Finding the “Hot-Spots”:

Part II on rutting white-tails.

By Rod Luke

In part I of this article I talked about pre-rut tactics that typically fail us during the chase and breeding phase of the rut. In part II I’d like to talk about a few tactics that work well during the rut. First I’d like to clarify that while most hunters look forward to hunting the rut because of increased buck sightings; mature bucks do not typically abandon all cautious behavior. Yes, bucks are more active making them more visible to us, but what affords us a chance to kill him is his predictability. Take that predictability away and what do we have? The Rut!

I am convinced that when the chase is on, the buck we are after is at best, predictably unpredictable. So whether we are hunting one particular buck or just any mature buck on our land, it is important during the rut to hunt the areas that will offer us a shot at the “most” bucks. What I mean is that during the pre-rut we focus our attention on sign relating to individual patterns developed by a single buck. During the rut, we need to focus on stand placement in areas that offer “high traffic”. Because all the bucks on our land have the same thing in mind, (finding a receptive doe) doesn’t it stand to reason that sooner or later they are all going to “sniff” their way through the same “hot-spots”? I think so and it has been my experience in the Northern and Midwestern states I’ve hunted. I’m convinced that on every piece of property there are “hot-spots”, or areas that “most” bucks on the property will check out in his effort to pick up a girlfriend. These hot-spots have been the only consistently predictable stand-sites I have encountered during the rut in over thirty years of hunting these animals. While younger bucks are somewhat clueless of these hot-spots, most mature bucks become educated over time on these areas and rely on them heavily during the rut. Due to limited space I am going to by-pass the well known tactics such as the use of scents, rattling, calling and funnels because most hunters know that bottle-necks are a lethal year-round tactic and the use of scents, rattling and calling are very effective during the rut. Instead, I want to talk about just a few of the “hot-spots” that have worked well for me over the years.

“Unfamiliar Property”

When ever I am hunting a property for the first time and it happens to be during the rut, the first thing I look for is “cut-trails”. These are lightly visible trails that will cut or cross over a main trail. Bucks use these cut-trails to check on the local doe population. By cutting main travel routes he can efficiently cover more ground which reserve energy. Typically they cut the main trails leading to or from feeding areas and/or bedding areas. When hunting farm land, the first place I look for these cut-trails is on the inside corners of a crop field the deer are using to feed in. Typically just 10 to 30 yards inside the woods of these inside corners I’ll find one or more of these cut-trails that cross over the main trail entering and exiting the field. While I don’t typically see much activity at these inside corners early or late in the day, from 8am until late morning the action seems to intensify. Bucks know that does were feeding in these fields before heading to bed down for the day, so they cruise just inside the woods scent checking each trail hoping to find the smell of estrus. The inside corner is typically a “hot-spot” due to the fact these corners usually contain a major travel path from the field. While there may be other exit routes along the field edge, it has been my experience that these inside corners produce a more reliable hot-spot than trails exiting from the length of a field. If a buck is cruising just one side of the field edge, he will cruise by that corner. If he is checking both edges, he will still cut that corner. If he is really in a hurry, he will typically favor checking the corners over the edges because he will likely cross those other exits as he gets closer to the bedding areas. For a quick, low impact scouting venture, these inside corner cut-trails have paid off well for me. Back in 1994 I was invited to hunt a friend’s land I had never hunted before. The rut had just kicked into full swing so I checked the inside corner of a cut cornfield. I found the cut-trails I had hoped would be there and set a stand there for the next mornings hunt. Between 9-11 am, eleven bucks had cruised by that corner with their noses to the ground. Number eleven made the trip back home with me.

These cut-trails can be found in any number of locations throughout the woods and not just at field edges. As I stated earlier I like to start at the field edge because it is a low-impact set-up for that first hunt on new property. After the first morning hunt I can do some more low impact scouting and hope I find the areas that may offer an even better hot-spot. Another likely place to find “cut-trails” is near the “pocket-crest” of a ravine. If I follow the valley of a ravine up to where two ridges come together, I will generally find cut-trails within 80 yards of where these three elevations come together. (Unless the change in elevation is too drastic) I also look at ridge-top saddles, main travel routes leading into bedding areas, watering locations, swamp or marsh edges and around food sources within the woods. Stand placement over these cut-trails can be very effective, even when we do not have intimate knowledge of the property we are hunting.

“Know the food sources”:

The rest of the tactic’s I’d like to talk about will require adequate to intimate knowledge of the land we are hunting. I can’t stress enough the importance of year-round scouting. So with that said, here we go. While the buck I’m after may not be thinking about food during the rut, the does he is seeking certainly are. So if we start keeping tabs on where the does are feeding, bedding and the travel corridors they use just prior to the rut, we will have a general idea of where to look for a set up to intercept a buck trailing or checking on a particular group of does. Setting up on these doe travel corridors to a food source can be lethal to a love-struck buck. But knowing where to place a stand on these travel routes can be maddening. Some may say “set up close to the bedding area”, and they’d be right… sometimes. Some may say “stay close to the foods source”, and they’d be right… sometimes. There are three things that will dictate whether I set up closer to the bedding or feeding locations, they are wind, hunting pressure and time of day I plan to hunt the stand. Obviously if the wind is blowing from the trail to the bedding area, I’m not going to set up close to the bedroom. If the wind is blowing into the food source I am obviously not going to hunt there. So wind direction is the first thing I look at. Then I consider hunting pressure and time of day I plan to hunt. If hunting pressure is light and an evening hunt is my goal, I know that does will generally leave the bedding area early which makes the food source a viable option. Because I have set up closer to the final destination of the does, (the food) I increase my odds of a buck sighting regardless of where on the trail he picks up her scent. Example; If I set up near a doe bedroom and the does leave to go to the field early, I’m stuck with only hoping a buck checks the bedding area. If the buck cuts the trail between me and the food, I’ve lost my chance. Setting up closer to the “end destination” means that whether he picks up the hot does scent in the bedroom or along the travel corridor, I’m still going to get a shot at him as he follows her scent to the food source. If a morning hunt is my plan, then I always hang tight to the bedding area I want to focus on as long as the wind is right. Again, taking advantage of the entire distance a hot doe has traveled from feeding. Whether the buck picks up her scent close to the field or closer to the bedding area, he still has to walk past me first.

While these are two favorable stand locations on food source travel corridors, neither is what I consider a hot-spot. Lethal, yes! But if present, there is a more likely spot I’d prefer to hunt on these food source travel routes. Usually somewhere on the main trail leading to bedding from morning feeding locations is a “Y” or “T” that will head off to another bedding location. Obviously not all does leaving a food source will bed in the same exact location, but they do often leave the field from the same general area. So if I find the intersection where the two or more doe groups part ways, I pay close attention to again, those “cut-trails”. Sometimes they are there, other times they aren’t. Even when they are not present, it usually means the buck is just running one of the main trails and can hit the intersection, give it a quick sniff and know what’s up with these doe groups. In this set up, I actually take advantage of several doe bedding areas from one stand location. So if I have the choice, these intersections would be the higher percentage stand location on these food source travel corridors. Two additional advantages to these locations are that scent control is typically easier to manage and the bucks I see here are still looking for a date and not chasing one. Once a buck is chasing a doe, it can be tough to stop him for the shot. With that in mind, I prefer set ups that ambush a buck while he’s seeking a potential girlfriend rather than after he finds one and attempts to chase her into submission. Regardless of whether you chose a “destination” set-up or an “interception” set-up, all can offer us a shot at a good buck.

“Scrapes”:

While I have had little success hunting pre-rut scrape lines during the rut, there is scrape activity I pay close attention to during the rut. These are breeding scrapes and they are unmistakable when you find them. When you get within a few feet of these pungent scrapes you’ll instantly know it by its smell. There will usually be several of these scrapes in a very small area (roughly 15 to 30 yards in diameter) and I only find these “hot” scrapes during the actual rut. When I have been fortunate enough to find these areas, they are typically in a low-lying marsh or swamp. While I have found them in other (dry) thickets, I think they prefer these marshlands because they are thick, low and damp, an atmosphere well suited for retaining the musky scent emitted from these scrapes. However, there is a problem. Typically when I find these scrapes, the jig is up before it began because the buck that makes them is typically close by at the time I find them. (Mid-day scouting) I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found these scrapes and had a buck bust-out of the brush just yards away from me. Why they let me get so close is still a mystery to me. Even though I now expect him to be watching me, it still startles me when he jumps up and crashes away. Unfortunately, once they catch me in this scrape zone, I’ve had no success killing him at this location and the scrapes just dry up and quit being freshened. But, on a few occasions I have come across these scrapes and immediately turned and walked away and never heard a buck leave the scene. On those occasions I’ve gone back in (days later) before sun-up, used my climber to scale a tree and was offered a shot each time on the first sit. In each instance, the buck arrived in the late morning to freshen the scrapes. On two occasions I couldn’t get an immediate shot, but each time, the buck bedded down just a few yards away and remained there for a couple of hours. I was fortunate enough to get a shot each time after the bucks got up, killing one and completely missing the other. The good news about finding these locations is that if you don’t get a chance at him this season, these breeding scrapes typically show up again in roughly the same spot next season. My best advice to those that find these scrapes would be to spend little or no time in the area once you find them. Just leave and come back a day or so later, use a climber, set up in the dark and sit at least until noon or 1 pm. These breeding scrape hot-spots are deadly for mid-day hunts.

Dedication to time spent on stand:

While the list of tactics used to hunt rutting whitetails could go on and on, I haven’t the space here to continue. But I’d like to finish the tactical portion of this article by stressing the importance of all day hunting during the rut. This brief period known as the “rut”, is the only time of year a mature buck increases his activity. His instinct to breed is likely to cause him to be up and about, off and on throughout the day. If temperatures are at or below normal for this time of year, hunting these hot spots all day long can put a mature buck within shooting range at any given moment. So often I see hunters spend countless resources on gadgets, gizmos and what-nots in an effort to aid him in harvesting a mature buck. During the rut, the best resource we can devote to killing a mature buck is our “time”. If sitting in a stand all day is too hard to do, get down, stretch, move off to another location or do some slow still hunting. Do something even if it’s wrong. Just being in the woods during the rut increases our odds of success, so why head back to the truck, camp or home? I have yet to kill one back at camp or in my living room. So don’t sell your “rut hunt” short by short changing your woods time. It’s a magical time to be in the woods, get out there and enjoy it.

Back at “Camp Lodi”:

As the sun set on the last evening of “Camp Lodi”, there were three handsome bucks hanging in the barn waiting to be processed. The sadness that typically accompanies the final day of deer camp had not consumed our evening in camp that year. Even though two of the guys had not scored on a buck, each of us had our opportunity. Every hunter in camp had reached full-draw on a good buck that year. One hunter had missed the biggest buck of his career and another tried in vain to stop a nice 10 pointer chasing a hot doe. Even yelling “STOP” didn’t phase the love-struck white-tail. Wide-eyed and focused on his latest love interest; this bucks need to breed had temporarily saved his life. Clueless of his near demise, he and his girlfriend made their way toward another of my buddies stand location. This time, Mr. Wonderful made the error of stopping 25 yards below the stand of the best archer I personally know, “Big Al”. Six feet, five inches of arrow slinging, nock busting, feather cutting killing machine was now at full-draw and anchored on the shoulder of this hyperventilating stud. The bucks’ ill timed respite ended poorly for the buck but quite well for “Big Al”. Back at camp, the last few hours of that final evening were spent around the campfire telling stories and jokes. A few beers were shared to celebrate our success and the camaraderie we had enjoyed that week. As we each lifted our drinks to the starry sky above, we ended another deer camp with a toast to the hunt.