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Most of the articles on this page are excerpts from The Complete Whitetail Addict's Manual, by T.R. Michels. For more information on deer biology and behavior, and deer hunting techniques, order your copy in the

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T.R., I would like to thank you for all your expertise on whitetail deer movement. I live in Illinois and the information on behavior and different season movement patterns has allowed me to score a pretty good-sized 8 point buck.

The Deer Stand*

Biology Of The Rut*

October: A Time of Transition & Dispersal*

Understanding Whitetail Scrapes*

The Moon: Lunar Factors and Deer Activity*

Does The Moon Affect Daily Deer Activity?*

How Seasonal Changes Affect Fall Deer Movement*

What is The Rut?*

Reading Rubs and Hunting Rub Routes*

Locating Trophy Buck Bedding Areas to Pattern a Buck*

Scrape Hunting *

Attracting Deer with Calls*

Attracting Deer with Scents*

Hunting Corn Country Bucks*

When I look back over the years I realize that I've spent more time sitting in my stand being cold wet and miserable, than I have been warm, dry and comfortable. I've also spent more time in a stand without seeing a deer, than I have seeing deer. As a result of my reflections I've come to the conclusion that going to a deer stand is often not comfortable, and it is not about killing or even seeing a deer. So, what is a deer stand? And what is it all about?

Sometimes a deer stand is a wooden platform placed strategically in a tree near a deer trail or "high use" area in deer habitat. Often it is a cumbersome, somewhat portable, metal contraption hung from a tree, designed to make deer hunters feel somewhat comfortable for long hours in all kinds of weather; more often than not cold, windy, drizzly, snowy, miserable weather. A deer stand is someplace where the hunter hangs not only his stand, but also his hopes. Hopes of seeing a deer; hopes of seeing a buck, a big buck, one that might make the record book. Hopes of getting a chance in the clear and close enough. Hopes of a good shot and a clean kill. A deer stand is that and more. It is also a place where men, women and children go to get away from the office, the tedium, and the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It is a place for a short vacation; a place to rest in solitude, to enjoy nature, to commune with the other creatures of earth; a place to renew the spirit and soul; a place to forget what lies behind and remember what hopefully lies ahead.

I've spent more hours than I care to count on a deer stand in good and bad weather. The times in bad weather never leave my mind. Like the time I sat in a pouring rain, hoping it would let up so the big ten point buck I had been watching would appear. Or the time I went to my stand after a heavy snowfall and the temperature plummeted. I stayed at my stand, hoping a deer would come out for a quick bite to eat while trees crashed to the ground around me with the weight of the frozen snow. I finally had sense enough to get out of the woods before a tree fell on me.

The times in good weather are sometimes forgotten, because of my interest in seeing a deer before it sees me. But, even when I haven't seen a deer, there are days I remember well, because I've had company. When I sit in my stand there are often scolding Blue Jays nearby, occasional Robins, Chickadees calling out their own name, and Downy or Hairy Woodpeckers calling peek as they search through the branches for a meal. If I'm in the right area a Ruffed or Spruce Grouse may walk by. A Cardinal or a Song Sparrow often let me know when its morning. There are furry creatures too. I've had Raccoons hustle across the deer trail, looking like large balls of moving fur; and rabbits often stop and feed in the shadows. I've often been kept company and fooled into thinking a deer was on the trail by the rustling of leaves as a red, gray or fox squirrel or coyote searched for food on the forest floor. After an initial inspection the squirrels usually go about their business, or sit in the crook of a tree, their tail curled over their back like a parasol, while they munch on some tidbit held in their tiny paws.

From my latest stand I can hear the hunting cry of a Red-tailed Hawk as it soars over the hayfield as it searches for mice. The crows that caw most of the day have often kept me from using this stand because they claim the tree as their own, and loudly protest my presence, alerting every animal within hearing that an intruder is in their woods. In the morning I can hear the lazy quack of a hen mallard, and the deeper raeb - raeb - raeb of the drake mallard on the nearby lake. Over all the other sounds I hear the herr onk-onk ... herr onk-onk of five hundred geese as they land in the lake and nearby cornfields.

At other times I sit alone on my stand, just watching as the sky changes from purple to violet to pink. Then the great, glorious, orange ball of the sun peaks over the horizon, spreading it's light slowly over the shadow covered fields and hillsides. The grass and goldenrods in the meadow below me glisten with dew or frost and, for a while, everything has a silvery shine from the reflection of the sun. Daylight creeps across the land and the birds begin to wake, making their soft, early morning sounds. The wind picks up and I listen to it sighing as it blows through the leaves of the hardwood trees. If I happen to be in an area with pine trees the wind has a different sound, more distant, more remote; bringing with it the inner peace and stillness of the wilderness.

These sights and sounds may be the reasons deer hunters sit on a stand waiting for a deer. Some hunters may not want to admit it, but the call of the wild, the peace, the solitude; becoming one with nature, regaining primitive instincts often lost or forgotten, is what really makes them get up at what otherwise normal human beings consider ungodly hours. It is not the lust to kill; some bloodthirsty passion that drives us. It is some inner need reaching out, desiring to be expressed. The need to spend time experiencing nature and all the glorious sights, sounds and smells that God, in his wisdom, gave to the woods, the wind, the sun and the animals.

A deer stand is not just some piece of metal or wood or camouflage, where a hunter waits to kill a deer. A deer stand is sun and wind, sleet and snow, rain and cold, birds and animals, trees and grass and leaves. It is sights and sounds and smells. It is now, often was in the past, and hopefully will be in the future. A deer stand is hopes, dreams and memories. A deer stand is not just a place or a thing: it is an experience.

Deer pheromones, the scents given off by deer, are used as a means of communication. Pheromones serve to stimulate a behavioral response in another animal. White-tailed deer pheromones are present in the forehead, interdigital, tarsal and metatarsal glands while estrogen and testosterone are found in the urine. There may also be pheromones associated with the pre-orbital gland and saliva. Many of these scents are used in combination during self impregnation (rub-urination), and sign post marking (rubs, scrapes) and are interpreted by individual sexes and age classes differently. When used by themselves these scents may be interpreted differently than when they are used in combination with another scent or scents.

Recognition and Trailing Scents

Tarsal scent from the gland on the inside of the rear leg is used in combination with urine as the primary recognition scent in whitetails. This scent is both sex and age specific and deer encountering tarsal scent from another deer can determine the sex and relative age of the other animal by it's scent. Tarsal is used in combination with urine during rub-urination all year long when the animal urinates over its rear legs. All deer rub-urinate, often just after rising from their beds. Bucks rub-urinate more frequently during the rut while making scrapes. Rub-urination is used by moose and possibly elk in response to danger, probably as an alarm signal. Deer often sniff and lick each other's tarsal area during social grooming for identification, which helps to reinforce the social hierarchy. Because of this they know the smell of all the animals in their areas. I have noticed flared tarsal gland hair when bucks fight, and tarsal scent may serve as a danger or dominance signal in this instance.

The Metatarsal gland on the outside of the leg is largest in mule deer, next largest in blacktails and smallest in whitetails. It's been suggested that blacktails, and possibly mule deer, use Metatarsal scent when alarmed to express danger. It's not totally understood in whitetails.

Interdigital scent from the gland between the hooves of all four legs is used by deer to track each other. Does and fawns use it to locate each other, bucks use it to track does. The scent of each individual deer is so specific that one animal can track one individual no matter how many others are in the area, and because scent molecules evaporate at different rates an animal can also determine which direction the other is traveling.

Forehead scent from the sudoriferous glands between the antlers is used as a recognition and dominance scent. Prior to the rut bucks take part in social grooming, sniffing and licking the forehead and tarsal area. Later, when sparring and fighting begin, dominance is established and the bucks recognize each other by scent and associate it with social level.

Bucks are able to recognize the scent of other bucks once signpost marking begins, and know which rubs and what overhanging branches at scrapes have been visited by which buck. After being threatened or attacked during the pre-rut and rut, subdominant bucks soon realize they should not be in area's near a dominant buck and it's rubs and scrapes.

Recognition scents are present all year and can be used any time during the rut, or any time of the year without fear of alarming deer. However, forehead scent is most prevalent during the rut and is more effective at that time. Because deer are curious about their home range, and often exert dominance (even does) in their core area they may investigate any new scent to find out what deer had been in the area.

Both the signposts of rubs and scrapes are "dominance areas" of mature bucks. These signposts mark the areas used by the buck. Each rub contains scents from the Forehead glands. After rubbing bucks often lick the rubbed tree, and because they sometimes lick their own tarsal after rub-urinating there may be urine, testosterone, tarsal and saliva left on the rub. This combination of scents is a territorial signal proclaiming dominance by mature bucks.

These same scents may occur on the overhanging branch at a scrape (urine, testosterone, tarsal and saliva, possibly pre-orbital) because the buck sniffs, licks, rubs and chews the branch with his forehead and antlers. Urine, testosterone and tarsal are deposited in the scrape during rub-urination. The buck also leaves interdigital scent on the trail of his rub line and in the scrape as he paws the ground. This combination of scents is again a dominance and territorial signal to other bucks and a sign of a mature, dominant, breeding buck to the does.

The complex combination of scents left on signposts occurs primarily during the rut. The scents at the rub occur when bucks begin to shed their velvet. The scents at scrapes begin shortly after rubbing begins, but become most evident about a month later. These scents can be used anytime during the rubbing phase to attract bucks, but they become less effective after the first breeding phase. Because a dominant buck makes rubs and scrapes as a prelude to breeding as a proclamation of dominance, he is impelled to investigate the smell of any unknown buck intruding on his territory.

Estrogen in the urine of a doe signals sexual readiness to bucks. Bucks readily respond to estrogen, or other scents that are present when a doe is in heat, soon after they shed their velvet through the second and possibly the third estrous, which may occur as late as January, even in northern latitudes. Because bucks are curious estrogen can be used anytime of the year to attract them.

High amounts of testosterone in urine signal a buck's sexual readiness to does and dominance to other bucks. Testosterone may attract does to a particular area, in turn attracting bucks because the does are there. In one study from the University of Georgia buck urine attracted deer better than estrous urine.

Does travel extensively when they are in heat, often traveling outside their core areas, possibly in search of healthy dominant bucks to breed with. It has been suggested that does can determine the physical health of the buck by the amount of protein in its urine. The doe chooses the buck she breeds with, possibly by the combination of the protein, testosterone and tarsal from rub-urination. I've seen does wait in the vicinity of a scrape of a dominant buck until he showed up.

Lunar Factors and the Rut; The Real Truth

Several outdoor writers believe they have found a way to predict the peak of the rut by using moon phases. One writer believes that the rut will begin 5-7 days after the second Full Moon after the fall equinox, which occurs on September 21/22. He believes that the peak of the rut will occur during the New Moon. Two whitetail researchers, who also write, believe the rut will peak during the Full Moon and Last Quarter of the moon. Another writer believes that the peak of the rut will occur 5-7 days before the first New Moon following the second Full Moon after the fall equinox. What they are all saying is that peak breeding will occur somewhere between the Full Moon and the following New Moon. That would mean the peak of the rut would normally occur before the New Moon in November.

There are several reasons why the "5-7 days before the New Moon" theory may not hold up. The main reason is because the study was based in part on a study of Water Buffalo in India. While the theory may apply to Water Buffalo in India, deer biologists are quick to point out that Water Buffalo are not deer, but a form of cattle. Several researchers also point out that the tropical weather conditions in India are far different from the temperate conditions of North America.

There are two basic problems with these theories. One is that they are so new that they have not been thoroughly tested or proven yet. The other is that they each predict a slightly different time frame. One theory suggests that the peak of the rut will occur before the New Moon, one suggests that the peak will occur during the Full Moon and Last Quarter, and yet another suggests that the peak of the rut will occur 5-7 days before the New Moon. They can't all be right, yet it would be hard to say that any of them are wrong, because peak breeding in many areas usually lasts from 2-3 weeks. The chances are those 2-3 weeks would include portions of both the Full Moon and the New Moon, and everything in between.

One thing that must be made clear is that all of the breeding activity does not occur during the one to two weeks of the peak of the rut. Larry Marchinton's studies in Georgia, and my own studies in Minnesota, show that the breeding season often lasts 90 days or more. While the peak of the rut may occur in November, these studies show that from 10-20 percent of the does may be bred in October, 40-60 percent in November and another 20-30 percent in December; depending on the area, buck to doe ratio, the health of the deer, and the age structure of the herd. In Marchinton's study the 1 1/2-year-old does came into their first estrus in October and November. In most northern areas 1/2 year old does come into their first estrus in December. Generally speaking, in northern areas, the November primary rut will last three weeks, with the peak of the breeding occurring from one and a half to two weeks after the first doe comes into estrus in November.

The theories about breeding activity and the moon involve lunar light, melatonin and reproductive hormones. Melatonin is believed to be a regulator of hormones, and as such it may have the ability to affect the growth and shedding of hair, and affect estrus cycles. It is believed that melatonin is produced during the dark. Because melatonin regulates the production of hormones, some of the writers/researchers feel that a reduction in melatonin during the full moon triggers breeding activity. Supposedly, it takes a few days for the reduction in melatonin levels and the corresponding rise in reproductive hormone levels to occur. Then supposedly, peak breeding activity occurs 5-7 days after the full moon. However, the effects of low light conditions that affect the rutting period of white-tailed deer are thought to be in relation to the reduction of solar light, or daily photoperiod, during the fall; not the increase of lunar light.

To check the validity of this theory I spoke to several well-respected deer researchers. Dr. Valerius Geist says he does not believe there is a correlation between melatonin, moon phase and estrus cycles. He doesn't believe there is enough light during the full moon to affect overall monthly melatonin production. He also agrees (with me) that the prevalence of clouds during the fall would eliminate most of the lunar light during the full moon. Dr. Karl Miller does not believe there is a correlation between moon phase and whitetail estrus cycles either. He told me that in their tests with melatonin that the deer grew winter coats earlier than they normally would, but the average first estrus dates did not change. This suggests that melatonin is not the only thing that controls estrus dates.

These theories may be based, in part, on the misconception that the estrus cycle of whitetails occurs every 28 days, which coincides with a 28-day lunar cycle. However, neither the moon nor a whitetail deer has a 28-day cycle. It actually takes the moon 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds to orbit the earth once; and not all whitetails come into estrus every 28 days. Studies by Dr. Larry Marchinton in Georgia show that whitetail does come into estrus from 21 to 30 days, not every 28 days as previously thought. Therefore, even if the first estrus of a doe fell on a specific moon phase during one month, the second estrus could be as much as a week before the same moon phase a month later. I mention the first estrus because several studies on whitetail deer and other hoofed animals suggest that females experience a silent, or non-estrus, ovulation prior to having their first estrus ovulation. If this is true, and the moon phase does affect the ovulation cycle of deer, then the first "estrus" of the doe may not occur during the same moon phase a month later, because the doe may not come into estrus exactly 28 days later.

The amount of light that affects the rutting period of white-tailed deer is thought to be in relation to solar light, not lunar light. Most deer biologists believe it is the decreasing number of hours of daylight during the fall (referred to as photoperiod) that triggers the rut in white-tailed deer. In northern regions above the 40th parallel whitetails generally breed when there are 9 1/2 to 10 hours of light per day. This photoperiodic change occurs once every year, roughly every 365 days, and so does the rut. But, the rut for deer herds in different areas may vary by days or weeks.

The time of year when whitetails breed in each area is dependent on the survival rate of the fawns in the spring. Spring fawn survival depends on weather conditions that are warm enough so the fawns won't die from exposure, and on the availability of spring forage, so that the does have enough to eat to produce milk for the fawns. Through trial and error, and selective survival over several generations, the deer in each area have adapted their breeding schedule so that they breed approximately 200 days before the arrival of spring in their area. To ensure that at least some of the fawns survive each year not all of the does breed, or produce fawns, at the same time. An extended fawning season ensures that some fawns will live even when there is a late spring. Because of this, the length of the breeding season in most deer herds lasts six or more weeks, which makes it hard to predict when peak breeding occurs, especially if it is in associated with the phase of the moon.

The rut in most northern areas above the 40th parallel occurs from 180 to 210 days before spring warm-up and the emergence of new growth in that area. However, spring conditions occur at different times in different areas, and so does the rut. Because spring and summer last longer below the 40th parallel, southern deer are able to breed over a wider range of dates than northern deer. Peak breeding on Blackbeard Island off the Georgia coast occurs from mid-September to mid- October, while peak breeding for southern mainland Georgia occurs from mid-October to mid-December. Peak breeding dates in different areas of Louisiana and Texas range from as early as October 15 to as late December 15. Peak breeding in many of the northern states occurs in mid-November.

If you want to know when to expect bucks to be acting stupid during the day, and you want to know when peak breeding activity occurs in your area, check my Rut Dates Chart, it has peak breeding dates for every state where whitetails are found, or you can call the local game managers and ask them. Then you can hunt the two weeks before the breeding activity, when individual bucks are most predictable as they make their rubs and scrapes. You can also hunt the two to three weeks of the breeding period, when the bucks throw caution to the wind in their efforts to find estrus does. Or you can hunt the week after peak breeding, when the bucks are trying to find any does that remain unbred.

Although I have read several articles on lunar rut theories, what the average hunter is not being told is that does go through what deer biologists call a "silent" ovulation approximately 12 to 23 days before they experience " estrus" ovulation. During the silent ovulation the does ovulate, but there are not enough reproductive hormones present for the doe to conceive and become pregnant. What this means is that, if the moon does influence breeding behavior, and the moon does affect the estrus cycle of the doe, it is the moon phase the month before the doe comes into estrus that starts the process, and there is the crux of the problem.

Let's suppose that the full moon does trigger a reduction in melatonin level, which in turn triggers the first ovulation cycle of the doe (5 to 7 days after the full moon). In much of North America whitetail does are bred in November. That would mean that it was the full moon in October that triggered the ovulation cycle. Remember, does come into a first "estrus" ovulation until 12 to 23 days after their "silent" ovulation. And we have to add 5 to 7 days for the "melatonin effect" to the 12 to 23 days between the silent ovulation and estrus ovulation.

What that means is: IF a doe experienced a silent ovulation 5 to 7 days after the October full moon, and IF she experienced an estrus ovulation 23 days after her silent ovulation, she COULD come into estrus during the November full moon. But, what if she comes into an estrus ovulation 12 days after her silent ovulation? Then she would come into estrus nine days before the full moon. Now remember that the moon theories suggest the doe will come into estrus from 5 days before to nine days after the full moon. It just doesn't add up.

I've already mentioned that whitetail does experience a silent ovulation prior to having a normal estrus ovulation, which is when they can normally be expected to breed and conceive. And I mentioned that it appears there is no correlation between the phase of the moon and peak breeding. We do know that it is the shortening number of hours of light each day that triggers the rut. But, is there anything besides the sun that helps assure that bucks and does are ready to breed at the same time?

Miller, Marchinton and Knox presented a scientific paper in 1987, in which they suggested that the scents left behind at rubs may serve as priming pheromones, and help bring does into estrus when the does come in contact with the scents. When bucks rub a tree they transfer scents from their sudoriferous (forehead) glands to the tree. The scent from these glands has been correlated with a bucks age and probable social status. In other words, does may be able to tell how old a buck is, and probably whether or not it is a dominant buck or not, by the scent it leaves behind at a rub. But, what matters is that when does smell the scents at a rub it may cause them to come into a silent estrus. Since rubbing usually peaks early in the rut (mid to late September in many areas), and because the does don't all come in contact with the scents at the rubs at the same time, many of them may come into a "silent" ovulation in late September early/October, and come into a normal estrus from late October to late November.

Interestingly, during Marchinton's 1985 study the full moon occurred on October 28 and again on November 27, with peak estrous occurring November 9, showing no correlation with the full moon. This lack of a correlation between moon phase and peak rut was to be expected because of the lateness of the November full moon. I suspect that when the full moon occurs too early or too late the rut will occur when it usually does, during mid-November in the many areas.

My studies, research by Kent Kammermeyer, and research by Grant Woods, suggest there is a correlation between increased daytime deer activity and the moon. These correlation's are related to the position of the moon and the earth; the distance of the moon from the earth; the position and speed of the moon in its elliptical orbit; and combinations of these factors. The position of the moon (not the amount of light) during the full moon phase may cause increased gravitational pull; the distance and acceleration of the moon during the perigee (when it is closest to the earth in it's elliptical orbit) may cause changes in magnetics. The independent or combined effects of these two factors appear to increase daytime deer activity.

Because the elliptical orbit of the moon (the time it takes the moon to revolve around the earth) has a 27 1/2 day cycle, and the light phase of the moon has a 29 1/2 day cycle, the full moon and the perigee can occur on the same day, or as much as two weeks apart. This difference in cycle lengths may be the reason why deer movement is high during the full moon in some years but not in others. I suspect that when the full moon and the perigee occur at about the same time (as in 1997) it may cause increased daytime movement of deer.

No one really knows if and how these lunar factors affect deer activity; which lunar factors influence deer activity and how much; or what happens when the perigee and the full moon occur two weeks apart. The key thing to remember is that daytime deer movement (including breeding activity) appears to be highest during the week of the full moon each month. However, hunting pressure, the rut, food availability and the weather can completely override any affect the moon has on deer. My studies show that during November, when both the hunting season and rut are in progress, there was no noticeable peak in daytime deer activity.

Even though we may not be able to predict when peak breeding occurs, there may be a correlation between lunar factors and daytime deer activity. When normal deer activity, caused by the weather, the rut, or lunar factors, occurs during the day, you would expect that rut related activities such as rubbing, scraping and breeding would also occur during the day. Because Dr. Grant Woods has researched several other deer activities I asked him if this assumption was true. Woods says that when lunar forces cause increased daytime deer activity you can also expect rut activity, including rubbing, scraping and breeding, to occur during the day. Incidentally, I found that the Moon Indicator is fairly accurate at predicting when peak scrape activity will occur.

This article is an excerpt from the Whitetail Addict's Manual ($19.95 + $5.00 s&h), by T.R. Michels. It is available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products Catalog.

 For more Deer Hunting Tips click here

In many areas October is a time of transition, for both the deer and the habitat. As summer rains decrease some food sources become dry and unpalatable to deer, and other food sources (such as nuts berries and agricultural crops) start to ripen, making them more palatable. October is also when temperatures may begin to drop and the wind speed increases, which means the deer may begin to look for core areas more suitable to colder, windier weather. The result of these seasonal forage availability and weather pattern changes is that the deer may have from one to four seasonal home ranges; spring summer, fall, and winter. In many areas the deer begin to shift from their summer home ranges to their fall home ranges from early September and late October. Sometimes the deer (both bucks and does) will use the same core areas for different seasonal home ranges, but they use different portions of their home ranges for different seasons.

To be successful as a deer hunter you need to find out where the core areas of the deer are during the time frame you are hunting them, what the deer are eating at that time, and determine when and where the preferred foods become available. Since the weather affects both the suitability of daytime core/bedding areas and the availability of preferred forage, you need to scout regularly to determine where the deer spend the day, where they forage at night, and which travel routes they use between those two areas, in both the morning, and in the evening.

October is also the time when the deer are preparing for rut. During late August and early September bucks often hang out in bachelor groups. Shortly before and after the bucks shed their velvet, you may see them traveling or feeding together, and participating in sparring matches in preparation for the rut. But, within weeks of shedding their velvet the buck's testosterone levels rise to the point where they will no longer put up with each other. Once this occurs the older bucks will start to become solitary, and begin moving to and/or establishing their fall breeding ranges. Depending on forage availability, whether or not deer use the same core areas in late summer as they use in the fall, and the distance between summer home ranges and fall home ranges, it may take a week or more for the bucks to move onto and establish their fall breeding ranges.

If the deer in your area regularly breed from early to late November, the bucks often begin to break up from summer bachelor groups sometime between mid-September and mid-October. In many areas above the 36th parallel the bucks will be on their fall breeding ranges two to three weeks before the peak of the rut. If you want to know when peak breeding occurs in the area you hunt check the Rut Dates Chart on my web site at www.TRMichels.com.

You can usually tell when the bucks have moved onto their fall breeding ranges by the appearance of new or fresh rubs and scrapes, in areas where they have not previously occurred that year. Once you start seeing new rubs and scrapes after mid-October you can begin watching the area to see which bucks have moved into the area, which bucks are traveling near the rubs and scrapes you've found, and what time of day they are near them.

As early as 1974 Larry Marchinton and Karl Miller began to research the role of whitetail rubs and scrapes during the rutting season. While much of the research on scrapes centered around the mechanics of scrape making (chewing on the overhead branch and marking it with the forehead, pawing the ground, and urinating into the scrape), the researchers also studied the type of habitat where scrapes were found; the size of the scrapes; the mutilation of the overhanging branch; how many scrapes there were in a given area; when scraping began, peaked and ended; and how scraping corresponded to rubbing and breeding.

Since that time many other researchers have studied scrape activity to determine the possible visual and olfactory functions of a scrape; and how age and dominance affect scraping activity. While some of this information has been passed on to hunters through articles and seminars, a lot of it is unknown to the hunting public, because it may be difficult for the average hunter to understand due to the scientific nature of the information, and because it has more to do with whitetail biology and management than it does to hunting. However, some of this relatively unknown research on scraping behavior can help hunters, because it can tell them which scrapes to hunt, where to hunt, what time of day to hunt, what rut phase to hunt, whether more than one buck is using a scrape, and whether or not there is a dominant buck in the area.

After reading several of the research papers sent to me by Larry Marchinton, and because I wanted to find out when fall scraping began and peaked in my area, I began monitoring the scrapes on the properties I hunt on a daily basis. As a hunter and a guide I wanted to find out which scrapes were most likely to be used during the day; which scrapes were used during the different phases of the rut; how often individual scrapes would be used; which scrapes would be used most frequently; which scrapes were most likely to be used by trophy class bucks; and most importantly, to try to determine if there was a way to predict which scrapes would be used, and when they would be used.

In the years since 1994 I have monitored scrape activity on six different deer herds in three widely separated locations. In that time I have checked over 200 scrapes, and documented over 300 uses at those scrapes. Because I wanted to find out what makes deer tick, particularly dominant bucks, I kept track of anything that might affect deer activity; weather conditions, lunar factors, hunting pressure, breeding activity, and particularly the progression of the rut.

Every day I would get up before dawn, check the weather conditions for temperature, humidity, dewpoint, wind speed and direction, wind-chill, barometric pressure, cloud cover and precipitation. I would also consult all of the known game predictor tables I could find; Solunar Table, Feeding and Fishing Times, Vektor Fish and Game Activity Tables, Moon Guide, Deer Activity Index and the Rut Guide. I would then place all this data on graphs. For the first three years I watched the deer from an hour before sunrise to three to four hours after, and from three hours before sunset until I could no longer see. I wrote down everything I saw; what time I saw the deer, where they were, how many deer there were, what age and sex class they were, what they were doing, which way they moved, how they reacted to each other, and when rubbing, scraping and breeding occurred. Between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM I would check every scrape I could find, and write down its location, the type of terrain it was in, the type of tree it was under, which days it was used, during which rut phase it was used, and how often it was used.

As a result of my research I realized that I could predict when and where to find deer, and predict when rubbing and scraping would occur, based on the current weather conditions. I found that the timing of the rut, and breeding, has a lot to do with scraping activity. I also found that the current meteorological conditions could affect whether or not bucks are likely to scrape on any particular day. (That information is included in the Daily Deer Movement Indicator in the Trinity Mountain Outdoors catalog.) I also found that scraping in different habitats occurred at particular times of the day, and that most scraping occurred just prior to peak breeding. But, I found no way to accurately predict which scrapes would be used at any particular time, which was what I really wanted to do.

For the next three years I limited my research to scrape activity only. The results of my research showed that scraping begins a lot earlier than most hunters realize; that most scrapes are used at night; that scraping falls off significantly during certain phases of the rut; that the areas where bucks scrape change during the rut; that some scrapes are used only once and others up to twenty or more times; that some scrapes are used so infrequently that they are probably not good hunting sites; that scrapes maybe able to tell you whether or not there is a dominant buck in the area; and that scraping can help you predict when peak breeding is occurring in your area.

During the last two years of my research I found a way to predict which scrapes are most likely to be used during the different phases; and, in many areas, which scrapes are most likely to be used during the different phases of the rut. But, I still did not find a way to predict which scrapes would be used on any particular day. However, I believe I did find a way to predict when peak scraping should occur.

Before we go further let's go over some scrape basics. A scrape is a combination visual (sight) and olfactory (scent) sign left primarily for other deer. Other deer can see the mutilated overhanging branch, and the bareness of the ground,, and the complex set of scents at a scrape are easily smelled by all deer. The scents at scrapes help does identify the social status and health of the bucks using the scrape, and which bucks that are using the scrape. These scents are also a signal to other bucks in the area.

Scrape making by dominant bucks involves two different signposts and four different actions: 1. the overhanging branch; a. rubbing the branch with antlers and forehead and, b. rubbing and licking or chewing the branch with the nose and mouth. 2. the scrape, a. pawing the ground and, b. urinating or rub urinating into or behind the pawed area. The usual sequence of scrape making is; 1a. the buck rubs a low hanging branch over an open area with its' antlers and forehead, leaving forehead scent from its' sudoriferous glands on the branch. It may also rub the area near its' eyes on the branch, possibly leaving scent from the preorbital gland. 1b. it usually rubs the branch with its' nose and mouth and licks or pulls on the branch with its' mouth. Because the buck may have previously rub-urinated, then licked its' own tarsal, it may leave urine, testosterone and tarsal scent on the branch. It may also leave scent from the nasal glands, and saliva on the branch. 2a. the buck then paws the ground with both hooves, using three to five strokes with each hoof, leaving interdigital scent on the torn up ground litter and dirt. 2b. the buck then urinates or rub-urinates, leaving urine, testosterone and tarsal scent in or behind the scrape.

When bucks rub a tree or overhanging branch with their antlers and forehead they leave behind chemical compounds produced by their forehead (sudoriferous) glands, and possibly compounds from their pre-orbital glands. When they lick, chew or rub an overhanging branch, they leave behind chemical compounds from their salivary glands, and possibly from their nasal glands. When bucks rub-urinate they leave behind chemical compounds from their urine, testosterone and their tarsal glands on the ground. These actions create a complex set of scent signals for other deer in the area. Some deer researchers believe that these chemical compounds may serve as priming pheromones that are used to bring does into estrous, and are also used to help synchronize breeding behavior between the bucks and does. These pheromones may also tell subdominants that a dominant is using the area.

In a study conducted by Larry Marchinton et al. scrapes were associated with game trails, old roads and small openings. In my own studies I found that scrapes often occur along fence lines; along ridges, benches and river bottoms; and at the edges between wooded areas and openings, such as fields and meadows. These are all high use areas where whitetails normally travel, and where frequently used or "primary" scrapes are often found. When clusters of rubs and scrapes occur in one area, hunters often refer to the area as a buck "dominance area."

Dominance areas are often found near staging areas, downwind of food sources and also within individual doe use areas. Staging areas are places where deer gather (usually in the evening) before entering feeding areas at duck. If bucks want to attract does then staging areas are one of the best places to leave signposts. This suggests that a scrape found in a doe use area was probably made by a dominant buck, and that there should be a rub route nearby. If the rub route is near a trail, road, stream or river bottom, it may be in a travel corridor. If there is a nearby food source the rub route and scrape may be in a staging area. If other signs confirm that the scrape is in a high use area you should see deer on a regular basis, provided there is still nearby food.

The hoof marks in the scrape; direction of the scrape marks; and where the dirt, snow or leaves are piled, tell you the direction the buck was facing when it made the scrape. However, these signs will not tell you the direction the buck came from, because it may have had to face a different direction than it was traveling in order to use a particular scrape. The direction of the rub route helps you determine which way the buck is traveling.

In Georgia, Marchinton et al. found that bucks use sweet gum, loblolly pine, greenbriar and dogwood as scrape sites. In the Midwest bucks use pine, cedar, apple, plum, ash, red and white oak, cottonwood, box elder and maple. Many of these trees have few lower limbs, but often have one of suitable height to use as a licking branch. Individual bucks often have a preference for particular trees; a 12 point buck on one of my study sites used red oak, mulberry, ash and pine; a big 10 point used red oak almost exclusively; and one 8 point preferred apple and plum trees.

Hunters often find several scrapes in a fairly small area. I have found as many as eight scrapes under two trees that were within ten yards of each other. During my research I found that numerous scrapes in the same area could be caused by different circumstances. There may be more than one buck using the area, but using several different trees, or even different branches on the same tree being used. Several scrapes may occur in a small area when a buck uses the same tree, but not always under the same branch. These scrapes may eventually be connected, creating what looks like one very large scrape. Several fresh scrapes together may only be the result of rutting urge, and they may never be used again. One of my hunters watched a buck make five scrapes in a half and hour; those scrapes were never used again. One or more dominant bucks may make several small scrapes as a threat to subdominant bucks, especially if the dominants are with a doe. Several frequently used scrapes indicate a high use area, often in a staging area near a food source, or along travel corridor.

If you are interested in more deer hunting tips click on T.R.'s Hunting Tips. If you have questions about whitetails log on to the T.R.'s Hunting Tips message board. To find out when the rut begins, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

This article is an excerpt from the Scrape Hunter's Manual ($9.95 + $5.00 s&h), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products Catalog.

There have been a number of studies and articles recently by researchers and outdoor writers who are trying to determine whether or not there is a correlation between lunar conditions and deer activity. The articles have stirred the interest of whitetail hunters who would like to be able to predict when deer will be seen during the hunting season. Interest in lunar conditions is not new however, because hunters and fisherman have been using the moon to predict game activity for years. This interest in lunar activity and game movement has led to a variety of Sun and moon related animal activity predictors/tables for hunters and fisherman, and there are more on the way.

The problem with the research, theories, predictors and tables is that there are so many of them; and there are so many lunar factors that may or may not influence deer activity. To compound the problem different researchers use different lunar factors, and combinations of factors, while doing their research and making their predictions, which causes mass confusion among hunters. For example: several popular game predictor tables predict the times of day fish and game are expected to be active or feed. At least one outdoor writer claims to have found a correlation between daytime deer activity during specific times of the day and the position of the moon. One researcher claims to have found a correlation between nighttime deer activity and moon phase. Another researcher claims to have found a correlation between monthly daytime deer activity and a combination of lunar factors; which may or may not include the position, amount of light, declination, distance and gravitational pull of the moon. Some of these researchers and writers are currently trying to correlate estrus cycles of white-tailed deer and peak rut activity with moon phase.

Daytime activity, nighttime activity, monthly activity, estrus cycles, peak of the rut, moon phase, moon position, declination, distance, gravity. No wonder it's confusing, and most of it is theory. Even the researchers admit that although they may find correlation's between lunar conditions and deer activity, they are not sure what the causes are.

If you are interested in more deer hunting tips click on T.R.'s Hunting Tips. If you have questions about whitetails log on to the T.R.'s Hunting Tips message board. To find out when the rut begins, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

This article is an excerpt from the Deer Addict's Manual Volume 4: Lunar Factors, The Real Truth ($9.95 + $5.00 s&h), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products Catalog.

Several popular game charts claim to be able to predict DAILY deer activity (not monthly activity, which I'll talk about later) based on the position of the moon in relation to a given spot on earth. We know that the gravitational pull of the moon is strongest when the moon is directly overhead and underfoot, with the greatest gravitational pull often occurring when the moon is directly overhead. This is evidenced by the daily tides, with the highest tide usually occurring when the moon is overhead. Because the earth revolves as it moves around the sun, the moon will be directly overhead or underfoot at different times each day. The game charts take this into account, and predict that deer will be most active/feed when the moon is either directly overhead or underfoot of the animals current position because of this gravitational pull, with predicted major times often coinciding with the overhead position of the moon and minor times coinciding with the underfoot position of the moon.

The Solunar Table, Vektor Fish and Game Activity Tables, and Feeding Times and Moon Guide all rely on the position of the moon, and claim to be able to predict game movement from a half hour before and after to two hours before and after the predicted times. One of them predicts poor, fair good and best days of the month. I placed all these predictor/tables on a graph and found that, because they all rely on lunar orbit, they paralleled each other within hours. However, I noticed that many of the times that they predicted were during the hours of dawn and dusk. One of the reasons hunters report seeing deer during the times predicted is because the tables predict up to four hours each day as the best times to hunt; and they often predict morning and evening times. In November, when there are only about ten hours of daylight, the chances of seeing deer are obviously fairly high during the predicted times. Because deer are most active in the morning and evening during the fall, and these are the times when most hunters see deer, I decided to check the accuracy of the tables during the predicted midday hours.

In my own efforts to correlate deer movement with weather and moon factors I kept precise daily records from October 1, 1994 through January 8, 1995. To check the accuracy of these tables I chose the month of November, which coincides with the gun season and the rut in many areas. Then I compared the tables with the deer sightings of myself, and four other hunters. Upon checking the results I found very little correlation between the predictors and deer movement other than during the normal movement times of dawn and dusk. Between 10 AM and 3 PM there was very little deer movement at the times predicted by these tables. On several occasions I watched deer lay down and get up, but could not correlate their movement with any of the tables.

All the tables predicted game activity during normal morning and evening movement times on five days in November, and above normal deer activity did occur on two of those days. But, the tables were accurate only 17 percent of the time, and only when they predicted activity during normal deer movement times, in the morning and evening, when hunters see most deer anyhow. There were also four days when above normal activity occurred when it was not predicted by the tables. Overall the tables did a poor job of accurately predicting HOURLY deer movement, outside of the normal daily deer movement hours of dawn and dusk.

The problem with the tables, even when they are correct, and if they work, is that they don't agree on which days or times are best to hunt. So, which table should you use? Is one better than the others? What if the select days don't coincide with the hunting season, or coincide with the days you have available to hunt? What if the select times don't coincide with the hours you can hunt? Then the tables do you no good. By the way, if you choose to use all the tables available you end up hunting almost the whole day for the entire month.

Because I did not know about the Deer Activity Index or the Moon Guide until 1995 I did not check their accuracy that year. But, when I received their 1994 predictions I decided to check their accuracy against my 1994 data. To my surprise I found both the DAI and Moon Guide to be quite accurate. But, there are obvious reasons for their accuracy.

Jeff Murray's Moon Guide predicts not only the time of day, but predicts where to expect deer at that time. Deer activity during the day is fairly predictable. At dawn and dusk deer can usually be found near food sources. During early evening hours deer usually move through travel corridors (what Murray calls "transition areas") on the way to their nighttime feeding sources. During late morning hours deer usually move through those "transition areas" on the way to their daytime bedding areas. At midday deer are generally found in bedding areas. Murray's Moon Guide suggests hunting these areas at those times, which makes it quite accurate. I did find deer in the suggested areas at the times predicted on a regular basis. BUT, that's where I would expect the deer to be at those times of the day anyhow. In other words: you don't need the Moon Guide to tell you when and where to hunt.

The reason why these tables are not more accurate is because they do not take into account the other factors that affect daily deer movement: specifically daily meteorological conditions, food availability, the rut, predatory behavior, distance to and from limited/preferred food sources, and hunting pressure. Some weather conditions cause a decrease in daytime deer movement, while other weather conditions cause an increase in daytime deer movement. Abundant food sources often decrease daytime deer movement, while limited food sources often increase daytime deer movement. The rut inevitably increases daytime deer movement. Predatory behavior and hunting pressure reduces daytime deer movement.

When you use lunar predictors without taking into account the other factors, which may cause an increase in daytime deer activity, you will inevitably miss some excellent hunting opportunities when above normal daytime deer activity occurs. If you don't take into account the other factors that decrease, and in some cases completely override lunar influence on daytime deer movement, you may hunt several days without seeing a deer. The purpose of a deer movement chart should be to help hunters reliably predict the days when deer will be most active, so they can hunt on those days, and then decide whether or not to hunt the days when deer are not active. And there is a way to do that.

As a result of my four-year study on deer movement, I devised the Daily Deer Movement Indicator (DDMI) which predicts above normal deer movement based on the time of day, the current weather conditions, moon conditions, the rut and the available food sources. During the same 1994 deer study as mentioned above, the DDMI predicted daytime deer movement on thirty-five of sixty days. There was above normal deer movement on thirty of the thirty-five days predicted, for an accuracy rate of 86 percent. But, there were two days when above normal deer movement occurred when it was not predicted.

The DDMI can also be used in conjunction with other predictors. By using the DDMI in combination with the DAI, or with my own Moon Indicator, their accuracy rate could be increased to 95 percent, almost double their individual accuracy rate. But, there were still those two days when above normal deer movement occurred when it was not predicted. This only goes to show that there will be times when none of the tables will be accurate in predicting daytime deer activity.

This article is an excerpt from the Deer Addict's Manual Volume 4; Lunar Factors, The Real Truth, by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products Catalog.

 For more Deer Hunting Tips click here

There are several factors that determine when and where deer move during the fall. An understanding of these factors can explain the reduced sightings of bucks during the hunting season. These factors fall into seven different categories; Comfort, Security, Predatory Behavior (natural predators and hunting), Food Availability, Travel Distance, Breeding Behavior and Lunar Forces.

Fall signals an increase in white-tailed deer activity, which is brought on by changing food supplies and the rut. In study by Kammermeyer and Marchinton deer traveled greater average distances per day during the fall than they did in the summer. Deer also traveled greater distances per hour during both dawn and dusk in the fall than they did during the summer. There was also a shift in daytime deer activity: during the day in the summer the deer were most active at dusk, from 6 PM to 10 PM; during the day in the fall they were most active at dawn, from 4 AM to 10 AM, with movement continuing until noon. Overall, the deer moved more during darkness in the fall than they did in the summer. This increase in deer movement during darkness in the fall can be attributed to decreasing hours of daylight (in some areas from 14 to 8 hours), decreasing foliage as leaves fell (leaving deer more exposed during daylight hours) and changing food sources.

During the summer deer can feed securely in wooded areas where there is abundant forage. In the fall deer often feed more heavily on agricultural crops, and browse in more open areas, which causes them to feed more at nigh for security reasons. The change in feeding patterns from summer wooded areas to open fall food sources forces the deer to travel farther in search of food. I refer to deer movement from bedding sites to food sources as the "Distance Factor."

In most areas inhabited by whitetails fall brings significant changes in weather patterns. Barometric pressure and temperatures fluctuate more, there is more cloud cover, more precipitation and stronger winds. These changes often combine to create low temperatures, changes in dewpoint, lower wind-chill factors and storms. These meteorological changes create a reduction in plant chlorophyll production, causing some plant food sources to die or become dormant, leaves to fall, and other food sources to ripen.

As fall approaches and deer begin growing their heavy winter coats the temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, dewpoint, wind-chill, and amount of vegetation and cloud cover all have the ability to affect the comfort of the deer. I refer to these meteorological changes as "Comfort Factors." In extreme conditions meteorological changes may also affect the health of the deer, and as such they can also be considered as "Security Factors."

This article is an excerpt from the Whitetail Addict's Manual ($19.95 + $5.00 s&h), by T.R. Michels. It is available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products Catalog.

For more Deer Hunting Tips click here

Scientifically speaking the term "The Rut" refers to the time-frame when a male deer (of any species) is capable of breeding, which is generally accepted as from the time when a male (in the northern hemisphere) sheds the velvet on its antlers in late summer or early fall, to the time it drops its antlers in winter or early spring; or as the time from when the first female comes into estrous, to the time when most of the females no longer come into estrous.

In tropical areas some deer species may have males in hard antler, and be capable of breeding, throughout the entire year, because the females are capable of breeding throughout the year. In North America the white-tailed deer rut does not usually begin before August, nor does it last longer than late February or early March.

The white-tailed deer rut is generally divided into several different phases, which coincide with particular activities of the breeding season. In white-tailed deer these activities include rubbing, scraping and breeding, each of which has one or more peaks throughout he breeding season.

Unfortunately, the terms The Rut, Peak Rut and Peak of the Rut are often used interchangeably by both outdoor writers/speakers/authors and hunters. The truth of the matter is the term The Rut applies to the entire length of the breeding season, and the terms Peak Rut and Peak of the Rut apply only to the one-week time-frame when peak breeding actually occurs. Several different studies show that rarely are more than 30 percent of the does in any area bred during any one week. So, the majority of the does (over 50 percent) are probably bred over a three to four week time frame; this is a much longer rut than many hunters realize.

Generally speaking the farther south the deer are, the earlier they can begin to breed and the later they can continue to breed, because the warmer climate allows the fawns to be born and survive throughout most of the year. Therefore, southern deer often have medium to long breeding season lengths, but the deer may not have noticeable peaks in breeding activity, because very few does are in estrous during the same weeks; and the bucks are not extremely active as they search for, chase, tend and breed the few does that are in estrous. Since there may not be a lot of does in estrous at the same time, the bucks can breed at their leisure, which results in much of the searching, chasing, tending and actual breeding occurring during the night. Consequently this may led to very few actual fights for breeding rights. The result is there is often not a noticeable rut.

In contrast the farther north the deer are, the later they begin to breed, and they can't continue to breed for very long, because fawns born too late the next year would not survive the fall and winter. Therefore, northern deer generally begin breeding later than southern deer, and they have shorter breeding seasons, but often with very noticeable peak breeding activity, because a large of number does are in estrous within the same few weeks, and the bucks are actively searching, chasing, tending and breeding does, even during daylight hours. This may lead to frequent fights for breeding rights. This often leads to a very noticeable rut.

The rut phases also do not coincide with particular months, because in many cases the different phases or activities of the rut, such as rubbing, scraping and breeding, overlap each other, and the different rut phases may begin during one month, and continue into the next month. But, generally speaking (which is all that these differences in the breeding seasons of white-tailed deer will allow me), we can say that particular breeding-related activities occur during particular months of the year. This is particularly true for deer above the 40th parallel. For instance, in the northern states and Canada, rubbing and scraping generally begins from the end of August to the first part of September. And peak breeding in most of these same areas occurs in November, often in mid-November.

This article is an excerpt from the book Hunting The Whitetail Rut Phases, by T.R. Michels available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.

By T.R. Michels

Two of the scenarios I described in the first part of this series on rubs show that deer prefer to follow the path of least resistance. However, the preference for the path of least resistance is over- ridden by the need to travel when and where the deer feel secure. If the bucks in your area stop rubbing in particular areas try to figure out why, then start looking for them again. One of the ways to do that is to look for rubs and scrapes in areas where they haven't previously appeared that year.

New rubs and scrapes in new areas tell you that a buck has recently moved into that area. Since both rubbing and scraping may diminish during the Dispersal Phase/Home Range Shift you may have to wait until peak scraping begins in your area before you find the bucks or their rub routes. Peak scraping in most areas begins about three weeks before peak breeding. When bucks move out of an area as a result of Defoliation or Disturbances look for trails, tracks, rubs and scrapes deeper into cover, higher up or lower down hills, or in areas where the bucks can move where they don't see, hear or smell humans of human activity.

Rubs indicate areas the bucks use because of food, cover, water, a travel lane, or because females use the area. Large rubs may indicate that there may have been a large buck in the area at some time. The number of rubs in an area can also tell you if you are in a high use area; numerous rubs in a small area often define a "dominance area" within the buck's home range, which the buck probably uses frequently.

The type of habitat the rubs are in tells you when the buck travels through the area, and if you are near its bedroom. If there are many small rubs in thick brush, or in a heavily wooded area, you may be near the buck's bedroom. Rubs along a lightly used trail, leading from a buck bedroom to an area that may be used as a food source, indicate a rub route. If there are rub clusters away from the bedroom you may be in a doe staging area. Rubs in the open are made primarily at night, rubs in cover may be made by bucks during the day. Old rubs indicate previous (often traditional) use areas. Since traditional rubs are often used during the breeding phase they area they are in should be a good hunting site, especially during the breeding phase. If the area hasn't been over hunted, or the deer run off, it should be investigated for recent use.

Many whitetail experts believe that only big bucks rub on big trees. The problem is that the average hunter translates this statement to mean "trophy" bucks. Most rubs, especially those made early in the season, are made by dominant bucks 3.5 year old or older, with high testosterone levels. The high testosterone level helps make the buck dominant. But, not all older bucks carry big racks, some 3.5 year old bucks only have "respectable" eight point racks that are not trophy class. Because of the young age of the bucks in an area, or the lack of other bucks in an area, the dominant buck may be a small racked buck.

I believe bucks with big racks make rubs on big trees. However, I have watched big racked bucks use trees from 1 to 6 inches in diameter. Because the rub is on a small tree does not mean a small racked buck made it. I have also watched a small racked buck work a 9 inch tree. Most 3.5 year old bucks, with an 8 point rack, scoring in the 100 range, are able to rub 5-6 inch trees. Interestingly, Woods et al. found that (to their knowledge) large rubs occurred only in areas with 3.5 year old or older bucks, which suggests that older bucks make larger rubs. But, the researchers found that younger bucks also used the large rubs. This means that large rubs indicate there may have been one or more large bucks in the area at some time. It does not mean those bucks are still there, even if the rub is fresh.

During the Pre-primary Breeding/Scraping Phase, bucks feel the need to rub and scrape, and they often do it where there are does. This forces the bucks to leave their own core areas and travel to food sources and doe core areas. Although the bucks would still prefer to move at night, the rutting urge often causes them to leave their bedding areas earlier in the afternoon than normal, which makes them susceptible to hunting in the late afternoon and evening. The distance they travel to nighttime food sources often causes them to return home later than normal in the morning, which makes them susceptible to hunting in the early morning and mid-morning hours.

Bucks will often continue these semi-regular travel patterns until the does come into estrous. Once the does come into estrous the bucks will often forsake traveling their rub routes (and making rubs and scrapes) to chase, follow and breed every willing doe they can find. To translate: during the fall bucks are most predictable in their daytime movements during the Pre-primary Breeding/Scraping Phase, and they are most predictable along their rub routes, especially during the late afternoon to early evening hours, and during the early morning hours.

Although bucks may travel more during the day during the Primary Breeding Phase than they do in the Pre-primary Breeding/Scraping Phase, they are often unpredictable during the Primary Breeding Phase. That does not mean that hunting rub routes during the Primary Breeding Phase is a lost cause, because bucks often travel the same travel corridors leading to and from food sources and doe core areas as they did when they were traveling their rub routes during the pre-primary breeding phase. But, they don't necessarily travel those areas at the same time, or as regularly as they did during the Pre-primary Breeding/Scraping Phase. Because bucks are unpredictable during the Primary Breeding Phase you should be ready to hunt all day long, especially after other hunters have left their stands, or when they are not out spooking the deer.

Because rub routes usually go through the most secure areas along the path of least resistance, bucks use those areas throughout the fall. Bucks often travel their rub routes during the Post Primary Breeding Phase as they look for any does that are not bred. They will also begin using the rub route just before and during the Late Breeding Phase. If the nighttime food sources still contain forage after the rut, the bucks may still use their rub routes as they go to feed.

Once I find a buck core area I walk the rub route and look for sites where I have a chance at the buck as it walks by in the morning or evening. I look for stand sites that are ten to twenty yards off the trail, and choose several sites, so I can play the wind and avoid thermal currents that may send my scent to the deer. Bucks often approach rubs and scrapes from 20-30 yards downwind if they can, remember this when you choose a stand site.

I like to setup in some type of a bottleneck that restricts the size of the area that the buck can move through. Gullies, ravines, river and creek bottoms, low areas between two low hills, saddles at the top of hills, narrow wooded strips, and thick cover, where there are rub routes, are the places I look for. In particular, I look for rubs that have been used for two or more years. I also look for areas containing one or more frequently used scrapes. Scrapes tell me that there are probably does coming through the area, and does attract bucks. A frequently used scrape tells me one or more bucks is using the area on a regular basis. Several scrapes tell me that one or more bucks may be using the area, and that they feel comfortable spending time there.

If, like many hunters, you can't get close to the buck's core area because you don't have access to the property where it beds, you still have several options: 1. During the Pre-primary Breeding/Scraping Phase; a. hunt the rub route out of the bucks core area, as close as you can get, and hope to see the buck as it leaves in the afternoon/evening. b. hunt the rub route into the buck's core area, as close you can get, and hope to see the buck as it returns in the morning. (If you don't see the buck during the Pre-primary Breeding/Scraping Phase you may be too far from the buck's core area to see it during legal daylight hours.) 2. Hunt these areas same during the Post Primary Breeding Phase, the Late Breeding Phase, and the Post Rut, because these are the areas the bucks travels through on their way to food, and as they look for does. 3. During the Primary Breeding Phase you can hunt along the rub route; a. near doe core areas, b. near morning and evening food sources, c. near buck core areas. These are the areas where you are most likely to see bucks looking for, chasing, tending, or breeding does when the does are in estrous. You should plan to hunt all day when the does are in estrous, because you never know when or where you will see a buck.

Once you've located a rub route the key to hunting it is to know where the buck beds during the day, so that you know how and where to hunt. When you hunt rub routes try to get as close to the buck's core area as you can. Since a buck spends the majority of its day in the core area, that's where you will have the best chance of seeing bucks during the day. Because there may not be any rubs leading from an open night food source back to a buck's core area, and since buck core areas are generally in secure/wooded areas, the easiest way to locate a buck core area is to walk the rub route backwards. When you follow the rub route, and see several rubs facing you as you walk, turn around and go the other way. If the route you are on leads to an open food source you are probably going in the wrong direction to locate the buck's core area. If the route leads into heavy cover you are probably going the right way.

I like to go into the buck's core area before I hunt. I want to find the general bedding are of the buck, so that I can get close enough to see it during legal daylight hours without spooking it when I hunt. When I follow the trail into heavy cover, or up onto a bench that is out of the wind, and I lose the trail, or if several lightly used trails split off the main trail, I know I am getting close. This is when I start to look for rubs on 1-2 inch trees, large beds, and large clumped droppings. When I find them I know I have found one of the areas where the buck beds during the day. Because I may jump the buck on these forays into it's sanctuary I prefer to locate the core area several weeks before I hunt, so the buck has a chance to return to its normal routine. I usually go into buck bedrooms in early October, after they have moved to their fall core area, and after they begin making new rubs and scrapes in that area.

The key to hunting rubs is not only which type of rubs to hunt near, but which areas to hunt, what time of the day to hunt near them, and what phase of the rut to hunt near them. Several different research studies show that most rubbing and scraping occurs at night, and that deer often move slower during the evening than they do in the morning. This means that the best time of the day to hunt near rubs is probably in the evening, with early morning a close second.

Because Type 1 rubs occur in open areas, and are most frequent in September, they are usually unproductive hunting sites. Type 2 rubs on the other hand, are most frequent during the scraping phase (the last two weeks of October) and the breeding phase (the first three weeks of November), when they can be productive hunting sites. Because highly visible Type 3 rubs (that occur during peak breeding) may be important signposts, they may be the best rubs to hunt near, especially during the breeding phase.

Since traditional rubs are used most frequently during the Primary Breeding Phase, and almost as frequently during the Pre-primary Breeding / Scraping Phase, traditional rubs are the rubs to hunt at those times. Because most rubs made during the day occur in secluded areas, the best place to hunt rubs is along wooded rub routes in river and ravine bottoms or other low-lying areas, and in wooded sites near staging areas, where the bucks feel secure traveling during the day.

Rub routes, traditional rubs and frequently used scrapes all add up to places where you want to be during the Pre-primary Breeding/Scraping Phase, because that's when bucks are traveling rub routes and actively making scrapes in both the evening and morning hours. It's also where you want to be during the Primary Breeding Phase and the Late Breeding Phase, because it's a good bet that you will see does traveling through the area on their way to and from food sources. It's also where you will see bucks looking for, chasing, tending and following does when the does come into estrous at those times.

If you are interested in more deer hunting tips click on T.R.'s Hunting Tips. If you have questions about whitetails log on to the T.R.'s Hunting Tips message board. To find out when the rut begins, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

This article is an excerpt from the The Whitetail Addict's Manual ($24.95 + $5.00 s&h), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products Catalog.

I first picked up the deer trail as it came out of a finger of woods and entered a cornfield. I had seen a ten point buck come out of the finger shortly after sundown on three different occasions in the last two weeks. After the third time I decided to find out where the buck had come from. As I walked the edge of the cornfield the next day I had seen the trail that led down through the narrow finger of oaks. Thirty yards from the cornfield I found a small opening in the woods with a scrape under a low hanging red oak limb. The trail continued beyond the scrape and led deeper into the wooded hillside.

At first the trail had been fairly easy to follow, I saw the occasional large tracks of a buck, grass and leaves pressed into the dirt, and a few scattered rubs. Some of the rubs were on large trees six to eight inches in diameter, but most of them were on one to two inch saplings, often with their branches broken or mangled. Now, as the trail led farther into the woods and uphill into the thick undergrowth it became harder to follow. It became more vague, and I had lost it at least twice as it traveled along a bench below the top of the hill, after a few minutes of searching I had found the trail both times.

When I picked up the trail the last time it led into thick stand of saplings under a canopy of large white oaks. Twenty yards into the thick underbrush the trail seemed to split into several lightly used trails, which all seemed to disappear within a few yards. That's when I knew I was close. I squatted on my heels and closely examined the brush around me. A few yards ahead and to my left was a rub, there was another one farther along the bench, and one fifteen yards away just over the side of the bench. Within thirty yards I found what I was looking for, three large beds that appeared to have been used on different days. I also found a total of seven rubs, several large tracks with rounded toes, suggesting that a buck had made them; and near one of the beds a large clump of deer pellets, almost a sure sign that the beds were made by a buck.

I began writing this article after one of my editors mentioned how many articles he had read that said the best place to hunt a buck was near its bedding area. But, he said that not many of the articles talked about how to find buck bedding areas. Before we get into how to find a buck bedding area, let's discuss why you should hunt near a buck's bedding area.

Throughout the year deer travel more during the day than they do at night. But, as fall approaches this pattern begins to change and deer, especially bucks, begin to travel less during daylight hours and more during the one to two hours before and after, dawn and dusk, with continued movement throughout the night. The increasing late evening, early morning and night time movement is caused by a decreasing amount of forage in protected or wooded areas and by the defoliation of trees and shrubs. The increasing need to find food causes deer to look for food in open areas; the lack of leaves on the vegetation makes the deer feeling less secure, which causes them to move more at night, when they feel secure under the cover of darkness.

Whitetails are a creature of habit, they spend most of their adult lives within a home range that may be as small as forty to fifty acres, or as large as several thousand acres, depending on the diversity and quality of habitat. The more diverse, and the better the quality, of the habitat the smaller the home range needs to be. Whitetail home ranges in mixed agricultural/hardwood forests, where there are alfalfa, soybean, wheat, oat and corn fields intermixed with hardwoods providing acorns, maple leaves and seeds, hazelnuts, berries, and honeysuckle, can be small because there is a variety of to eat. Home ranges in areas where the habitat is not as diverse, such as mature northern evergreen forests; western river bottoms where there are scattered cottonwoods cedar and prairie; or Midwest agricultural fields, where there are few wooded areas, may be as large as several thousand acres.

Within this home range the deer will have a core area, a place where it can feed, water and bed without moving too far. This is where the deer will spend most of the spring, summer and early fall. They may or may not have also have a winter range. Within the core area the deer will have preferred bedding areas where they can find security and shelter. Depending on the habitat, terrain, weather and time of day used, there may be one or many bedding sites.

When you find deer beds at the edge of fields, or in thickets near food sources they were probably made at night, deer often bed in open areas or near feeding sites during the night. When you find beds in woods they were probably made at night, or used during severe weather. When you see several beds in an area they were probably made by a doe group, bucks usually prefer to bed alone, especially during the fall.

Deer often bed on the downwind side of the hills or woods, or in low-lying protected areas, to get out of cold winds. They may bed on open shaded benches with cooling breezes, or low-lying damp areas when the weather is hot. On mild, cloudless winter days I have seen deer bed on an open hill, where they are out of the wind but receive warmth from the sun.

When you see one large bed with several smaller beds nearby they were probably made by a doe and her fawns. When you see numerous beds of different sizes in the same area they may have been made by several doe/fawn groups, or they may have been made by one doe and her fawns on different nights. Yearling and doe beds of most northern deer are less than 40 inches in length, northern adult buck beds are generally longer, 45 inches or more. If you find one single bed longer than 40 inches, it was probably made by an adult buck. If you find several beds over 40 inches they were probably made by one buck on different days; you have more than likely found a buck bedding area.

Adult bucks usually choose the most inaccessible portions of their core area for bedding sites, often with the wind at their back and a clear view in front of or below them. In the Midwest, where the wind blows primarily out of the northwest during the fall rut, I often find buck beds on the east side of a hill on wooded benches full of undergrowth and dead leaves, where I can't move without alerting the buck by the sound I make. I've kicked bucks out of tall grass, cane and cornfields in the middle of the day because they heard me coming while I was several yards away. I've found buck beds in plum and alder thickets so dense I had to get down on my hands and knees to get through them, often tearing my skin and clothes in the process. How the bucks get through with a rack on their heads I don't know. I've seen bucks bed on high spots in cattail sloughs and tamarack swamps, where they couldn't be approached without them hearing the splash of water. I've also seen bucks bed down in the middle of a CRP field or prairie, where they could either smell me, see me or hear me long before I could get close enough for a shot. These are some of the places bucks choose as daytime bedding sites, and where they spend the majority of the day until the rut begins. Because these areas are so inaccessible the bucks often uses the same general area, but not necessarily the same bed, on a regular basis.

To be sure that you are in a buck bedding area look for buck sign. Large beds of uniform size in a small area indicate that a large deer, possibly a buck, has used the site on several occasions. Several small rubbed trees or saplings near the bedding area are a good indication of buck use. Large rounded front hooves as a result of the buck scraping are an indication of a dominant buck. Rear hoof tracks that land ahead of or in the track of the front hoof indicate a buck; because of the wider pelvis of a doe its rear tracks often land outside of or behind the front tracks. Tracks wider than 1.25 inches in width when the deer is walking on hard ground (not running or walking on soft ground) indicate a buck. Drag marks in the dirt or snow usually indicate buck tracks. A concentrated urine stream stain near the middle of the bed indicates a buck; doe urine stains often splash the ground and appear at the back of the bed. Large, cylindrical clumped deer droppings an inch or two in length indicate a buck. I often find this type of dropping in buck bedding areas and at scrapes.

The best times to look for buck bedding areas by walking a rub route are; during the fall, when new rubs and scrapes begin to appear; right after the hunting season, when the bucks may still be traveling their rub routes and leaving fresh tracks in wet ground or snow; in the early spring, when rubs, scrapes, and trails are still visible; any time it has rained or snowed in the last twelve hours, when fresh tracks are easy to see. To keep tabs on the buck and it's movement you check it's scrape line once or twice a week between the hours of ten in the morning and two in the afternoon, to see which scrapes it is currently using. Bucks may have more than one rub route. When you follow a rub route to a bedding area check to see if other routes lead in different directions.

As the rut approaches bucks begin to move outside their core areas, traveling their rub routes, making scrapes, and searching for does. Most of their movement, and the activities of rubbing and scraping, occur from an hour before sunset, through the night, to an hour after sunrise. During the day the bucks generally limit their movement to the core area, the bedding site, and surrounding areas that provide secure cover and feeding sites. Depending on the quality of the habitat, the core area may be as small as a few acres to larger than two hundred acres; the better the habitat the smaller the core area. Since most of the activity of the buck occurs after dark (even during the rut) the best place to see the buck during the day on a regular basis is in or near its bedding area. That's why so many articles suggest getting close to the bedding area when you hunt bucks.

Although a buck's rub route may be a mile or more in length, the buck may use as little as a few hundred yards of the route during legal shooting hours as it leaves it's bedding area in the evening. It may also use a few hundred yards of it's route during legal shooting hours before it gets back to it's bedding area in the morning. This means that your best chance of seeing the buck during legal hours is along it's travel/rub route at dusk as the buck leaves it's bedding area; and along it's travel/rub route in the morning as it returns to it's bedding area. The bedding area is where the buck may spend up to seventy-five percent of it's time during daylight hours.

Now that we have established why you should hunt near a buck bedding areas let's discuss how to pattern a deer and locate buck bedding areas. The incident mentioned above shows two of the best ways to locate a bedding area. The technique most talked about for patterning deer is back-tracking a rub route. Most rub routes are oblong in nature; long narrow routes offer the advantage of covering the greatest possible area, while minimizing the distance traveled. The travel route of a deer generally follows the path of least resistance, but it is governed by the need for security. Daytime deer trails wind through wooded areas, along overgrown roads, parallel river and creek beds, along benches just off the top or bottom of a hill and through low-lying areas.

Because older bucks are more concerned with security than does - they seldom travel heavily used doe trails, preferring to use their own trails in deeper cover, higher or lower on the side of a hill, or they wait until dawn and dusk before moving. You should also realize that a rub route may be traveled by one deer, in one direction, one time a day. When you come across a heavily used deer trail look farther up or down the hill or into deeper cover for a lightly used trail that a buck might use. Then look for buck tracks, drag marks, rubs, and scrapes to confirm it is a buck route.

The rub route generally leads from the bedding site, through several doe use areas, and ends up at a food source, where the buck may find several does during the night. The buck may spend the night and bed down near the food source and the does until early morning, when it begins to make it's way back to it's bedding area. Because the buck is now traveling under cover of darkness it does not feel the need for security cover and often walks across open fields, meadows and clearings. If there are no trees in these areas there are no rubs, which makes it difficult to determine the route the buck uses on it's return trip to it's bedding area. The buck usually tries to make it back to cover within an hour of sunrise, and if the route travels through wooded areas it may be marked with rubs that can lead you to it's bedding area.

You can follow a rub route in the direction the buck was traveling by walking down the trail and looking for rubs. This may eventually lead you to a food source and back to the bedding area. But, because the route back to the bedding area may not be marked by you may lose the trail. For this reason the best way to walk a rub route is backwards. When you find a rub, or series of rubs, along a trail, all facing in one direction, turn around and walk down the trail with the visible portion of the rub at your back.

When you come across a rub route and are trying to determine where the bedding area is remember that the rub route generally leads from a secure area (woods, thick brush, swamp, the middle of a fallow field) to a food source (agricultural field, mast site) If the route comes out of a wooded area and heads to an open area containing a food source, the bedding site is usually in the secure area, where the buck can find security from predators, and protection from the elements. When a lightly used deer trail comes from or leads into a secure area and the trail splits into several less used trails, or the trails seem to disappear, you are probably entering a bedding area, start looking for buck sign. If you are down on your hands and knees, trying to get into thicket where you swear a buck couldn't go, that's probably where he's at.

A variation on backtracking the rub route is to watch for deer in the evening. I picked up this technique when I first began guiding for elk in New Mexico. I would go out in the evening, choose a spot on a mountain where I could watch several different openings in the forest, and wait for the elk to come out to feed. When I saw a bull I would either try to get to it that evening or I wait and come back the next morning, hoping the bull would spend the night feeding in the area and return to the bedding area the next morning. When I use this technique on whitetails I may watch a field from a road, or sit on a hill or in a treestand, where I can overlook one or more open areas where the bucks travel or feed.

The advantages to this technique are that whitetail bucks often use the same bedding area day after day, and they don't move very far from their bedding area during daylight hours. If you see a buck within an hour of sundown it's a good bet the bedding area is not far away along the buck's back trail. When I see a buck come out of the woods in the same area, cross the same road, or step out of the corn, several nights at about the same time I begin looking for it's tracks, trail or rub route. Then I back track the buck until I get into a secure area. When I find rubs on several small trees, large tracks with rounded front hooves, large beds, and large cylindrical clumps of deer droppings I know I have found a buck bedding area.

When you enter a buck bedding area during the day you will more than likely spook the buck. As long as you do it long enough before the hunting season; do it after the hunting season; or do it only once or twice during the hunting season, the buck should return within a day or two. Once you have found the bedding area, you should enter it only as a last resort to hunt the buck, or to confirm that the buck is not using it and has moved elsewhere. If you feel you need to scout near the bedding area do it infrequently, stay as far away as you can while still learning something of the area, and try to stay downwind and out of sight of the buck. Remember, there is no good time to scout a buck bedding area, because the buck should be in it all day. The only time you can be fairly sure the buck is not there is at night, and when it is with an estrus doe.

The two best places to set up are along the buck's route as it leaves the bedding area in the evening and along the route as it comes back in the morning. In many cases the buck will use the same route when entering and leaving the bedding area. Try to get as close as you can without alerting the buck. The closer you are the better you chances of seeing the buck during legal hunting hours.

When I setup along a known evening travel route I like to get between the bedding area and the first large opening the buck has to cross, because the buck is probably traveling through the opening after dark. If there is a scrape in semi-open woods not far from the bedding area I setup ten to twenty yards down wind of the scrape; bucks often check their scrapes from downwind before working them. I don't like to setup near scrapes in open areas because they are used primarily during the night. I try to get to my evening stand two to three hours before sunset, so the area has a chance to settle down, and just in case the buck comes out early. When you are hunting near buck bedding areas in the afternoon, the chances are the buck is still there. Approach the area quietly from downwind, and stay out of sight.

When I setup along known morning travel routes near buck bedding areas I try to get there well before daylight, and before the buck gets back. Bucks often return to their bedding areas after sunrise when they are actively scraping, or when they have been looking for or been chasing does at night. I wait until the wind is blowing toward the bedding area, then setup along the travel route and hope the buck comes by. During the scraping phase and peak rut I often stay in the stand all day, because the bucks may return home at any time.

This article is an excerpt from the Complete Whitetail Addict's Manual on computer readable CD ($49.95 + $5.00 S&H), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.

After seven years of whitetail deer scrape research I have to admit that I'm a firm believe in using scrapes to determine which rut phase the deer are in, to determine where the bucks are most active throughout the day and night, and to determine what time of the day the bucks are most active. Once I have determined which rut phase the bucks are in (so I know how active they may be during daylight hours) determined that scrapes in particular areas are getting hit on a regular basis; and determined which scrapes are getting hit most often during daylight hours, I have a pretty good idea of where I should setup to hunt for bucks.

One of the best times to hunt bucks is during the scraping phase (which often occurs from mid to late October in states above the 40th parallel), because it is when buck are often most active and predictable in where and when they move during daylight hours. But, you can use the information you gain from checking scrapes regularly to hunt bucks during the entire hunting season.

Bucks begin traveling their rub routes, working licking branches, and using some scrapes during the Pre-Rut/Rubbing and Dispersal Phases, as much as two months before peak breeding. Even though these Pre-Rut/Rubbing and Dispersal Phase scrapes may not be used regularly they can be productive as hunting sites when they first appear in September or October. If these early scrapes are traditional they may also be used during the Primary Breeding Phase, and again during the Post Primary Breeding Phase of the rut.

The best time to see bucks at scrapes is during the Pre-Primary Breeding/Scraping Phase, the two to three weeks just before peak breeding activity. Because of their strong rutting urge buck's leave their beds earlier than normal at this time, and they may check the scrapes near their bedding area before sunset as they make their nightly rounds. They may also return to their beds later than normal in the morning after looking for does all night, and they may check the scrapes along their route near their bedding area after sunrise.

Although bucks may not regularly visit scrapes during the Primary Breeding Phase they often travel the areas where both traditional and non-traditional scrapes occur (in travel corridors leading to and from bedding areas and food sources; in staging areas near food sources; and near doe core areas), as they look for or tend does. This is why you should pay close attention to all scrapes, especially those near food sources and doe areas.

During the Post Primary Breeding Phase the dominant bucks that are not worn out, and some aggressive subdominants, may start traveling rub routes and making new scrapes, or re-using previous scrapes. Most of this scraping activity will occur near doe use areas, and at staging areas near food sources. When the bucks no longer find evidence of estrous does they usually return to the security of their core areas to rest and put on weight for the remainder of the rut and the winter. During the six years of my study I seldom saw dominant bucks outside their core areas in daylight hours during the Rest Phase.

Does that were not bred (or did not conceive) during the Primary Breeding Phase may come into another estrous about a month later. Older does, and some yearling and unhealthy does, may come into their first estrous at this time. This is when bucks start traveling rub routes and making scrapes again as they search for these estrous does. The bucks are not as aggressive during this late breeding phase as they were earlier, and they may travel together to and from food sources. I often see bucks moving during the early evening and late morning hours at this time, especially when there is cold weather and cloud cover.

Hunting Secluded Areas Although bucks start to move more during daylight hours as the rut progresses, they are still security conscious. As I noted in an earlier chapter, the scrapes made in September and early October were often in open areas where the deer feed at night. Obviously, many of these open area/field edge scrapes are unproductive hunting sites, because the bucks usually visit them at night. But, as scraping activity increased in the last two weeks of October, more scrapes opened up in wooded areas, in brushy ravines, along creek and river bottoms, along over grown logging roads, and on wooded benches on the sides of hills; places where the bucks could move during the day, but where they felt safe. As the rut progressed more of these secluded area scrapes were used, and fewer of the open area scrapes were used. Many of these secluded area scrapes occurred along rub routes. This suggests that the best scrapes to hunt are those that are in secluded areas, where there is a rub route that the buck uses at it moves during the day.

Which scrapes should you hunt? That depends on when and why the scrapes are used. Scrapes made early in the season may be made simply out of rutting urge, and they may not be used again. Scrapes made near early seasonal food sources may not be used after the food is gone and the does stop using the food source; this often occurs after the breeding period. Recently used scrapes made after the breeding period may be the scrapes of subdominants that begin scraping because the older bucks have quit checking their scrapes and exerting dominance over the younger bucks; the older bucks are busy chasing does.

Once you have found a secluded area scrape that looks like it is recently used try to determine whether or not it is being used frequently. The best way to do that is to check it daily, and if you have the opportunity you might as well hunt it while you are checking it. Frequently used scrapes that do not show recent use should be noted because they may be traditional scrapes, used at specific times during the season. Try to figure out why the scrape was used and when, then use the information to hunt the area next year.

If a scrape is near an all season food source (browse, clover) and a more preferred food source (acorns, corn) becomes available, the deer may abandon the area. A scrape in this area may be re-opened later if the food source is still there. Frequently used scrapes showing recent use should be watched closely and hunted. Frequently used scrapes of any type are often traditional; used year after year; used by subsequent dominant bucks; used by numerous bucks; and are possibly checked by all bucks in the area. Frequently used traditional scrapes in secluded areas may be used during the day and often occur in travel corridors and near doe use areas.

It is difficult to predict which scrapes to hunt, and when to hunt them; because most scraping occurs at night; because bucks begin to scrape more in the day during the Pre-Primary Breeding/Scraping Phase and Primary Breeding Phase; and because scraping by individual bucks does not occur on a regular schedule. Since there is no reliable way of predicting when or how often a buck will scrape, the best thing to do is choose the right area and hunt it when the conditions are right. Although hunting individual scrapes can be productive, you may be better off hunting near areas where numerous scrapes occur; areas referred to as scrape lines, especially if the area contains several traditional scrapes.

Scrape lines often occur in travel corridors connecting daytime bedding areas and nighttime food sources that are used by both does and bucks. These travel corridors may contain several traditional scrapes. Scrape lines may also occur in staging areas, often downwind of food sources. Scrape lines containing more than one traditional scrape should be your first choice as a hunting site. Remember, because of their semi-open location, many traditional scrapes are used at night, but they are likely to be used during the day in the Pre-Primary Breeding Phase.

Groups of scrapes often occur in staging areas that are near food sources. Although these may seem like good areas to hunt, they may not be. Bucks often scent check scrapes from downwind before they approach the scrape, and they may not even approach the scrape. This means that bucks are extremely wary near scrapes, particularly where there are numerous scrapes that numerous bucks may be using. The best way to hunt scrape lines and staging areas is to find the rub routes the bucks use as they approach the scrapes, and then set up crosswind or downwind of where you expect the bucks to check the scrapes from.

The farther a scrape is from the buck's bedding area, the more likely it is that the scrape is used during the night. This means that the scrapes that are most likely to be used during the day are: those in wooded or otherwise secludes areas; those near the buck's bedding site; those along its route as it leaves its bed in the afternoon; and those along its route as it returns to its bed in the morning. The best place and time to hunt scrape lines is during the Pre-Primary Breeding Phase in the morning and evening, as close to the bedding area as you can get without alarming the buck. You can also hunt scrapes during the Primary Breeding Phase and Post Primary Breeding Phase, because the bucks may travel all day in search of estrous does, and they often cruise scrape lines throughout the day; which is when you should be prepared to hunt all day.

If you are interested in more deer hunting tips click on T.R.'s Hunting Tips. If you have questions about whitetails log on to the T.R.'s Hunting Tips message board. To find out when the rut begins, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

This article is an excerpt from the Scrape Hunter's Manual ($9.95 + $5.00 s&h), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products Catalog.

Deer calls fall into five different categories; Alarm/Distress, Agonistic (aggressive), Maternal/Neonatal (doe/fawn), Mating and Contact. Alarm/Distress, Agonistic, and Maternal/Neonatal calls have limited use by their very nature. Contact calls are used by deer to let their presence be known and to locate other deer, they work well to attract deer at any time. Mating calls are used primarily during the rut and can be used successfully to attract deer.

Alarm/Distress calls are used to alert other deer of danger or used when injured, trapped or afraid causing them to become cautious or come to the aid of the deer performing the call. The Alarm Snort is used to alert other deer of possible danger, usually when deer see, smell or hear a predator or something unknown. I use the Alarm Snort when a deer discovers me or is alarmed by my sight, scent or sound and snorts, or stamps it's foot. If the deer does not immediately flee I snort back, imitating another alarmed deer.

Deer that hear a snort in response to their own snort often mistake the sight or sound that alerted them for another deer (as long as they don't smell danger). I have had does with fawns come to my snort call, wanting to discover the deer they think they hear. They often walk into the open for a better look and stand long enough for a shot. Snorts can also be used while rattling to simulate a fight.

The Distress Bawl is used by deer that are hurt or trapped; upon initial injury; or when caught by a predator. The Bawl is a call for help and may attract maternal does and sometimes young bucks out of curiosity. I have had does leave their own young to investigate a long, drawn out Distress Bawl.

The Maternal/Neonatal calls are used by the doe and it's fawns. The Maternal Grunt sounds much like any other grunt and is used by the doe to tell the fawn it is near or to locate the fawn for feeding. Because it is a grunt and sounds similar to other grunts it will attract any deer and especially bucks during the rut.

The Fawn Mew is used by a fawn as a response to the Maternal Grunt or when the fawn wants attention. The Bleat is a louder form of the mew and is given when the fawn wants urgent attention (used as a fawn version of the distress call) or when it wants to be fed. The Nursing Whine is performed while the fawn is actually nursing. These calls may attract does out of maternal instinct and young deer or small bucks out of curiosity.

The Grunt is the first level of aggression but is used by all deer regularly and will attract any deer, especially bucks of all ages throughout the rut. The Grunt-Snort is the next level of aggression and is used primarily by bucks during the breeding season in buck encounters. Because it often occurs when two bucks are in conflict overran estrus doe it will attract bucks, especially dominants, from the time velvet is shed until the end of the second breeding phase. It can be used in conjunction with rattling to simulate a fight or rage rub occurrence. The Grunt-Snort-Wheeze is the highest level of aggression and is performed primarily by bucks before a charge, leg kick or fight. It may scare off lesser bucks, while attracting a dominant when used near it's rubs and scrapes, or it can be used to stop a buck with an estrus doe. It is best used when hunting only for dominant bucks, from the time they shed their velvet through the late breeding period.

Because Mating calls are associated with breeding they may attract any buck looking for a doe, but primarily dominants wanting to find out what other buck is in their area. The Tending Grunt is performed when a buck is following, or with an estrus doe, warning all other bucks to stay away. I have heard bucks make one short grunt while with a doe, several grunts (almost with every stride) and a long drawn out (7 second) grunt while trotting after a doe. The Flehmen gesture or sniff is performed by a buck when inhaling urine to check for estrogen, often while trailing or with a doe. Usually it occurs once or twice. Because both these sounds indicate a nearby estrus doe any buck in the area will respond throughout the rut, especially dominants. No doe mating call is reported by researchers at this time.

The Contact Call or Social Grunt is by nature non-threatening because it is used to locate other deer. Any deer may respond out of curiosity, especially bucks, throughout the rut. In Marchinton's study no doe in heat or doe breeding call was noted although many call manufacturers contend there is one. The sound of the call they claim is an estrus doe bleat may actually be the social grunt, which is louder and longer than normal and used to locate other deer, therefore it attracts bucks during the rut.

Determining what call to use is not a matter of which rut phase you are hunting, but which sex and age class of deer you want to attract. Does respond primarily to distress calls and Maternal/Neonatal calls out of maternal instinct. All bucks respond to any call which may lead them to an estrus doe; a Social Grunt or Low Grunt. Dominant bucks also respond to Mating calls and aggressive grunts out of the desire to exert dominance. Subdominant bucks may respond to these same calls during the breeding phase, but they may not respond because they are afraid of encountering a dominant. If you are hunting for any legal buck it may best not to use mating calls or aggressive grunts.

There are basically four different techniques for calling deer that can be used anytime during the rut. The fourth technique is not as effective during the Rest Phase and Post Rut because the bucks are exhausted, not as aggressive and not as interested in breeding.

1. Distress Call or Fawn Bawl for does and young bucks.

2. Social or Low Grunt for any deer.

3. Social/Low/Tending Grunt for all bucks.

4. Social/Low/Tending Grunt or Grunt Snort for dominant bucks.

This article is an excerpt from the Whiteail Addict's Manual by T.R. Michels.

When you are using food, scents, calls, rattling or decoys to attract animals there are two things to remember:

1. The best way to get an animal to come to you is by being in a place it is used to, comfortable with and going to. It's much easier to get the animal to come to you if it routinely uses the area. If you are not in a regularly used area then the animal should feel secure in the area, which should provide concealment or nearby escape cover. If neither one of these apply then you should be in a travel lane, or in a feeding area the animal is going to. Why should the deer come to you if it knows what it wants is in another location? 2. Using the best hunting techniques won't help if you produce or leave a sight, scent or sound that alarms the animals, or alerts them of your presence. Be careful to take precautions to avoid detection and go completely unnoticed when you hunt. Attracting With Scents

Scents are one of the most widely used methods of attracting deer. Manufacturers have responded to demand by providing a wide range of products in different forms; sprays, liquids, gels and solids. There are buck, buck in rut, doe, and doe in estrus urine scents; forehead, tarsal, metatarsal and interdigital scents; food, curiosity and secret formula scents. Many hunters use fox, coyote, mink, raccoon and skunk scents, as either cover or curiosity lures. Others use unnatural or human scents to block deer from using escape trails. This vast array of scents can be confusing if you don't know which scents to use, or when to use them.

Deer scents fall into different categories based on how they are used and how deer respond to them. These categories are; Recognition/Trailing, Sex, Territorial/Dominance, Food, Curiosity, and Blocking. Recognition/Trailing scents are present all year long and can be used all year. Sex scents are most prominent during the rut and can be used during any part of it. Territorial and Dominance scents are most prevalent during the rut and should be used then to be most effective. Food, Curiosity and blocking scents can be used all year long. Many of these scents fall into more than one category and can be used for different purposes. They can all be used effectively to hunt deer, if used properly and at the right time.

Deer pheromones, the scents given off by deer, are used as a means of communication. Pheromones serve to stimulate a behavioral response in another animal. Whitetail deer pheromones are present in the forehead, interdigital, tarsal and metatarsal glands, while estrogen and testosterone are found in the urine. There may also be pheromones associated with the nasal, pre-orbital, Preputial and salivary glands. Many of these scents are used in combination during self impregnation (rub-urination), and sign post marking (rubs, scrapes) and are interpreted by individual sexes and age classes differently. When used by themselves these scents may be interpreted differently than when they are used in combination with another scent or scents.

Tarsal scent is used in combination with urine as the primary recognition scent in whitetails. This scent is both sex and age specific, which means that deer encountering tarsal scent from another deer can determine the sex and the age of the animal by the scent. Tarsal is used in combination with urine during rub-urination all year long. All deer rub-urinate, often just after rising from their beds. Bucks rub-urinate more frequently during the rut while making scrapes. Rub-urination is used by moose (possibly elk) in response to danger, probably as an alarm signal. Deer often sniff and lick each other's tarsal area during social grooming, for identification, and to reinforce the social hierarchy. Because of this the deer know the smell of all the animals in their areas.

The Metatarsal gland is largest in mule deer, next largest in blacktails and smallest in whitetails. It's been suggested that blacktails and possibly mule deer use it when alarmed to express danger. It's not totally understood in whitetails.

Interdigital scent is how deer track other deer. Does use it to locate their fawns, bucks use it to track does. The scent of each deer is so specific that an animal can track one individual deer, no matter how many others are in the area. Because scent molecules evaporate at different rates, an animal can also determine which direction the other is traveling.

Forehead scent is used as a recognition and dominance scent. Bucks take part in social grooming prior to the rut, sniffing and licking the forehead and tarsal area. Once the sparring and fighting begins dominance is established, and the bucks recognize each other by scent and associate the scent with the social level of the buck that it came from. They also recognize the scent of other bucks once signpost marking begins, and they know which rubs and which overhanging branches at scrapes are used by which bucks. After being threatened or attacked subdominant bucks soon realize they should not be in area's near a dominant buck and its rubs and scrapes.

Because recognition and trailing scents are present all year they can be used any time during the rut, or any time of the year, without fear of alarming deer. However, forehead scent is most prevalent during the rut and is more effective at that time. Because deer are curious about their home range and often exert dominance (even does) in their core area, they investigate any new scent to find out which deer is leaving it.

High amounts of testosterone in urine signals a buck's sexual readiness to does. Estrogen in the urine of a doe signals sexual readiness to bucks. Both buck testosterone and doe estrogen levels rise during the rut. Bucks readily respond to estrus urine, or doe in heat scents, soon after they shed their velvet through the second and possibly the third estrus, which may occur in January, even in northern latitudes. Because bucks are curious, estrogen can be used anytime of the year to attract them.

Does move a lot when they are in heat, sometimes traveling outside their core areas, possibly in search of healthy dominant bucks to breed with. It has been suggested that does can determine the physical health of the buck by the amount of protein in its urine. The doe may choose the buck it breeds with by the combination of the protein, testosterone and tarsal from rub-urination. Testosterone scents may attract does to a particular area, in turn attracting bucks because the does are there. Bucks may respond to testosterone out of curiosity, dominance or territoriality.

Urine based scents are used because it is thought that bucks determine if a doe is ready to breed through the Flehmen sniff, which introduces urine to the vomeronasal organ. But, the vomeronasal organ accesses a part of the brain that regulates reproductive physiology, and does not elicit the immediate response needed to ensure successful breeding. In contrast, the nose accesses parts of the brain associated with immediate behavioral responses.

So, using urine may not be the way to go about attracting a buck. Several researchers have suggested that bucks detect pheromones through stimulation of the nose (rather than the vomeronasal organ), and that the stimulation of the nose is what elicits approach and copulation by the buck. Urine may not need to be present for a buck to detect an estrous doe; the buck is probably able to determine the readiness of a doe by the chemicals in vaginal secretions. If this is true, the best way to a tract a buck is by using the vaginal secretions of a doe in estrous, not urine or urine based scents.

Both the signposts of rubs and scrapes are "dominance areas" of mature bucks. These signposts signify areas used by the buck. The rub route is the path the buck travels as it goes through an area. The area along the rub route and the nearby areas are often patrolled by the buck during the rut. Each rub on the route contains scents from the forehead glands of the buck. In addition, bucks often lick their rubs, and because they sometimes lick their own tarsal after rub urinating there may be urine, testosterone, tarsal and saliva on the rub. This combination of scents is a territorial sign proclaiming dominance by mature bucks.

These same scents may also occur on the overhanging branch at a scrape (forehead, urine, tarsal, testosterone, saliva and possibly pre-orbital) because the buck sniffs, licks, rubs and chews the branch with its forehead and antlers. Urine, testosterone and tarsal are also deposited in the scrape during rub-urination. The buck also leaves interdigital scent on the trail of its rub route and in the scrape as it paws the ground. This combination of scents is again a dominance and territorial signal to other bucks, and the sign of a mature dominant, breeding buck to does.

The complex combination of scents left on signposts occurs primarily during the rut. The scents of the rub occur as soon as bucks begin to shed their velvet. The scents of the scrapes begin shortly after rubbing begins, but become most evident from one to two months later. These scents can be used anytime once the rubbing phase occurs to attract bucks, but they become less effective after the primary breeding phase. Because a dominant buck makes rubs and scrapes as a prelude to breeding (to express dominance) it is impelled to check out the smell of any unknown buck intruding on the area, therefore these scents work especially well during the pre-primary breeding/scraping phase.

Food scents can be used anytime and anywhere. Because these scents do not contain pheromones they usually do not alarm deer. The deer in my area of southern Minnesota eat corn, apples, acorns, squash, grapes, vegetable greens, and many other hard to find foods that I leave out in the winter, spring, summer and fall. They also take advantage of foods in areas where they don't normally occur. Whitetails, mule deer and elk readily eat apples in the mountains where few apples occur. Once they are accustomed to finding these foods in an area, you can attract them by using similar scents, even if baiting is not allowed.

Because deer need to be familiar with their home range, they want to know about anything new. Many of the responses of deer to pheromones, urine, sex and food scents can be attributed to curiosity. In that respect all these scents attract deer out of curiosity. Deer have been known to investigate WD 40, gun oil, mink oil and several secret formula deer scents. Deer, elk and moose will investigate urine and pheromone scents of fox, coyote, raccoon, skunk and other animals, as long as the concentration is not so high as to alarm them. While most of these scents are used as cover scents to avoid detection, they can also be used to attract deer. I once watched a doe trail me by the fox scent I had on my boots. She followed along about ten minutes behind, just like a dog with its nose to the ground.

A few knowledgeable hunters use blocking scents to move deer to their position. While this is not actually attracting deer it is a means of getting deer to come to you by blocking all trails but the one you choose. By strategically placing human scent; predatory scents from dogs, coyote or wolf; or large amounts of metatarsal scents associated with alarm, on the trails you don't want deer to use, you can direct them to you. Blocking works especially well in areas with numerous parallel trails near core areas, or in heavy cover. You can also keep deer from using normal escape routes and avoiding you, by blocking the trails you don't want them to use. Blocking Scents can be used anytime of the year.

This article is an excerpt from the Whitetail Addict's Manual ($19.95 + $5.00 s&h), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products Catalog.

If you are interested in more deer hunting tips click on T.R.'s Hunting Tips. If you have questions about whitetails log on to the T.R.'s Hunting Tips message board. To find out when the rut begins, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

In the last few years I've read and heard a lot about "buck down time" or the "buck lockup" during peak breeding, when many hunters report that they see very few bucks. Supposedly this "lockup" is a result of many (or most) of the bucks being with estrous does. I suspect that this new "buck activity" and rut phase is a hot topic because some writer or seminar speaker, who may have limited knowledge of the activities of bucks and does during the rut, incorrectly assumed that their lack of buck sightings during the rut was the result of many or most of the bucks being holed up with estrous does. While this seems to be a likely explanation, and it is a possibility, it is unlikely, because it assumes that most of the does are in estrous during the same week, which is a false assumption.

Deer research has shown that rarely do more than 25 percent of all the does in any one area come into estrous during any one week. Therefore it is unlikely that this lack of buck sightings is completely due to many or all of the bucks being with estrous does.

It is possible that all or most of the bucks are with does during peak breeding, especially if there is an extremely low buck to doe ratio, or there are limited older age class bucks in relation to the number of does. However, in most areas there are enough bucks in the areas that hunters should see some of them during this so called "buck down time". This "buck down time" or "buck lock up" also assumes that bucks try to confine does to one area, where both of them stay for an extended amount of time.

While it is true that bucks actively chase does when the does are close to being in estrous or are in estrous, bucks do not force does to stay in one area. Bucks chase does because the does are not in estrous yet, or because they do not want to let a particular buck breed them. The chase is often part of the mating or ritual whereby the does determine if the bucks are suitable to sire their offspring. The healthiest mature bucks often stay with the does the longest as the does run from them, while the less healthy or younger bucks often stop chasing the does. This results in many of the does breeding with the healthier mature bucks.

Does don't necessarily stay in one area while they are with a buck. Generally the does follow their normal daily routine. The leave their daytime core areas to go to food sources at dusk, often spend the night in or ner the food sources, and return to their daytime core areas at sunrise. The bucks usually follow the does when they are in estrous, often bedding near them or downwind of them when the does are bedded at night and during the day. .

When all of this is added to the fact that does are rarely in estrous for more than 72 hours (after which the bucks often begin to look for more does) it suggests that this one explanation for the lack of buck sightings during one or more weeks of the rut seems unlikely. So, why do hunters see fewer bucks than normal during some weeks of the rut? If you understand the timing and activity of the rut, there are some logical explanations.

Between the time when bucks first start rubbing and the time when peak scraping occurs both the habitat and the bucks experience some changes associated with the sun. As summer turns to fall, the food sources in many areas change, some are depleted or become unpalatable, while others become more abundant and more palatable. This may cause the bucks to move to new areas in search of new or preferred foods, and hunters no longer see them in them where they were before this happens. I refer to this as the Fall Home Range Shift.

As summer turns to fall the testosterone level of the bucks begins to rise, and they become more aggressive and interested in breeding. This causes them to move to their fall breeding areas, with the result that hunters may no longer see the bucks where they were before this happened. I refer to this as the Dispersal Phase. These two events often occur at about the same time (especially in the northern and mid latitudes of the whitetail range). However, these events may occur at different times in different areas, depending on when particular food sources are depleted or when preferred food sources become available.

In many areas those bucks that actively participated in sparring, fighting, chasing and breeding loose a lot of fat during the rut, and they become exhausted. In order to gain back the fat they lost during the rut (which they need to get through the winter) these bucks often return to the security of their daytime core areas for a week or more, to rest and eat. This results in fewer sightings of those bucks that participated in breeding at this time. I refer to this as the Rest Phase. Depending on the buck to doe ratio of the herd, the age structure of the bucks in the herd, and how many bucks and does there are in the area, hunters may see some or none of the bucks that participated in breeding, and some of the younger or less dominant bucks during this phase. This Rest Phase often occurs about a week after the week of peak breeding. To find out when peak breeding normally occurs in your area log on to the Trinity Mountain Outdoors web site at www.TRMichels.com and click on the Whitetail Rut Dates Chart link.

In many areas, especially in the north, western plains, mountainous region and agricultural areas, there may be major changes in the habitat, and in deer use of the habitat, as fall turns to winter and as the habitat changes due to the weather and changes in food sources. In areas where the weather becomes too cold and windy or the snow becomes too deep for the deer, they will move to areas with less snow depth or where they can get out of the cold and wind. They will look for new security and thermal cover.

In areas where the food sources have become depleted, or the cornfield, sorghum or sunflower fields that the deer may have used for food sources and security cover have been harvested, the deer may also move to areas where they can find new food, and new cover they can use for security and thermal cover. Because these habitat changes occur at different times in different areas, and they may occur during different phases of the deer rut in different areas. These changes may result in fewer buck sightings in these areas, as compared to before the changes occurred.

If you are hunting in an area where you have been seeing one or more bucks you are interested in, and you don't see them for one or more days, you should not assume that all or most of the bucks are with does, because it is unlikely. If the Fall Home Range Shift or Dispersal Phase has occurred you should begin looking for deer where they can find new food or preferred sources. You should also look for areas where fresh rubs and scrapes have appeared, in an area where they haven't appeared previously that year - this tells you that one or more bucks have moved into that area. You can either watch the area until you see the bucks, or use a game camera to find out which bucks are in the area.

If peak breeding is occurring in your area it is possible that the bucks are with does. However, the bucks should not be with the does for more than four or five days, at which time they should start using their normal travel corridors, trails and rub routes as they look for more does. You should continue to hunt the area (unless you are sure the deer have completely left), so that when the bucks begin looking for other does you are ready for them. Or you can try to find out where the does bed and feed, and hunt the bucks in or near those areas.

If you think one or more bucks is in its Rest Phase you can figure out where their daytime core area and food sources are at, and figure out where and how to hunt them there, or you can wait a week or so until the bucks begin looking for does again during the late breeding phase. If major habitat changes have occurred, or you think the Winter Home Range Shift has occurred, you should begin looking for areas where the deer can find security and thermal cover, and available food sources, and figure out when and where to hunt them in those areas.

In was about a week before the deer season opener, and I was sitting high in a deer stand overlooking the fence lines that separated four different properties. One of those properties was wooded, one was a cow pasture, one was planted in soybeans and another was planted in corn. There was a deer trail just below my stand, and there were several nighttime scrapes and rubs in the woods that bordered both the soybean field. Since there had been an increase in the rubs and scrapes over the last few weeks it was safe to assume that one or more bucks regularly traveled through the area. Because I had not had time to see which bucks used the area I decided it was time to sit in the stand - in the hope of finding out how many bucks used the area and what they looked like.

It was sunset before I saw the first deer - a doe and two fawns. They walked out of the corn and walked to the creek that started at the fence line - where the field tile stopped and allowed the run off water from the file to flow into it's original drainage. The deer stayed at the edge of the field for about ten minutes then stepped back into the corn. A few minutes later I heard the corn rustle and a small eight point buck ran out of the corn, followed by a large eight pointer. As soon as the larger buck ca me out of the corn the smaller buck ducked back down one of the rows. The larger buck walked over to the creek, took a drink of water, and then chewed the overhanging branches at three different scrapes, rub-urinating in each of them before going on to the next scrape. When it was done it walked slowly back into the corn.

I watched the deer come out of the corn at sunset for the next several days - never earlier than a few minutes before sunset, and then walk back into the corn. If the deer continued this pattern I would have to: wait until the corn was picked, so they wouldn't have it to use as daytime cover; hope the deer would decide to wander into the woods before sunset; have some of my friends make a deer drive through the field in the hopes that (hopefully) I (not one of them) would get a shot at the big buck; or try to con a pheasant hunter with a dog or two into hunting the field starting at the other end, which might force the buck to sneak out of the field and into the trees below my stand.

In much of North America white-tailed deer can be found in and near cornfields. In the Midwestern cornbelt a majority of the whitetail's habitat may be corn. With the large size of these fields deer, including trophy bucks, travel, feed and bed in the corn; especially where wooded areas are limited. Because the cornfields offer security, bedding cover and food the deer can spend all day in the corn. The often move out of the corn only at night as they go to water and search for clover, alfalfa, soybeans, winter wheat, grasses in CRP lands, and berries or nuts to eat in hedgerows, ditches, fence lines, creek bottoms and woods.

When you are trying to locate cornfield deer remember that they like to have access to water. Although deer will drink from rain filled puddles, stagnant ponds and semi-dry creeks they prefer to drink from larger ponds and lakes or nearby running water. If there is water within two or three miles deer will travel to it. But, unless they can get to the water while staying in the corn or other cover they will travel to the water at night. Because deer are crepuscular (their major movement times are dawn and dusk) this is normal for them.

While deer normally move at dawn and dusk hunters often equate this movement with feeding. In fact deer often move to nearby water at midday if there is available cover. They also move to water at dusk and dawn. On one of the farms I used to hunt the deer could get to the four nearby lakes while remaining in low-lying areas where they couldn't see or hear anything related to human activity, or they traveled in or near woods and thick brush. Therefore they can drink during the day, before moving into the alfalfa and hay fields in the evening. They drink again in the morning on the way back to their bedding areas. When the deer bed in cornfields they may not be able to get to water during the day without exposing themselves -so they move to water under cover of darkness.

In areas where deer use corn as daytime bedding areas the trails they use coming out of the bedding area often lead, not to food sources, but to water. In this case when you are trying to pattern the deer remember that any rubs you may see on brush and trees in the area are probably going from a buck bedding area, which may be in the corn, the middle of a CRP field (where you swear a deer couldn't hide) or in any patch of cover the buck can find, to a staging area where does gather before going to water.

Deer in corn country often travel extensively because of limited habitat and water, which causes the does to use large home ranges and spread out. In order for the bucks to breed several does they have to travel to these widely spaced home ranges. A veterinarian in Iowa, who is also an avid archery hunter, reports seeing a buck five miles from its core area during the rut. He told me he sees very few rubs and scrapes, because of the lack of trees in the area, and he seldom sees the buck during daylight.

One of the first things you have to do if you want to hunt deer is locate them. During the pre-rut/rubbing phase, the dispersal phase/fall home range shift, and the early breeding/peak scraping phase cornfield bucks seldom move outside the corn during daylight hours. Even when they begin rubbing and scraping these bucks usually move at dawn and dusk. One of the best ways to locate deer at these times is to sit on a hill or in a tree stand, in a location where you can watch as much habitat as possible, and use a goo pair of binoculars to determine when and where the deer are moving, and then choose a stand tie as close to their core areas as you can get without spooking them.

One of the few times during the year when they bucks act stupid and move during daylight is during the primary breeding phase, when number of does are in estrus. When the deer are bedding in the corn, you can either setup in the corn or nearby cover along the trails the deer use as they come and go dawn and dusk, or you can stalk the deer in the corn.

To successfully stalk deer in the corn, either with a gun or bow you need to know the lay of the land within the field. You can do this either by walking the field prior to the season or by using a topographical map to locate any wet areas, depressions, gullies and grassy hills where corn doesn't grow. A topographical map can show you where the gullies or strips of cover lead from the field to wooded areas or other cover outside the cornfield. Deer often use these areas when they enter or leaving the field - check to see if they have been used recently. Topographical maps can also show you where the deer may bed in the field.

If you scout the field before the season don't worry about spooking the deer, by the time the season rolls around they will return to their normal habits. But, be sure to stalk the field as if you were hunting, even if you can't hunt. You want to try to find out exactly where the deer are bedded. To do this you to get as close as possible before you do see and possibly spook deer. If they spook before you are close it may be hard to determine exactly where they were bedded. If your first scouting trip is during the season be sure to bring your gun or bow with you in case you get close enough for a shot.

When I stalk a field I concentrate on approaching the grassy or open areas, and hills or gullies (where I think deer may be bedded) from downwind. I like to wait until after it has rained or snowed and the corn is wet, and not as noisy as it is dry. As move through the field I walk across the rows on a diagonal, so I can cover as mush ground as I possible. I carefully check each row before I enter, looking as far down the row as I can. Then I step in, look farther down the row, and stick my head into the next row.

If you have spent any time in cornfields you know that cornrows are not straight and they are often clogged with broadleaf's and grasses. You have to look carefully along each row, and because the rows often curve you may not be able to see more than a few feet. Stalking a large cornfield may take hours, and demands patience and perseverance, but if you know there are deer in the field it can productive.

When you see deer make note of where you saw them and check for sign that the deer have used the area on a regular basis. If you see stalks bent or broken, find corncobs eaten by deer, or see lots of tracks, droppings, or beds, you can almost be sure the deer will be back later. Wait a few days until the conditions are right and try again.

 Camouflage

Camouflage is a must when you are hunting up close like this. I wear my own Field Stalker camouflage pattern in either the white or dirt colored background, depending on the conditions. Late in the season when the leaves are dried and gone, and when the skies are gray I wear the white version. Deer are often lying down in the field and when they look up they see lots of light open sky. Using the white version helps to break up my outline better than the darker version. You can also use any gold or tan camouflage pattern on the market. Be sure to camouflage your weapon with tan camo tape and cover you hands and face, because you may get up close and personal with the deer.

There is one other way to hunt cornfield deer, with a hunting blind. Midwest hunters can use the same tactics used by Texas hunters, by using an enclosed tripod stand or enclosed platform stand. I have used enclosed wooden stands constructed of two by fours surrounded on all sides by camouflage material when hunting bears in cornfields, they work for deer too. The key is to set the blind up well in advance of the season and let the animals get used to it without being threatened. This type of blind works well in open brush or corn fields where you have to get above the vegetation to see the deer. There are a couple of problems with elevated blinds. One is that in farm country you are not often allowed to use a rifle, which restricts your choice of weapons to archery, shotgun or muzzleloader, and this restricts your shooting range. Because of this these type of stands work best if you can rifle, shotgun or muzzleloader hunt.

Hunters can also use ground blinds such as a Hide um Hunter or Double Bull to hunt cornfield deer. When I know bucks are crossing between two wooded fingers on either side of a corn, soybean or alfalfa field I place a blind within shooting range of the crossing and close enough to one side of the field that I have a shot when the buck shows itself. If the field is narrow enough I can cover both sides of it. I also like to set up a blind a few yards away from the inside corner of a field that is surrounded by trees. That way I can easily watch two sides of the field at the same time, especially the corner where bucks often seem to exit and enter the field, and where they often have a scrape. I set the blind up on a high spot in the field if I can, so that I can see as much of the field as possible. If the deer aren't in range I move the blind closer for the next hunt. Moving the blind usually doesn't bother deer in farm country, because they're used to seeing cars, pickups, tractors, combines and grain wagons sitting in fields in the fall.

When you see deer sign near something that can be used as a blind take advantage of it. On one of the properties where I currently do deer and turkey research there are several trails and rubs within fifty yards of an old combine and a large chemical tank used to apply liquid fertilizer to the farm fields. On another property the deer walk within five yards of an abandoned farmhouse, a broken down barn, and a VW bug. A hunter could easily stand in the hopper of the combine, cut a door and a shooting port in the old chemical tank, or sit in the old house, barn or VW and take a deer as it walks by.

 If you are interested in more deer hunting tips, or more deer biology and behavior, click on Trinity Mountain Outdoor News and T.R.'s Hunting Tips at www.TRMichels.com. If you have questions about deer log on to the T.R.'s Tips message board. To find out when the rut starts, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

This article is an excerpt from the Whitetail Addict's Manual ($19.95 + $5.00 S&H), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.

Summer Scouting*

September: Hunting the Pre-Rut / Rubbing Phase*

October: Hunting the Dispersal Phase / Fall Home Range Shift*

October Whitetails; Transitional Whitetail Hunting*

Tree Stand Placement*

November Whitetail Hunting*

November Hunting Sites*

November: Hunting Peak Rut*

December: Hunting the Late Breeding Phase & Post Rut*

I know it may seem early, but summer is a great time to start getting ready for the deer hunting season. It's a great time to begin looking for bucks in velvet from the roads, and, if it is a cool day, it a good time to look for deer trails, tracks, droppings, beds, and old rubs and scrapes that my help you figure out where the deer were last year during the hunting season, and where they hopefully will be this year.

When you are getting ready for the deer season you should begin watching for deer at likely food sources in late summer. In the upper Midwest I usually begin looking for deer during late July and early August when I often see does and fawns feeding. I get pretty serious about locating bucks during the last two weeks of August and the first two weeks of September, when I often see bucks traveling together and sparring in preparation for the rut. Does, fawns and bucks will be loading up on succulent grasses, clovers, ripening grains, berries and sedges in late summer. But don't expect to regularly see the bucks using the same food sources as the does, because the bucks often stay closer to their bedding areas than the does. If the bucks do use the same food sources as the does they usually show up later than the does.

Glassing

By cruising roads with a good set of binoculars near agricultural crops and meadows during the morning and evening you can find out which fields the bucks are using. If you are there early enough in the evening you may see the bucks arrive and be able to determine where they came from. If you stay late enough you may be able to see them go to either another food source or back toward the bedding area. Because buck's don't travel very far at this time of year their bedding area should be within about a half mile, probably closer to a quarter of a mile. When you see bucks at early morning food sources stay you should stay there long enough to see which way they leave. In the morning the deer usually work their way slowly from open areas, to high grass or brushy areas, and finally into heavy brush or woods, where they feed and bed intermittently throughout the day. Once you know the route the deer take back to their core areas you can setup along it during the hunting season.

Rub Routes

A buck's rub route leaving its core in the evening usually winds through several doe use areas before ending up at a night time food source. Then it leads through other doe use areas as the buck moves back toward its core area in the early morning, before daylight. You should be able to find several rubs along the evening rub route; and scrapes in the transition zones near food sources, along field edges, and near doe core areas. Following the buck's rub route back to its core area in the morning can be difficult, because buck often travel under the cover of darkness in the early morning, which makes them feel secure enough to travel in the open. Since the bucks are traveling in more areas during the night, there are very few trees, which means you may not find any rubs or scrapes along the route the buck's uses on the way back to its core in the morning, until the route goes back into a wooded area. I think part of the reason that bucks don't make rubs and scrapes along the trail back into their core areas is because they are in a hurry to get back, and they don't take much time to mark their trail until the peak of the rut. But, you can usually find their trails by their tracks, and the rubs left from previous years.

Buck Trails

Although the lesser used buck trails may not be as visible in the late summer as they are later on, last year's rubs and scrapes, and any new rubs and scrapes are clearly evident. Even if the buck that initially made the old rubs and scrapes may not still be around, other bucks will often use the same trails. The trails used by bucks are chosen because they offer security. They are usually the safest means of travel from the buck's core area, through adjacent doe use areas, to nighttime food sources. Remember that in the fall the buck isn't just going from his core area to nighttime food sources, it usually travels through all the adjacent doe use areas that it can get to in a night.

When you are looking for buck trails remember that they often parallel the more heavily used doe trails, intersecting the doe trails only at bottlenecks or near scraping, feeding and core areas. Buck trails, especially rub routes, may be traveled by only one buck, once a day, in one direction, therefore they show very little evidence of being used. If the trail you are following shows very little use, it may be a buck trail. Bucks also prefer to use their own trails, that are generally in more protected areas than the trails does use. If you find vague trails lower or higher on ridges than the doe trails; or trails that run through heavy cover, or follow creek bottoms, sloughs and forested lake shores, they may be buck trails. When you find a lightly used trail in a protected area, look for buck sign: large tracks, drag marks, rubs or large clumped droppings.

Locating Buck and Doe Core Areas

While you are doing your summer scouting you may also find doe use areas with old rubs and scrapes; take note of where you find them. Once you find the doe use areas, or a food source, and the rub route, it is a matter of back-tracking the rub route of the buck to find its core area. If you want to be sure of finding the buck's core area now is a good time to go into it, even though you may spook the buck. By the time hunting season rolls around the buck will have forgotten about your intrusion and it will begin using its preferred bedding areas on a regular basis again. If you don't see a deer in the area check for beds, and large droppings or piles of clumped droppings over and inch and a half in diameter. Although does may leave these large clumps I usually find them in buck bedding areas and in, or near, scrapes. If there are a lot of droppings in one area with, old or new rubs on adjacent trees, it's a good bet you have found the buck's core area.

If you are interested in more deer hunting tips click on T.R.'s Hunting Tips. If you have questions about whitetails log on to the T.R.'s Hunting Tips message board. To find out when the rut begins, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

This article is an excerpt from the Whitetail Addict's Manual ($19.95 + $5.00 s&h), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products Catalog

During the pre-rut, when bucks are beginning to rub to shed velvet, most of their activity will be in or near their core areas that contain bedding sites and late summer food sources of mast, berries, succulent grasses, clovers and agricultural crops. The bucks may travel in small groups at this time, or gather into small groups when they meet at food sources, where they may spar with each other to establish dominance in preparation for more intense fighting that may occur prior to or during to the breeding phase. Scraping often begins at this time, especially if nighttime temperatures fall below 45 degrees. Dominant bucks older than 3 years of age create most of these early scrapes.

When you are getting ready for an early season whitetail hunt you should start scouting in mid-August or early September, when you are likely to see deer at food sources in the morning and evening. Does, fawns, and especially bucks, load up on ripening agricultural crops, succulent grasses, forbes (wild flowers) and sedges (grassy type plants that grow in or near water), and berries and mast (fruits and nuts) in late summer.

Knowing this I usually begin scouting during the last two weeks of August, and I often see bucks travelling together and sparring. But, you shouldn't expect to regularly see the bucks using the same food sources as the does, because the bucks often stay closer to their bedding areas than do the does. If the bucks visit the same food sources as the does, they usually appear at night, much later than the does. If the bucks use the same food sources as the does, they usually appear at night, showing up much later than the does.

By cruising the back roads during the mornings and evenings, and using a good set of binoculars, you can find out which fields the deer are using. You may even see the bucks arrive and be able to determine the trails they use. If you stay late enough, you may be able to see them go to another food source. Because bucks don't travel very far at this time of year, the bedding area should be within a half-mile of morning and evening food sources, probably closer to a quarter-mile. When you se a buck enter a food source within a half hour of sunset, take particular notice of where it came from, because the bucks core are is somewhere along the buck's back trail, and not to far away.

I often hear hunters say they that in October and November, they can't find the big bucks they while they were scouting from late August to late September. That's because the bucks may not be in the same exact areas from August through mid-September as they are from mid-September through December. The bucks may have been in bachelor groups in late summer or early fall. But once they shed their velvet, they become more aggressive and eventually don't put up with each other.

With the information you gathered in late summer, it takes much less time and effort to locate, observe, record your notes and pattern a deer when it comes to scouting. But your scouting may only help you to locate or hunt the deer from late August to mid to late September. That's because the bucks may not be in the same exact areas from August through mid-September as they are from October through December.

While some bucks may stay in the area where you saw them in August and early September, others will move to new core areas, where they don't come in contact with other bucks. Some bucks may move out of their Summer Home Range and go to a Fall Home Range, which may be as close as a quarter of a mile away, to as far as several miles away. This dispersal usually occurs within two to three weeks of when the older bucks begin to shed velvet. In the upper Midwest, it generally occurs sometime between the first and last week of September. So, if you plan on hunting after mid to late September you may have to start scouting all over again, because the bucks you saw in late August may have moved to their Fall Home Ranges / Breeding Ranges. Since these bucks usually make new rubs and scrapes, the best way to locate them is to look for fresh rubs and scrapes in areas where they may not have occurred earlier that year.

Because many early deer hunting seasons start from September 1st to the 15th, you may only have a few days to hunt them before the deer my begin move to their Fall Home Ranges, and the bucks begin to disperse. You may only have one or two days to hunt the buck you saw in early September, before it moves. If you only have a few days to hunt, be sure to pick the right day, the right spot and the right time to hunt, because it may be the only chance you get.

Since late September and early October are a time of transition, the key to deer hunting at this time is to know where the deer are during the days or weeks that you hunt. Because the deer may be using one area in the early part of the month, and another area during the later part of the month, you need to scout often to locate high-use deer areas, and be willing and able to move to new locations at a moment's notice. To do this you need to be able to read deer sign, determine what time of the day the deer are using particular areas, and have the ability to quickly and easily move to areas where you are most likely to see deer. This means you should use lightweight compact equipment that you can take with you as you scout. For most hunters that means either hunting from the ground, using natural terrain, vegetation or a compact, portable blind for cover, and tree seat or hunting stool to sit on; or hunting with a portable tree stand. You want to be able to hunt the same day you scout.

This article is an excerpt from the book Hunting The Whitetail Rut Phases, by T.R. Michels available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.

In many areas October is a time of transition, for both the deer and the habitat. As summer rains decrease some food sources become dry and unpalatable to deer, and other food sources (such as nuts berries and agricultural crops) start to ripen, making them more palatable. October is also when temperatures may begin to drop and the wind speed increases, which means the deer may begin to look for core areas more suitable to colder, windier weather. The result of these seasonal forage availability and weather pattern changes is that the deer may have from one to four seasonal home ranges; spring summer, fall, and winter. In many areas the deer begin to shift from their summer home ranges to their fall home ranges from early September and late October. Sometimes the deer (both bucks and does) will use the same core areas for different seasonal home ranges, but they use different portions of their home ranges for different seasons.

To be successful as a deer hunter you need to find out where the core areas of the deer are during the time frame you are hunting them, what the deer are eating at that time, and determine when and where the preferred foods become available. Since the weather affects both the suitability of daytime core/bedding areas and the availability of preferred forage, you need to scout regularly to determine where the deer spend the day, where they forage at night, and which travel routes they use between those two areas, in both the morning, and in the evening.

October is also the time when the deer are preparing for the rut. During late August and early September bucks often hang out in bachelor groups. Shortly before and after the bucks shed their velvet you may see them traveling or feeding together, and participating in sparring matches in preparation for the rut. But, within weeks of shedding their velvet the buck's testosterone levels rise to the point where they will no longer put up with each other. Once this occurs the older bucks will start to become solitary, and begin moving to and/or establishing their fall breeding ranges. Depending on forage availability, whether or not deer use the same core areas in late summer as they use in the fall, and the distance between summer home ranges and fall home ranges, it may take a week or more for the bucks to move onto and establish their fall breeding ranges.

If the deer in your area regularly breed from early to late November, the bucks often begin to break up from summer bachelor groups sometime between mid-September and mid-October. In many areas above the 36th parallel the bucks will be on their fall breeding ranges two to three weeks before the peak of the rut. If you want to know when peak breeding occurs in the area you hunt check the Whitetail Rut Dates Chart. There is also a graph of whitetail breeding activity on that page.

You can usually tell when the bucks have moved onto their fall breeding ranges by the appearance of new or fresh rubs and scrapes, in areas where they have not previously occurred that year. Once you start seeing new rubs and scrapes after mid-October you can begin watching the area to see which bucks have moved into the area, which bucks are traveling near the rubs and scrapes you've found, and what time of day they are near them.

Since October is often a time of transition, the key to deer hunting in October is to know where the deer are during the days or weeks that you hunt. Because the deer may be using one area in the early part of the month, and another area during the later part of the month, you need to scout often to locate high-use deer areas, and be willing and able to move to new locations at a moment's notice. To do this you need to be able to read deer sign, determine what time of the day the deer are using particular areas, and have the ability to quickly and easily move to areas where you are most likely to see deer. This means you should use lightweight compact equipment that you can take with you as you scout. For most hunters that means either hunting from the ground, using natural terrain, vegetation or a compact, portable blind for cover, and tree seat or hunting stool to sit on; or hunting with a portable tree stand. You want to be able to hunt the same day you scout.

What you are looking for when you are hunting bucks in October is fresh deer sign, particularly fresh rubs and scrapes; although fresh doe sign can tell you where you might find bucks once the does come into estrus. (And research shows that does in many areas start coming into estrus in mid-October.) Fresh rubs and scrapes along lightly used trails that parallel or bisect the more heavily used doe trails are an indication of buck trails; and if you want to take a buck, buck trails are where you should setup.

I like to hunt along buck rub routes (indicated by 1 1/2 -2 inch rubs on or near lightly used trails) or near traditional scrapes (scrapes used 3+ years in a row), that are in secluded locations (heavy cover or low-lying areas) where bucks feel secure when they travel during daylight hours. When I find these signs while I'm scouting, I determine what time of day the bucks use the areas, and setup in the best locations for the time of day I'm hunting. Generally speaking I like to hunt along a travel corridor the bucks use between their daytime core/bedding areas and their nighttime feeding areas, where they often find does.

This article is an excerpt from the book Hunting The Whitetail Rut Phases, by T.R. Michels available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.

It was 3:30 in the afternoon when I first stepped into the woods. Although it was early to deer hunt I needed to do some scouting before I picked a stand location. I'd never hunted this property before, nor had I scouted it. I had however seen the deeply cut deer trail on the steep hill on the north side of the county road near one of my hunting spots. The trail crossed the road and the field south of it, then into a point of trees at a bend in the river a hundred yards away. On the other side of the river were more woods on another hill, and a small agricultural field where I'd several does and bucks over the years. Curious as to which buck or bucks used the trail I decided to go in early in the afternoon, scout the area, and choose a stand site where I could see which bucks used the area.

I parked the Suburban a quarter of a mile away from the trail, shouldered my deer stand, and headed down the road. As I neared the deer trail I stepped into the field 20 yards downwind and paralleled the trail until I got to the woods. Once I was in the woods I began to look for deer sign. There were plenty of tracks, and some droppings. As I followed the trail toward the river I began seeing rubs on either side of the trail, making it obvious that one or more bucks spent some time in the area in the morning or evening.

The trail eventually lead to the river, where there was a well used crossing. The bank n both sides of the river was torn up, with several fresh tracks in the sandy dirt. I spotted a fairly straight tree 15 yards off the downwind side of the trail, about 30 yards from the river. Since the tree was surrounded by several other trees, and was slightly below a hill, neither the wind direction of the sun would be against me. It looked like a good spot to set up.

Understanding deer behavior and travel patterns helps a lot when you are choosing a hunting site. Because deer feed primarily during low light conditions they have two primary rest periods, late at night and mid-day. They Generally leave their daytime core areas in heavy cover during the late afternoon and move toward nighttime food sources, often in open areas. The deer intermittently feed, travel and rest during the night, and then try to return to their daytime core areas before sunrise the next morning.

Because the amount of light is a security factor, deer in forested areas (where there is shade) get up and begin to feed and move a couple of hours before sundown. As the sun sets and it becomes darker they move into more open areas of low brush or sparse forest and move toward open fields or meadows (where available). Shortly before sundown the deer may move into the shadows at the edges of woods, and then into open meadows or fields where they feel secure feeding during the darkness of night.

In the early morning this pattern is reversed. As the sky begins to brighten the deer move from the open areas before daylight, and back into heavy cover or woods once the sun is up. Depending on the habitat, many of the deer are back in their core areas by 10 AM. Bucks are generally more wary than does, and move to feeding areas about a half hour later in the evening; and head back to their bedding/core areas about a half hour earlier in the morning than the does do.

If you are hunting late in the afternoon, when the deer are just leaving their core areas in heavy cover, you can set up along travel lanes leading from the core areas to daytime food sources. Small openings in the woods, mast sites, and swamp or creek edges in heavy cover, are all good places to set up. If you are hunting just before sundown, the transition zones of tall grass, heavy brush, swamps and gullies are good place to set up. Trails leading to staging areas, downwind of open food sources, are excellent hunting sites at sundown, especially for bucks.

If you are hunting at or just after sundown, and the deer are feeding in the open, your stand should be along trails leading to the fields. Bucks move later than does and often come into the transition zones after sundown, preferring to stay in cover until sundown (when they feel secure). If you don't see bucks in open feeding areas you should move farther into the woods along the buck travel routes. Since the deer generally move late in the afternoon you have plenty of time to get to transition zones, staging areas and food sources before the deer arrive.

In the early morning, when the deer are still feeding in the open, you should not hunt from stands near the food sources, unless you are sure there are no deer near your stand, or you are sure you can approach you stand undetected. Because of the darkness you probably won't know if there are deer in the area until it's too late, and if you spook a deer it will alert all the other deer in the area. In the morning you can hunt transition zones and heavy cover (where deer travel on their way from feeding areas), or you can hunt the trails leading to the core areas. You should be at your stand before the deer arrive, and ambush them as they go back to their core areas.

Prior to the breeding phase bucks usually return to cover well before daylight. This is a good time to hunt the early morning along rub routes leading to the buck's bedrooms; getting there before the bucks do. Once the rut begins the bucks may return to their core areas later than normal in the morning, because they are either chasing or looking for does. Early in the morning you may catch bucks along their rub routes near transition zones leading back to their core areas. If the bucks are not in their core areas, you can hunt the core areas from first light until noon; I've seen bucks drag themselves back to their core areas at 11:00 in the morning. If you've previously observed or patterned a buck you will know when and where the best setup is.

Once I figured out where I wanted to setup I placed my gear on the ground, put on my climbing belt, and began screwing tree steps into the tree. One I reached a height that felt right for the area I screwed the pin for my stand into the tree and climbed back own. Then I attached my haul rope to my treestand, climbed back up the tree, and hung my stand. Since, as usual, I was doing research and not hunting, I didn't need to worry about trimming branches for a shooting lane. All I cared about was figuring out if I had read the sign properly, chosen a good site to see a buck, and finding out which bucks were traveling through the area. By now it was 5:00 PM, and I expected the deer to start moving soon. So, I made sure my safety belt was secure, made myself comfortable, and waited.

It was close to 6:00 when the first doe and fawn meandered through the woods. A few minutes later another doe with twins walked by, then a yearling buck with a small 10 point rack. (If he lived three or for more years he'd probably make the Boone and Crockett record book.) Then, as the forest began to grow dim, another doe and fawn came through, followed by a heavy-bodied buck with a tall symmetrical 10 point rack. From the looks of his body and rack he was at least four years old, which was fairly old for the area due to the heavy hunting pressure during the gun season.

The buck didn't appear to be trailing any of the does, because it walked slowly, checking the sights and sounds around it as it walked 30 yards from my stand. It didn't appear the buck was going to follow the same route the does had used, so, just to find out how it would react, I blew softly on my grunt call. The buck looked in my direction, then began walking toward me. Within minutes the buck was standing broadside, 15 yard from my stand, looking for the deer it though it had heard. Had I been hunting it would have been an easy shot with a bow or a gun. As it was, I'd learned that I'd read the sign right, chosen a good spot to setup, and a nice 10 point buck had come into range. As a bonus I knew there was another buck in the area that could eventually take its place, provided the one year old 10 pointer was smart enough to live until it was four or five year old. All in all it had been a very successful scouting trip.

A deer stand is where you choose to hunt, and can be any location where you wait for the animals. It could be near a tree, rock, or hilltop; or it could be a treestand, tripod or ground blind. The main purpose of a stand is to allow you to see the animal and get a shot before it detects you. A stand site should afford some means of protection from the animal seeing, smelling or hearing you, while letting you see the animal.

Your method of hunting dictates where you place your stand. If you are rifle or muzzle loader hunting your stand can be farther away from where you expect deer than if you are shotgun, handgun, archery or crossbow hunting. Distance alone is enough to avoid detection. The shorter the effective range of you and your weapon, the more concealment from sight and sound, and the more the wind direction dictate where your stand should be placed. If you intend to wait for the animals, or use techniques to attract them at distances closer than 100 yards, place your stand out of the direct line of sight of the animal and keep downwind or crosswind from its approach. A treestand can be placed near high use areas but can be out of normal visual range because of height. Height also helps to disperse scent and sound.

Ground stands can be effective as long as adequate concealment or camouflage is used, and precautions are taken so the animal doesn't smell you. There are numerous hunting blinds that conceal movement, muffle sound, and because you are out of the wind, less smell escapes. Because deer have learned to look into trees for hunters, and associate the upright human form with danger, I have begun hunting more from the ground. The biggest advantages of ground stand hunting are mobility and comfort. By sitting on rocks, logs, the ground, or my Back Seat portable stool, I can easily pick up and move if the area is unproductive. I don't have to worry about hanging multiple stands that may or may not be in the right location, or taking down my stand and moving it. I simply get up and walk away. This is especially helpful if there is a sudden wind change. While I am sitting on my Back Seat I don't present the upright human form, and deer don't perceive me as a danger. I have been hunting from ground stands for years and have had more "close encounters" with animals and shooting opportunities than I have when hunting from a treestand.

With hunters spending so much time in treestands hoping to see and get a shot at a deer, the location of the stand in relation to where they expect to see the deer is crucial. But, I often see stands hung too close to open feeding areas, too far from core areas; too far from or too close to deer travel corridors and trails; in places where the wind or thermal currents are wrong; in surroundings where the hunter is sky-lined; and often too low. In order for you to get the most out of your treestand it needs to be in the right location; an area frequented by deer at the time of the day that you intend to hunt from it. Ideally this is in a wooded or semi-wooded area where the deer feel secure in during the day.

Since deer spend the majority of the daylight hours in secure areas, often in thick vegetation and wooded or low-lying areas where visibility is limited, the majority of your stand sites should be in or near those areas. If you can't see the deer and shoot into those areas, you are too far away. Deer (especially older bucks) don't usually leave their security areas and move into open areas until shortly before or after sunset, which means that hunters who place their stands at the edge of agricultural fields and other open areas will see fewer deer, and especially older bucks, during legal hunting hours, than hunters who place their stands in or near the secure areas.

A stand also needs to be close enough to where you expect to see the deer to get a shot, but far enough away so that the deer don't detect you, either while you are waiting or getting ready for a shot. Obviously hunters using a bow, crossbow, handgun, shotgun or muzzleloader need to be closer to the deer than a rifle hunter. When you choose a location for your stand consider the effective shooting distance of you and your weapon, and then set up several yards closer than that for good measure. Do not set your stand too close to where you expect to see the deer. Too often I see stands that are within yards of a deer trail, or are hanging off to the side of the trail where the deer may be looking directly toward the stand as it comes around a corner in the trail. If you are using a short-range weapon, and can see several yards of the trail in any one direction, you are probably too close, because the deer will probably be able to see you.

Although you want to be close to the deer's core area, where they spend most of their time during daylight hours, you don't want to be so close that you alert the deer to your presence. You don't want the deer to smell, hear or see you when you are in your stand; and especially when you put your stand up, which is when you can be seen, smelled or heard by the deer as you walk in, hang your stand and clear shooting lanes. How close you can get to the core area depends on the terrain, the thickness of the vegetation and the wind direction. No matter what the terrain and vegetation are like, I don't think you can setup a stand closer than 100 yards without the deer hearing, seeing or smelling you. Air currents are often the determining factor as to where you can set up, because wind from you to the core area will carry your scent to the deer. If the wind or thermals are wrong, a half mile may be too close.

One of the most important considerations in treestand placement should be wind direction and the movement of thermal air currents. You want to place your stand where it is either downwind of where you expect to see deer, or down and crosswind of the direction in which you think the deer will be moving. You don't want the deer to be able to smell you at all if possible when you are hunting, even if you don't get a shot. If you have to set up crosswind of a deer's approach, you should be very confident that you will be able to take the deer when it comes by, and that the deer won't cross your downwind scent until it is well past you, which should be out of range. If a deer smells you, even if you didn't get a shot, it may leave behind enough interdigital or metatarsal scent to alarm other deer that may come through the area. Those warning scents may linger for hours, reducing your chances of seeing any deer as long as you are there.

You also need to take into consideration the effects of thermal currents. If you hunt in country with gullies, ravines, hills or mountains, there is a good chance that changing thermal currents will not allow you to hunt some stands are particular times of the day. Thermal currents generally rise in the morning as the sun heats up the air, and fall in the evening as the air cools. When the wind is blowing these thermal currents might not be noticeable while you are hunting, and they may not affect your hunting. Thermal currents may not be noticeable even when there is no wind, but they can ruin a stand location just as easily as the wind.

When you set up your stand be aware of the terrain, and the vegetation. Thick trees (especially evergreens) in otherwise less dense areas may funnel the wind and thermal currents into some areas. If the area you hunt has changes in elevation, think about what time of day you want to hunt the area, and which way the thermals may be moving at that time of day. If you are unsure whether or not there are thermals in the area, use talcum powder, thistle down, a piece of sewing thread tied to your weapon, or a commercial product like Breeze Detector from Wildlife Research Center to determine when and which direction the thermals are blowing.

When you set up your stand you don't want to be sky-lined, you don't want to be noticeable from a deer's level of sight. Try to place your stand in a tree as wide as your body; or with other trees, limbs or a hill behind you. The denser the background behind you, the harder it will be for the deer to spot you. When I hang a stand I like pick a spot on the tree, and then go to where I think I will have my shots, and squat down so that I'm at the level of the deer, then look at the spot I picked to hang my stand. If I see a lot of sky, I know I have chosen the wrong spot. It may also be beneficial to hunt with the sun behind you, rather than in your face, where and when it is possible. Having the sun behind you keeps sunlight from glaring off you and your equipment, and it makes it easier to see in front of you.

There are two main things you have to consider when you hang a stand; strength of the tree and straightness of the tree. The tree needs to be big enough to support the weight of you and your stand in a high wind, and it needs to be healthy. Even if a tree is big enough to hold you it may be cracked or rotten. Check the tree carefully, to make sure there are no cracks or rotted areas in it, and give it a good thump with your tree steps or a stick to make sure it sounds solid. If you have screw-in steps you also need to make sure you can get your steps into the tree.

Another consideration in stand placement is how high off the ground you want to be. Height alone can keep you out of the normal line of sight of the deer. Depending on the terrain and vegetation where you hunt, and the speed and direction of the wind or thermal currents, if you are high enough, the air currents may keep your scent above the areas you intend to hunt, and keep the deer from detecting you. On the other hand, if you are producing scents that can be detected by the deer, and there is no wind, the higher you are, the more your scent spreads out around you as it descends. One drawback to height is that the higher you are, the smaller your target zone gets, especially if you are using a short range weapon. The side of a deer or a bear offers a lot bigger target at ground level than the top of a deer or bear at 40 yards.

You should also think about the terrain around you when you choose a height for your stand. If you hunt steep hills and ravines, and the deer are moving below you, there is no need to place your stand 20 feet up in a tree, because the deer may already be 5 to 20 feet below your stand. On the other hand, if you hunt in hilly country or in a ravine or gully, and the deer move on higher ground than your tree, you may have to put your stand higher than normal, because the deer may be moving at about the same level as your stand. When you place your stand remember that one of the purposes of using a treestand is to be above the normal line of sight of the deer around you, no matter high you are.

While I am on the ground checking to see if my stand is sky-lined I also check to see if I have one or more clear shooting lanes from my stand. If I don't, I decide whether or not I can cut off some limbs and brush out the area to create shooting lanes. If I have to remove too much vegetation, I look for another place to hang my stand, because cutting too many branches, and removing too much brush, will be noticeable to the deer, and they will be alert when they approach the area. If they discover a sight, scent or sound that is out of place the first time they come through the area, they may spook, take another route or travel after dark. You can avoid this by putting your stand up two weeks or more in advance, and then staying out of the area until you plan to hunt. That way the deer have a chance to get accustomed to the changes when you aren't there, and without the sight, scent or sound of you.

Once I've hung my stands (I often hang two or three stands in the same area so I can hunt according to the air currents) I look for one or more routes I can use to get to my stand. The route I use depends on the time of day I hunt, which direction the air currents are moving, and where I expect the deer to be as I go to my stand. I like to use the easiest route I can find, a route where I don't have to walk through a lot of brush that I might leave scent on as I walk by. I avoid rough or steep terrain if I can, so that I don't have to work too hard to get where I'm going, which may cause me to make a lot of noise, and it may cause me to work up a sweat.

Unless I have spent a lot of time in the area, and the deer have gotten accustomed to seeing, smelling and hearing me moving through it, I try to stay well away from any deer trail, especially the lightly used buck trails and rub routes. If I have to cross a trail I try to do it far enough from where I expect the deer to be coming from, and far enough in advance of the time they get there, that much of my scent will have dispersed by the time the deer come through. If there are watercourses in the area that I can walk in, I use them to get to my stand. However, because I often scout my hunting areas every day, checking for tracks, droppings and scrapes, the deer get used to me, which allows me to walk on or next to their trails without them becoming alarmed when I hunt. I believe that if you scout your hunting area two to three times per week, between the hours of 11:00 AM and 2:00PM (when the deer are usually in their core areas) you can get the deer accustomed to your scent, and you can use the same trails the deer do when you go to your stand.

Safety should be on your mind every time you get into your treestand. But, all too often, hunters fail to use even the slightest precautions when they are in their stands. Climbing 10 to 20 feet up a tree on tree steps, and standing on a two to three foot square platform that high up is dangerous; take some precautions so that you, or someone you are with doesn't fall and get hurt. Use a climbing belt when you go up the tree, and a safety belt or harness when you are in the tree. Two of my favorite safety belts are the Treehopper, which doubles as a heavy duty climbing and safety belt, and the Silent Slide safety belt, which allows you to pivot 180 degrees in silence.

When my kids took up hunting I began to worry about their safety, and I realized that if they fell while they were wearing a safety belt, they might end up upside down, or with a severely injured midsection. So, I began working on a safety harness, with straps around both legs to keep the wearer from falling out of the harness, with the attachment for the tether strap between the shoulders, so they wouldn't end up upside down if they did fall. With the tether strap between the shoulders you could also use the harness as a deer drag. Then I though about adding a couple of rings to the front of the harness, so you could use the tether strap as a climbing belt. I was well on my way to producing the safety harness/deer drag/climbing belt when I found out that there was already one on the market. I firmly believe that a safety harness is the best precaution you can take, especially if you are a heavy person, or for children.

By T.R. Michels

Whitetail bucks may not care much about security in the summer, but, once they shed their velvet and begin rubbing and scraping, they become more security conscious. They move less during daylight hours, travel more at night, use secluded areas, and keep more to the security of woods and brush, where they can't be easily discovered by predators or hunters. However, as the breeding urge hits them in October and November, they seem to forget about security, and they begin to travel more in search of does. In their effort to find does they often begin traveling during daylight hours, and they often use the same trails as the does. They also begin frequenting the same feeding areas as the does.

Late October is a good time to look for bucks traveling during legal hunting hours, it is also a good time to look for the same thing the bucks are looking for; does. If you know where the prime food sources are, you should be able to find the does. Once you find the does you can locate their core areas, food sites and travel corridors, where you may find buck rubs, rub routes and scrapes. And once you find bucks rubs and rub routes it is only a matter of time and effort before you find the bucks.

Even though my wife and children are big football fans I often get the urge to head for the woods in the fall. So, during the afternoons and evenings on Saturdays and Sundays I drive to one of my hunting/research areas to look for deer, and deer sign. I begin my scouting by glassing (using binoculars) while I drive around the country, checking farm fields at dusk. Once I find where the deer are feeding I watch the fields to see where the deer come from, so I can locate their bedding areas.

Every once in a while I get lucky and see one of the bucks too, like I did the Friday evening before the gun opener in 2002. I was looking for does at the south end of one of the cornfields I hunted. As I neared the end of the field a fawn crossed the opening in front of me. I quickly turned off my lights and stopped the Suburban. Another fawn crossed the opening, followed by a doe and a massive 10 point buck locally known as "Bullwinkle." As I sat silently in the Suburban the buck caught up with the doe and bred her, then they both moved into the woods, which I knew was used as a bedding area by one of the does in the area, probably this very doe. As a result of my scouting, and with a little luck, I had a pretty good idea of where to setup to see the buck the next morning.

After I find the does I start field scouting, looking for evidence of bucks passing through the area. Rubs and scrapes are very evident during late October and early November, which makes it easy to locate the buck's rub routes. Once I find a rub route I backtrack it to find the buck's bedroom. More often than not I go into the bedding site and spook the buck, but I don't worry about it. I've found that bucks often return to their core areas and bedding sites as long as they aren't disturbed more than one or two times.

After a few weeks of scouting I know where the mast crops are, and which feeding areas the does are regularly using. To get a better idea of when and where the deer are moving I sit in a tree stand, or on a high point, where I can see a lot of territory. I watch the deer for a few, days to find out what time to expect them at certain points along their travel routes. Then I choose which stand sites to use at what time of the day for the best chances at the bucks.

Hunters often use scents, calls and rattling to attract bucks during the rut. If you are use any of these methods to attract bucks remember that adult bucks invariably try to get downwind to check the area for scents and sounds, so they can detect and avoid danger. You should also remember that adult bucks try to remain in cover when they travel.

When you setup to take a particular buck along a travel route, give the buck the cover it likes to move in, while you set up in a nearby area. Try to position yourself crosswind of the buck's travel route to avoid detection. If there is nearby cover the buck may use, and a more open area, or cover too thick for the buck to move through, crosswind of where you think the buck will travel, setup in the area the buck won't use. Give the buck the area it will use, while you wait in the area it won't use, and where you won't be detected. You can also setup downwind of the buck's approach while luring the buck to a position upwind of your position.

When you use scent wicks or canisters be sure to place them close enough for a shot. If you have to setup upwind of the buck's approach, take extreme precautions to avoid detection; don't put your stand in a direct line with the buck's line of travel, you may be seen. For the same reason you should keep your stand site a comfortable distance from the travel route, far enough away to avoid detection, but close enough for a shot.

When I am hunting an area I have not hunted before, I prefer to hunt in the evenings, when most scent marking activity (rubbing and scraping) occurs. If I find a rub route I backtrack it until I think I am near a buck's bedding area. Then I setup as close as I can to the bedding area without alarming the buck. If I can't locate the rub route or bedding area I look for staging areas (where the deer gather before moving, into feeding areas at sunset) near food sources.

Once you have chosen an area to hunt, and a where to put your stand, decide where to place the scent. It can be hung from trees on felt pads, film canisters or a dripper. I place several drippers crosswind or upwind of my position, about fifteen yards from my stand and fifteen yards apart, near a rub or scrape, and wait for the buck to come by.

Depending on where you hunt, whitetail deer may be going through one or more rut phases during November. In the northern and mid-latitude states they may be in the later stages of the Pre-Primary Breeding/Scraping Phase from early to mid-November; in the Primary Breeding Phase from early to mid-November; in the Rest Phase from mid to late November; or in the Pre-late Breeding Phase in late November. In the southern states these stages may begin several weeks earlier, and each phase may last longer. To determine when peak breeding occurs in most states you can log on to the Trinity Mountain Outdoors click on the Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

By T.R. Michels

When you are using scents, calls and rattling you should get as close to the buck bedrooms and feeding areas as you can, or setup along the travel route between those two areas. If the bucks are not actively working their rub routes and making scrapes, and you know where they bed, travel and feed, you can setup near the bedding sites, along the travel routes, or near the feeding areas. During the Pre-Primary Breeding/Scraping Phase (late October to early November in the north) bucks may be making rubs and scrapes along rub routes. They'll travel their rub routes semi-regularly at this time, and you should be able to pattern the buck along its rub route, where you can setup near either rubs or scrapes. During the Primary Breeding Phase, when the bucks are looking for or with estrous does, they are unpredictable. But they may still frequent their rub routes, and the doe core areas and feeding areas. During this phase you can setup near buck bedrooms, along travel routes and near doe core areas and feeding areas. During the Rest Phase (after peak breeding) the bucks often return to their core areas and nearby feeding areas; you can setup near the buck bedding areas; or between the bedding areas and the food sources. Three to four weeks after the peak of the Primary Breeding Phase you can expect a Post Primary Breeding Phase, when the bucks begin traveling their rub routes again. During this phase they can be found near their bedding sites, and with the does in staging and feeding areas. During the Post Rut the bucks often return to their bedding areas and seek high quality food sources to put on weight for the winter. During this phase you should setup near buck bedrooms and feeding areas.

Pre-Primary Breeding / Scraping Phase Hunting Techniques

This is when you should setup along a rub route or near a scrape in a wooded area that the bucks use during the day. When I am hunting a previously patterned buck during this phase of the rut, near a rub or scrape, I am confident of the trail the deer uses and I don't need numerous scent dispensers. Because I have patterned the buck, and I am hunting before the breeding period, I'm fairly sure the buck will come by me sometime within a 3-5 day period, unless it meets an estrous doe first, or is spooked by another hunter.

I use the scent to position the buck for a clear shot. The scent also gives me a chance to bring in any other bucks in the area. I hang up one or two felt pads with buck urine or doe estrous scent, but I don't leave them out when I'm not there. If a buck comes to doe scent and doesn't find a doe, it probably won't fall for it again. By taking the scent out every day you don't educate the buck.

You can also hunt near a scrape, or make your own scrape. I make a mock a scrape with the heel of my boot, rattling racks, or a stick, under an overhanging branch. I pour forehead scent on the branch and tarsal scent in the scrape. Then I hang an Ultimate Scrape Dripper with Golden Estrus or Active Scrape over the scrape, or near my stand in a shooting lane. This combination of buck infringement scents and doe in heat scent attracts bucks out of the urge to exert dominance, or to breed.

If you don't know exactly where the buck's bedding area is you can setup on the rub route at the first scrape the buck makes as it comes out of its core (bedding) area by using this same techniques. If you don't know where the core area is you can setup near a staging area or food source that the does are using. When I am not setup along on a rub route or near a scrape I use several film canisters spread out 10 yards apart to attract the buck over a wider area. If you know the buck is traveling after sunrise in the morning you can use this same technique on the rub route leading back to its bedding area.

During this rut phase you should setup along the buck's rub route or near areas the does regularly use. Because the does are in estrous the bucks are either with a doe or looking for one. If you know a particular buck is not with a doe, and is staying in its bedding area, you can setup as close to its bedding site as you can. Try to get between the buck and the first doe area it visits. If the buck finds an estrous doe before it gets to your stand site the chances are it will follow the doe and not the rub route. By setting up between the buck's bedroom and the first doe use area you have a good chance of seeing the buck on a regular basis, and attracting it to your stand.

Because bucks are looking for does and want to protect their breeding rights both Territorial/Dominance scents and Sex scents work during this phase. To capitalize on this you can make a mock rub near one of the buck's rubs or scrapes, and a mock scrape. You can drip a line of tarsal, interdigital or urine scent across the trail the buck uses and lead it to the mock rub.

To make a mock rub remove the bark from a tree with a wood rasp, then drip forehead scent or some other scent on the rub. Wear rubber gloves and boots while you do this, so you don't contaminate the area. Mock rubs should be placed in a shooting lane, near your stand, where the buck will stop to investigate it, often sniffing and licking the rub, while offering you a shot.

During the breeding phase or "peak rut" the bucks may be traveling anywhere and anytime in search of does. Because the bucks are unpredictable during this phase you should spend as much time as possible on stand. Choose a site near a rub or scrape near doe core areas, in staging sites, feeding or watering areas, or get close to the buck's bedroom. Hunt three or more days in each area, changing stand sites frequently. If the buck is with an estrous doe it may stay with the doe for up to three days; it may not return to its normal activities until the doe is out of estrous. If you quit hunting after two or three days you may miss the buck when it returns to its normal pattern.

Once the majority of the does in estrous have been bred, the dominant bucks often begin to travel their rub routes again, making rubs and scrapes. The subdominant bucks may also begin rubbing and scraping at this time, because they haven't come in contact with the dominant bucks or with fresh rubs and scrapes, which often keeps them from making their own rubs and scrapes. Either way there is often renewed rubbing and scraping activity for a week or more shortly after peak breeding as both the dominant and subdominant bucks search for does. Setup along rub lines, scrape routes and in staging areas near food sources. Buck urine and doe in estrous work well at this time. Tarsal or interdigital scent can be dripped on a trail to lead bucks to rubs, scrapes or your stand site.

A week to two weeks after peak breeding the older bucks may not show themselves. After the fighting, chasing and breeding of the Breeding Phase the dominant bucks may be worn out, hungry, and in need of food to supply enough fat to get them through the winter. They often return to their bedding areas, or look for a secure place to rest, with high quality food sources nearby. If you know where the bucks are and where the available food sources are, you can setup between the two to intercept the bucks.

The bucks may not be as willing to fight after peak breeding, but they may still be interested in breeding. Estrus scents and buck urine work well at this time. Some bucks may respond to Curiosity scents; Food scents like acorn, corn and peanut butter may work. If you are confident of your stalking skills you can go after the buck in its core area.

About two to three weeks after peak breeding has ceased some of the younger does that did jot come into estrous earlier, particularly six month old fawns in many regions, may come into a first estrous, and older does that were not bred earlier come into a second or possibly a third estrous. This may cause an increase in both rubbing and scraping activity as the bucks begin to travel their rub routes and search for late season forage, where they may come in contact with does or the scents the does left behind. Since the younger or subdominant bucks may have never ceased looking for does, the earliest of these activities may be attributed to the these bucks, resulting in what appears to be a pre-late breeding phase, which precedes the peak breeding of does at this time. The actual Late Breeding Phase peak may last two to three weeks. However, breeding may continue for a month or more before ceasing, with breeding continuing longer in the mid-latitude and southern states.

Limited food sources and cold winter weather may cause the deer to migrate, or to move to Winter Home Ranges. I've seen this Winter Home Range Shift occur as early as mid-November if the weather turns cold, the snow gets deep, the natural food sources are gone, or agricultural food sources like corn and soybeans are picked. If you don't see any deer in you area, they may have moved or migrated. If they have you will have to start the scouting, glassing, patterning process all over again if you want to be a successful deer hunter.

No matter which rut phase you are hunting during late season deer hunts, the further you are from the food sources you are, without getting too close to the deer bedding areas, the better your chances of seeing deer during the day. Even though the deer may arrive at the food source well before dark, they are most alert near the food sources, where you may be detected. And, because bucks generally travel later than does, you will have a better chance of seeing them in protected areas, well away from the food sources, in the early afternoon.

When you are hunting in the morning try to position yourself between night resting areas/early morning food sources, and daytime bedding areas. Your hunting sites should be located along trails leading to buck bedding areas so you have an opportunity as the bucks return to their beds.

I often see deer bed and feed in overgrown fields of brush and saplings on the downwind side of hills in the morning. They often stay in these areas until daylight, then, as the sun rises, move to areas of deeper cover. When this happens you can setup downwind or crosswind of the trails the deer use as they leave. You can also setup near known buck bedding areas, provided you get there before the buck returns.

The time to hunt late season bucks is when the conditions are right. When foods are scarce, or a preferred food is available; and when there is cloud cover and the wind-chills drop, expect to see deer earlier in the evening and later in the morning than normal. After a winter storm lets up, or it has been cold, windy, or after there has been heavy precipitation for more than a day and a half, which causes the deer to miss two or more feeding periods, and then the wind dies down, or the temperature/wind-chill rises, you can expect the deer to begin feeding, and to continue feeding for the next couple of hours.

When you are hunting deer in late November you need to know where the food sources are, and know the trails the deer use during daylight hours as they move to and from the fields. The easiest way to find the food sources is to regularly scout the area by driving the farm country roads to locate fields that haven't been picked. Or you can get up high and watch the deer from a distance. Personally I like to watch deer from a portable stand or blind, or from a high hill where I can stand and wait for the deer.

If you are interested in more whitetail hunting tips, or more whitetail biology and behavior, click on Trinity Mountain Outdoor News and T.R.'s Hunting Tips at www.TRMichels.com. If you have questions about whitetails log on to the T.R.'s Tips message board. To find out when the rut starts, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

This article is an excerpt from the Whitetail Addict's Manual ($19.95 + $5.00 S&H), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.

During the summer whitetail bucks don't associate much with the does, and they usually stay near their summer core areas. When they do travel they rarely use the same trails the does do. But, as summer turns to fall, and preferred food sources become available, the bucks will begin to use the same food sources as the does, and they may be seen in the late evening and early morning hours. After the bucks shed their velvet and begin rubbing and scraping they become more security conscious and they may move less during daylight hours. They travel more at night, use secluded areas and keep more to the security of woods and brush where they can't be easily discovered by predators and hunters. Once the breeding urge hits the bucks will begin to travel in search of does, leaving rubs and scrapes as evidence of their passing so that any receptive doe knows where to find them. They may begin to travel more during daylight hours and use the same trails as the does, so that they come in contact with the does more often. The bucks also begin frequenting the same feeding areas as the does for the same reason. This is when bucks are the most predictable in their movements, and when they are most susceptible to hunting.

Find The Does

One of the easiest ways to find a whitetail buck during the rut is to find the does. If the deer population is healthy and close to balanced the bucks will find the does during the rut. If you know where the prime food sources are, then you will know where to find the does. Once you find the does you should be able to find their home ranges. Once you find the doe home range you should be able to find a buck's rub route, rubs and scrapes. And once you find the rub route it is a matter of time and effort before you find the buck.

There are two times during the year when locating does is easy. One is obviously during the fall when the deer are in meadows and agricultural crops taking advantage of the abundant forage. They can also be found in woods where they search for mast crops, but they are often harder to see in this environment. The other time of year to locate does is in the spring when the leaves are still off the trees and the deer begin to look for new green growth and leftover mast from the year before. I prefer spring scouting for does because I like to devote the fall to locating the rub, rub lines and scrapes that bucks make. Then I locate the bucks.

After the long winter I always get spring fever, so I begin glassing (using binoculars to look for deer) in April. I drive around the country, checking farm fields at dusk looking for does. Once I find where they are feeding I watch to see where they come from so I can locate their bedding area. Every once in a while I get lucky and see one of the bucks too, like I did April 28 one year. I was out looking for the does near the railroad tracks where I knew they locate to feed. As I drove across the tracks I saw deer about a quarter mile away. I got out of the truck, took my binoculars and got as close as I could. There where four deer; it looked like one doe and two yearlings but I couldn't tell what the other deer was. As they got closer I could see two inch velvet on the head of the other deer, and knew it was the big eight point buck I had watched all fall. I could also see small bumps on the head of the bigger yearling. As I watched the male yearling got too close to the bigger buck, and the eight point kicked the yearling on the top of it's back with both front hoofs already exerting dominance over the one year old buck. I keep watching the deer all summer long, so I know where to find them in the fall. .

After I find the does in the fall I start scouting, looking for evidence of bucks passing through. Rubs and scrapes are very evident in the spring and it's easy to locate the bucks rub route. Once I find the rub route I backtrack it to find the buck's bedroom. More often than not I will go into the bedroom and spook the buck out but I don't worry about it. By the time hunting season rolls around the buck will have forgotten about my intrusion and I know right where to find him in the fall.

When I look for does in the fall I use the same technique. By this time I know where the mast crops are and which crops the does will be using. I check the food sources, find the does and then I begin to watch them to see which foods they use and what time they use them. If I can, I sit in a treestand, or get on a high point where I can see a lot of territory. I sit and watch the deer for the next week during both the morning and evening to see when they are most active. Then I choose my hunting sites based on the knowledge of where the does travel, where they will be feeding and the added knowledge of where I found the bucks rub route. I also make a point of looking for the bucks near their bedding areas, to see what their racks look like and which ones made it through the winter. Once I know where the does are, what food sources they use, where the buck rub routes are, and which bucks are still around, I know where to find the bucks when the rut begins. By watching the bucks from an observation point for a few days I know what time to expect them at certain points along their rub route. Then I choose which stand site to use at what time of the day for the best chance at the buck.

Many hunters use scents to attract bucks. If you are using scents remember that adult bucks responding to scent invariably try to get downwind to check the scent and detect danger. You should also remember that adult bucks try to remain in cover. When you setup, give the buck the cover, while you hunt in a more open area nearby. Try to position yourself crosswind of the buck's travel route to avoid detection. If there is nearby cover the buck will use and a more open area crosswind of the cover, setup in the open area. Give the buck the cover while you wait in the area it won't use and where you won't be detected.

You can also setup downwind of the buck's approach while luring the buck to a position upwind of you. Be sure to place the scent close enough for a shot. If you have to setup upwind of the buck's approach take extreme precautions to avoid detection. Don't put your stand in a direct line with the buck's line of travel, you may be seen. For the same reason you should keep your stand site a comfortable distance from the trail itself, far enough to avoid detection, but close enough for a shot.

If I am hunting an area I have not hunted before, I prefer to hunt in the evenings when most scent marking activity occurs. If I find a rub route I backtrack it until I think I am near the bedding area and then setup as close as I can without alarming the buck. If I cannot locate the rub route or bedding area I look for staging areas near food sources.

Once you have chosen an area to hunt and a where to put your stand, decide where to place the scent. It can be hung from trees on felt pads, film canisters or other dispensers, and in drippers. I place the scent crosswind or upwind of my position, about fifteen yards from my stand and fifteen yards apart, near the rub or scrape and wait for the buck to come by.

To find out when the rut begins, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

This article is an excerpt from the book Hunting The Whitetail Rut Phases, by T.R. Michels available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.

If you are interested in more deer hunting tips click on T.R.'s Hunting Tips. If you have questions about whitetails log on to the T.R.'s Hunting Tips message board.

About two to three weeks after peak breeding has ceased some of the younger does that did jot come into estrous earlier, particularly six month old fawns in many regions, may come into a first estrous, and older does that were not bred earlier come into a second or possibly a third estrous. This may cause an increase in both rubbing and scraping activity as the bucks begin to travel their rub routes and search for late season forage, where they may come in contact with does or the scents the does left behind. Since the younger or subdominant bucks may have never ceased looking for does, the earliest of these activities may be attributed to the these bucks, resulting in what appears to be a pre-late breeding phase, which precedes the peak breeding of does at this time.

The actual Late Breeding Phase peak may last two to three weeks. However, breeding may continue for a month or more before ceasing, with breeding continuing longer in the mid-latitude and southern states.

Limited food sources and cold winter weather may cause the deer to migrate, or to move to Winter Home Ranges. I've seen this Winter Home Range Shift occur as early as mid-November if the weather turns cold, the snow gets deep, the natural food sources are gone, or agricultural food sources like corn and soybeans are picked. If you don't see any deer in you area, they may have moved or migrated. If they have you will have to start the scouting, glassing, patterning process all over again if you want to be a successful deer hunter.

Pre-Late Rut Phase and Late Rut Phase Hunting Techniques

No matter which rut phase you are hunting during late season deer hunts, the further you are from the food sources you are, without getting too close to the deer bedding areas, the better your chances of seeing deer during the day. Even though the deer may arrive at the food source well before dark, they are most alert near the food sources, where you may be detected. And, because bucks generally travel later than does, you will have a better chance of seeing them in protected areas, well away from the food sources, in the early afternoon.

When you are hunting in the morning try to position yourself between night resting areas/early morning food sources, and daytime bedding areas. Your hunting sites should be located along trails leading to buck bedding areas so you have an opportunity as the bucks return to their beds.

I often see deer bed and feed in overgrown fields of brush and saplings on the downwind side of hills in the morning. They often stay in these areas until daylight, then, as the sun rises, move to areas of deeper cover. When this happens you can setup downwind or crosswind of the trails the deer use as they leave. You can also setup near known buck bedding areas, provided you get there before the buck returns.

The time to hunt late season bucks is when the conditions are right. When foods are scarce, or a preferred food is available; and when there is cloud cover and the wind-chills drop, expect to see deer earlier in the evening and later in the morning than normal. After a winter storm lets up, or it has been cold, windy, or there has been heavy precipitation for more than a day and a half, causing deer to miss two or more feeding periods, and then the wind dies down, or the wind-chill rises, expect deer to begin feeding, and to continue for the next couple of hours.

When you are hunting late season deer you need to know where the food sources are, and know the trails the deer use during daylight as they move to and from the fields. The easiest way to find the food sources is to regularly scout the area by driving the farm country roads to locate fields that haven't been picked. Or you can get up high and watch the deer from a distance. Personally I like to watch deer from a portable stand or blind, or from a high hill where I can stand and wait for the deer.

Although early winter conditions often create harsh conditions with low temperatures and rain or snow, which is uncomfortable for hunters, it is one of the few times during the year when bucks carrying trophy racks may be seen together. Because the rut is over the bucks are no longer antagonistic toward each other, and they often begin to reform the bachelor groups they were in before the rut. They are also in search of high quality foods, in order to gain back the weight they lost during the rut. This combination of factors provides late season hunters the opportunity to see several bucks, including some that are trophy class, together on a regular basis.

On several occasions I have seen trophy class, dominant bucks like the three mentioned above, traveling together when the sky was cloudy and the temperatures were low. The largest deer I ever saw, a 12 point 200 class buck, was traveling with a button buck near a cornfield on a cold, cloudy day in December at 8:30 in the morning.

Once the Late Breeding Phase is over, and the majority of the does have been bred, many of the bucks are not as willing to respond to calling, rattling, scents and decoys as they were during the rut. But, as long as a buck carries antlers it's testosterone level is still elevated, and it may respond to estrus scents and doe calls, which can be effective when used along rub routes and scrape lines; and near daytime staging areas, food sources and buck core areas. Because bucks are not traveling as much, or as willing to respond at this time, the key to attracting bucks is to be in or near areas bucks use during the day.

Estrus scents can be placed so they spread out downwind of your hunting position to attract the buck as it approaches a food source. Estrus can also be used on a scent line by leaving drops of scent on the ground along a line that crosses a deer trail and leads to your location. Although scientific research suggests there is no doe estrus call the "social grunt," which is used by does when they are trying to locate each other will get a buck's attention at this time. When a buck responds to scents or calls it may not be because of rutting urge, it may simply be because of curiosity.

Decoys can provide the needed visual stimulus to bring a buck within range after it has responded to scents or calls. Bucks are not looking for a fight at this time of the year, and because of this doe decoys work best. A decoy with antlers may intimidate or alarm a buck, causing it to leave the area. Mobility is a key factor in late season hunting. I use a collapsible, bedded doe decoy because it's lightweight and rolls up for easy transportation. With their low profile bedded decoys should be placed in a semi-open area, preferably not on a trail. In several field tests I have seen deer skirt a bedded decoy on a trail, while walking right up to it in other areas. Place bedded decoys near a bush or tree where a deer would normally bed. Standing decoys can be placed in tall grass, brush or any other area where deer might be found.

Because deer, including bucks, are looking for food at this time of the year the combination of tarsal scent and deer urine on the ground, leading to a food scent, can be very effective. The tarsal and urine are non-threatening and may arouse the buck's curiosity; the food attractant then brings it within range. These scents may also attract does, which may be followed by bucks. When using scents choose those that are particular to your area. Corn, apple and acorn scents work well in most areas.

Again, because the rut is over, bucks are not looking to exert dominance, or looking for a fight, and they seldom respond to buck scents, aggressive grunts, tending grunts and rattling. However, these products and techniques, when used in combination with doe or estrus scents to create the illusion of a buck with an estrus doe, may attract a buck that simply hasn't had enough of the rut yet.

This article is an excerpt from the book Hunting The Whitetail Rut Phases, by T.R. Michels available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.

© Copyright 2006, T.R. Michels / Trinity Mountain Outdoors

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