GET PRO-ACTIVE WITH PRE-SEASON SCOUTING
Rattling antlers on a moonlight night in the pre-rut period is one of my favorite big buck scouting techniques. If you haven’t done it before, then you should try it.
Go out about 11pm on a night with a big moon and pick one of your best spots where you always see deer. Find a good wide-open area or a food plot field so you have an unobstructed view. An advanced technique is to make sure a feeder has been going off in the area, at night about 10pm, for a few weeks prior to your moonlight rattling event.
This year, October 22 to 28 will be your best nights to do the moonlight antler rattling.
Opening day for rifle season is the following week, so the timing is perfect for this.
The full moon is on October 26. There is a lot of moon high in the sky for four days prior to a full moon. About the last week of October, bucks should be in a pre-rut mode in most parts of Texas, excluding perhaps, South Texas. Even though you may think the rut is later in the year in South Texas, I would be rattling antlers in the moonlight there as well.
The dominant bucks in the area are very curious and they want to know who is in the competition for the upcoming breeding season. Most of the sparring and jousting for breeding rights takes place at night. The deer are completely unaware that it is humans out there rattling the antlers. The moonlight scouting works best if you have two people. One person is rattling the antlers and the other looking through large objective lens binoculars to get a look at the deer.
It is amazing how many dominant bucks I have rattled in over the years by performing this midnight buck luring technique. I have seen many good bucks on moonlight rattle nights, but I have not seen them during the daylight hours. If you rattle up a good buck, then you know that he is a local deer and it will certainly provide motivation to get yourself out in the field to try and find him later.
HUNT THE PRE-RUT PERIOD AS MANY DAYS AS YOU CAN
The time period before the rut kicks off is about the best time to get a big, mature buck to come to rattling antlers. If you want to see some of the mature bucks that are living in your hunting area, then rattle antlers in the pre-rut period.
Before the rut takes place they are genetically driven to find out what other rival bucks are competing in their area. The pre-rut period will last about 2 to 3 weeks before the rut starts. Other than South Texas, the peak of the pre-rut period will be from about November 10 to November 25.
In South Texas, the rut is about a month later. Once the mature breeder bucks are into the rut period, they will be following doe and not interested in antler rattling. However, you will bring in younger bucks with the rattling of antlers.
RATTLE ANTLERS EACH TIME YOU GO OUT TO HUNT IN THE PRE-RUT
It is a proven fact that more bucks will be seen if you rattle antlers and simulate mock fights. Rattling antlers also attracts doe. Don’t look for that wise old buck to come charging in. Look for him to come in down wind of where you are set up. Good scent eliminator spray or using skunk bombs are highly recommended to mask the human scent. Do not overlook this point.
HUNT MID-WEEK
In Texas, most hunters are weekend warriors. That means that there is a greater presence of human smell and human noise on and around hunting ranches on the weekends. Deer know when the humans are there and when the ranch is quiet and human free. Their survival skills make them keenly aware of human presence.
Truck and ATV noise travels much farther than we think and the frequency vibrations from these vehicles travel very long distances. Animals can detect these sound waves. Hunting during the middle of the week allows hunters to be out on ranches at times when the ranch is much more quiet than on a busy hunting weekend, when all the guys are there cooking out, shooting target practice and listening to loud music around the campfire.
FEED THE BUCKS
Every time I go to my hunting area, I feed the roads going in. I tend to see a lot more bucks feeding in roadways and open areas than coming in to feeders. When I get to my feeder locations, I throw out about 25 lbs. of corn as I walk around the feeder and look for any signs of rubbing, scrapes, tracks or buck poop.
Bucks are territorial and they will pick a tree to leave their mark on around feeders. I always have one spin go off about one hour after sundown. Bucks are mostly nocturnal creatures, so having a feed time when they are up and moving around makes a lot of sense.
As the days get darker, make sure that you have one spin going off about 15 minutes before sundown. I change my spin times every two weeks I have them set for 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunrise in the mornings.
RATTLE IN BETWEEN FEED STATIONS
One of the most effective set ups for a hunting blind is when you have two feed stations about 500 yards apart from one another with the blind placed in between them on the most heavily used deer trail. Big, mature bucks will stay in the woods between feed stations much more than hanging out at a feed station. Bucks like to hang back and see the deer movement and what the deer do so they know it is safe in their area. I have had a lot of success with seeing mature bucks with this set-up.
MAKE MOCK RUBS ON TREES
I have made mock rubs on small mesquite trees and slightly larger trees as part of my hunting technique for years. Near the rub trees, I make a mock scrape as well and use buck urine on it frequently. I also use Tarsal gland scent and put it on the mock rubs.
If you will prepare a nice rub tree for the bucks near one of your feeding areas, you will have more bucks use the feeding area. They see a rub on a tree and they will use it.
USE DEER SCENTS AT THE RIGHT TIME
I use doe in estrus urine in volume during the rut period. I will take three or four scent cans and line them up at intervals of about 40 yards or so. I set them up in a line across the wind flow direction. I place them on the ends of trees or on fence wire at a height of about 4 feet. If you are hunting on a creek, the air will settle during the night and there should be a lot of scent in the creek bottom or otherwise low areas.
MAKE SURE YOUR HUNTING BLIND IS QUIET
Maintenance goes a long way with hunting blinds. A little silicone spray on the door hinges will keep it from squeaking and alerting the deer to a foreign noise that can affect their sense of security. Make sure that your windows work well and that they stay out of the way when you get your gun out the window. Also, spray the moving parts of any chairs with silicone spray as well.
TARGET SHOOT YOUR GUN BEFORE AND DURING THE HUNTING SEASON
Knowing your weapon can make a big difference when your opportunity to harvest a nice buck finally comes your way. Practice at various yardage and always practice with the same weight bullet that you will be using in the field. With shooting practice comes shooting confidence in the field.
STAY IN YOUR HUNTING BLIND LONGER IN THE MORNING
Here in Texas, hunters get into a rut of their own when it comes to deer hunting habits. Most hunters go out at about 5:30 am and come back to camp at about 9:00 am. I can tell you for sure that I have seen a lot of good bucks running around the ranch at 11:00 a.m., after the hunters are back in camp having their breakfast burritos and coffee. If it is a full moon period where the moon is up in the sky from 2:00 p.m. and later, I would be out to the stand in the early afternoon, a long time before sunset.
VARY YOUR HUNTING HOURS DURING THE RUT PERIOD
Once bucks and does start the breeding cycle, the buck is going to stay with the doe as long as she is receptive, which is usually about 3 days. There is no set time of day or schedule the buck keeps during the rut. The buck is totally controlled by nature.
Spending a couple of hours at a time at various times of day can prove to be rewarding for getting a glimpse of a breed pair or a buck in search of does. The bucks are vulnerable during the rut. They are keenly aware of does in estrus, yet they are very unaware of predators at this time.
Hopefully, you can benefit from some of these proven techniques. If any of them work for you, I would like to know about it.
Contact me at 512-336-0468 or send me an E-Mail at sales@texashuntingnews.com.
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I will see you at the ranch.