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Hunting the whitetail rut in Kentucky is an exhilarating experience for any deer enthusiast. With the right timing and techniques, you can increase your chances of harvesting a trophy buck. Remember to scout diligently, practice scent control, and be patient during this exciting hunting season.
- Phase One: Late Pre-Rut
- Phase Two: Seeking
- Phase Three: Chasing
- Phase Four: Peak Breeding
- Phase Five: Pickup Breeding
- Phase Six: Secondary Breeding
Although most does aren’t yet ready to breed, bucks are feeling increasingly amorous, moving more within their home range, rubbing and scraping. It’s a great time to kill a giant, before he finds that first willing doe and abandons any patterns in his core area. Here are out experts top tips for this phase of the breeding season.
Ever watched a great bird dog working cover to find a hunkered-down pheasant or quail? That’s your whitetail buck right now, only he’s looking for does. With testosterone levels surging, bucks start patrolling like crazy, checking food sources, doe bedding sites, and transition areas for that first bit of action.
The lid has popped off the pressure cooker. The first few does are being bred, the scent of estrus is in the air, and every buck in the herd is a heat-seeking missile. When most hunters describe “peak rut,” this is the phase they mean. Biologically speaking, the apex of breeding activity is yet to come. But for hunters, this is the big show.
This is when the majority of does enter estrus. Most biologists consider this the rut’s peak. Most hunters call it lockdown—and want to pull their hair out. Bucks that teemed in the timber just days ago seem to vanish as they tend does. But they’re not gone.
No, this is not a whitetail attempting to mount a truck. It is, however, one of the best times to smash a mature buck. While peak breeding is past, there are a handful of does still to be bred, and after weeks of running, fighting, chasing, and breeding, it’s the older, bigger bucks in particular that have the stamina to keep looking for those last...
Every year, some does come into estrus roughly a month after the annual peak. Some of these are mature does that got missed during the main event; others are fawns entering their first cycle. It’s only a handful of receptive females compared with November—but it’s the biggest bucks that are looking for them.
Oct 30, 2023 · The answer is simple. Whitetail deer are known as short-day breeders, meaning day length plays a role in the hormonal balances that drive the rut. This causes an increase in observed movement and allows hunters afield during the peak of breeding season to harvest more deer.
- Clint Mccoy, DVM
Oct 22, 2017 · Some vocalizations to know include: social grunts, tending grunts, buck growl/roar, snort-wheeze, etc. Knowing these when you hear them will give you insight as to what's happening in the deer woods so that you can act accordingly.
Nov 8, 2018 · A dominant buck is one that is at the top of the breeding pyramid. If in your area there unfortunately are no big bruiser bucks, a basket 6-pointer might claim the title of dominant buck, and...
Nov 15, 2021 · The key is to hunt the area while the buck is still occupied with a nearby estrous doe or others in her group. You’ll know very quickly if you’re in a hot rut-rub location.
- Gerald Almy
People also ask
Do Bucks abandon their core areas during the rut?
Do Bucks rub to mark their territory?
How do you know if a deer is in a rut?
How do you handle a buck during a pre rut?
Sep 22, 2010 · Bucks will often work themselves into a frenzy as they rake their horns up and down the tree while ripping the bark off. Many times during such endeavors, a buck can be heard groaning and grunting. A buck may spend 20 seconds working the tree over or he may spend 20 minutes.
