Fall 2006

To Find Bucks, Find Doe

By JOHN KASUN
With November comes the rut. For bowhunters, this is the most anticipated time of the season. Deer activity normally builds through the rutting period and deer sightings should be high.
Those bucks that seemed to know how to avoid your stand over the past several weeks should be ready to come out of the woodwork. While all of this is true, sometimes it just doesn't seem to happen. What went wrong and what do you do when the rut fails to produce the deer you expected?
The three things a bowhunter needs during the rut are faith, persistence and flexibility. Have faith in the fact that the action is going to get hot. The persistence to maximize your time afield and the flexibility to change your hunting plan as required.
During the first several weeks of the season, most bowhunters spend their time looking for the elusive bucks. I often hear the comment, ''I saw a lot of doe but couldn't find any bucks.''
Early in the season this is quite normal. The bucks seem to maintain some indifference to the doe. They ignore them, keeping their distance, traveling alone and become increasingly nocturnal. For the bowhunter this can be an extremely frustrating time. Because the bucks and doe are leading separate lives for the time being some bowhunters think that the sign of doe means no bucks. Nothing could be further from the truth. The beginning of the rut draws those bucks out of their solidarity existence and guess what they are after?

Doe.
Before the rut I focus on areas that may hold that solitary buck, thick cover, swamps etc. Once the rut starts I hunt the doe. A good friend and hunting buddy Dick Shaw says, ''Find the doe and be patient, the bucks will show up.''
This idea may seem simple, but it works.
The rut brings drastic changes to deer movement patterns. Deer that only a few days earlier could only be seen in morning or evenings will be on move at all hours of the day. Deer normally constantly on the alert will now be focused on the rutting activity. Doe that are in heat will be on the move until their breeding is complete. Doe not yet in heat will be on the move trying to avoid the undesired advances of love sick bucks. Mix it all together and things will be jumping.
It is at this time of the year that I substitute persistence for patience. The increased deer movement draws more animals to the same areas therefore draining other areas. Basically this means if you are not seeing any deer, move.
Moving doesn't mean making drastic changes, but it does mean moving until you find deer or fresh deer sign. When scouting during the rut be constantly on the alert as a doe can lead a buck right into your lap.
I even shot a buck while on the ground checking for deer sign during the rut.
While checking some recent rubs I caught sight of a doe in the distance heading in my direction. She stopped and looking behind her. That action is a dead give away that a buck is close behind. Sometimes being lucky is better then being good.
I stepped behind a small clump of trees and the doe passed me within shooting distance. A few moments later a buck, hot on the trail, gave me one of the easiest shots I have ever had.
He never knew what hit him.
Even though deer movement increases during the rut the doe still tend to stay within their home range.As a buck cuts a doe from the herd and begins his pursuit the doe remaining will regroup. If the doe being persuaded is not in heat she will normally make a large circle trying to lose the buck on her trail and rejoin the rest of the herd. This action will bring the buck back around like a beagle following a rabbit. A buck working a small herd of doe will return repeatedly. One afternoon I watched a herd of seven doe feed in a bean field for over three hours. During those three hours I saw the same buck approach the herd and cut a doe from the group on four separate occasions. Each time the doe scattered only to regroup when the buck left. What a better decoy could you get then the real thing.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. During the rut find the doe and the bucks will find you.