Question about bucks during the rut

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mheichelbech
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Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby mheichelbech » Tue Nov 29, 2016 2:39 am

Like many hunters I saw more bucks during the rut and typically see more bucks during the rut, a 10-15 day window, each year than I do all the other times I ever combined. I know that many come from other areas, etc. in a span of 3 days I saw 14 bucks from spikes to 150 inchers.

Are bucks simply that reclusive and follow different patterns from the does the rest of the time? I ponder this question every year. Where do they all go? I am definitely seeing more bucks than I ever have with using the bed hunting strategies however I still am amazed at the sheer number of bucks that show up in the rut versus the other parts of the season.

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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby dan » Tue Nov 29, 2016 5:23 am

Outside of the rut they have very short windows of movement in daylight. They also seek out places where they are not bothered by hunters or predators.
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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby cbay » Tue Nov 29, 2016 5:46 am

mheichelbech wrote: I ponder this question every year. Where do they all go? [ Post made via iPhone ] Image


Same here. Those bucks are some sneaky boogers for sure. Some areas i hunt are largely cattle pasture for miles with limited blocks of timber. I scout every year and see some sign but it still leaves me scratching my head that the bucks are not seen more than they are outside the rut. With the limited bedding and food sources it always amazes me these big animals can survive.
Driving through northern mo. the small tracts of woods is even more pronounced but there is spillage from crop harvest to keep them alive. If they figure out how to eliminate harvest spillage the deer population would drop like a rock.
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mheichelbech
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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby mheichelbech » Tue Nov 29, 2016 9:45 am

dan wrote:Outside of the rut they have very short windows of movement in daylight. They also seek out places where they are not bothered by hunters or predators.


As much as I know and understand this, in some level it still is hard to grasp how reclusive they really are. I think this is true for the majority of hunters as well. I've been paying more attention to the local hunting Facebook page out of boredom and it's amazing how ignorant so many hunters are. I don't mean that in a bad way really as I was the same before coming to this site. It's a lot like alcoholics not knowing about AA!

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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby JoeRE » Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:04 am

Yea Mike, I still get amazed/impressed by the exact same thing. Dan's right. They are just that reclusive - the bigger, older ones anyway.

Its been said many times before, but a mature buck is basically a different animal than the rest of the deer herd. That is why you don't see them like the rest of the deer. Its like looking for pheasants and not seeing any turkeys and that's not much of an exaggeration. The two birds use the land completely differently.
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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby Rich M » Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:35 am

I used to hunt 1100 acres of farm in CT. We'd go out in July and take pictures of all the bucks in the corn fields - see 20-30 a day, most were 2.5-3.5 yr old 8 pts with 14-16 inch spreads, some larger ones. Really cool.

Come deer season, no bucks to be found!
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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby JoeRE » Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:40 am

To put it another way, what guy on here hasn't done something really dumb at some point for sex? :lol:

The rut is one long dumb period for a whitetail buck. If most of us were bucks, we would be dead, just like most bucks end up. :lol:
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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby oneflag » Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:42 am

Back in the day I would call a big buck, ghost deer, because seldom did you get to see them. We hunted public land and would hear stories of a big bucks. All the sign was there and occasionally one would fall to a hunter. Modern times have changed things a bit, with trail cameras folks have some confidence that a big buck is in the area. It still amazes me how a big buck can adapt, survive and live to an old age on pressured public land but it happens all the time. I bet we would be surprised at the ones that die of natural causes and old age. Truly an amazing animal and that’s one of many reasons we hunt.
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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby mheichelbech » Wed Nov 30, 2016 2:26 am

JoeRE wrote:To put it another way, what guy on here hasn't done something really dumb at some point for sex? :lol:

The rut is one long dumb period for a whitetail buck. If most of us were bucks, we would be dead, just like most bucks end up. :lol:

Had darn near gotten me killed before!

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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby Redman232 » Wed Nov 30, 2016 2:38 am

I think this is a trap most hunters fall into, they start seeing bucks during the rut but haven't seen them prior, so they make the old assumption that they must be bedding/living on the neighbors. When in reality if you start locating and hunting big buck beds/locations vs high traffic areas you start seeing fewer deer and more big bucks. I hunted 8 or 9 sets this year, I saw 1 yearling buck, 7 does (4 on 1 set 3 on another) and 3 mature deer, I only hunted in November 1 time. All of the ground I hunted had other people hunting it. Joe and Dan are 100% right older deer are just completely different, from the amount they move during daylight to how they move.

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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby Stanley » Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:01 am

From my observations over the years. Older bucks just lay low just about all the time. During the rut we see more bucks especially younger bucks working does. Very seldom do we see the old boy working a doe. He just lays low and takes the doe from the younger bucks. :think: We talk about the doe bedding areas during the rut. I still think it's more about the buck bedding during the rut. We just don't realize it.

Older bucks also take the best bedding spots from the younger bucks. This puts the older bucks in an advantage to be in the right place at the right time. So when an older buck gets into a bedding area he will move the younger buck out of the bed and take it over. I have personally seen this happen. So now the younger buck is on it's feet looking for another bedding spot. This is why we see good bucks on their feet during the rut. Not too often are they with a doe. :think:

If an area has many good buck bedding spots it becomes more difficult to narrow down where the buck could be bedding. Rest assured the older buck is on it's belly for the better part of the day, even during the rut. I think most hunters don't realize this because it is extremely difficult to figure out. You may ask why? The reason; is it is difficult to see bucks in their beds. I did see 5 bucks in beds from the stand this year. That is not very many but I would guess much more than most hunters see. I also saw one 2.5 year old buck get pushed out of his bed by a 3.5 year old buck. The 3.5 year old buck laid down in the bed.

So now the 2.5 year old buck is on its feet looking for another bed. :think: This happens a lot but we never see it. Thus nice bucks are on their feet not really wanting to be. Don't get me wrong some older bucks do look for does. But did you ever wonder why most older bigger bucks are not with does when you kill them? You don't read this kind of stuff in the magazines because the the authors don't know or understand the concept. When Dan says it's all about the buck bed he is correct.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby mheichelbech » Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:44 am

That makes a lot of sense. At the age of 51 I'm not on my feet near as much as I was at 21! I would add that it's actually easier to get the older "does" than it ever was the younger "does"! Lol!

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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby oneflag » Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:44 am

Stanley wrote:From my observations over the years. Older bucks just lay low just about all the time. During the rut we see more bucks especially younger bucks working does. Very seldom do we see the old boy working a doe. He just lays low and takes the doe from the younger bucks. :think: We talk about the doe bedding areas during the rut. I still think it's more about the buck bedding during the rut. We just don't realize it.

Older bucks also take the best bedding spots from the younger bucks. This puts the older bucks in an advantage to be in the right place at the right time. So when an older buck gets into a bedding area he will move the younger buck out of the bed and take it over. I have personally seen this happen. So now the younger buck is on it's feet looking for another bedding spot. This is why we see good bucks on their feet during the rut. Not too often are they with a doe. :think:

If an area has many good buck bedding spots it becomes more difficult to narrow down where the buck could be bedding. Rest assured the older buck is on it's belly for the better part of the day, even during the rut. I think most hunters don't realize this because it is extremely difficult to figure out. You may ask why? The reason; is it is difficult to see bucks in their beds. I did see 5 bucks in beds from the stand this year. That is not very many but I would guess much more than most hunters see. I also saw one 2.5 year old buck get pushed out of his bed by a 3.5 year old buck. The 3.5 year old buck laid down in the bed.

So now the 2.5 year old buck is on its feet looking for another bed. :think: This happens a lot but we never see it. Thus nice bucks are on their feet not really wanting to be. Don't get me wrong some older bucks do look for does. But did you ever wonder why most older bigger bucks are not with does when you kill them? You don't read this kind of stuff in the magazines because the the authors don't know or understand the concept. When Dan says it's all about the buck bed he is correct.



Knowledge? facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience.

Stanley has it.

This is priceless.
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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby dan » Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:26 am

Stanley wrote:From my observations over the years. Older bucks just lay low just about all the time. During the rut we see more bucks especially younger bucks working does. Very seldom do we see the old boy working a doe. He just lays low and takes the doe from the younger bucks. :think: We talk about the doe bedding areas during the rut. I still think it's more about the buck bedding during the rut. We just don't realize it.

Older bucks also take the best bedding spots from the younger bucks. This puts the older bucks in an advantage to be in the right place at the right time. So when an older buck gets into a bedding area he will move the younger buck out of the bed and take it over. I have personally seen this happen. So now the younger buck is on it's feet looking for another bedding spot. This is why we see good bucks on their feet during the rut. Not too often are they with a doe. :think:

If an area has many good buck bedding spots it becomes more difficult to narrow down where the buck could be bedding. Rest assured the older buck is on it's belly for the better part of the day, even during the rut. I think most hunters don't realize this because it is extremely difficult to figure out. You may ask why? The reason; is it is difficult to see bucks in their beds. I did see 5 bucks in beds from the stand this year. That is not very many but I would guess much more than most hunters see. I also saw one 2.5 year old buck get pushed out of his bed by a 3.5 year old buck. The 3.5 year old buck laid down in the bed.

So now the 2.5 year old buck is on its feet looking for another bed. :think: This happens a lot but we never see it. Thus nice bucks are on their feet not really wanting to be. Don't get me wrong some older bucks do look for does. But did you ever wonder why most older bigger bucks are not with does when you kill them? You don't read this kind of stuff in the magazines because the the authors don't know or understand the concept. When Dan says it's all about the buck bed he is correct.

Yep!
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Re: Question about bucks during the rut

Unread postby hunter10 » Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:49 am

This is a great thread! I have scratched my head many times about bucks just being so reclusive. Are they really in the most un touched odd spots or laid up in your hunting woods and not moving until dark thus making the fact that you often don't see them ?

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