Tactics
Have you been hunting the rut as hard as you can, and still haven't had a chance to wrap your tag around a mature buck? I'm in the same boat with you! But, all is not lost yet. The very end of the rut can produce some of your best opportunities at harvesting a truly mature buck. Recently, I wrote an article for Wide Open Spaces on this very topic that I wanted to share with you.
Recently, I set out to learn a little more about hunting bedding areas during the rut specifically. The first person that came to mind was Dan Infalt, who is notorious for killing big mature bucks by hunting bedding areas. I reached out to Dan, and he was nice enough to help me put together a Q&A post with him, and let me tell you, he contains a wealth of knowledge. With that said, here is how he hunts bedding areas during the rut, get your notes out, because this one is good.
Sweet November. The magical rut. However you refer to this time of the year, it's usually got to do with the rut, and how exciting this time of year is. No doubt, it can be the best time to be in the woods, and things can happen at literally any moment. But, at the same time, the rut can be hard. It can be tough. It can be tiring. And it can be utterly frustrating. That's about how I feel right now. I think many of us can relate to the love hate relationship we have with the rut, and the roller coaster we are sometimes put on.
This past weekend, I pulled my first all day sit of 2016, and I was reminded pretty quickly it's not easy to do - especially when the action is slow. I've got more all day sits lined up for this week, and with that being said, I thought this would be an opportune time to dive into the factors that help accomplish an all day sit as successfully as possible.
This year has been an absolute grind already for me. And we're not even into the month of November yet. I haven't had an encounter with a shooter buck since September 23rd. That's 16 sits in the stand without seeing a mature buck. You could say it's easy to be down right now. I have numerous shooters showing up regularly on most of my trail cameras, just nothing in daylight. It could be easy to not be mentally ready to see a shooter buck, but it is critical that you are, or you just might mess up your next opportunity.
Trail Cameras are a tool most deer hunters across the nation are using to help put mature bucks on the ground. They give you a unique opportunity to get to know deer without ever actually seeing them. I'm young enough, where I don't know what it's like to hunt whitetails without the use of trail cameras.
During the springtime and dog days of the summer, what do you find yourself doing a ton of? Scouting. And scouting some more, and then even some more. There is a boat load of scouting and preparation that goes into every deer season. And then once fall arrives, it's time to hit the woods and hunt. But, don't forget about that scouting, it is just as important as ever to be doing it during the season as well, or you just might miss out on that next opportunity at a mature buck.
For a large majority of us, we indulge deer hunting information through a variety of mediums non-stop. Reading magazine articles, books, online blogs, watching TV and online shows, listening to podcasts, it never ends. Every topic under the sun about hunting mature bucks has at some point been written about, or covered through video. If you really want to go out and harvest mature bucks consistently, there is plenty of information to soak up and apply. So that naturally brings me to the next question. Why don't more people harvest truly mature bucks on a consistent, yearly basis? There is a long winded answer, containing all kind of elements, but with that said, there is ONE thing that everybody can do, but not everybody ACTUALLY does it.
Across a majority of the Midwest, October's first cold front will be striking this weekend. I have a feeling a lot of mature bucks will be hitting the dirt by bowhunters all over the Midwestern states. If you are someone who has limited time to hunt, it is critical to be able to maximize your sits by hunting high value days, and get the most bang for your buck. Here's how to do that, and why you should make this weekend a priority if you are going to be affected by the first major cold front of October.
This season, my hunting buddy Tyler and I have committed to filming all of our hunts for a variety of reasons. I've quickly learned that there are many nuisances that come along hunting with a cameraman. There are major things you need to think of, and small not so obvious little things that might take a little while to perfect. Overall, it's a major difference for everything from planning to executing a hunt. Here's what I've found you need to take into account when filming a hunt, and being with a cameraman...
