a dough found, they're going to be searching for a

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Speaker 3: dough to breed, trying to find a dough that is

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Speaker 3: coming into heat. So they're going to do that by

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Speaker 3: hitting dough betting areas. They're going to do this by

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Speaker 3: crossing trails, scent checking betting areas, you know, doing anything

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Speaker 3: they can do to cover ground find a dough that

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Speaker 3: is ready to breed. Very simply, that's what happens from

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Speaker 3: now through the end of November, with slight tweaks here

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Speaker 3: and there, based on whether or not you know there

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Speaker 3: is a dough in heat or there's not, or there's

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Speaker 3: a ton of dos in heat and everything is ready

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Speaker 3: to breed, right, that can change things. But at a

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Speaker 3: high level, that's what the hunter's you know, rut looks like,

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Speaker 3: is when there's a bunch of does that are getting

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Speaker 3: to heat, but not so many that all the bucks

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Speaker 3: are locked down with them. All that said, there are

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Speaker 3: two three maybe pillars of hunting the rut that I

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Speaker 3: think come up over and over and over and over again.

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Speaker 3: I've heard these same basic things from you know, everyone,

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Speaker 3: from like a Bill Winkie on the kind of your

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Speaker 3: more conservative approach to to deer hunting on private lands,

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Speaker 3: to you know, someone like Andre Toquisto who's maybe more

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Speaker 3: aggressive on public lands too. Then you know someone like

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Speaker 3: you know, Aaron Warburton, who's going to be aggressive but

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Speaker 3: on public land in general. They're thinking about things from

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Speaker 3: a high level in the same kind of way, looking

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Speaker 3: for the does, looking for where these bucks are finding does,

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Speaker 3: and then considering two general approaches to how to do that.

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Speaker 3: One would be keying in on dough betting areas or

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Speaker 3: other hot spots of dough activity. So those are like

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Speaker 3: the destinations the bucks are looking for or number two

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00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:49,560
Speaker 3: travel corridors, funnels, pinch points, any area that concentrates deer

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Speaker 3: movement in a small zone, a small corridor that connects

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Speaker 3: those destinations that bucks are trying to get to. Because again,

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00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:02,800
Speaker 3: like imagine, oh jeez, I just just imagined like a

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00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:05,639
Speaker 3: bunch of basketballs thrown out across the floor of a

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Speaker 3: basketball court, and each one of those basketballs is a

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Speaker 3: dough betting of interest, and then there's going to be

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Speaker 3: a point that gets you from point A to point B,

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Speaker 3: to basketball A to basketball B, and basketball B to

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Speaker 3: basketball seat. Never one of those lines that connects one

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00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,040
Speaker 3: of these different balls to the next ball is a

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00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,440
Speaker 3: possible deer path. But then along the way, there's also

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Speaker 3: going to be if you can imagine my basketball court

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00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,199
Speaker 3: and analogy is falling apart. Now, there's going to be

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Speaker 3: certain places where more of those lines connect. And maybe

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Speaker 3: that's because there's a river that pushes all of these

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Speaker 3: lines together, these lines of movement, or maybe that's because

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Speaker 3: there's differences in cover where all of a sudden, there's

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Speaker 3: fields and a bunch of places that are blocking the easiest,

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Speaker 3: the shortest distance between one point to the other, and

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Speaker 3: so to stay in the safety of cover, deer have

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Speaker 3: to kind of swing down through that funnel or pinch

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Speaker 3: point that is all over the map. You're going to

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Speaker 3: have these different paths that are forced into concentrations of

357
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Speaker 3: paths because of what is available from cover, from terrain,

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Speaker 3: whatever it might be. And so those two sets of

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00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:15,960
Speaker 3: ideas are where most deer hunters fall when it comes

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Speaker 3: to hunting during the run, finding the dough hotspots, finding

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00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,960
Speaker 3: the dough betting areas and hunting those, or finding the

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00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:27,040
Speaker 3: funnels and pinch points those travel corridors and hunting those. Finally,

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Speaker 3: the third thing that's layered over top of all of

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00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,840
Speaker 3: that is time spending time in the woods. This is

365
00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,200
Speaker 3: not necessarily the time to pattern deer. This is not

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00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:38,560
Speaker 3: necessarily the time to, you know, take everything you've learned

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00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,359
Speaker 3: during the month of October about you know where this

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00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:43,840
Speaker 3: bucks preferred bedding area is and how he likes to

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Speaker 3: get from there to his preferred oak feed tree.

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Speaker 2: This is the time.

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Speaker 3: Of year when a lot of that starts to fall apart,

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Speaker 3: and instead it's simply bucks are covering a lot of

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Speaker 3: ground trying to find a dough doing those two things

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Speaker 3: I said, and you, as a hunter simply need to

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Speaker 3: be in one of those two spots, spending it a

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00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:04,880
Speaker 3: lot of time until finally that bucks pot path crosses

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00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:09,320
Speaker 3: with yours. So that is an oversimplified quick rundown of

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Speaker 3: the basis of rut hunting success.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 3: What I want to do for you is read to

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Speaker 3: you a couple different takes on that gets you a

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00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:20,480
Speaker 3: couple different perspectives with specifics on those sets of ideas.

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Speaker 3: So first let's talk about hunting dough betting areas hunting

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Speaker 3: dough hotspots, and the first take I want to share

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Speaker 3: with you is that from Steve Bartilla.

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Speaker 2: He's outdoor writer, longtime podcast.

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Speaker 3: Guest over the years, and a very successful deer hunter

388
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Speaker 3: from He's spent a lot of time in Wisconsin and

389
00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,360
Speaker 3: Illinois and some of that Upper Midwest. So here's one

390
00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:46,360
Speaker 3: of his takes on hunting dough betting areas. My philosophy

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Speaker 3: on hunting the chase phase, so this is like the

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Speaker 3: hunter's run. My philosophy on hunting the chase phase consists

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Speaker 3: of finding the thickest betting cover in the area and

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Speaker 3: pulling all day sits. And I firmly believe that the

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Speaker 3: chase phase the week or two before serious breeding activity

396
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,160
Speaker 3: occurs is the most productive time of all to sit

397
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,639
Speaker 3: the entire day. During the run, a buck searches for

398
00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,359
Speaker 3: a receptive dough until he finds one. When that happens,

399
00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:12,960
Speaker 3: he holds her up for around forty eight hours before

400
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,160
Speaker 3: moving on to find the next. In areas with good nutrition,

401
00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,919
Speaker 3: so many doughs come into heat at once during the

402
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,600
Speaker 3: peak breeding phase that finding one isn't nearly as hard

403
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:23,080
Speaker 3: for the buck as it was during.

404
00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:25,399
Speaker 2: The chase phase. Because there were so few doughs in

405
00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:27,879
Speaker 2: heat early, the buck had to work much harder to

406
00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:28,440
Speaker 2: find one.

407
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:32,080
Speaker 3: Then, in turn, that resulted in far fewer bucks spending

408
00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:35,359
Speaker 3: the mid eight hours betted with their prize. Combine that

409
00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:38,280
Speaker 3: with the mature buck's desperation to score early, and you

410
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,720
Speaker 3: have the best daylight buck movement of the entire hunting season. Furthermore,

411
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,000
Speaker 3: I believe the most productive locations for intercepting that buck

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00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,560
Speaker 3: are the thickest, nastiest bedding areas used by family groups

413
00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,480
Speaker 3: of does and fawns up to this point in the season.

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00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,640
Speaker 3: Mature bucks tend not to overly harass does that aren't

415
00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,119
Speaker 3: ready for breeding, although young bucks might chase does at random.

416
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,240
Speaker 3: The big boys ten to give them a quick sniff

417
00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:04,600
Speaker 3: and then leave them alone. That changes dramatically during the

418
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,720
Speaker 3: chase phase, because so many doughs are on the cusp

419
00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:11,119
Speaker 3: of being ready just when bucks tremendous desire to breed

420
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,639
Speaker 3: and testosterone levels are peaking, Even mature bucks get whipped

421
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,679
Speaker 3: up into a frenzy. The result is a mad chasing

422
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:31,320
Speaker 3: of almost every female deer. While this is going on

423
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,920
Speaker 3: with the bucks, the majority of the doughs still aren't

424
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,960
Speaker 3: quite ready. In a handful of days, many will gladly

425
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,040
Speaker 3: accept the advances of bucks, but not yet. In an

426
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,879
Speaker 3: attempt to avoid their suitors, the does typically head for

427
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:46,160
Speaker 3: the thickest bedding cover they can and lie low. When

428
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,440
Speaker 3: the bucks come crashing in, the does lead them in

429
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,560
Speaker 3: zigzag circles, doing their best to lose them. If and

430
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,000
Speaker 3: when a dough is finally driven out, the bucks often

431
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,159
Speaker 3: make a mad dash to the next thicket and repeat

432
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,040
Speaker 3: the process. On the other hand, the bucks are chasing

433
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,720
Speaker 3: them until they're finally are thrown off the trail or

434
00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,720
Speaker 3: come to the realization that it isn't happening yet. When

435
00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,200
Speaker 3: that occurs, they simply pack up shop and move to

436
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 3: the next bedding area, hoping for better luck.

437
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,640
Speaker 2: So what Steve was describing.

438
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,040
Speaker 3: There is is really what you could expect in those

439
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,560
Speaker 3: early stages of the hunter's rut, as he's described at

440
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 3: the chase phase earlier in November. But as you edge

441
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,760
Speaker 3: towards mid November, we are edging towards breeding, where there's

442
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:28,879
Speaker 3: peak breeding, and once breeding is actually occurring, his thoughts

443
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:30,920
Speaker 3: change a little bit. So Steve goes on to say,

444
00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,920
Speaker 3: as opposed to the fashion which many mature bucks plunge

445
00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:39,080
Speaker 3: headfirst into sanctuaries during the chase phase during breeding, most

446
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:42,360
Speaker 3: now skirt the downwind edges. For all that's written about

447
00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,600
Speaker 3: rut crazed bucks, I believe they now employ a more sensible,

448
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,040
Speaker 3: safety oriented approach than is the case during the chase phase.

449
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,160
Speaker 3: The way I see it, the chase phase's relative lack

450
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,359
Speaker 3: of hot dose, combined with an instinctive knowledge of the

451
00:23:55,400 --> 00:24:00,800
Speaker 3: approaching feast, creates an almost uncontrollable frenzy in a buck's brain. However,

452
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,080
Speaker 3: much like the seasoned veteran pitcher during the World Series,

453
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:08,440
Speaker 3: the mature buck knows when it's crunch time during the rut,

454
00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,639
Speaker 3: an older buck understands that skirting the downwind side of

455
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,680
Speaker 3: a family group betting area allows him to scent check

456
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,280
Speaker 3: every occupant in almost no time, allowing him to continue

457
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,399
Speaker 3: on if none is ready to breed. Therefore, it only

458
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:25,000
Speaker 3: stands to reason that betting areas inhabited by family groups

459
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,520
Speaker 3: of does and fawns are good locations in which to

460
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,800
Speaker 3: ambush mature rutting bucks. When selecting these stand sites for

461
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:34,760
Speaker 3: the rut, I focus on covering the most heavily used

462
00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,840
Speaker 3: trails on the downwind side of the family group betting

463
00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:41,040
Speaker 3: area to narrow it down even farther. The best placement

464
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,120
Speaker 3: is typically about twenty yards from the edge. Doing this

465
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,879
Speaker 3: allows for catching bucks scent checking from as much as

466
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,200
Speaker 3: fifty yards downwind of the dos, along with the possibility

467
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:52,680
Speaker 3: of a buck using the cover trail alone or having

468
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:56,639
Speaker 3: a dough lead him to it. This same systematic approach

469
00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 3: to finding receptive does applies to cruising food, soorce by

470
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,400
Speaker 3: doing nothing more than circling the food source, a buck

471
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:05,800
Speaker 3: can sent check every dough that is visited as much

472
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,960
Speaker 3: as forty eight hours prior. When the buck stumbles across

473
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,000
Speaker 3: the track of a dough that's ready, all he must

474
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,680
Speaker 3: do is follow her scent. This is perhaps the most

475
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,359
Speaker 3: effective way for a buck to check the largest number

476
00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:19,320
Speaker 3: of doughs in the least amount of time. Keep in

477
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:22,200
Speaker 3: mind that although running bucks sometimes seem to have lost

478
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:26,439
Speaker 3: all regard for personal safety, that isn't entirely true. To

479
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,800
Speaker 3: help conceal themselves, they rarely make this loop through the

480
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,280
Speaker 3: open crop field. Instead, they must often skirt it five

481
00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:36,960
Speaker 3: to forty yards inside the woods. Staying close retains the

482
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,560
Speaker 3: concentration of dough activity that the source provides and allows

483
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,600
Speaker 3: them to visually check for both does and danger while

484
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:48,000
Speaker 3: remaining hidden. To fully capitalize on this, stands should be

485
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 3: placed fifteen to twenty yards inside the woods.

486
00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:51,920
Speaker 2: Not only does this.

487
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,919
Speaker 3: Provide shot opportunities of bucks that are skirting the food source,

488
00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,040
Speaker 3: it also affords a view of the field as muck.

489
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,679
Speaker 3: As much as most bucks cherish safety, weird things do

490
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 3: happen during the rut. If a monarch saunters across the

491
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,560
Speaker 3: middle of the field, this stand placement will allow the

492
00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 3: hunter to see him. If the hunter's using a firearm,

493
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 3: the deer might already be within range. If the hunter's

494
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 3: using a bow, he might be able to give a

495
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,960
Speaker 3: sexy enough dough call to lure the buck close taking

496
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,840
Speaker 3: stand placement a bit further, it's a good idea to

497
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,320
Speaker 3: also cover a heavily used family group trail. As with

498
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,399
Speaker 3: the betting air setup, this allows for intercepting bucks that

499
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:30,800
Speaker 3: are using the trail alone as well as those that

500
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:34,040
Speaker 3: might be following a dough to the food. Luckily, for us,

501
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,080
Speaker 3: the best trails often are on inside corners of a field,

502
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:41,280
Speaker 3: providing the further benefit of funneling traveling bucks that aren't

503
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,120
Speaker 3: checking the field. Bucks wanting to get from one side

504
00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:45,919
Speaker 3: of the field to the other without going through the

505
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,520
Speaker 3: open food source will cut the corners. When all of

506
00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:51,240
Speaker 3: these factors are combined, this setup takes a lot of

507
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,840
Speaker 3: the blind luck out of harvesting a running buck. There's

508
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,280
Speaker 3: a lot there when it comes to Steve's approach to

509
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:04,280
Speaker 3: hunting running bucks in and around betting years or other

510
00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,600
Speaker 3: dough hot spots like feeding ears as he discussed just

511
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 3: there now. I also want to share with you another

512
00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:14,159
Speaker 3: take on this from Andy May. Andy is one of

513
00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:17,399
Speaker 3: the best DIY deer hunters I know, a good friend

514
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:19,840
Speaker 3: and someone who's joined me in the podcast many times

515
00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:22,080
Speaker 3: over the years as well. We did one a couple

516
00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,199
Speaker 3: of years ago where he answered fourteen different different listener

517
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,120
Speaker 3: questions about the rut, and one of those we tackled,

518
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,760
Speaker 3: you know, how he would specifically set up on or

519
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:32,440
Speaker 3: around a doe betting ear.

520
00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:33,680
Speaker 2: So let's listen to that here.

521
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,960
Speaker 6: Now. Yeah, that's a that's a tough one because it

522
00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,440
Speaker 6: you know, it could vary, you know, location, a location.

523
00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:44,880
Speaker 4: You know, I.

524
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:49,879
Speaker 6: Picture like like a creek bottom that has you know,

525
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:54,600
Speaker 6: redbrush and kind of marsh marshy habitat like on each

526
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:57,800
Speaker 6: side of the creek, and you know, essentially the whole

527
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:02,840
Speaker 6: creek serves as you know, like really good dough betting,

528
00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:04,760
Speaker 6: you know, on all the creek bends and and all

529
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:07,320
Speaker 6: the little thickets and stuff. And I will I'll get

530
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:10,440
Speaker 6: on the interior of that, I'll find obviously, I'll find

531
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:13,119
Speaker 6: a good treat. And I try to get where I

532
00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,760
Speaker 6: can kind of shoot into where I think a lot

533
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:16,680
Speaker 6: of the travel is.

534
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:16,919
Speaker 4: Going to be.

535
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:20,440
Speaker 6: But I don't want I don't want my wind necessarily

536
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:26,120
Speaker 6: blowing out a lot of travel opportunities behind me. It's

537
00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:29,080
Speaker 6: not like dough betting isn't always like a like a

538
00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:31,240
Speaker 6: hard edge, you know what I mean. It's a lot

539
00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 6: of times you just know you're you're kind of working

540
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:36,760
Speaker 6: in there, and things get a little thicker, and there

541
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:38,640
Speaker 6: might be a pocket of doze here, and then some

542
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,960
Speaker 6: more you know, one hundred yards back or so. It's

543
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,680
Speaker 6: not as always like as a well defined abrupt edge

544
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:50,320
Speaker 6: as it might sound like when we say that. So

545
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,479
Speaker 6: a lot of it is a feel thing, but I

546
00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:56,280
Speaker 6: try to I try to get where I can cover.

547
00:28:58,080 --> 00:28:59,200
Speaker 4: Travel, and a.

548
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:00,960
Speaker 6: Lot of times, a lot of times there will be

549
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,720
Speaker 6: you know, some sort of sign or some sort of you.

550
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:05,880
Speaker 4: Know, perpendicular trail.

551
00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:08,800
Speaker 6: It may not be beat to the ground, it may

552
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 6: not be it may be be able to pick up

553
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,240
Speaker 6: on it, and sometimes you can't because it's just used

554
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,120
Speaker 6: a few times a year, you know, during that short window.

555
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,719
Speaker 6: But I don't like to give up too much travel

556
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,200
Speaker 6: behind me, if that makes sense. So I will get

557
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,720
Speaker 6: into usually where it starts to kind of thicken up,

558
00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,080
Speaker 6: you know. I feel like I'm getting into that interior,

559
00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:32,160
Speaker 6: and if I start getting into any further, I'm gonna

560
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:33,360
Speaker 6: start bumping deer around.

561
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:35,280
Speaker 4: That usually tells me to hold up.

562
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:37,480
Speaker 6: And kind of get get right on there, right on

563
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:41,120
Speaker 6: that edge. Sometimes it's a feel thing, sometimes it's a

564
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,760
Speaker 6: visual thing, but that that kind of I let my

565
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:48,880
Speaker 6: instincts gauge a little bit there if there's not like

566
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,920
Speaker 6: a clear indication of sign that tells me, you know,

567
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 6: this is probably where I need to be.

568
00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:56,400
Speaker 4: But one thing I'll mention real quick.

569
00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,960
Speaker 6: The downwind side of doll betting is an area that

570
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,560
Speaker 6: Bucks will gravitate to during the run, no doubt about it.

571
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,840
Speaker 6: But I've seen more and more over the years that

572
00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:15,760
Speaker 6: the side where does tend to travel from food to

573
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,160
Speaker 6: bed there's you know a lot of times if there's

574
00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:22,960
Speaker 6: a distinct you know, food source and the general travels

575
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:27,600
Speaker 6: from here to through the bedding, that spot, that edge

576
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,680
Speaker 6: there where they travel in and out where a lot

577
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:32,800
Speaker 6: of those trails might be coming in from, you know,

578
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:38,360
Speaker 6: various spots, various uh directions. That spot gets a lot more,

579
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,800
Speaker 6: It gets a lot of activity from Bucks, maybe even

580
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:42,520
Speaker 6: more so than.

581
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:43,920
Speaker 4: The down wind side.

582
00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:48,720
Speaker 6: They can they can take a one trail perpendicular and

583
00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:52,280
Speaker 6: they can cover you know, two, three, six, twelve different

584
00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,080
Speaker 6: entrance trails and know exactly what's in that do betting,

585
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,800
Speaker 6: and they can do the same thing traveling from down wind.

586
00:30:57,880 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 6: But I've seen it more and more over the years.

587
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,200
Speaker 6: I'm almost change my opinion a little bit that that

588
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,480
Speaker 6: might even be the better spot, the spot where they

589
00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:10,200
Speaker 6: can go perpendicular and cover a lot of trails. So

590
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:11,920
Speaker 6: if you have a good betting area and a good

591
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,760
Speaker 6: food source over here, and in that betting area, maybe

592
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 6: it's one hundred yard two hundred yard stretch and there

593
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,280
Speaker 6: are multiple trails kind of going in.

594
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,280
Speaker 4: You see. You know, this one's well beat down.

595
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:25,800
Speaker 6: This one's a little more faint, another beatdown one there

596
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:30,040
Speaker 6: another one in the corner that inside that timber, you know,

597
00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,560
Speaker 6: or inside that cover there there there's going to be

598
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:36,320
Speaker 6: a some sort of route perpendicular trail. You may it

599
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:38,880
Speaker 6: may be visible, it may not be, But that spot

600
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:40,800
Speaker 6: right there is a great spot to be.

601
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:42,760
Speaker 4: That.

602
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:45,000
Speaker 6: I've seen that over and over the last few years.

603
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:47,040
Speaker 6: I've really started to key in more on that than

604
00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:48,800
Speaker 6: necessarily the down one side.

605
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:50,160
Speaker 4: All right.

606
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,800
Speaker 3: So those are a couple different takes on the betting

607
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:57,120
Speaker 3: side of this equation. Now there's of course the connections.

608
00:31:57,400 --> 00:31:59,520
Speaker 3: So how do you get between point A and point B.

609
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:01,680
Speaker 3: How do they get from dough hot spot to dough

610
00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,240
Speaker 3: hot spot. That's where we get into funnels. I want

611
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:08,360
Speaker 3: to read to you two different takes on funnels. There's

612
00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:12,080
Speaker 3: many different forms funnels can can come in. You can

613
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:17,200
Speaker 3: have a cover funnel where you know security cover, so trees, vegetation, grass,

614
00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:20,440
Speaker 3: that kind of stuff is pinched down between two open areas.

615
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:23,480
Speaker 3: Anytime you find that deer are going to want to

616
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:25,880
Speaker 3: stay in that security cover. That can be a great

617
00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:29,080
Speaker 3: place to hunt during the rut. And there's also terrain funnels.

618
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:33,080
Speaker 3: You know, anywhere where topography you know high points and

619
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:36,360
Speaker 3: low points and changes in that forces deer through an

620
00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:39,040
Speaker 3: area or makes it more convenient for deer to travel

621
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,080
Speaker 3: through an area. So those can be saddles in a

622
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,920
Speaker 3: ridge that can be you know, a hub where a

623
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:48,040
Speaker 3: bunch of different points all come together. Anything that's going

624
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,720
Speaker 3: to have a higher concentration of deer activity because of that.

625
00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:56,360
Speaker 3: Terrain is the kind of pinch point funnel or aggregator

626
00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,360
Speaker 3: of deer travel that can be worth hitting during the rut.

627
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:01,920
Speaker 3: So well back to Steve Bartilla here, he's got a

628
00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,120
Speaker 3: quick take that I want to share with you on

629
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:09,320
Speaker 3: hunting funnels. Assuming bucks aren't already with does it's no

630
00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:12,360
Speaker 3: great secret that the majority of bucks greatly expand their

631
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:14,840
Speaker 3: home range and travel more in daylight during the rut

632
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,440
Speaker 3: as much as they focus their efforts on locating receptive doughs.

633
00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:21,640
Speaker 3: Putting on miles is usually still a pre wreck. Their

634
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:23,960
Speaker 3: travels take them from one dough group to the next,

635
00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,240
Speaker 3: pushing on until they run out of gas or find

636
00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:30,120
Speaker 3: what they seek. Obviously, hunting funnels can be highly productive

637
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:33,479
Speaker 3: during this phase of the season. By nature, funnels are

638
00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:35,600
Speaker 3: nothing more than habitat man made.

639
00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:36,680
Speaker 2: Or topographical features.

640
00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:40,560
Speaker 3: The focused deer activity through a relatively narrow passageway, a

641
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:43,719
Speaker 3: finger of wood that connects two woodlots, a brush choked

642
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,280
Speaker 3: stream meandering through an open pasture, a brushy fence rope

643
00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,800
Speaker 3: separating two fields, an inside corner of a field are

644
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:54,760
Speaker 3: all examples of habitat funnels. A man made funnel might

645
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,160
Speaker 3: be where a road pinches the woods closer to a lake,

646
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:00,480
Speaker 3: a low spot in an otherwise well maintained fence, or

647
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:04,600
Speaker 3: mature slice of woods left between two clear cuts. Some

648
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,480
Speaker 3: common examples of topographic funnels are a low spot in

649
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,360
Speaker 3: a ridge, a flat section that runs along the midpoint

650
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,240
Speaker 3: of a steep side hill on a bench or ridge,

651
00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:16,360
Speaker 3: the upper and lower ends of steep cuts that slice

652
00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:19,000
Speaker 3: up the side of a ridge, a strip of dry

653
00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,440
Speaker 3: land separating two wetlands, or a relatively flat spot in

654
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:24,160
Speaker 3: an otherwise steep riverbank.

655
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:25,239
Speaker 2: The lay of the.

656
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,880
Speaker 3: Land makes each of these funnels the path of least

657
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:32,080
Speaker 3: resistance for traveling deer. In most cases, these funnels can

658
00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:35,160
Speaker 3: be avoided if a deer wishes to do so. However,

659
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:38,040
Speaker 3: the cost is that the deer must expend more energy

660
00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:41,439
Speaker 3: and or expose itself to greater danger to avoid the area.

661
00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:45,320
Speaker 3: Because bucks have no desire to waste energy or expose

662
00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,800
Speaker 3: themselves to unneeded dangers, the funnels are their best option.

663
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,680
Speaker 3: Superior rut funnels are those that separate areas used by

664
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:56,600
Speaker 3: two or more clans of does and fawns. So put

665
00:34:56,640 --> 00:35:00,440
Speaker 3: in another way, if you can find a funnel between.

666
00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:02,520
Speaker 2: Dough hotspots, that's the best of the best.

667
00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:06,640
Speaker 3: You find two great dough betting areas, or multiple different

668
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:09,440
Speaker 3: dough betting airs that are all connected by one travel quarter,

669
00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,080
Speaker 3: that's going to be the best possible funnel. I'll also

670
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,920
Speaker 3: say if you can combine these two things, So if

671
00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:18,120
Speaker 3: you can have a spot where you can be hunting

672
00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,240
Speaker 3: and you are downwind of a dough betting era while

673
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:25,360
Speaker 3: also being at a funneling location, that is even better.

674
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:27,680
Speaker 3: That's the sweet spot that we're always looking to find

675
00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:30,680
Speaker 3: if you can layer over top all these things and

676
00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:33,720
Speaker 3: then add on top of that situation where your wind

677
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:36,920
Speaker 3: is not going to be picked up by deer, that's ideal.

678
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,480
Speaker 3: I mean a scenario this might be. Let's imagine you've

679
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:43,799
Speaker 3: got a great, big block of dough betting here, and

680
00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:46,600
Speaker 3: then you've got a little corridor. This is a very

681
00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:49,280
Speaker 3: simple example, but imagine then there's like a thin strip

682
00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:52,560
Speaker 3: of timber that is running alongside of a lake. And

683
00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:55,680
Speaker 3: so north of that thin strip of timber and lake

684
00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,480
Speaker 3: is a big old open field. On the other side

685
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:02,239
Speaker 3: of that lake is another block of thick, nasty, brushy marshland.

686
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:05,360
Speaker 3: Let's say if you could hunt that strip of timber

687
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:07,799
Speaker 3: that runs along the edge of the lake, you've got

688
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:10,440
Speaker 3: the one area of cover that deer can travel to

689
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,440
Speaker 3: get from this marsh to this other piece of dough betting.

690
00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:15,920
Speaker 3: So you have a dough betting era. If you put

691
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:17,839
Speaker 3: your stand right there at the bottom of that right

692
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:20,799
Speaker 3: where that funnel where that strip comes in, you now

693
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:23,719
Speaker 3: have a funnel that's leading into a dough betting air.

694
00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:25,200
Speaker 3: And then oh, by the way, you have a lake

695
00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:27,600
Speaker 3: behind you, or a pond behind you, or whatever that

696
00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,440
Speaker 3: you can blow your wind into. That is like the mecca.

697
00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:35,160
Speaker 3: That's what we're all dreaming of finding somehow, someway. Here's

698
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,160
Speaker 3: one more perspective on funnels I want to read to you,

699
00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:42,520
Speaker 3: and excerpt from John Eberhart in his book Precision Bow

700
00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:47,280
Speaker 3: Hunting and his take on hunting funnels. Funnels between betting

701
00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:50,799
Speaker 3: areas thick cover that allows bucks security of movement during

702
00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:53,760
Speaker 3: daylight are super spots to hunt during the pre rut

703
00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:56,839
Speaker 3: and rut, but sure bucks almost always take the route

704
00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,600
Speaker 3: with the most cover in the daytime. These travel routes

705
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:03,080
Speaker 3: are used extensively in a bucks scent checking routine, often

706
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:05,480
Speaker 3: during the middle of the day. Your setup should be

707
00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:08,000
Speaker 3: in a position in the funnel from which you can

708
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:11,439
Speaker 3: shoot the funnel's entire width. This is not possible. Choose

709
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:13,759
Speaker 3: a spot that provides the most shot opportunities to the

710
00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,400
Speaker 3: best sign. Bucks passing through such funnels have a destination

711
00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 3: in mind and are usually moving quite expediently. If the

712
00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,720
Speaker 3: funnel is too wide to cover, tighten it by stacking brush,

713
00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,520
Speaker 3: which deer will rarely walk through. When your primary scrape

714
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,040
Speaker 3: and rut staging areas begin to heat up, it's time

715
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:33,280
Speaker 3: to include funnels between betting areas in your hunting rotation.

716
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:38,520
Speaker 3: These funnels are also great all day spots, which brings

717
00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:42,880
Speaker 3: us to the third of the major considerations when hunting

718
00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:46,520
Speaker 3: during the rut, which is putting in time. Time on

719
00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:50,359
Speaker 3: stand is simply the most important thing, maybe of all,

720
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,360
Speaker 3: for this time of season, and there are many different

721
00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:57,359
Speaker 3: perspectives on why and how and when to do that,

722
00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:01,320
Speaker 3: but at the highest of levels, the more time available

723
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:03,120
Speaker 3: at this time of year, the more time you have

724
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:06,800
Speaker 3: a chance of taking advantage of the somewhat more random,

725
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:11,600
Speaker 3: somewhat more unpredictable nature of this increased buck movement. During

726
00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:14,640
Speaker 3: the month of November, Eberhart goes on to tell us

727
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:17,600
Speaker 3: a little bit more about his take on all day

728
00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:20,759
Speaker 3: sits and spending time, especially in that late morning to

729
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,400
Speaker 3: mid day time period. And I think he's got a

730
00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:26,520
Speaker 3: good suggestion here about what to do even if you

731
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:30,400
Speaker 3: don't have time to do an entire day or the

732
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:32,520
Speaker 3: interest in doing an entire day.

733
00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:33,720
Speaker 2: So here's what he has to say.

734
00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:37,319
Speaker 3: There, stick to your best spots if the activity warrants it,

735
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:39,560
Speaker 3: and spend as much time on stand as you can.

736
00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:44,120
Speaker 3: All day hunting is advised whenever possible during the rut phases.

737
00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:45,919
Speaker 3: The more time you spend in the woods, the better

738
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,560
Speaker 3: your chances will be, as long as you avoid spooking

739
00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:52,479
Speaker 3: the deer and practice diligence sund control during the rut.

740
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:55,800
Speaker 3: A mature bucks natural routine, when not with an estrastough,

741
00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:59,680
Speaker 3: likely has him scent checking during midday between ten am

742
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:03,200
Speaker 3: and two If you cannot hunt all day. A possibility

743
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:06,600
Speaker 3: during the rut is what we call second shift hunting.

744
00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:10,239
Speaker 3: Heading to your stand at about nine am. Hunting this

745
00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:13,520
Speaker 3: timeframe allows you to get extra sleep and still puts

746
00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:16,160
Speaker 3: you in position to take advantage of that midday mature

747
00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:21,920
Speaker 3: buck activity. Remain on stand until dark whenever possible, so

748
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:24,799
Speaker 3: I think that's an interesting thing to consider. There you'd

749
00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:28,240
Speaker 3: miss the first hour or two of daylight, but maybe

750
00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:30,960
Speaker 3: there's places where that's for the best. You're not spooking

751
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:32,920
Speaker 3: deer out of open fields when you go in, but

752
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:35,600
Speaker 3: then you hunt that late morning right on through to

753
00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:38,760
Speaker 3: the end of the day. Another person who we've already

754
00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:41,600
Speaker 3: heard from once but who has oftentimes talked about the

755
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:44,440
Speaker 3: importance of getting your tree or getting your butt in

756
00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:46,560
Speaker 3: the tree and spending a lot of time is Andy

757
00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:49,400
Speaker 3: May and Andy, as we alluded to earlier, he's a

758
00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:52,400
Speaker 3: DIY guy. He's not somebody who does this for his living.

759
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:55,200
Speaker 3: He has limited time to actually hunt, so in the

760
00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:58,399
Speaker 3: days he can hunt, he really wants to maximize that time,

761
00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:02,640
Speaker 3: especially during the rut. So I asked Andy about, you know,

762
00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:05,680
Speaker 3: his take on hunting all day, and then also if

763
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:09,520
Speaker 3: and how you should relocate your positions during the rut

764
00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:11,960
Speaker 3: throughout the day, So like, should you hunt one kind

765
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,440
Speaker 3: of spot in the morning and then change for the afternoon,

766
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:17,080
Speaker 3: or what kinds of spots are best to hunt all

767
00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:19,440
Speaker 3: day during the rut. All of that is covered in

768
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:23,239
Speaker 3: this excerpt with Andy. Next, I think it depends on

769
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:30,600
Speaker 3: the location. If you're sitting, you know, if you're if

770
00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:32,120
Speaker 3: you're kind of targeting, say like.

771
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:36,279
Speaker 6: A betting area, I think that it can be good.

772
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:39,680
Speaker 4: Most of the day. Say you're say you're.

773
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:41,279
Speaker 6: Trying to get in tight to a dull betting area.

774
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:43,360
Speaker 6: You're getting into that interior a little bit with the

775
00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:45,200
Speaker 6: wind advantage, and you're like, you know, this is a

776
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:48,080
Speaker 6: really sensitive spot. I'm going to get in real early

777
00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:50,759
Speaker 6: before light, you know, an hour and a half before light.

778
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:53,280
Speaker 6: I'm gonna get settled and let all these deer filter

779
00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:58,240
Speaker 6: back in, and it's very common behavior for mature box

780
00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:03,000
Speaker 6: to let the does filter back into their bedding area

781
00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:07,720
Speaker 6: and then they'll they'll kind of stay low key, stay bedded,

782
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:11,440
Speaker 6: and then they'll get up late morning, mid to late morning,

783
00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:14,000
Speaker 6: and then they'll make the rounds and they'll be cross

784
00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:17,080
Speaker 6: sectioning those trails going in and out of bedding. They'll

785
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:20,960
Speaker 6: be going working the downwind sides. They'll be checking like

786
00:41:21,239 --> 00:41:23,160
Speaker 6: you know, thermal hubs where a lot of a lot

787
00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:28,840
Speaker 6: of scent pools and comes together. So it's very common

788
00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:32,160
Speaker 6: for the bigger, older mature bucks to move later in

789
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:32,720
Speaker 6: that morning.

790
00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:36,160
Speaker 4: So a spot like that I think can be good most.

791
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:36,560
Speaker 2: Of the day.

792
00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:40,920
Speaker 6: Yeah, So when you're in a spot like that, you know,

793
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:43,279
Speaker 6: if first light comes, there's not a whole lot going on.

794
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:45,040
Speaker 6: But what you're trying to do is catch all those

795
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:47,800
Speaker 6: does kind of slowly filtering back into the bedding area

796
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:51,520
Speaker 6: and then catch that buck movement, you know, those bucks

797
00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:55,080
Speaker 6: checking those areas kind of late morning and you're in there.

798
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:57,840
Speaker 6: You know, you're not trying to sneak in in the

799
00:41:57,880 --> 00:41:59,680
Speaker 6: afternoon and you're bumping dose around.

800
00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:01,719
Speaker 4: You're in there before light, you're in there before the.

801
00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:04,720
Speaker 6: Deer theoretically should be back in and you can catch

802
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:11,200
Speaker 6: some great you know morning, late morning, and midday movement

803
00:42:11,239 --> 00:42:14,440
Speaker 6: in there where. I think those areas tend to to

804
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:17,440
Speaker 6: kind of taper off as in those evening sits, yeah,

805
00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:19,400
Speaker 6: or are those that evening timeframe.

806
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:20,920
Speaker 4: I think that dose start to kind.

807
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:23,239
Speaker 6: Of work their way out the bucks know that the

808
00:42:23,239 --> 00:42:26,120
Speaker 6: bucks are going to be relating to where they're traveling

809
00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:29,600
Speaker 6: and where they're heading to. So that's one of those

810
00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:33,319
Speaker 6: spots where I will probably sit it out unless I

811
00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:35,880
Speaker 6: have like a quick exit where I can go maybe

812
00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:39,160
Speaker 6: capitalize a little bit closer to a food source or

813
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:41,399
Speaker 6: on a travel you know, between like.

814
00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:42,919
Speaker 4: Bed and food something like that.

815
00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:50,160
Speaker 6: I like, uh, you know, funnels between bedding areas. I

816
00:42:50,239 --> 00:42:54,440
Speaker 6: really like those spots for all day and again, you know,

817
00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:59,839
Speaker 6: I think they they tend to they tend to be

818
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:03,440
Speaker 6: the best. Like if I had to pick a window,

819
00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:07,920
Speaker 6: I would say like nine am to like three pm

820
00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,800
Speaker 6: is like when it's optimal. It doesn't mean you couldn't

821
00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:13,279
Speaker 6: have a buck strolling through, because I mean bucks are

822
00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:15,080
Speaker 6: on the move. It's not like they're all bedded in

823
00:43:15,120 --> 00:43:18,920
Speaker 6: the morning, but some are some aren't. You know, some

824
00:43:19,040 --> 00:43:21,600
Speaker 6: are at the food sources, some are following those back in.

825
00:43:21,719 --> 00:43:22,880
Speaker 4: I mean, there's there's.

826
00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:26,360
Speaker 6: Lots of activity going on, but that's probably your optimal window.

827
00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:29,200
Speaker 6: But I have had some great sits and some kills

828
00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:31,399
Speaker 6: first thing in the morning and even last thing at night.

829
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:40,759
Speaker 6: I don't I don't know. I don't move stands a

830
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:44,800
Speaker 6: whole lot unless I really think that the evening portion

831
00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:45,759
Speaker 6: is going to be dead.

832
00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:48,160
Speaker 4: If I think the evening portion is going to be.

833
00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:53,520
Speaker 6: Dead, then yes, I will relocate. When you ask about

834
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:59,359
Speaker 6: a time to do that, I would say maybe two

835
00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:05,280
Speaker 6: o'clock because I've had so many really good encounters, kills,

836
00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:11,080
Speaker 6: sightings in that eleven to two time frame. Another thing

837
00:44:11,480 --> 00:44:13,080
Speaker 6: that you want to keep in mind during the run

838
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:17,800
Speaker 6: is most guys don't have the mental capacity, the strength,

839
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:21,760
Speaker 6: and the endurance to sit dark to dark. So ninety

840
00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:25,920
Speaker 6: five percent of your hunters out there are going to

841
00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:27,960
Speaker 6: be coming in at nine, ten or eleven.

842
00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:31,000
Speaker 4: It seems like, you know those time strips, guys have

843
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:31,160
Speaker 4: it in.

844
00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:32,759
Speaker 6: Their head, I'm gonna sit till nine, I'm gonna sit

845
00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:34,960
Speaker 6: till ten, I'm gonna sit till eleven, and then all

846
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:37,879
Speaker 6: these guys come in. You know, there's never been more

847
00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:39,200
Speaker 6: people in the woods other than.

848
00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:41,799
Speaker 4: Opening day a gun. It's November, it's the rut.

849
00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:45,560
Speaker 6: Everybody's leaving their stands and they're bumping deer around. They

850
00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:48,640
Speaker 6: get deer up, stirred up. But those are running that

851
00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:51,880
Speaker 6: gets bucks on their feet. So you can capitalize on

852
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:56,600
Speaker 6: just the pressure of people moving around at those those

853
00:44:56,640 --> 00:44:59,880
Speaker 6: time frames just by planting your butt in the stand.

854
00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:02,640
Speaker 6: But there's there's no way I would leave at like

855
00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:07,880
Speaker 6: eleven or twelve. I think your chances of seeing deer

856
00:45:08,719 --> 00:45:11,640
Speaker 6: and bulk activity go down as you get to that

857
00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:15,200
Speaker 6: eleven twelve one, but your chances of seeing mature bucks

858
00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 6: actually increase when you hit that kind of like nine

859
00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:25,000
Speaker 6: thirty ten, eleven twelve, you know, one two. Now, that time,

860
00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:27,200
Speaker 6: that window right there has been very good to me,

861
00:45:27,239 --> 00:45:30,959
Speaker 6: and I've i comparatively, I haven't hunted it a whole

862
00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:32,640
Speaker 6: lot compared to morning and evening.

863
00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:47,960
Speaker 3: Okay, one more set of ideas that I want you

864
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:51,440
Speaker 3: to consider as we go into this next phase of

865
00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:54,600
Speaker 3: the rut. If we're considering the hunter's rut and really

866
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:57,479
Speaker 3: what can take place over the course of the entire

867
00:45:57,480 --> 00:46:00,759
Speaker 3: month of November. As we just discussed, there's this one

868
00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:04,200
Speaker 3: main way, which is betting areas and funnels. But there

869
00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:07,719
Speaker 3: is another approach, and that is more of the go

870
00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:10,800
Speaker 3: and find it approach that is epitomized by the guys

871
00:46:11,239 --> 00:46:14,200
Speaker 3: with the hunting public. We've got a great expert here

872
00:46:14,200 --> 00:46:17,080
Speaker 3: from Aaron Warburton from a podcast I did with him

873
00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:21,440
Speaker 3: several years ago about the THHP aggressive take on hunting

874
00:46:21,440 --> 00:46:26,040
Speaker 3: the rut. Let's get to their unique view on how

875
00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:28,960
Speaker 3: to do this. Ways to go and find deer during

876
00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:31,400
Speaker 3: the rut that are different than the usual.

877
00:46:32,239 --> 00:46:35,120
Speaker 7: I think there's kind of two different tactics that work

878
00:46:35,200 --> 00:46:40,520
Speaker 7: extremely well in the rut. One is sitting long hours

879
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:44,359
Speaker 7: in a specific spot you know, a funnel or a

880
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:48,680
Speaker 7: transition whatever, and basically waiting for a buck to walk by.

881
00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:53,880
Speaker 7: That is proven over time to be extremely effective. If

882
00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:57,520
Speaker 7: you have the time and you can spend it as

883
00:46:57,560 --> 00:47:00,000
Speaker 7: many full days in the woods as possible, you can

884
00:47:00,120 --> 00:47:04,279
Speaker 7: killed bucks doing that. But what we've done more of

885
00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:09,640
Speaker 7: in the last probably six seven years is we've actually

886
00:47:09,680 --> 00:47:12,120
Speaker 7: started to move to find the action in the rut,

887
00:47:12,440 --> 00:47:18,800
Speaker 7: literally walking or driving until we either see or spook

888
00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:22,880
Speaker 7: run into whatever the action. What I mean by the

889
00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:26,200
Speaker 7: action is a hot dough, a group of bucks in

890
00:47:26,239 --> 00:47:30,680
Speaker 7: a certain location, because that's what I believe is going

891
00:47:30,719 --> 00:47:33,400
Speaker 7: on a lot of the time. Most of the bucks

892
00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:38,279
Speaker 7: are in one specific location for most of the rut,

893
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:39,560
Speaker 7: or well, sorry, I.

894
00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:40,279
Speaker 4: Should back up.

895
00:47:40,320 --> 00:47:43,719
Speaker 7: Most of the bucks on a given day are in

896
00:47:43,760 --> 00:47:47,879
Speaker 7: a spot on a property wherever that dough is at

897
00:47:47,960 --> 00:47:50,000
Speaker 7: that is coming into heat, most of the bucks in

898
00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:52,800
Speaker 7: that area are going to be right there. And obviously

899
00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:55,399
Speaker 7: we know that all that can get flipped upside down

900
00:47:55,440 --> 00:47:57,560
Speaker 7: and can change in a matter of seconds if they

901
00:47:57,560 --> 00:48:00,440
Speaker 7: push you out of there or whatever. But I feel

902
00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:03,120
Speaker 7: like that's something that has worked tremendously well for us.

903
00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:08,399
Speaker 4: Is just is being especially on limited time.

904
00:48:09,120 --> 00:48:12,200
Speaker 7: And I should preface by saying that if you don't

905
00:48:12,239 --> 00:48:13,840
Speaker 7: have a lot of time in the run, if you

906
00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:17,200
Speaker 7: don't have the luxury of sitting in a funnel area

907
00:48:17,360 --> 00:48:20,719
Speaker 7: all day long, or day after day after day after day,

908
00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:24,839
Speaker 7: I would recommend trying to literally walk around until you

909
00:48:24,920 --> 00:48:30,200
Speaker 7: run into the deer, even if that means spooking the deer,

910
00:48:30,360 --> 00:48:32,680
Speaker 7: because if a doe is in heat and there's multiple

911
00:48:32,719 --> 00:48:35,240
Speaker 7: bucks in that area, more times than not we don't

912
00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:38,400
Speaker 7: see them react the same way to pressure as we

913
00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:40,920
Speaker 7: would other times of the year because their main focus is,

914
00:48:41,360 --> 00:48:45,960
Speaker 7: you know, obviously breeding during that time. And I feel

915
00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:48,160
Speaker 7: like if you just have a weekend, for example, or

916
00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:50,360
Speaker 7: maybe you just have a couple days of vacation and

917
00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:52,520
Speaker 7: you're not in that action. Maybe you're sitting in a

918
00:48:52,560 --> 00:48:54,840
Speaker 7: pile of sign, you're sitting in an excellent funnel area.

919
00:48:54,880 --> 00:48:57,399
Speaker 7: But if the hot dough is on the other side

920
00:48:57,400 --> 00:49:00,439
Speaker 7: of the property, for that two or three days, you're

921
00:49:00,560 --> 00:49:03,239
Speaker 7: probably gonna, you know, watch a lot of squirrels and

922
00:49:03,320 --> 00:49:07,080
Speaker 7: leaves blown. But if you get down and you actually

923
00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:09,920
Speaker 7: go and find the deer, you can have success a

924
00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:11,200
Speaker 7: lot faster in the rut.

925
00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:13,440
Speaker 4: Does that make sense, Yeah, it does.

926
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:16,399
Speaker 2: How do you know when you found it? Though?

927
00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:18,320
Speaker 3: I mean, I I realized there's a few obvious things,

928
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:22,640
Speaker 3: but I gotta believe there's a little bit of it.

929
00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:25,080
Speaker 3: Probably has taken some experience to figure out the nu

930
00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:27,160
Speaker 3: once of oh this is it, I need to stop

931
00:49:27,239 --> 00:49:29,520
Speaker 3: right now, versus Okay, I just bumped a deer, but.

932
00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:31,600
Speaker 2: You know, maybe I should keep going.

933
00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:34,520
Speaker 3: How do you know when you're in the spot where Okay,

934
00:49:34,560 --> 00:49:36,040
Speaker 3: we're here, it's time.

935
00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:40,360
Speaker 4: A variety of different things.

936
00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:44,400
Speaker 7: It's all situational, but I'll give you a couple of examples.

937
00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:50,440
Speaker 4: One is scrapes. And I know you've.

938
00:49:50,280 --> 00:49:52,239
Speaker 7: Heard it over and over again, don't pay attention to

939
00:49:52,239 --> 00:49:54,560
Speaker 7: scrapes during the rut. But a lot of times scrapes

940
00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:58,360
Speaker 7: are positioned in locations where numerous trails intersect, or even

941
00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:01,799
Speaker 7: on the edges of betting areas, or in transitions in

942
00:50:01,880 --> 00:50:03,000
Speaker 7: between betting areas.

943
00:50:04,280 --> 00:50:07,680
Speaker 4: So if and I'll just bring up.

944
00:50:07,560 --> 00:50:09,680
Speaker 7: A specific example, because that's the best way I can

945
00:50:09,719 --> 00:50:10,279
Speaker 7: explain this.

946
00:50:10,440 --> 00:50:13,040
Speaker 4: We were headed in on November ninth.

947
00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:15,440
Speaker 7: A couple of years ago, into a big block of woods,

948
00:50:16,120 --> 00:50:18,480
Speaker 7: and we covered probably three quarters of a mile down

949
00:50:18,520 --> 00:50:21,680
Speaker 7: this ridge. There's lots of rubs in there, a decent

950
00:50:21,719 --> 00:50:24,719
Speaker 7: amount of sign but nothing like super super fresh. We

951
00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:27,200
Speaker 7: dove off of a point of the ridge, got on

952
00:50:27,200 --> 00:50:30,160
Speaker 7: a long secondary ridge that fall off into a creek

953
00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:32,600
Speaker 7: bottom that's pretty thick, and as we got down there,

954
00:50:32,640 --> 00:50:36,080
Speaker 7: we started noticing like, here's a really really fresh scrape that.

955
00:50:36,160 --> 00:50:37,000
Speaker 4: Was just worked.

956
00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:40,080
Speaker 7: And then boom, here's another really really fresh scrape that

957
00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:42,040
Speaker 7: was just where I mean I'm talking in the last

958
00:50:42,080 --> 00:50:45,480
Speaker 7: twenty four hours. So we popped up in a tree,

959
00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:48,000
Speaker 7: set up over it, and as we were hanging the

960
00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:50,719
Speaker 7: stand a mature buck pushed a dough by us at

961
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:53,040
Speaker 7: ten yards and we weren't ever able to kill it

962
00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:54,920
Speaker 7: because we had the camera and the bow at the

963
00:50:54,920 --> 00:50:56,160
Speaker 7: bottom of the tree and whatever.

964
00:50:56,480 --> 00:50:58,600
Speaker 4: But what ensued after that was.

965
00:51:00,320 --> 00:51:02,960
Speaker 7: I think there was four or five different bucks on

966
00:51:03,120 --> 00:51:07,480
Speaker 7: that ridge and in that immediate area, all vying for

967
00:51:07,560 --> 00:51:11,120
Speaker 7: that dough, and a lot of those satellite bucks, you know,

968
00:51:11,200 --> 00:51:15,239
Speaker 7: the younger bucks that didn't have the dough. They were rubbing, scraping, sparring,

969
00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:19,520
Speaker 7: doing all sorts of aggressive behavior in and around where

970
00:51:19,560 --> 00:51:22,200
Speaker 7: that buck had the dough. And I think that's where

971
00:51:22,239 --> 00:51:24,839
Speaker 7: a lot of that is that fresh scraping activity had

972
00:51:24,880 --> 00:51:27,560
Speaker 7: come from. But that's the sign that we set up

973
00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:31,080
Speaker 7: on in that particular instance to get on that that scenario.

974
00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:36,320
Speaker 7: We've also just been gombing through the woods and literally

975
00:51:36,520 --> 00:51:40,640
Speaker 7: just ran into a dough in a buck and jumped

976
00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:45,319
Speaker 7: them and literally had the buck that was with the

977
00:51:45,360 --> 00:51:47,520
Speaker 7: dough at like separate him. The buck that was with

978
00:51:47,640 --> 00:51:50,439
Speaker 7: the dough come back through there within fifteen minutes looking

979
00:51:50,480 --> 00:51:53,319
Speaker 7: for her blowing. I mean, he was alert, he knew

980
00:51:53,400 --> 00:51:55,279
Speaker 7: we were in there, but he lost her when we

981
00:51:55,320 --> 00:51:58,440
Speaker 7: bumped into him, and he was bound and determined to

982
00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:02,120
Speaker 7: find her again next day in that same spot, just

983
00:52:02,120 --> 00:52:05,440
Speaker 7: a little bit deeper. It was just total chaos because

984
00:52:05,480 --> 00:52:07,439
Speaker 7: you know, we bumped them and she went probably two

985
00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:09,920
Speaker 7: three hundred yards stopped, settled down and didn't leave the

986
00:52:09,960 --> 00:52:10,880
Speaker 7: area completely.

987
00:52:11,800 --> 00:52:14,759
Speaker 4: And that's not always the case. I mean, it can

988
00:52:14,920 --> 00:52:17,600
Speaker 4: it can change, like I said, very very quickly.

989
00:52:18,040 --> 00:52:22,440
Speaker 7: But if you're just moving around with your eyes up

990
00:52:22,480 --> 00:52:24,680
Speaker 7: and you're looking for that out in front of you

991
00:52:25,840 --> 00:52:29,240
Speaker 7: and then reacting to it as you as you run into.

992
00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:30,799
Speaker 4: Deer like that, like heading in.

993
00:52:30,800 --> 00:52:33,399
Speaker 7: Deeper after them, I think you're going to get onto

994
00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:35,680
Speaker 7: more action, especially in short timeframe.

995
00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:42,200
Speaker 3: Okay, so hunting funnels, hunting dough betting areas, maybe getting

996
00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:44,920
Speaker 3: out there and aggressively trying to find where that little

997
00:52:44,960 --> 00:52:49,000
Speaker 3: pocket of running activity is. Right now, three different considerations,

998
00:52:49,040 --> 00:52:52,279
Speaker 3: all useful, all something you can put into play during

999
00:52:52,320 --> 00:52:56,440
Speaker 3: the hunter's rut during that first part of November, and honestly,

1000
00:52:56,480 --> 00:52:57,960
Speaker 3: and something you want to point out as we go

1001
00:52:58,040 --> 00:53:01,200
Speaker 3: on here, all of this stuff can work all throughout

1002
00:53:01,239 --> 00:53:03,800
Speaker 3: the month of November. There's just a few maybe specific

1003
00:53:03,840 --> 00:53:05,920
Speaker 3: differences that we will address here in a little bit,

1004
00:53:06,200 --> 00:53:09,880
Speaker 3: but everything we've talked about that you know, we're really

1005
00:53:09,920 --> 00:53:12,120
Speaker 3: focusing it on those first two weeks of the month.

1006
00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:15,440
Speaker 3: Still apply the third week and the fourth week. All

1007
00:53:15,480 --> 00:53:17,799
Speaker 3: that said, the same is true for the next two

1008
00:53:17,840 --> 00:53:20,720
Speaker 3: things I want to mention, which are kind of the

1009
00:53:20,880 --> 00:53:24,319
Speaker 3: audibles you can call this time of year the little flyers.

1010
00:53:24,480 --> 00:53:27,399
Speaker 3: The bonus type of tactics that work better now than

1011
00:53:27,680 --> 00:53:32,239
Speaker 3: any other time, and that's calling and decoy. This is

1012
00:53:32,280 --> 00:53:37,279
Speaker 3: when bucks are the most call happy, as they're going

1013
00:53:37,320 --> 00:53:37,799
Speaker 3: to find them.

1014
00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:40,200
Speaker 2: They are more willing to come.

1015
00:53:40,040 --> 00:53:42,360
Speaker 3: In and check something out, try to find where that

1016
00:53:42,440 --> 00:53:45,560
Speaker 3: running activity is trying to, you know, push off that

1017
00:53:45,680 --> 00:53:48,720
Speaker 3: approaching buck who maybe is getting in on his game

1018
00:53:48,840 --> 00:53:53,360
Speaker 3: whatever it is he's doing. So in the October episode,

1019
00:53:53,400 --> 00:53:56,680
Speaker 3: I reviewed my kind of ladder of calling throughout the month.

1020
00:53:57,120 --> 00:54:00,200
Speaker 3: I'll review for you my basic take, which is not

1021
00:54:00,239 --> 00:54:03,200
Speaker 3: too different now, but in November it starts higher on

1022
00:54:03,239 --> 00:54:06,960
Speaker 3: that ladder. So if I see a buck out of range,

1023
00:54:07,280 --> 00:54:09,120
Speaker 3: I'm going to try to get his attention with a

1024
00:54:09,239 --> 00:54:13,239
Speaker 3: louder establishing kind of contact drum, just a good ra

1025
00:54:14,120 --> 00:54:16,960
Speaker 3: and then if that doesn't get his attention, I'll try

1026
00:54:16,960 --> 00:54:19,920
Speaker 3: a louder bra and then again if I need to

1027
00:54:19,960 --> 00:54:21,280
Speaker 3: go farther or louder.

1028
00:54:21,320 --> 00:54:22,960
Speaker 2: It's just gonna make a buck roar that it bra

1029
00:54:24,200 --> 00:54:24,839
Speaker 2: same thing goes.

1030
00:54:24,880 --> 00:54:27,120
Speaker 3: If I get that buck's attention, he stops and looks

1031
00:54:27,120 --> 00:54:29,600
Speaker 3: at me and acts curious, maybe takes a step forward,

1032
00:54:29,680 --> 00:54:32,520
Speaker 3: and then you know, maybe starts making the scrape or

1033
00:54:32,600 --> 00:54:35,240
Speaker 3: rubbing a tree. He doesn't leave, he doesn't get skittish,

1034
00:54:35,239 --> 00:54:37,480
Speaker 3: but he's not committed to me yet. That's when I

1035
00:54:37,520 --> 00:54:39,480
Speaker 3: will start to get more aggressive, so I'll take the

1036
00:54:39,520 --> 00:54:42,640
Speaker 3: next step up the ladder, which at this point, if

1037
00:54:42,640 --> 00:54:45,160
Speaker 3: it's not the buck roar that I just described, it

1038
00:54:45,160 --> 00:54:50,160
Speaker 3: would be the snort wheeze, which is a sound that's

1039
00:54:50,239 --> 00:54:53,360
Speaker 3: the punching a guy at the bar type of attack

1040
00:54:54,400 --> 00:54:57,759
Speaker 3: on that deer. Verbally, that's what I'm doing. If a

1041
00:54:57,800 --> 00:54:59,920
Speaker 3: buck is showing me that you know, he wasn't bothered

1042
00:55:00,239 --> 00:55:02,720
Speaker 3: my first call, but he's not ready to come in yet.

1043
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:06,680
Speaker 3: You try that and it doesn't work, that means he's

1044
00:55:06,760 --> 00:55:09,839
Speaker 3: like getting you know, concern, he's getting spooky. He turns around,

1045
00:55:09,880 --> 00:55:12,360
Speaker 3: starts walking the other way. That's when you lay it

1046
00:55:12,400 --> 00:55:15,040
Speaker 3: off and say, all right, you know it's done. On

1047
00:55:15,080 --> 00:55:18,080
Speaker 3: the flip side. If that buck then like gets even

1048
00:55:18,080 --> 00:55:20,560
Speaker 3: more excited and pins back his ears and starts slowly

1049
00:55:20,600 --> 00:55:23,719
Speaker 3: coming your way. Again, that's when you stop calling and

1050
00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:25,480
Speaker 3: just let that scenario play out.

1051
00:55:26,239 --> 00:55:30,040
Speaker 2: That is my high level general take on calling during

1052
00:55:30,040 --> 00:55:30,359
Speaker 2: the run.

1053
00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:33,440
Speaker 3: I personally don't like the blind call, which would be,

1054
00:55:33,800 --> 00:55:35,560
Speaker 3: you know, calling without seeing a deer at all and

1055
00:55:35,640 --> 00:55:38,080
Speaker 3: just hoping something's going to come in, because that can

1056
00:55:38,160 --> 00:55:40,839
Speaker 3: lead to you know, unexpected deer showing up down wind

1057
00:55:40,840 --> 00:55:43,480
Speaker 3: a view that can lead to bad things. So I

1058
00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:45,920
Speaker 3: like to wait until I see a buck and then

1059
00:55:45,960 --> 00:55:50,960
Speaker 3: call to him. I will occasionally blind rattle, not often,

1060
00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:55,040
Speaker 3: but occasionally. The targeted rattling I will do is if

1061
00:55:55,080 --> 00:55:57,719
Speaker 3: I see a mature buck way out of grunting range

1062
00:55:57,719 --> 00:55:59,400
Speaker 3: where he won't hear me, but I need to get

1063
00:55:59,680 --> 00:56:01,879
Speaker 3: get his attention and try to pull them in, that's

1064
00:56:01,920 --> 00:56:05,239
Speaker 3: when I might try rattling. All that said, I might

1065
00:56:05,280 --> 00:56:07,640
Speaker 3: be a little bit on the conservative side. I do

1066
00:56:07,680 --> 00:56:10,040
Speaker 3: a lot of my hunting in Michigan, where there's not

1067
00:56:10,520 --> 00:56:12,800
Speaker 3: as many mature bucks and there's a lot of hunting

1068
00:56:12,840 --> 00:56:15,840
Speaker 3: pressure when compared to some of the other Midwestern states

1069
00:56:15,880 --> 00:56:21,239
Speaker 3: like Iowa or Kansas or whatever. In those states, more

1070
00:56:21,320 --> 00:56:24,320
Speaker 3: aggressive calling can work really well, and I want to

1071
00:56:24,360 --> 00:56:29,759
Speaker 3: share with you a perspective from Jared Mills, longtime contributor

1072
00:56:29,760 --> 00:56:32,800
Speaker 3: to Midwest Whitetail and now is on YouTube channel, well

1073
00:56:32,840 --> 00:56:36,320
Speaker 3: known whitetail expert, and he has a more aggressive approach

1074
00:56:36,400 --> 00:56:39,120
Speaker 3: to calling running white tails. Let's hear it what he

1075
00:56:39,160 --> 00:56:39,759
Speaker 3: has to say here.

1076
00:56:41,000 --> 00:56:43,520
Speaker 8: You usually don't like to call the deer when I

1077
00:56:43,560 --> 00:56:48,240
Speaker 8: can see them and go based off of how they react,

1078
00:56:49,120 --> 00:56:51,719
Speaker 8: or I will blind call if I have a really

1079
00:56:51,760 --> 00:56:54,319
Speaker 8: good way of vantage, like a creek or river behind me.

1080
00:56:54,760 --> 00:56:58,640
Speaker 3: Okay, So walk me through then what the calling or

1081
00:56:58,680 --> 00:57:01,279
Speaker 3: rattling sequence would be. Let's say you spot a big

1082
00:57:01,280 --> 00:57:05,680
Speaker 3: buck somewhere. Do you always grunt first? Do you always

1083
00:57:05,719 --> 00:57:08,920
Speaker 3: rattle first? Do you does something help you determine what

1084
00:57:08,960 --> 00:57:10,880
Speaker 3: you're going to use? Kind of walk me through your

1085
00:57:10,880 --> 00:57:12,640
Speaker 3: whole thought price when it comes to choosing what you're

1086
00:57:12,680 --> 00:57:15,280
Speaker 3: gonna do, and then what you actually do in that scenario.

1087
00:57:16,240 --> 00:57:16,439
Speaker 5: Yep.

1088
00:57:18,440 --> 00:57:23,960
Speaker 8: Typically the conditions dictate that, and usually that's based on

1089
00:57:24,080 --> 00:57:27,760
Speaker 8: wind speed. So if it's really windy and I don't

1090
00:57:27,760 --> 00:57:31,400
Speaker 8: think he'll hear they grunt or snort waves, I will

1091
00:57:31,520 --> 00:57:37,080
Speaker 8: rattle at the deer. Typically, though, if I know what

1092
00:57:37,160 --> 00:57:39,480
Speaker 8: deer can hear me, I will start out with just

1093
00:57:39,480 --> 00:57:44,720
Speaker 8: a grunt. I think that's the least intrusive sound or

1094
00:57:44,840 --> 00:57:47,800
Speaker 8: least challenging sound to a bus. I wanted to see

1095
00:57:47,800 --> 00:57:52,240
Speaker 8: how he'll react to that. You don't typically or I

1096
00:57:52,280 --> 00:57:56,320
Speaker 8: haven't typically seen deer really negatively react to a grunt call.

1097
00:57:56,840 --> 00:57:59,840
Speaker 8: It's just something that I think they hear more often,

1098
00:58:00,080 --> 00:58:04,800
Speaker 8: and they snort, weeze or two bucks fighting. So I'll

1099
00:58:04,800 --> 00:58:06,560
Speaker 8: start with that if I know a buck can hear

1100
00:58:06,600 --> 00:58:09,600
Speaker 8: the grunt call, and then if he doesn't respond to that,

1101
00:58:10,440 --> 00:58:11,680
Speaker 8: I will snort weez.

1102
00:58:11,960 --> 00:58:13,560
Speaker 4: I love the start wee call.

1103
00:58:13,880 --> 00:58:19,080
Speaker 8: Especially i'mture deer I don't have I should say I

1104
00:58:19,120 --> 00:58:24,480
Speaker 8: don't have too many that just completely ignore it or

1105
00:58:24,520 --> 00:58:29,400
Speaker 8: get spooped by it. They usually will somehow react to it.

1106
00:58:30,480 --> 00:58:32,320
Speaker 8: Whether they come all the way in or not, that's

1107
00:58:32,320 --> 00:58:36,840
Speaker 8: a different question, but usually they that call means something

1108
00:58:36,880 --> 00:58:41,200
Speaker 8: to them, So I use snort we've a lot. Rattling

1109
00:58:42,160 --> 00:58:44,439
Speaker 8: is kind of a third option. If if the deer

1110
00:58:44,480 --> 00:58:48,000
Speaker 8: doesn't respond to either one of those, I will rattle

1111
00:58:48,360 --> 00:58:50,760
Speaker 8: or I will start off rattling if it's really windy.

1112
00:58:50,840 --> 00:58:54,320
Speaker 3: Like I said, how what's the rattle sequence?

1113
00:58:54,480 --> 00:58:56,200
Speaker 4: Like? Is it long?

1114
00:58:56,480 --> 00:58:59,520
Speaker 3: Do you just do fifteen twenty seconds and stop. What's

1115
00:58:59,520 --> 00:59:03,280
Speaker 3: your rattling sequence? Typically live, like, if.

1116
00:59:03,120 --> 00:59:05,880
Speaker 8: I can see the deer and see his reaction, I'll

1117
00:59:05,960 --> 00:59:08,640
Speaker 8: just I'll rattle and'll make sure that I'm hidden. Whether

1118
00:59:08,680 --> 00:59:11,920
Speaker 8: it's I'm rattling on the backside of free or something

1119
00:59:11,960 --> 00:59:14,000
Speaker 8: like that, I will just watch his reaction. I will

1120
00:59:14,080 --> 00:59:17,840
Speaker 8: keep rattling until he makes a move, whether that's going

1121
00:59:17,880 --> 00:59:21,200
Speaker 8: away from me or coming towards to me. I need

1122
00:59:21,280 --> 00:59:25,560
Speaker 8: him to be convinced that it is a really good fight,

1123
00:59:25,760 --> 00:59:28,240
Speaker 8: like an actual brawl, that he needs to come in

1124
00:59:28,280 --> 00:59:31,480
Speaker 8: and check out. Once he starts coming, I'll put him

1125
00:59:31,480 --> 00:59:35,480
Speaker 8: away and get ready, or if he obviously goes away,

1126
00:59:35,600 --> 00:59:36,760
Speaker 8: I'll put him away.

1127
00:59:36,440 --> 00:59:38,880
Speaker 5: Too, just because obviously they don't like it.

1128
00:59:38,960 --> 00:59:41,320
Speaker 8: But sometimes you'll see a deer go away and he'll

1129
00:59:41,320 --> 00:59:44,080
Speaker 8: come back around and check it out later, so you're

1130
00:59:44,120 --> 00:59:47,720
Speaker 8: not always completely out of the game. If I'm blind calling,

1131
00:59:50,160 --> 00:59:55,240
Speaker 8: it's probably I would say thirty seconds of a pretty

1132
00:59:55,240 --> 01:00:00,480
Speaker 8: hard hitting I have seen a couple of really good fights,

1133
01:00:00,840 --> 01:00:06,240
Speaker 8: and it's hard to rattle as loud as two mature

1134
01:00:06,280 --> 01:00:10,400
Speaker 8: bucks are fighting, so I like to hit them almost

1135
01:00:10,400 --> 01:00:12,320
Speaker 8: as hard as I can. For a good toy to

1136
01:00:12,400 --> 01:00:15,960
Speaker 8: thirty seconds obviously, just making sure your eyes are peeled

1137
01:00:15,960 --> 01:00:18,560
Speaker 8: and your head's on a swivel, because you don't want

1138
01:00:18,600 --> 01:00:22,439
Speaker 8: to be hitting those things when the deer's thirty yards

1139
01:00:22,480 --> 01:00:25,840
Speaker 8: away and clearly see you know what's going on to you.

1140
01:00:25,960 --> 01:00:29,920
Speaker 8: Just have the constantly be looking around. But that's one

1141
01:00:29,920 --> 01:00:32,120
Speaker 8: thing I'll tell guys is not to be afraid to

1142
01:00:32,240 --> 01:00:35,000
Speaker 8: hit them really hard. Most most often, I think guys

1143
01:00:35,000 --> 01:00:36,880
Speaker 8: aren't rattling loud enough.

1144
01:00:37,880 --> 01:00:41,120
Speaker 3: All right, now, that's calling my ideas on that that

1145
01:00:41,160 --> 01:00:44,000
Speaker 3: I've kind of accumulated over the years from everybody, And

1146
01:00:44,120 --> 01:00:48,640
Speaker 3: Jared's Another kind of aggressive move you can try at

1147
01:00:48,640 --> 01:00:51,600
Speaker 3: this time of year is using a decoy. And the

1148
01:00:51,640 --> 01:00:54,240
Speaker 3: best explanation I have heard from someone on how to

1149
01:00:54,400 --> 01:00:57,280
Speaker 3: use a buck decoy or really any kind of decoy

1150
01:00:57,320 --> 01:01:01,160
Speaker 3: when hunting during the rut is from John Dudley. John Dudley,

1151
01:01:01,720 --> 01:01:05,200
Speaker 3: you know, has done amazing work across many different platforms,

1152
01:01:05,600 --> 01:01:08,440
Speaker 3: well known, does great work when it comes to archery,

1153
01:01:08,480 --> 01:01:12,560
Speaker 3: but also incredibly successful whitetail hunter and a big proponent

1154
01:01:12,600 --> 01:01:13,680
Speaker 3: of using decoys.

1155
01:01:14,200 --> 01:01:16,080
Speaker 2: Here is what he says. This is his.

1156
01:01:17,480 --> 01:01:21,280
Speaker 3: Strategy for using a decoy during the rut, and basically

1157
01:01:21,320 --> 01:01:23,800
Speaker 3: the same way that I have approached using a decoy

1158
01:01:23,920 --> 01:01:25,640
Speaker 3: is is just like what he describes here.

1159
01:01:26,520 --> 01:01:29,800
Speaker 5: What I really look for is I look for an

1160
01:01:29,840 --> 01:01:35,040
Speaker 5: area that allows me to be in cover and also

1161
01:01:35,160 --> 01:01:40,960
Speaker 5: allows the decoy to be in a high visibility area

1162
01:01:41,920 --> 01:01:47,240
Speaker 5: that is also a high traffic area during the rut.

1163
01:01:47,440 --> 01:01:52,560
Speaker 5: Like for example, one one situation that I'm thinking of

1164
01:01:52,840 --> 01:01:59,040
Speaker 5: is I've actually got this food plot that is, you know,

1165
01:01:59,040 --> 01:02:01,720
Speaker 5: it's just a regular food plot. It's kind of a

1166
01:02:01,800 --> 01:02:07,320
Speaker 5: rectangular shape, two acres on the one long end, and

1167
01:02:07,600 --> 01:02:10,880
Speaker 5: I actually have a decoy set up for both ends

1168
01:02:10,920 --> 01:02:14,720
Speaker 5: of this field. So what I'll wait for is a

1169
01:02:14,760 --> 01:02:18,120
Speaker 5: wind that would put the wind directly into my face,

1170
01:02:18,320 --> 01:02:22,440
Speaker 5: which for this particular field, and east wind, which is

1171
01:02:22,480 --> 01:02:24,000
Speaker 5: fairly uncommon.

1172
01:02:23,600 --> 01:02:23,760
Speaker 2: But.

1173
01:02:25,440 --> 01:02:27,880
Speaker 5: For this particular if I do have an east wind

1174
01:02:27,880 --> 01:02:31,880
Speaker 5: when the timing's right, this has been notoriously my best

1175
01:02:31,920 --> 01:02:35,640
Speaker 5: spot because this food plot is built up on a crown,

1176
01:02:36,880 --> 01:02:41,240
Speaker 5: and there's on one side of the crown there's a

1177
01:02:41,280 --> 01:02:44,720
Speaker 5: deep draw that goes into a big ceedar thicket, and

1178
01:02:44,760 --> 01:02:47,560
Speaker 5: then on the other side of the crown there's also

1179
01:02:47,680 --> 01:02:50,680
Speaker 5: another draw that feeds all the way through like a

1180
01:02:50,720 --> 01:02:53,720
Speaker 5: timber system that runs way off through my neighbors and

1181
01:02:53,760 --> 01:02:58,800
Speaker 5: everything like that. So really what's happening is these bucks

1182
01:02:59,080 --> 01:03:02,680
Speaker 5: when they start cuting ground, they're coming up out of

1183
01:03:02,720 --> 01:03:05,440
Speaker 5: these draws and they're just like they just kind of

1184
01:03:05,480 --> 01:03:08,120
Speaker 5: appear into a food plot. They look around a lot

1185
01:03:08,120 --> 01:03:10,120
Speaker 5: of times. They're not eating, you know, they're not eating.

1186
01:03:10,160 --> 01:03:13,040
Speaker 5: They're just they'll crossover and they'll go into the next theory.

1187
01:03:13,080 --> 01:03:16,240
Speaker 5: You know, you have those spots where you always see

1188
01:03:16,280 --> 01:03:19,560
Speaker 5: bucks just crossing. They're never staying there, but they're crossing.

1189
01:03:20,120 --> 01:03:23,240
Speaker 5: These are really good areas for decoys because you know

1190
01:03:23,320 --> 01:03:26,000
Speaker 5: that there's going to be traffic and you know you

1191
01:03:26,080 --> 01:03:28,560
Speaker 5: have the ability to put it in an area where

1192
01:03:28,960 --> 01:03:33,520
Speaker 5: you're able to see or you know, the deer able

1193
01:03:33,560 --> 01:03:35,760
Speaker 5: to see. And from there, what I do is I

1194
01:03:35,840 --> 01:03:41,640
Speaker 5: really focus on putting the decoys about thirty yards in

1195
01:03:41,680 --> 01:03:46,440
Speaker 5: front of me with their wind blowing directly towards me,

1196
01:03:46,840 --> 01:03:52,680
Speaker 5: and I'll face them facing directly towards me and my tree.

1197
01:03:52,960 --> 01:03:56,120
Speaker 5: So what that does is when these bucks will come

1198
01:03:56,200 --> 01:04:00,440
Speaker 5: up and they'll pop into these these open pocket, it's

1199
01:04:01,040 --> 01:04:04,080
Speaker 5: they'll see that deer and then what they'll do is

1200
01:04:04,120 --> 01:04:07,080
Speaker 5: they're going to try to get downwind of that decoy.

1201
01:04:07,320 --> 01:04:10,240
Speaker 5: I mean, they're always going to try to get down

1202
01:04:10,280 --> 01:04:14,120
Speaker 5: wind first, and they also really like to approach a

1203
01:04:14,160 --> 01:04:18,680
Speaker 5: decoy at the direction that they're facing. So a lot

1204
01:04:18,680 --> 01:04:20,600
Speaker 5: of times when they come up and they'll see that

1205
01:04:20,680 --> 01:04:25,480
Speaker 5: decoy and it'll be like kind of facing you know,

1206
01:04:25,520 --> 01:04:28,360
Speaker 5: it'll be like looking directly under my stand into the

1207
01:04:29,000 --> 01:04:32,120
Speaker 5: timber line or the field that's behind me. A lot

1208
01:04:32,120 --> 01:04:34,920
Speaker 5: of times the deer just going to assume that that

1209
01:04:35,080 --> 01:04:39,160
Speaker 5: decoy has the attention of maybe a betted dough or

1210
01:04:39,200 --> 01:04:42,120
Speaker 5: something in that fence line, or maybe even a dough

1211
01:04:42,160 --> 01:04:45,480
Speaker 5: that's betted in you know, the field behind me. And

1212
01:04:45,560 --> 01:04:49,000
Speaker 5: what they'll do is the bucks just always just go

1213
01:04:49,160 --> 01:04:51,440
Speaker 5: right to the edge of the food plot and they'll

1214
01:04:51,600 --> 01:04:54,880
Speaker 5: follow that hall or grass along the edge of the

1215
01:04:54,920 --> 01:04:58,800
Speaker 5: food plot, and then they'll button hook right around and

1216
01:04:58,880 --> 01:05:05,120
Speaker 5: they'll really utilize the edge of that cover and try

1217
01:05:05,160 --> 01:05:08,720
Speaker 5: to split the difference kind of between me and the

1218
01:05:08,800 --> 01:05:11,959
Speaker 5: tree and that decoy. They'll kind of come in right

1219
01:05:12,040 --> 01:05:15,840
Speaker 5: on the outer edge of that that cover. They feel safe,

1220
01:05:15,880 --> 01:05:18,640
Speaker 5: like they can jump in there and be gone if

1221
01:05:18,680 --> 01:05:22,240
Speaker 5: they don't like something about it. And as they button

1222
01:05:22,240 --> 01:05:25,640
Speaker 5: hook around you the entire time they're going to be

1223
01:05:25,720 --> 01:05:28,760
Speaker 5: looking right at that decoy. They're looking at it, and

1224
01:05:28,920 --> 01:05:31,960
Speaker 5: until they hit the wind of that decoy, you have

1225
01:05:32,000 --> 01:05:36,560
Speaker 5: a great opportunity to be able to to make a

1226
01:05:36,680 --> 01:05:39,880
Speaker 5: shot as long as you know that that wind is

1227
01:05:39,920 --> 01:05:43,080
Speaker 5: blowing directly to you, So as long as that that

1228
01:05:43,160 --> 01:05:47,360
Speaker 5: buck is button hooking around, you've pretty much got until

1229
01:05:47,400 --> 01:05:52,360
Speaker 5: that that deer gets directly downwind of your decoy for

1230
01:05:52,480 --> 01:05:56,000
Speaker 5: you to make your shot. And it's it's worked incredible.

1231
01:05:56,960 --> 01:05:59,960
Speaker 5: You know, I really like to focus on the time

1232
01:06:00,040 --> 01:06:03,560
Speaker 5: times of year when the like when the first part

1233
01:06:03,600 --> 01:06:05,880
Speaker 5: of the rut gets going, like where you have one,

1234
01:06:06,240 --> 01:06:09,560
Speaker 5: maybe one or two does that have come into heat,

1235
01:06:10,440 --> 01:06:13,120
Speaker 5: and you know it seems like, you know, you maybe

1236
01:06:13,160 --> 01:06:15,680
Speaker 5: see that first dough get red and every buck in

1237
01:06:15,720 --> 01:06:19,480
Speaker 5: the country's honor. Normally, right after that things kind of

1238
01:06:19,520 --> 01:06:23,360
Speaker 5: break loose and these bucks are really going to be

1239
01:06:23,400 --> 01:06:28,480
Speaker 5: looking for does. And you also find out that during

1240
01:06:29,160 --> 01:06:32,880
Speaker 5: that first part of the rut, most food plots are

1241
01:06:32,920 --> 01:06:37,040
Speaker 5: like vacant, like dose aren't going to come out and

1242
01:06:37,200 --> 01:06:39,880
Speaker 5: show themselves because they know they're going to get harassed.

1243
01:06:40,560 --> 01:06:43,680
Speaker 5: So when a buck comes out and sees a dough

1244
01:06:43,880 --> 01:06:47,240
Speaker 5: and it's standing there, they're going to do that same thing.

1245
01:06:48,000 --> 01:06:51,720
Speaker 5: So during the first part of the rut, I'll decoy

1246
01:06:51,840 --> 01:06:55,360
Speaker 5: with the dough. But then once you get into the

1247
01:06:55,400 --> 01:06:58,320
Speaker 5: middle of the rut, or then towards the tail end

1248
01:06:58,360 --> 01:07:01,640
Speaker 5: of the rut, I really like having a buck decoy,

1249
01:07:02,040 --> 01:07:05,680
Speaker 5: or I like having a buck decoy during the pre rut.

1250
01:07:05,760 --> 01:07:08,040
Speaker 5: You know, there's a time where that velvet comes off,

1251
01:07:08,080 --> 01:07:11,680
Speaker 5: and right before the screep start getting made, a lot

1252
01:07:11,720 --> 01:07:14,120
Speaker 5: of you know, a lot of bucks will start to

1253
01:07:14,240 --> 01:07:17,240
Speaker 5: kind of they'll start to fight a little bit, and

1254
01:07:17,320 --> 01:07:19,000
Speaker 5: you know, you might be in the woods and start

1255
01:07:19,040 --> 01:07:22,600
Speaker 5: to hear your hearst fight of the of the of

1256
01:07:22,680 --> 01:07:25,200
Speaker 5: the year, and that's a good time to try a

1257
01:07:25,240 --> 01:07:29,040
Speaker 5: buck decoy as well. But really the recipe is always

1258
01:07:30,120 --> 01:07:34,480
Speaker 5: get it about thirty yards in front of you, with

1259
01:07:34,600 --> 01:07:38,520
Speaker 5: it facing you, wind blowing right directly towards you. You

1260
01:07:38,560 --> 01:07:42,360
Speaker 5: want to be in some cover, you know, it's nice

1261
01:07:42,400 --> 01:07:44,480
Speaker 5: to have. You know, a lot of times I like

1262
01:07:44,560 --> 01:07:47,440
Speaker 5: to be towards one end of a food plot or another.

1263
01:07:47,520 --> 01:07:51,560
Speaker 5: That way, if deer come in the food plot, you

1264
01:07:51,600 --> 01:07:53,640
Speaker 5: know they can even if that thing's down there on

1265
01:07:53,680 --> 01:07:57,520
Speaker 5: the end. A lot of times if it's facing out

1266
01:07:57,560 --> 01:08:01,000
Speaker 5: of the food plot, the other animals won't get all

1267
01:08:01,040 --> 01:08:04,000
Speaker 5: freaked out by it. If it's just staying there, you know,

1268
01:08:04,080 --> 01:08:06,680
Speaker 5: they don't pay attention. Now, if it's if you're facing

1269
01:08:06,760 --> 01:08:08,720
Speaker 5: away from you and it's looking in the middle of

1270
01:08:08,760 --> 01:08:11,120
Speaker 5: the food plot and stuff comes out, well, everything's just

1271
01:08:11,160 --> 01:08:13,120
Speaker 5: going to start looking right at it, and when it

1272
01:08:13,160 --> 01:08:16,760
Speaker 5: doesn't move, they're going to have a problem with it.

1273
01:08:16,880 --> 01:08:19,400
Speaker 5: So that's kind of why I like to keep it

1274
01:08:20,160 --> 01:08:24,320
Speaker 5: off to the side. And you know, it might not

1275
01:08:24,439 --> 01:08:26,719
Speaker 5: be as noticeable, but if you have a grunt tube,

1276
01:08:26,720 --> 01:08:28,840
Speaker 5: you can always seem to at least get something to

1277
01:08:28,880 --> 01:08:31,800
Speaker 5: look that way, and and and then once they're looking

1278
01:08:31,840 --> 01:08:36,640
Speaker 5: that way, they're gonna they're gonna take notice.

1279
01:08:45,320 --> 01:08:45,760
Speaker 2: All right.

1280
01:08:45,840 --> 01:08:48,960
Speaker 3: So those are kind of the wild cards for this

1281
01:08:49,040 --> 01:08:56,320
Speaker 3: time of year. Grunting, rattling, decoying, all of these things

1282
01:08:56,360 --> 01:08:58,120
Speaker 3: we've talked about, like I said, have been kind of

1283
01:08:58,120 --> 01:09:00,559
Speaker 3: focused on the first two weeks of November, the peak

1284
01:09:00,600 --> 01:09:04,679
Speaker 3: of running activity. Let's briefly talk about what happens next,

1285
01:09:04,760 --> 01:09:07,840
Speaker 3: which is the peak of breeding activity. That is, when

1286
01:09:07,880 --> 01:09:11,040
Speaker 3: the highest number of doughs are receptive to being bred.

1287
01:09:11,760 --> 01:09:15,439
Speaker 3: This is what many people call the lockdown face. So

1288
01:09:15,920 --> 01:09:18,280
Speaker 3: what happens here is when a dough is ready to breed,

1289
01:09:18,760 --> 01:09:22,200
Speaker 3: that buck locks on her. They typically stay together for

1290
01:09:22,680 --> 01:09:25,400
Speaker 3: twenty four to forty eight hours, give or take. Sometimes

1291
01:09:25,400 --> 01:09:28,880
Speaker 3: a little bit longer, and they will stay close together.

1292
01:09:29,040 --> 01:09:31,800
Speaker 3: They generally don't move a whole lot. What I have

1293
01:09:31,880 --> 01:09:34,200
Speaker 3: seen in my experience, and what I've heard from many

1294
01:09:34,240 --> 01:09:37,679
Speaker 3: other hunters on the show, is that when a buck

1295
01:09:37,760 --> 01:09:40,439
Speaker 3: gets paired up with a dough, he pushes her into

1296
01:09:40,560 --> 01:09:42,679
Speaker 3: some kind of like off the wall place and tries

1297
01:09:42,720 --> 01:09:45,280
Speaker 3: to keep her there for as much time as possible,

1298
01:09:45,600 --> 01:09:48,759
Speaker 3: basically to maximize his time with that dough to breed

1299
01:09:49,120 --> 01:09:53,000
Speaker 3: and to keep away any competition. So my angle has

1300
01:09:53,040 --> 01:09:55,280
Speaker 3: always been that if you see a buck locked down

1301
01:09:55,320 --> 01:09:57,880
Speaker 3: a dough like that, you know that this small area

1302
01:09:58,000 --> 01:10:00,920
Speaker 3: maybe a couple acres or ten acres or whatever the

1303
01:10:00,960 --> 01:10:03,200
Speaker 3: cover is around there, that's going to be a place

1304
01:10:03,240 --> 01:10:06,800
Speaker 3: to focus for the next day or two. Especially Now

1305
01:10:06,800 --> 01:10:09,160
Speaker 3: that said, if you're hunting and you can't find that,

1306
01:10:09,240 --> 01:10:11,240
Speaker 3: if you're not seeing a buck locked on doughs, you

1307
01:10:11,320 --> 01:10:14,400
Speaker 3: might see what Neil and Craig Doherty explained earlier, which

1308
01:10:14,439 --> 01:10:17,800
Speaker 3: is a decline in overall activity because you have, you know,

1309
01:10:17,920 --> 01:10:21,680
Speaker 3: so many of those pairs locked down somewhere. But a

1310
01:10:21,760 --> 01:10:23,680
Speaker 3: key thing to remember this time of year is that

1311
01:10:23,960 --> 01:10:25,599
Speaker 3: there's never going to be a period of time when

1312
01:10:26,000 --> 01:10:28,080
Speaker 3: everyone is locked down at the same time. Right There's

1313
01:10:28,360 --> 01:10:30,599
Speaker 3: always still going to be some buck that's coming off

1314
01:10:30,640 --> 01:10:33,120
Speaker 3: of a dough and searching for another dough, and then

1315
01:10:33,160 --> 01:10:34,840
Speaker 3: you know, as soon as that buck locks up on

1316
01:10:34,880 --> 01:10:37,160
Speaker 3: someone else, well then there's probably another buck that's coming

1317
01:10:37,200 --> 01:10:41,599
Speaker 3: off and searching again. So for that reason, generally, even

1318
01:10:41,680 --> 01:10:44,120
Speaker 3: during the breeding phase, even during the middle of November,

1319
01:10:44,439 --> 01:10:46,240
Speaker 3: you still want to take the same approach. You still

1320
01:10:46,280 --> 01:10:48,360
Speaker 3: want to do the same stuff you were doing earlier

1321
01:10:48,360 --> 01:10:51,200
Speaker 3: in the month. Just do it knowing that you're probably

1322
01:10:51,240 --> 01:10:54,240
Speaker 3: not going to see as much of that crazy chasing

1323
01:10:54,280 --> 01:10:56,280
Speaker 3: and seeking. You'll see some of it. It's still going

1324
01:10:56,320 --> 01:10:59,200
Speaker 3: to happen, but it's a smaller number of bucks doing

1325
01:10:59,240 --> 01:11:02,040
Speaker 3: it at any one given time. So this is when

1326
01:11:02,120 --> 01:11:05,320
Speaker 3: just having faith and believing in your approach and waiting

1327
01:11:05,360 --> 01:11:08,160
Speaker 3: out those long days is worth it. Or on the

1328
01:11:08,160 --> 01:11:11,439
Speaker 3: flip side, this is when the what Aaron described the

1329
01:11:11,479 --> 01:11:14,240
Speaker 3: TCHP approach maybe is the way to go, because this

1330
01:11:14,280 --> 01:11:15,439
Speaker 3: is when you just got to go out there and

1331
01:11:15,439 --> 01:11:17,000
Speaker 3: find it. You got to go find out where that

1332
01:11:17,040 --> 01:11:19,599
Speaker 3: hot dough is and those those four bucks are all

1333
01:11:19,600 --> 01:11:22,559
Speaker 3: circling around or where they're locked down. You might just

1334
01:11:22,640 --> 01:11:25,320
Speaker 3: need to get out there and search to find these

1335
01:11:25,360 --> 01:11:29,760
Speaker 3: hot spots because a very common thing I've experienced during

1336
01:11:29,760 --> 01:11:32,080
Speaker 3: the rut, and so many other people have as well.

1337
01:11:32,120 --> 01:11:34,880
Speaker 3: And Andrea to Cuisto was talking to us about this

1338
01:11:34,960 --> 01:11:39,040
Speaker 3: during a podcast. There's going to be places whereas you know,

1339
01:11:39,200 --> 01:11:42,240
Speaker 3: absolutely on fire, and then the next ridge over, or

1340
01:11:42,280 --> 01:11:44,720
Speaker 3: the next basin over, the next farm field over, the

1341
01:11:44,760 --> 01:11:47,400
Speaker 3: next swamp over, it will be a complete ghost town.

1342
01:11:47,479 --> 01:11:50,559
Speaker 3: It's like all here and not there at all. And

1343
01:11:50,600 --> 01:11:53,240
Speaker 3: so you need to either be determined to stay in

1344
01:11:53,280 --> 01:11:55,960
Speaker 3: the spot you believe in until it becomes the right spot,

1345
01:11:56,360 --> 01:11:59,080
Speaker 3: or go find where those hot spots are and constantly

1346
01:11:59,120 --> 01:12:04,240
Speaker 3: adjust based on what you're seeing. Here is another example,

1347
01:12:04,280 --> 01:12:07,040
Speaker 3: though on some thoughts of how to consider this. This

1348
01:12:07,080 --> 01:12:09,520
Speaker 3: is from an excerpt from a book by Tom Indribou,

1349
01:12:09,640 --> 01:12:13,560
Speaker 3: who is an outfitter in the Bluff Country of Wisconsin.

1350
01:12:13,720 --> 01:12:16,679
Speaker 3: He's one of the ogs of growing and hunting mature

1351
01:12:16,720 --> 01:12:21,160
Speaker 3: white tails, and in his book, which is called Growing

1352
01:12:21,160 --> 01:12:25,280
Speaker 3: and Hunting Quality Bucks, he writes about this. When an

1353
01:12:25,439 --> 01:12:28,360
Speaker 3: estrous dough is finally ready to breed, she stops fleeing.

1354
01:12:28,360 --> 01:12:31,479
Speaker 3: The bucks advances and stands still for him. That's why

1355
01:12:31,560 --> 01:12:34,720
Speaker 3: when widespread breeding starts occurring, it's almost as if a

1356
01:12:34,760 --> 01:12:38,080
Speaker 3: sense of calm has returned to the deer woods. In fact,

1357
01:12:38,120 --> 01:12:40,360
Speaker 3: if one dough is tying up her main suitor and

1358
01:12:40,400 --> 01:12:43,479
Speaker 3: two or three spectators, and you're sitting somewhere other than

1359
01:12:43,520 --> 01:12:46,360
Speaker 3: where she led her group, the woods do seem more calm.

1360
01:12:46,520 --> 01:12:50,320
Speaker 3: They appear dead, but don't despair. One good thing about

1361
01:12:50,320 --> 01:12:52,479
Speaker 3: the breeding period is that you can go from boredom

1362
01:12:52,520 --> 01:12:56,120
Speaker 3: to a full fledged adrenaline overload with one turn of

1363
01:12:56,160 --> 01:12:59,920
Speaker 3: your head. Once breeding has been underway for a few days,

1364
01:13:00,160 --> 01:13:03,040
Speaker 3: a different pattern emerges among the bucks as they finish

1365
01:13:03,120 --> 01:13:06,120
Speaker 3: up with one dough and start searching for their next opportunity.

1366
01:13:06,680 --> 01:13:09,040
Speaker 3: A mature buck starts looking for his new mate by

1367
01:13:09,080 --> 01:13:12,519
Speaker 3: checking food sources in the woods, agricultural fields, and anywhere

1368
01:13:12,560 --> 01:13:15,080
Speaker 3: else he can find family groups that might include an

1369
01:13:15,200 --> 01:13:18,679
Speaker 3: estrous dough. For whatever reason, these bucks are now more

1370
01:13:18,720 --> 01:13:21,680
Speaker 3: deliberate in their search, backing off a bit from their

1371
01:13:21,720 --> 01:13:25,599
Speaker 3: fast paced, relentless romps of ten days before. Maybe they're

1372
01:13:25,600 --> 01:13:28,400
Speaker 3: wearing down a bit physically or maybe they've just learned

1373
01:13:28,400 --> 01:13:31,439
Speaker 3: to work more efficiently. But more than ever, their focus

1374
01:13:31,520 --> 01:13:35,559
Speaker 3: is the dough herself, not signposts created mostly with other bucks.

1375
01:13:36,200 --> 01:13:38,880
Speaker 3: Bucks might still follow one of their favorite routes or

1376
01:13:38,920 --> 01:13:42,200
Speaker 3: swing through a heavily signposted hotspot, but those are often

1377
01:13:42,280 --> 01:13:46,799
Speaker 3: coincidental or short lived visits. Some bowhunters also think bucks

1378
01:13:46,800 --> 01:13:48,840
Speaker 3: return to their home bedding area to rest up for

1379
01:13:48,840 --> 01:13:52,040
Speaker 3: a day or so before taking off again. Either way,

1380
01:13:52,200 --> 01:13:54,720
Speaker 3: those sites aren't good bets for bow hunting during the

1381
01:13:54,720 --> 01:13:57,600
Speaker 3: breeding phase. After leaving the dough he has been with

1382
01:13:57,720 --> 01:14:00,160
Speaker 3: for a couple days, the buck is more interested in

1383
01:14:00,280 --> 01:14:03,680
Speaker 3: target rich hangouts. That's why he cruises the edges of

1384
01:14:03,720 --> 01:14:07,120
Speaker 3: good food sources often at about eight or nine am.

1385
01:14:07,320 --> 01:14:09,960
Speaker 3: The buck doesn't expect to find does and fawns feeding

1386
01:14:09,960 --> 01:14:12,519
Speaker 3: in the fields, but he knows the family groups were

1387
01:14:12,520 --> 01:14:15,160
Speaker 3: probably there the previous night and left only a short

1388
01:14:15,200 --> 01:14:18,919
Speaker 3: time before his arrival. The buck moves along that field boundary,

1389
01:14:19,040 --> 01:14:21,400
Speaker 3: sniffing the tracks of every dough that left the field

1390
01:14:21,479 --> 01:14:24,960
Speaker 3: earlier that morning. He doesn't need to sniff individual rumps

1391
01:14:24,960 --> 01:14:27,920
Speaker 3: to know which dough to follow. Her tracks leave all

1392
01:14:27,960 --> 01:14:30,800
Speaker 3: the clues he requires, Nor does a buck have to

1393
01:14:30,880 --> 01:14:33,240
Speaker 3: run up and down the length of each trail entering

1394
01:14:33,320 --> 01:14:35,880
Speaker 3: or leaving the field, before making a decision on a

1395
01:14:35,880 --> 01:14:40,120
Speaker 3: doe's status. An experienced buck crosses and sent checks every

1396
01:14:40,200 --> 01:14:44,120
Speaker 3: trail intersecting that field, requiring only one quick pass around

1397
01:14:44,160 --> 01:14:47,200
Speaker 3: his perimeter. If he finds a dough that interests him,

1398
01:14:47,280 --> 01:14:49,639
Speaker 3: he doesn't hesitate to jump into the woods and get

1399
01:14:49,680 --> 01:14:53,800
Speaker 3: after her. Any sense of physical fatigue or burnout evaporates

1400
01:14:53,800 --> 01:14:56,400
Speaker 3: once a buck's nose pinpoints a dough that's getting ready

1401
01:14:56,439 --> 01:15:00,439
Speaker 3: to breed. However, if the buck completes his perimeter inspection

1402
01:15:00,640 --> 01:15:03,160
Speaker 3: and finds nothing hot, he moves along to the next

1403
01:15:03,160 --> 01:15:06,400
Speaker 3: field and makes another circuit of the perimeter. He performs

1404
01:15:06,439 --> 01:15:10,120
Speaker 3: this task not only around fields, but across ridge lines,

1405
01:15:10,439 --> 01:15:14,839
Speaker 3: oak flats, and other sites where dough family groups congregame. However, briefly,

1406
01:15:15,840 --> 01:15:18,640
Speaker 3: if his search takes him through primary scrape areas, he

1407
01:15:18,720 --> 01:15:21,960
Speaker 3: merely checks them from downwind and blows on through. There's

1408
01:15:22,040 --> 01:15:25,200
Speaker 3: little wasted effort in the buck's tasks. He hits as

1409
01:15:25,240 --> 01:15:27,800
Speaker 3: many edge lines as possible, going from one hot spot

1410
01:15:27,840 --> 01:15:30,680
Speaker 3: to the next, his eyes forever on the prize. His

1411
01:15:30,720 --> 01:15:34,200
Speaker 3: steady gate covers ground quickly, and within an hour of sunrise,

1412
01:15:34,200 --> 01:15:36,400
Speaker 3: he can be three ridges over from where he was

1413
01:15:36,479 --> 01:15:40,040
Speaker 3: at dawn. As a buck moves between potential hotspots to

1414
01:15:40,120 --> 01:15:43,240
Speaker 3: inspect family groups, he uses his nose and eyes to

1415
01:15:43,320 --> 01:15:45,800
Speaker 3: locate his next mate.

1416
01:15:45,880 --> 01:15:46,879
Speaker 2: I will point out.

1417
01:15:46,680 --> 01:15:50,800
Speaker 3: Another thing that Tom references here in his book and

1418
01:15:50,960 --> 01:15:54,240
Speaker 3: that many others have picked up on since, has been

1419
01:15:54,640 --> 01:15:59,640
Speaker 3: the effectiveness of hunting water holes or ponds in the

1420
01:15:59,720 --> 01:16:04,080
Speaker 3: woods during the rut. What his take is that these bucks,

1421
01:16:04,080 --> 01:16:06,519
Speaker 3: you know, they'll ignore food for days and days on

1422
01:16:06,680 --> 01:16:08,760
Speaker 3: end during the rut, but they can't ignore water.

1423
01:16:08,840 --> 01:16:09,600
Speaker 2: They have to get that.

1424
01:16:10,040 --> 01:16:12,880
Speaker 3: And after they've been chasing and searching and cruising hour

1425
01:16:12,920 --> 01:16:15,720
Speaker 3: after hour after hour after hour, anytime that they can

1426
01:16:15,760 --> 01:16:18,040
Speaker 3: pass by and hit a little water source, they're going

1427
01:16:18,120 --> 01:16:20,840
Speaker 3: to do so. So I actually got to hunt Tom

1428
01:16:20,840 --> 01:16:24,040
Speaker 3: and Jerbo's farm for a project I worked on called

1429
01:16:24,040 --> 01:16:24,639
Speaker 3: Deer Country.

1430
01:16:24,640 --> 01:16:25,479
Speaker 2: I got to see this.

1431
01:16:26,000 --> 01:16:29,000
Speaker 3: And what he's done is back in doe betting areas,

1432
01:16:29,360 --> 01:16:32,760
Speaker 3: back on any of these like ridges or saddles where

1433
01:16:32,800 --> 01:16:35,439
Speaker 3: they connect into other dough betting areas. He has created

1434
01:16:35,479 --> 01:16:38,479
Speaker 3: these back in the timber ponds that are tucked by betting,

1435
01:16:38,640 --> 01:16:41,120
Speaker 3: so he can be hunting a dough hot spot and

1436
01:16:41,320 --> 01:16:43,559
Speaker 3: have a water source right back there in cover so

1437
01:16:43,600 --> 01:16:46,400
Speaker 3: you can catch that late morning or midday movement that

1438
01:16:46,439 --> 01:16:49,360
Speaker 3: we've talked about. And then he has this little focus point,

1439
01:16:49,360 --> 01:16:52,320
Speaker 3: this little watering area that brings that buck into shooting

1440
01:16:52,439 --> 01:16:54,600
Speaker 3: range and gets them to stop in place. So a

1441
01:16:54,680 --> 01:16:57,160
Speaker 3: really interesting idea there to add to your mix as

1442
01:16:57,200 --> 01:16:59,560
Speaker 3: you're considering where and how to set up over the

1443
01:16:59,600 --> 01:17:06,320
Speaker 3: coming weeks. So lockdown can be slower, but don't sleep

1444
01:17:06,320 --> 01:17:08,800
Speaker 3: on it. It can certainly still have those moments and

1445
01:17:08,840 --> 01:17:12,320
Speaker 3: those flurries of great activity. Another thing to be thinking

1446
01:17:12,320 --> 01:17:15,480
Speaker 3: about though, in mid November and as the month progresses,

1447
01:17:15,640 --> 01:17:19,080
Speaker 3: is the fact that across many states, gun seasons open,

1448
01:17:19,360 --> 01:17:22,120
Speaker 3: and when gun season opens, all of your typical rut

1449
01:17:22,160 --> 01:17:25,200
Speaker 3: behavior starts to go out the window. Things change, All

1450
01:17:25,200 --> 01:17:28,200
Speaker 3: of that hunting pressure comes in and just flips the

1451
01:17:28,600 --> 01:17:32,599
Speaker 3: flips the game table upside down. Someone again who we've

1452
01:17:32,920 --> 01:17:35,200
Speaker 3: heard from several times today and has a lot of

1453
01:17:35,200 --> 01:17:38,200
Speaker 3: thoughts on this, as John Eberhart. I want to read

1454
01:17:38,240 --> 01:17:41,519
Speaker 3: one last quick excerpt from him on how they think

1455
01:17:41,560 --> 01:17:44,280
Speaker 3: about gun season and its impact on the rut and

1456
01:17:44,360 --> 01:17:47,760
Speaker 3: hunting the month of November in Michigan. What we have

1457
01:17:47,920 --> 01:17:51,840
Speaker 3: is a November fifteenth opener, so it's smack dab right

1458
01:17:51,960 --> 01:17:56,120
Speaker 3: at peak breeding is when the gun season opens and

1459
01:17:56,200 --> 01:18:00,800
Speaker 3: everything changes. In pressured areas, gun season has a huge

1460
01:18:00,800 --> 01:18:04,120
Speaker 3: impact on deer movement and the herd itself. In states

1461
01:18:04,120 --> 01:18:06,599
Speaker 3: like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York, to name a few,

1462
01:18:06,960 --> 01:18:09,280
Speaker 3: with well over half a million gun hunters, the gun

1463
01:18:09,320 --> 01:18:12,640
Speaker 3: opener changes the hunting dramatically In a single day. In

1464
01:18:12,680 --> 01:18:15,160
Speaker 3: some areas of pressured states, up to eighty percent of

1465
01:18:15,200 --> 01:18:18,920
Speaker 3: the annual buck harvest is taken. Most parts of these

1466
01:18:18,960 --> 01:18:22,000
Speaker 3: pressured states have more than twenty hunters per square mile.

1467
01:18:22,800 --> 01:18:24,320
Speaker 2: YadA YadA, YadA, YadA, yadda.

1468
01:18:24,840 --> 01:18:26,920
Speaker 3: The top it off gun season takes place during the

1469
01:18:26,960 --> 01:18:29,200
Speaker 3: middle of the rut. With most of the bucks gone,

1470
01:18:29,320 --> 01:18:32,160
Speaker 3: the few survivors have more does to breed, some of

1471
01:18:32,200 --> 01:18:34,719
Speaker 3: which will not be bred during their first extra cycle,

1472
01:18:34,960 --> 01:18:37,720
Speaker 3: contributing to a more intense second rut than in non

1473
01:18:37,760 --> 01:18:42,679
Speaker 3: pressured areas. Daytime running activity, though seemingly disappears, with almost

1474
01:18:42,720 --> 01:18:46,000
Speaker 3: all chasing taking place well after dark. If there's one

1475
01:18:46,080 --> 01:18:49,080
Speaker 3: single event that causes most deer to become nocturnal, its

1476
01:18:49,120 --> 01:18:50,439
Speaker 3: opening day of gun season.

1477
01:18:50,960 --> 01:18:51,519
Speaker 2: Bow hunting.

1478
01:18:51,600 --> 01:18:54,599
Speaker 3: After this point can be very frustrating with planning. There

1479
01:18:54,640 --> 01:18:58,120
Speaker 3: are ways you can react successfully if you're hunting during

1480
01:18:58,160 --> 01:19:01,200
Speaker 3: the gun season opener or I think afterwards as well.

1481
01:19:01,840 --> 01:19:05,479
Speaker 3: Look for escape routes. The tighter the better. In pressured

1482
01:19:05,520 --> 01:19:08,720
Speaker 3: areas on opening morning, normal deer movement can be forgotten.

1483
01:19:09,040 --> 01:19:11,599
Speaker 3: The deer are just looking to get out of harm's way.

1484
01:19:12,040 --> 01:19:14,759
Speaker 3: A thick funnel leading to the thickest bedding area available

1485
01:19:14,880 --> 01:19:17,920
Speaker 3: should be your stand side of choice. Remaining on stand

1486
01:19:17,960 --> 01:19:21,000
Speaker 3: the entire day is recommended. A high percentage of mature

1487
01:19:21,040 --> 01:19:25,200
Speaker 3: box are taken in midday during gun season. This is

1488
01:19:25,640 --> 01:19:27,719
Speaker 3: really a big part of what Andy was talking about

1489
01:19:27,720 --> 01:19:30,479
Speaker 3: too earlier when he was mentioning that you know, late

1490
01:19:30,560 --> 01:19:34,559
Speaker 3: morning midday hunting pressure impact on deer activity as all

1491
01:19:34,600 --> 01:19:37,439
Speaker 3: the hunters leave the woods, that shakes things up again. Well,

1492
01:19:37,479 --> 01:19:40,840
Speaker 3: that is doubly more true when it comes to gun season.

1493
01:19:40,960 --> 01:19:45,160
Speaker 3: So if you can avoid the typical coming in for

1494
01:19:45,280 --> 01:19:48,479
Speaker 3: lunch and missing that window, maybe stay a little bit

1495
01:19:48,560 --> 01:19:50,680
Speaker 3: later and just wait for everybody else to go in

1496
01:19:50,720 --> 01:19:53,519
Speaker 3: and at least see what happens and then go, Because

1497
01:19:53,560 --> 01:19:54,960
Speaker 3: if you're going to be hunting at this time of

1498
01:19:54,960 --> 01:19:58,200
Speaker 3: the year, there's going to be less of the typical

1499
01:19:58,520 --> 01:20:01,920
Speaker 3: rutting daylight activity when it's just flooded with other hunters

1500
01:20:01,960 --> 01:20:04,360
Speaker 3: and things have been reshuffled so much so getting that

1501
01:20:04,439 --> 01:20:07,960
Speaker 3: hunting pressure boost from the spooks and the pushes that

1502
01:20:08,000 --> 01:20:10,800
Speaker 3: can actually be something to keona. On the flip side,

1503
01:20:10,840 --> 01:20:13,720
Speaker 3: the other approach is to do the exact opposite, which

1504
01:20:13,800 --> 01:20:16,240
Speaker 3: is go to the place where it's just so hard

1505
01:20:16,280 --> 01:20:19,360
Speaker 3: for anybody else to go and for somebody else to impact.

1506
01:20:19,600 --> 01:20:22,920
Speaker 3: So this is where the thickest, nastiest, most out of

1507
01:20:22,960 --> 01:20:25,719
Speaker 3: the way hell hole is where some of these bucks

1508
01:20:25,720 --> 01:20:28,080
Speaker 3: will be turning up and where they'll be hanging out

1509
01:20:28,120 --> 01:20:31,880
Speaker 3: during the daylight. And still like the rut is still happening, right,

1510
01:20:32,000 --> 01:20:35,720
Speaker 3: so opening to have gun season happened on November fifteenth,

1511
01:20:36,240 --> 01:20:38,760
Speaker 3: there's certainly still going to be chasing and seeking and

1512
01:20:38,800 --> 01:20:41,040
Speaker 3: breeding and all of that stuff still happening. It's just

1513
01:20:41,120 --> 01:20:44,400
Speaker 3: going to be happening after dark and or in these

1514
01:20:44,439 --> 01:20:47,599
Speaker 3: places that the deer still feels safe where they can

1515
01:20:47,640 --> 01:20:49,679
Speaker 3: still get away from people. So if you can find

1516
01:20:49,760 --> 01:20:53,160
Speaker 3: that away spot, if you can keep your property a

1517
01:20:53,200 --> 01:20:55,680
Speaker 3: sanctuary and not have a bunch of pressure all around it,

1518
01:20:55,960 --> 01:20:57,840
Speaker 3: they'll still feel safe there and you'll still get to

1519
01:20:57,880 --> 01:21:00,760
Speaker 3: see that great running activity. Key thing, though, is like

1520
01:21:00,840 --> 01:21:05,120
Speaker 3: that pressure just makes this massive, this massive shift to

1521
01:21:05,200 --> 01:21:07,080
Speaker 3: deer behavior, and so you need to be able to

1522
01:21:07,120 --> 01:21:09,600
Speaker 3: count for that. And so now much more of the

1523
01:21:09,680 --> 01:21:13,200
Speaker 3: hunting strategy has to be about how do I adjust

1524
01:21:13,479 --> 01:21:16,400
Speaker 3: to pressure just as the deer have, and less so

1525
01:21:16,600 --> 01:21:19,360
Speaker 3: about you know, what's this bucking to do when he

1526
01:21:19,400 --> 01:21:21,439
Speaker 3: moves from point A to point B. Because this is

1527
01:21:21,439 --> 01:21:23,479
Speaker 3: the best dough betting area and that's the next best

1528
01:21:23,520 --> 01:21:26,400
Speaker 3: dough betting era. Youve got to consider this new implication

1529
01:21:27,720 --> 01:21:31,320
Speaker 3: as we continue that really maintains truth all through the

1530
01:21:31,360 --> 01:21:35,639
Speaker 3: month of November. One other consideration to think about, as

1531
01:21:35,800 --> 01:21:38,200
Speaker 3: I mentioned earlier, the breeding dates.

1532
01:21:38,400 --> 01:21:39,479
Speaker 2: It looks like a bell curve.

1533
01:21:39,640 --> 01:21:43,120
Speaker 3: So again, like low on the graph, you've got October,

1534
01:21:43,560 --> 01:21:45,720
Speaker 3: more and more does come into heat as you go

1535
01:21:45,840 --> 01:21:49,120
Speaker 3: into mid November. You know, November fifteenth, give or take,

1536
01:21:49,160 --> 01:21:51,160
Speaker 3: is where the most does are ready to breed. And

1537
01:21:51,200 --> 01:21:54,240
Speaker 3: then that continues down. So there's still breeding dos in

1538
01:21:54,320 --> 01:21:57,320
Speaker 3: the third week of November, and they're still breeding doughs

1539
01:21:57,360 --> 01:21:59,800
Speaker 3: in the last week of November, but there's fewer and

1540
01:22:00,200 --> 01:22:04,559
Speaker 3: were and fewer that said bucks still want to breed

1541
01:22:05,080 --> 01:22:08,320
Speaker 3: and what some people have seen and something that I

1542
01:22:08,400 --> 01:22:10,800
Speaker 3: picked up on from Don Higgins. What some folks have

1543
01:22:10,960 --> 01:22:13,960
Speaker 3: shown is that those oldest, biggest bucks tend to be

1544
01:22:14,000 --> 01:22:17,240
Speaker 3: the ones that still have the stick toativeness and the

1545
01:22:17,240 --> 01:22:21,000
Speaker 3: persistence to keep on searching for those last couple doughs.

1546
01:22:21,760 --> 01:22:23,639
Speaker 3: I want to read to you an excerpt from Don's

1547
01:22:23,640 --> 01:22:26,479
Speaker 3: book Real World Whitetails as he explains this very thing.

1548
01:22:27,800 --> 01:22:31,040
Speaker 3: As November winds down, the whitetail rut does as well.

1549
01:22:31,439 --> 01:22:33,439
Speaker 3: By the last week of November, there will not be

1550
01:22:33,560 --> 01:22:36,000
Speaker 3: nearly as many receptive doughs for the mature bucks to

1551
01:22:36,040 --> 01:22:38,920
Speaker 3: hook up with. Around Thanksgiving, mature bucks will be on

1552
01:22:38,960 --> 01:22:41,120
Speaker 3: the move looking for hot doughs, which they are now

1553
01:22:41,200 --> 01:22:44,320
Speaker 3: finding harder to come by. I firmly believe that the

1554
01:22:44,439 --> 01:22:46,600
Speaker 3: very best time to catch the biggest bucks on the

1555
01:22:46,640 --> 01:22:50,080
Speaker 3: move is the one week period beginning around Thanksgiving Day.

1556
01:22:50,840 --> 01:22:52,920
Speaker 3: Earlier in the month, a hunter is likely to see

1557
01:22:52,960 --> 01:22:55,360
Speaker 3: more bucks, but for the true monsters, I'll put my

1558
01:22:55,400 --> 01:22:59,880
Speaker 3: money on Thanksgiving weekend. Every year, this period doesn't last long,

1559
01:23:00,080 --> 01:23:02,639
Speaker 3: and when it's over, the toughest period to kill mature

1560
01:23:02,680 --> 01:23:06,800
Speaker 3: buck follows hunting these late November monsters means going right

1561
01:23:06,840 --> 01:23:09,080
Speaker 3: back to the same stands that you had success from

1562
01:23:09,120 --> 01:23:12,320
Speaker 3: in early November. Bucks will be back searching for does,

1563
01:23:12,479 --> 01:23:14,640
Speaker 3: and the stand located in near betting areas in the

1564
01:23:14,640 --> 01:23:17,640
Speaker 3: morning or feeding areas in the evening are good bat

1565
01:23:17,880 --> 01:23:19,960
Speaker 3: This is not a time to get discouraged, but a

1566
01:23:20,000 --> 01:23:23,000
Speaker 3: time to be determined. Stay in your stands as long

1567
01:23:23,040 --> 01:23:26,080
Speaker 3: as possible each day, but sure bucks on the prowl

1568
01:23:26,120 --> 01:23:28,519
Speaker 3: are likely to show up at any time. If you

1569
01:23:28,560 --> 01:23:30,360
Speaker 3: were lucky enough to figure out where a good buck

1570
01:23:30,439 --> 01:23:33,000
Speaker 3: was staying right before the rut really heated up, there's

1571
01:23:33,000 --> 01:23:35,240
Speaker 3: a good chance that he'll be back in the same location.

1572
01:23:35,840 --> 01:23:38,559
Speaker 3: Remember what you saw earlier, and be there to cash

1573
01:23:38,560 --> 01:23:42,880
Speaker 3: in when it happens. Now key point here Don is

1574
01:23:42,920 --> 01:23:46,080
Speaker 3: speaking about, you know, hunting in places that are not

1575
01:23:46,160 --> 01:23:48,200
Speaker 3: as pressured and and don't have the great big gun

1576
01:23:48,280 --> 01:23:50,439
Speaker 3: season like we do in Michigan. You know, he's hunting

1577
01:23:50,439 --> 01:23:53,000
Speaker 3: in Illinois, and I do think there is a short

1578
01:23:53,040 --> 01:23:56,479
Speaker 3: weekend gun hunt in late November in Illinois, but it's

1579
01:23:56,520 --> 01:23:58,799
Speaker 3: not like the two weeks of non stop gun hunting

1580
01:23:58,800 --> 01:24:01,600
Speaker 3: that we have here in Michigan or Pennsylvania or other places.

1581
01:24:02,280 --> 01:24:04,360
Speaker 3: So just think about that, but if you have a

1582
01:24:04,400 --> 01:24:10,040
Speaker 3: place where the pressure is relatively low still in late November, this,

1583
01:24:10,200 --> 01:24:12,479
Speaker 3: you know, last couple days of November can be a

1584
01:24:12,520 --> 01:24:15,360
Speaker 3: sweet spot worth King and on. I mentioned this a

1585
01:24:15,360 --> 01:24:17,960
Speaker 3: couple of weeks ago when we had Don on the podcast,

1586
01:24:18,000 --> 01:24:20,439
Speaker 3: but I read this from him, and then I went

1587
01:24:20,520 --> 01:24:23,519
Speaker 3: out and started hunting that time period more often and

1588
01:24:23,640 --> 01:24:26,120
Speaker 3: actually saw, you know, one time in Ohio the big

1589
01:24:26,160 --> 01:24:29,200
Speaker 3: five year old buckouse chasing cruising in the very middle

1590
01:24:29,200 --> 01:24:31,960
Speaker 3: of the day on November twenty fifth or twenty sixth,

1591
01:24:32,040 --> 01:24:34,840
Speaker 3: something like that, just after I read this. So that

1592
01:24:34,920 --> 01:24:38,080
Speaker 3: was a great reminder that there's truth to this, and

1593
01:24:38,120 --> 01:24:40,679
Speaker 3: I've gone on to have some some pretty strong success

1594
01:24:40,800 --> 01:24:43,599
Speaker 3: in that late November or first couple days of December

1595
01:24:43,600 --> 01:24:46,439
Speaker 3: time period. As those bucks are still trying to find

1596
01:24:46,479 --> 01:24:49,479
Speaker 3: that last dough. You can keep him feeling safe, you

1597
01:24:49,479 --> 01:24:54,880
Speaker 3: can take advantage of that. So that's November. If you're

1598
01:24:54,920 --> 01:24:58,080
Speaker 3: thinking about the month, it is in some ways wildly

1599
01:24:58,160 --> 01:25:01,360
Speaker 3: different week after week after week, but in some ways

1600
01:25:01,560 --> 01:25:02,519
Speaker 3: exactly the same.

1601
01:25:02,920 --> 01:25:04,080
Speaker 2: The name of the game.

1602
01:25:03,960 --> 01:25:07,560
Speaker 3: Is focus on the dose, focus on the places and

1603
01:25:07,880 --> 01:25:11,040
Speaker 3: ways the bucks get between dos, and then just spend

1604
01:25:11,200 --> 01:25:15,559
Speaker 3: a lot of time. That's all easier said than done, though,

1605
01:25:15,720 --> 01:25:19,200
Speaker 3: and I think maybe that's the most important thing to

1606
01:25:19,360 --> 01:25:24,479
Speaker 3: remember is that all of this is simple in theory

1607
01:25:25,080 --> 01:25:29,760
Speaker 3: but difficult in execution, because being out there day after day,

1608
01:25:30,200 --> 01:25:35,799
Speaker 3: hour after hour, is physically exhausting, It is mentally draining.

1609
01:25:37,200 --> 01:25:41,000
Speaker 3: You know, there can be incredible moments of excitement out there,

1610
01:25:41,040 --> 01:25:44,680
Speaker 3: but if we're being honest with ourselves, it's typically, you know,

1611
01:25:45,040 --> 01:25:48,880
Speaker 3: hours and hours and hours of monotony punctuated by just

1612
01:25:48,920 --> 01:25:53,760
Speaker 3: a couple brief highs of excitement. And so maybe more

1613
01:25:53,800 --> 01:25:57,120
Speaker 3: than anything, more important than having good funnels to hunt,

1614
01:25:57,439 --> 01:25:59,439
Speaker 3: more important than knowing how to set up on a

1615
01:25:59,720 --> 01:26:03,559
Speaker 3: dome area, more important than having a lot of vacation time,

1616
01:26:03,600 --> 01:26:07,000
Speaker 3: more important than having a good decoy or strong calling

1617
01:26:07,040 --> 01:26:10,360
Speaker 3: strategy or anything like that. The most important thing for

1618
01:26:10,479 --> 01:26:15,000
Speaker 3: hunting the month of November might simply be your mind,

1619
01:26:15,760 --> 01:26:24,000
Speaker 3: your mindset, your sense of belief and optimism, confidence, grit,

1620
01:26:24,720 --> 01:26:28,440
Speaker 3: just being able to stick it out there, stay positive,

1621
01:26:28,920 --> 01:26:34,240
Speaker 3: stay focused. That is so critical to filling a tag

1622
01:26:34,280 --> 01:26:37,880
Speaker 3: at this time of the year. On the flip side, though,

1623
01:26:39,280 --> 01:26:41,519
Speaker 3: that stuff can sometimes push you to go too far,

1624
01:26:41,560 --> 01:26:43,599
Speaker 3: and this is something that you know, everyone has different

1625
01:26:43,640 --> 01:26:46,080
Speaker 3: goals I'll just share with you that for me, for

1626
01:26:46,120 --> 01:26:49,000
Speaker 3: a long period of time, I used to approach the

1627
01:26:49,040 --> 01:26:52,439
Speaker 3: month of November like a military campaign, as if the

1628
01:26:52,479 --> 01:26:55,200
Speaker 3: only thing that mattered that life or death would be

1629
01:26:55,240 --> 01:26:57,599
Speaker 3: determined by whether or not I kill the mature buck.

1630
01:26:57,840 --> 01:27:00,920
Speaker 3: And so because of that, I would start November first,

1631
01:27:01,080 --> 01:27:04,000
Speaker 3: and every single possible day that I had available, I

1632
01:27:04,040 --> 01:27:05,680
Speaker 3: would be up at three in the morning. I'd be

1633
01:27:05,720 --> 01:27:07,280
Speaker 3: out to my tree stand an hour and a half

1634
01:27:07,320 --> 01:27:09,760
Speaker 3: before daylight and set up and quiet. I would sit

1635
01:27:09,760 --> 01:27:13,280
Speaker 3: there for fourteen straight hours. I'd come in after dark.

1636
01:27:13,400 --> 01:27:15,320
Speaker 3: Sometimes you have to wait, you know, thirty minutes after

1637
01:27:15,400 --> 01:27:17,320
Speaker 3: dark because there's deer in the area or whatever. I

1638
01:27:17,479 --> 01:27:19,719
Speaker 3: hike out it, get to the house or the camp.

1639
01:27:19,560 --> 01:27:21,719
Speaker 2: Or wherever I was. I'd get a little.

1640
01:27:21,479 --> 01:27:23,639
Speaker 3: Work done and go to sleep and wake up four

1641
01:27:23,680 --> 01:27:26,280
Speaker 3: hours later and do the whole thing over again. And

1642
01:27:26,439 --> 01:27:28,800
Speaker 3: there were some years I did that fourteen straight days

1643
01:27:28,880 --> 01:27:31,439
Speaker 3: or twenty straight days. You know, I'm very unique and

1644
01:27:31,520 --> 01:27:34,360
Speaker 3: lucky that I had that time. But I know lots

1645
01:27:34,400 --> 01:27:36,479
Speaker 3: of people that'll take a week of vacation and do

1646
01:27:36,520 --> 01:27:39,560
Speaker 3: two weekends. So there's you know, you know, ten to

1647
01:27:39,560 --> 01:27:44,040
Speaker 3: eleven days straight of that kind of thing and that

1648
01:27:44,160 --> 01:27:48,000
Speaker 3: can burn you out in a way that can suck

1649
01:27:48,080 --> 01:27:51,640
Speaker 3: the fun out of hunting. Sometimes in a way that

1650
01:27:51,720 --> 01:27:54,880
Speaker 3: at least for me, I think I found maybe isn't

1651
01:27:54,920 --> 01:27:57,360
Speaker 3: worth it, because yeah, I want to fill a tag,

1652
01:27:57,439 --> 01:27:59,439
Speaker 3: I want to kill a deer in November, but I

1653
01:27:59,479 --> 01:28:01,920
Speaker 3: also want to really enjoy the experience along the way.

1654
01:28:02,560 --> 01:28:05,599
Speaker 3: And so what I try to do now is try

1655
01:28:05,600 --> 01:28:08,160
Speaker 3: to balance that, try to balance the need to put

1656
01:28:08,200 --> 01:28:10,040
Speaker 3: in the time and the hard work and the grit

1657
01:28:10,800 --> 01:28:13,040
Speaker 3: balance with also the fact that this hunting thing, and

1658
01:28:13,080 --> 01:28:15,920
Speaker 3: that especially the month of November, just as much as

1659
01:28:15,960 --> 01:28:18,680
Speaker 3: it's about, you know, chasing deer, it's also about the

1660
01:28:18,680 --> 01:28:20,880
Speaker 3: people that you're chasing deer with, and the deer camps

1661
01:28:20,880 --> 01:28:24,080
Speaker 3: that you share, and the meals that you get afterwards,

1662
01:28:24,560 --> 01:28:26,479
Speaker 3: or the cutting out early on a hunt to go

1663
01:28:26,520 --> 01:28:29,240
Speaker 3: help your buddy track a deer and then celebrate with him,

1664
01:28:29,600 --> 01:28:31,840
Speaker 3: or taking your kids out and hunting you know, with

1665
01:28:31,880 --> 01:28:35,200
Speaker 3: you too. All that stuff matters just as much, if

1666
01:28:35,600 --> 01:28:37,800
Speaker 3: not more so than actually you know.

1667
01:28:37,840 --> 01:28:39,960
Speaker 2: How to execute a terrific deer hunt.

1668
01:28:40,120 --> 01:28:44,760
Speaker 3: So, for whatever it's worth, just my two cents, make

1669
01:28:44,800 --> 01:28:47,960
Speaker 3: sure that you're considering that kind of older side to

1670
01:28:48,080 --> 01:28:51,040
Speaker 3: November because this whole thing we obsess over, we get

1671
01:28:51,080 --> 01:28:54,080
Speaker 3: excited about it, we celebrate it. November is here, like.

1672
01:28:54,120 --> 01:28:56,720
Speaker 2: This is it. We should enjoy it.

1673
01:28:57,200 --> 01:29:00,760
Speaker 3: We should we should like suck marrow out of the

1674
01:29:00,800 --> 01:29:04,600
Speaker 3: bone of November. And that doesn't just mean killing a

1675
01:29:04,600 --> 01:29:08,879
Speaker 3: bunch of deer. That also means good stories, good laughs,

1676
01:29:09,400 --> 01:29:13,679
Speaker 3: good times, and having fun. So I think that's where

1677
01:29:13,680 --> 01:29:15,639
Speaker 3: I want to leave it for you here with this

1678
01:29:16,400 --> 01:29:19,920
Speaker 3: decoding November, this review of how the experts and how

1679
01:29:20,160 --> 01:29:22,640
Speaker 3: folks of all types hunt the white tail rut, how

1680
01:29:22,720 --> 01:29:23,759
Speaker 3: folks hunt November.

1681
01:29:24,160 --> 01:29:25,439
Speaker 2: I hope this has been useful.

1682
01:29:25,840 --> 01:29:27,559
Speaker 3: I hope this has you a little bit more geared

1683
01:29:27,640 --> 01:29:30,960
Speaker 3: up and ready for the coming weeks. And I'm wishing

1684
01:29:31,000 --> 01:29:34,520
Speaker 3: you all the best of luck, have an amazing November,

1685
01:29:34,680 --> 01:29:38,479
Speaker 3: have a safe November. Thanks for tuning in, and until

1686
01:29:38,479 --> 01:29:42,000
Speaker 3: next time, stay wired to Hunt.