Do you have any tips for finding those Bucks that go nocturnal? I know they're around and I know they're somewhere nearby during the day but finding them is proving to be challenging. I've been following their paths trying to figure out where they are hanging out during the day with no success. I find rubs and scrapes. I put cameras over these rubs and scrapes but nothing checks them until night time. I have Does coming by cameras but Bucks are only showing up at night. I've tried sitting and I've tried still hunting. I've tried following those Deer trails. I've been playing the wind as much as I can and using scent cover spray Somehow, I can never find them. Talk about discouraging. It makes you get to the point of wanting to give up hunting altogether somedays.
One of the truest things you said is that a lot of big deer are shot between 10am-2pm during the rut. That is generally the safest time for them to travel during daylight hrs. That is when I have seen the biggest bucks anyhow
It’s different hunting that’s for sure. A 2.5 year old buck here acts like a 4.5 year old buck in Iowa. People that hunt in high pressure areas definitely understand but people from non pressured areas probably think we are full of it.
Only time scents have worked for me was a few days after peak breeding for a few days, I had a great 8 pointer come right in on doe n heat on 11/18, and a small one on 11/19 searching for the scent
I have found rub lines that went from trees to tree in a direction will give u clue were that buck heading somewhere along that line u find big scape on ground .u can tell how big buck is by rubs on trees and size of trees. Sometime u find does tracks near by.so when u do find were rubs are scape u may see buck bedding area not to far .plus there bed does bedding area near by maybe 30 or 40 yard apart so u got figure were want set up stand also watch how winds flow in woods try hide your cent.
All next week off from work. Wohoooo!! Hopefully those bucks won’t already be locked down. Seen a few little guys this year, but haven’t hunted much and have saved the best spots for the next two weeks. Good luck brother. Hopefully us folks here in S/W Michigan will get a shot or two at some dandy’s. 👍🏻
I hope you see some nice ones! I take the first week of November off every year as well. This weekend should be good. I’m not liking the warm up next week though...
@@whitetailevolution ya, I hear ya. Hopefully it won’t be to warm. Avg high temp is about 54, so maybe we will be ok. Am sits could be the key. Good luck brother. 👊🏻
Have seen some good activity last few weeks on cameras, more of the signing phase I believe it’s called. But I worked Halloween and I suppose you’re right, I missed a chance at a very decent sized buck that came in just after 8am...regardless still nice to see them.
That's good to know I'm getting a few doe's daily morning,night mostly with a couple midday and rifle season starts this Saturday. Had one come through midday today hard telling from the picture if it's a buck buy the body looks like a buck and has a short neck and a short nose
Short nose is a good way to identify a buck fawn. Not a guarantee but that’s one of the characteristics of a button buck. Hopefully some big ones start showing up!
I can’t believe how warm it’s been. Crazy hot! But the deer still need to breed. So if you have time off, I would still be in the woods as much as I could. If you notice the weather will be cooler in a few days maybe wait to push into your best spot for that day, but don’t sit at home. Sit an edge spot to scout or an area where you won’t spook deer but stay in the woods. A few days ago we had our #1 buck chasing a doe right by our cabin in 70 degree heat at noon.. that’s not suppose to happen but it did. We were inside watching it.. 🤦🏼♂️ Focus more on morning hunts and water. They’ll be extra thirsty in this heat!
A question: Is the rut the best time to hunt? I'm thinking it seems a good idea to let them breed first and then kill them, so there'll be more hunting next year. And you don't want to take out the best bucks before they've had their run at breeding the best kids.
Everyone has their favorite times but for me I love the rut and the pre rut. And I’m not too worried about removing good genetics with killing a buck in late October, he’s already had a few seasons to breed. Also half of the antler genes in a buck fawn come from mom, meaning Does provide half of the genetic potential for antler development. So even if you remove a nice buck his gene should be in the bucks / Does with the herd. 🤞
He ain’t wrong about Halloween shot my biggest bow buck this morning came running into my extinguisher grunt call. Pushing a group of does. Saw a bigger one than him earlier in the morning but he was head down on a hot does trail got him to stop but you’re not turning a 4+ year old buck off a hot doe
I hunted 8 days prior to Halloween and saw does and only one medium size bucks and small bucks. Halloween, 15 min prior to last light I had a 147.5” 12 pt bust out into my kill plot and I did just that. He stared down a big doe then came over to explore where I set off an estrous bomb. My cross bolt found the spot at 35 yrds. It was a major cold front following nearly a week of rainy and cloudy days. Just gotta be there when it happens.
Most years as the rut picks up the bucks will not scrape as much as they are constantly trying to find does to breed. They will still check scrapes to see who is around and maybe a hot doe recently visited, but they don't normally spend too much time there once the rut kicks off. I still like to hunt community scrapes as they are typically in great locations and the bucks still cruise by to scent check them. But just know that they won't be spending as much time there as they did a week before during the pre rut.
I don’t understand how you say mature bucks aren’t leaving the thick cover and entering the open hardwoods? In the Northeast, open hardwoods out number thick cover so to move from pocket to pocket they have to cross open hardwoods. Unless they just sit in one thicket on one group of doe it’s not possible to only stick to thick cover
I apologize if I said they’ll never leave thick cover. They will and this is the time of year they’re more likely to be in places in that they don’t normally want to be. If it’s possible the older bucks will move through thick cover to get from point A to point B but you’re right, eventually the cover ends. This is where they’ll cross fields or open hardwoods, but I find they find the shortest distance between the bedding areas and cross there. Thanks for pointing that out!
Not necessarily. I do see the younger bucks start to get excited / push the does around sooner than the older deer. But I don't think they start breeding first. The older bucks just know it's not time yet.
@@whitetailevolution Hello. I use a buck decoy in low-pressured areas (private properties) in PA and it works fantastic. Mornings are best but keep it close to daybreak because bucks will approach in the dark already. I had this just happen on Sat morning (Halloween). Good luck!!
So I used a decoy (Scarface by Primos) for the first time last night and WOW it was either beginners luck or they work. I had 2 two year old bucks come check it out. One stayed for 15 minutes snort wheezing and trying to pick a fight. I was pretty fun to watch. I’ll try it again to get enough video to talk about my experiences.
Love hunting Halloween! I don’t know what it is about that day, but over the years I’ve seen a ton of movement. It’s been one of my favorite times to be in the tree.
I am a little worried all of the deer on my property have left. My game camera's have not picked up any deer for the last 2 weeks. I don't know what's going on. Hopefully the rut will change that this weekend.
Oh no. Hopefully the start to filter back in. There are a couple main reasons for deer dispersal: lack of fall cover, lack of fall food, hunting pressure, predators.. there’s a reason they left you just need to figure out why and then find a solution.
@@whitetailevolution No, there really is something going on. I have had pictures about a month and a half ago with deer out the ying yang on my trail camera. And now in the past 2 weeks I have only seen a 6 point. The only thing I can think of is I changed the brand of my deer corn to something else and I moved my pop up deer blind 100 yards near my creek where the corn is at. Other than that I have no idea.
Weather has ZERO effect on the rut. The rut takes place in your area at the same time every year. Colder weather will get all of the deer on their feet more which makes people see more rutting movement during daylight hours. Which makes people think the colder weather is a rut trigger when it’s just a movement trigger in general.
@@evanmatthews11 bro u know what I'm realizing take bits and pieces of all the info and test them out but keep notes. Like a huge experiment... we lost ton of deer here in Southern New York so I wasn't seeing the normal amounts put feeding so I was curious to see for sure so id drive by late nights say a 3 or 4 days b4 the first quarter moon just after dark and flashed the fields and to my surprise handful of a herds eyes so was great to see but only diff is these deer that usually aren't in this specific area now call this area there home so some movement went on w where they were typically b4 so u gotta check all areas at diff times and as you do you right away take notes and Google what the Temps were the winds hell even the moon so every time u go out in future u can see if its similar and just know hey ima get out to this area around similar days and conditions in the future but don't forget to keep eyes peeled for the freshest signs like glossy shit , urine stains, foodrubs and bedding rub directions and primary scrapes.... turn into a detective on the field and off the field
I’ve been seeing the same group of 11 does every single night since the season started but no bucks. There are bucks in the area because I have a camera set up on a scrap line half a mile from the field I sit in with pictures of a few nice ones. Yesterday I went to check the scrap line camera and at 9 AM a nice 8 pointer walked through and I was only a few hours behind him. My question is do I stay hunting the field and wait for a doe to come into heat or do I try and hunt the stand on the scrap line?
I would try to hunt closer to the scrape line if you’re a couple hours behind him. It might take him a while to move a half mile in daylight. Cut the distance in half and see what happens. If it’s still not close enough, cut the distance in half again. Keep at it! Good luck!
That’s when we take a week off as well. Bucks are normally pushing does hard early on then it shuts down. That’s when we push in tighter to the bedding areas to find the does / bucks.
I clean out the waterholes once the ice melts in the spring. They don’t seem to mind the leaves in there. If a animal happens to die in the tank, I empty it completely and refill it. That’s the only scenario I’ve noticed them stop using the water hole.
I know exactly what you mean when you say Halloween I think it's just a Michigan Hunters thought process, only michiganders that hunt understand it lol and may I add Christmas good time to take family into the woods and celebrate it right hahaha
We hunt Michigan too, I agree with everything you said, especially about Halloween! 3 bucks dropped on that day for me (2 in the AM, and 1 in the PM). You guys need an Instagram account!
Sweet! Hopefully you can add another one to the Halloween stat sheet this year. Full moon too! Our Instagram is Whitetail_Habitat_Management confusing with the two names but we do have one. Post a few times a week.
Do you have any tips for finding those Bucks that go nocturnal? I know they're around and I know they're somewhere nearby during the day but finding them is proving to be challenging. I've been following their paths trying to figure out where they are hanging out during the day with no success. I find rubs and scrapes. I put cameras over these rubs and scrapes but nothing checks them until night time. I have Does coming by cameras but Bucks are only showing up at night. I've tried sitting and I've tried still hunting. I've tried following those Deer trails. I've been playing the wind as much as I can and using scent cover spray Somehow, I can never find them. Talk about discouraging. It makes you get to the point of wanting to give up hunting altogether somedays.
One of the truest things you said is that a lot of big deer are shot between 10am-2pm during the rut. That is generally the safest time for them to travel during daylight hrs. That is when I have seen the biggest bucks anyhow
Until someone hunts that timeframe they’ll never understand. You might not see a ton of deer but you’ve got a decent chance of seeing the right one.
@@whitetailevolution Exactly! I'm not after a ton of deer, I'm after that one big fella
I always like to hear videos about the high pressure midwest. Thanks for the info.
It’s different hunting that’s for sure. A 2.5 year old buck here acts like a 4.5 year old buck in Iowa. People that hunt in high pressure areas definitely understand but people from non pressured areas probably think we are full of it.
Yep I got one Halloween morning this year too!
Congratulations!! Halloween was awesome this year!
Only time scents have worked for me was a few days after peak breeding for a few days, I had a great 8 pointer come right in on doe n heat on 11/18, and a small one on 11/19 searching for the scent
My best days seem to be the two days and two days after Halloween. I hunt public land. The best chasing I've seen is on Halloween.
My favorite time to be in the woods! The few days before November 15 is pretty good too.
I have found rub lines that went from trees to tree in a direction will give u clue were that buck heading somewhere along that line u find big scape on ground .u can tell how big buck is by rubs on trees and size of trees. Sometime u find does tracks near by.so when u do find were rubs are scape u may see buck bedding area not to far .plus there bed does bedding area near by maybe 30 or 40 yard apart so u got figure were want set up stand also watch how winds flow in woods try hide your cent.
Great advice Nixon! You’re absolutely right! Appreciate the input on strategy!
@@whitetailevolution U welcome what I always look for in woods when come hunting deer in archery rifle and muzzleloader season
All next week off from work. Wohoooo!! Hopefully those bucks won’t already be locked down. Seen a few little guys this year, but haven’t hunted much and have saved the best spots for the next two weeks. Good luck brother. Hopefully us folks here in S/W Michigan will get a shot or two at some dandy’s. 👍🏻
I hope you see some nice ones! I take the first week of November off every year as well. This weekend should be good. I’m not liking the warm up next week though...
@@whitetailevolution ya, I hear ya. Hopefully it won’t be to warm. Avg high temp is about 54, so maybe we will be ok. Am sits could be the key. Good luck brother. 👊🏻
Great info thanks! I am in Southern Michigan and my biggest bucks seem to come 11/2-11/4!
Very welcome! We’re in southern Michigan too. And I agree those are great days! Our cameras get a lot of pictures in early November.
This is awesome Jake!!!
Thanks Justin!
Have seen some good activity last few weeks on cameras, more of the signing phase I believe it’s called. But I worked Halloween and I suppose you’re right, I missed a chance at a very decent sized buck that came in just after 8am...regardless still nice to see them.
You’re absolutely right! At least You know he’s there!
That's good to know I'm getting a few doe's daily morning,night mostly with a couple midday and rifle season starts this Saturday. Had one come through midday today hard telling from the picture if it's a buck buy the body looks like a buck and has a short neck and a short nose
Short nose is a good way to identify a buck fawn. Not a guarantee but that’s one of the characteristics of a button buck. Hopefully some big ones start showing up!
I also live in Michigan so as you know, it is REALLY hot for this time of year. What different strategies have you been using?
I can’t believe how warm it’s been. Crazy hot! But the deer still need to breed. So if you have time off, I would still be in the woods as much as I could. If you notice the weather will be cooler in a few days maybe wait to push into your best spot for that day, but don’t sit at home. Sit an edge spot to scout or an area where you won’t spook deer but stay in the woods. A few days ago we had our #1 buck chasing a doe right by our cabin in 70 degree heat at noon.. that’s not suppose to happen but it did. We were inside watching it.. 🤦🏼♂️
Focus more on morning hunts and water. They’ll be extra thirsty in this heat!
@@whitetailevolution Thank you! I actually just went hunting this afternoon and saw a LOT pf rut activity!!! They were all too far though ☹️
Keep at it! That’s hunting. A lot of sitting but when it happens, it happens FAST!
A question: Is the rut the best time to hunt? I'm thinking it seems a good idea to let them breed first and then kill them, so there'll be more hunting next year. And you don't want to take out the best bucks before they've had their run at breeding the best kids.
Everyone has their favorite times but for me I love the rut and the pre rut. And I’m not too worried about removing good genetics with killing a buck in late October, he’s already had a few seasons to breed. Also half of the antler genes in a buck fawn come from mom, meaning Does provide half of the genetic potential for antler development. So even if you remove a nice buck his gene should be in the bucks / Does with the herd. 🤞
Yes you should wait.
He ain’t wrong about Halloween shot my biggest bow buck this morning came running into my extinguisher grunt call. Pushing a group of does. Saw a bigger one than him earlier in the morning but he was head down on a hot does trail got him to stop but you’re not turning a 4+ year old buck off a hot doe
That is awesome! Congratulations! Glad you were able to get the job done!
I hunted 8 days prior to Halloween and saw does and only one medium size bucks and small bucks. Halloween, 15 min prior to last light I had a 147.5” 12 pt bust out into my kill plot and I did just that. He stared down a big doe then came over to explore where I set off an estrous bomb. My cross bolt found the spot at 35 yrds. It was a major cold front following nearly a week of rainy and cloudy days. Just gotta be there when it happens.
Hunting in Ohio currently and they’ve stopped scraping and are only licking the branches. Do you know what that means?
Most years as the rut picks up the bucks will not scrape as much as they are constantly trying to find does to breed. They will still check scrapes to see who is around and maybe a hot doe recently visited, but they don't normally spend too much time there once the rut kicks off. I still like to hunt community scrapes as they are typically in great locations and the bucks still cruise by to scent check them. But just know that they won't be spending as much time there as they did a week before during the pre rut.
I don’t understand how you say mature bucks aren’t leaving the thick cover and entering the open hardwoods? In the Northeast, open hardwoods out number thick cover so to move from pocket to pocket they have to cross open hardwoods. Unless they just sit in one thicket on one group of doe it’s not possible to only stick to thick cover
I apologize if I said they’ll never leave thick cover. They will and this is the time of year they’re more likely to be in places in that they don’t normally want to be. If it’s possible the older bucks will move through thick cover to get from point A to point B but you’re right, eventually the cover ends. This is where they’ll cross fields or open hardwoods, but I find they find the shortest distance between the bedding areas and cross there. Thanks for pointing that out!
Do you usually see young bucks start to breed first?
Not necessarily. I do see the younger bucks start to get excited / push the does around sooner than the older deer. But I don't think they start breeding first. The older bucks just know it's not time yet.
I use a decoy during the rut. It has a 100% success rate. All bucks will come to the decoy.
I might have to try this! We have 2 but I’ve been to chicken to try it. Are you placing it out more in the Mornings or evenings?
@@whitetailevolution Hello. I use a buck decoy in low-pressured areas (private properties) in PA and it works fantastic. Mornings are best but keep it close to daybreak because bucks will approach in the dark already. I had this just happen on Sat morning (Halloween). Good luck!!
Do you use a doe or buck decoy?
So I used a decoy (Scarface by Primos) for the first time last night and WOW it was either beginners luck or they work. I had 2 two year old bucks come check it out. One stayed for 15 minutes snort wheezing and trying to pick a fight. I was pretty fun to watch. I’ll try it again to get enough video to talk about my experiences.
Good info! Ive shot a bunch of deer on Halloween, thats usually the end of bow season, this year its first day of rifle 👍
Love hunting Halloween! I don’t know what it is about that day, but over the years I’ve seen a ton of movement. It’s been one of my favorite times to be in the tree.
What state are you in where as gun season starts that early?
@@wcb22516 maine
love the kids Halloween costume
Thanks Travis! Fun costume plus it helped him keep warm to stay out longer.
I am a little worried all of the deer on my property have left. My game camera's have not picked up any deer for the last 2 weeks. I don't know what's going on. Hopefully the rut will change that this weekend.
Oh no. Hopefully the start to filter back in. There are a couple main reasons for deer dispersal: lack of fall cover, lack of fall food, hunting pressure, predators.. there’s a reason they left you just need to figure out why and then find a solution.
@@whitetailevolution No, there really is something going on. I have had pictures about a month and a half ago with deer out the ying yang on my trail camera. And now in the past 2 weeks I have only seen a 6 point. The only thing I can think of is I changed the brand of my deer corn to something else and I moved my pop up deer blind 100 yards near my creek where the corn is at. Other than that I have no idea.
Did ya see or shoot on this morning?
We saw deer but not the deer we wanted to take. It was a great day to be in the woods but no shots were taken 😊
I shot a monster non typical in mid Michigan back in 2012 on Halloween
That’s awesome! Hopefully you can repeat in 2020! I remember 2012, that was a COLD rut.
Ive seen a lot of bucks on Thanksgiving
That’s one holiday I haven’t hunted often but our trail cameras tell us it’s a great time to hunt! Thanks for the tip!
Does the timing of the rut change from year to year? Is it dependent on weather?
They say no usually weather is a big booster difference like cold fronts
Weather has ZERO effect on the rut. The rut takes place in your area at the same time every year. Colder weather will get all of the deer on their feet more which makes people see more rutting movement during daylight hours. Which makes people think the colder weather is a rut trigger when it’s just a movement trigger in general.
Interesting! I read it also depends on the lunar phase. Might be why Halloween was mentioned as a good time to hunt each year
@@evanmatthews11 bro u know what I'm realizing take bits and pieces of all the info and test them out but keep notes. Like a huge experiment... we lost ton of deer here in Southern New York so I wasn't seeing the normal amounts put feeding so I was curious to see for sure so id drive by late nights say a 3 or 4 days b4 the first quarter moon just after dark and flashed the fields and to my surprise handful of a herds eyes so was great to see but only diff is these deer that usually aren't in this specific area now call this area there home so some movement went on w where they were typically b4 so u gotta check all areas at diff times and as you do you right away take notes and Google what the Temps were the winds hell even the moon so every time u go out in future u can see if its similar and just know hey ima get out to this area around similar days and conditions in the future but don't forget to keep eyes peeled for the freshest signs like glossy shit , urine stains, foodrubs and bedding rub directions and primary scrapes.... turn into a detective on the field and off the field
@@dennypitman5272 what did I say weather gets them moving more often
I’ve been seeing the same group of 11 does every single night since the season started but no bucks. There are bucks in the area because I have a camera set up on a scrap line half a mile from the field I sit in with pictures of a few nice ones. Yesterday I went to check the scrap line camera and at 9 AM a nice 8 pointer walked through and I was only a few hours behind him. My question is do I stay hunting the field and wait for a doe to come into heat or do I try and hunt the stand on the scrap line?
I would try to hunt closer to the scrape line if you’re a couple hours behind him. It might take him a while to move a half mile in daylight. Cut the distance in half and see what happens. If it’s still not close enough, cut the distance in half again. Keep at it! Good luck!
Thank you for the great
Buddy of mine takes off this week and next week. Always kills big bucks. Every. Single.year.
That’s when we take a week off as well. Bucks are normally pushing does hard early on then it shuts down. That’s when we push in tighter to the bedding areas to find the does / bucks.
@@whitetailevolution yep! I got an 8 pointer the 26th , the first day I take off haha.
How do you keep your watering holes free from leaves
I clean out the waterholes once the ice melts in the spring. They don’t seem to mind the leaves in there. If a animal happens to die in the tank, I empty it completely and refill it. That’s the only scenario I’ve noticed them stop using the water hole.
I know exactly what you mean when you say Halloween I think it's just a Michigan Hunters thought process, only michiganders that hunt understand it lol and may I add Christmas good time to take family into the woods and celebrate it right hahaha
Don’t forget about Thanksgiving haha
We hunt Michigan too, I agree with everything you said, especially about Halloween! 3 bucks dropped on that day for me (2 in the AM, and 1 in the PM). You guys need an Instagram account!
Sweet! Hopefully you can add another one to the Halloween stat sheet this year. Full moon too!
Our Instagram is Whitetail_Habitat_Management confusing with the two names but we do have one. Post a few times a week.
@@whitetailevolution Ahh...were already following you! Were @deers_n_beers. This UA-cam is the more serious side of us 😄 🇺🇸
Found you!
Great stuff, sub from me! It'll all be put to use over the weekend!
Thank you! 🙏 good luck!!
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