24hourcampfire.com
24hourcampfire.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
Page 2 of 2 1 2
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,862
D
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
D
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,862
I always blocked out Oct 27-Nov 9 as the best dates to hunt the pre-rut. Best circumstances for those dates are mornings, hunting scrapes lines after a rain at night. Bucks are anxious/aggressive and moving more than normal, and still pushing for pecking order. They want the scrapes to have their scent in it, so after a rain they freshen up the scrapes and scent check doe trails for the hot scent.

Scents work really well at those times and of course calls also. My best 4 bow kills were between Oct 29-Nov 14.

It seemed to me that the bigger bucks don't go chasing after does until later in the rut. They set up a core area, mark it well, defend it, and in the earlier breeding portion the dominant bucks have a full dance card. They don't have to move around to find does, the does follow the buck sign to find them in their core area. It's after the first round or two of breeding takes place that the dominant bucks have to move around to find hot does.

Best chance for a trophy bow hunter is the late pre-runt. Big buck movement drops off when breeding starts.

BP-B2

Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,375
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,375
Originally Posted by SKane
Interesting dilemma. I've never been a fan of mid-October because it's the obvious transition time (upper midwest for context) as crops change, deer patterns change etc. And, at that time trail cams have proven over and over the bulk of the movement is night time only.

Now, if pre-rut includes the very last days of October/early November (for purposes of your direct question, we'll call this "late pre rut" *grins*) I'm picking that one over mid-October and the rut. Big bucks can be on their feet in daylight and in their core area. Find a hefty rub line, get the right wind, prepare thy mind and make it happen. smile

The rut can be boom or bust but it is nice to sit all day and possibly see activity at all hours. The downside, if the/a good one you're targeting is locked down with a doe, you're SOL for a couple of days. This time of year is also frustrating due to the erratic behavior of the baldies that are being persued.

Toss some warm weather in the mix and you'll wonder if there's a deer in the same county.


Seems like we've had this conversation before lol. BTW.... thats exactly what i did with Saturdays buck :-D was RIGHT in his core area according to the cameras


I kill chit. "The Heathens nest"
Page 2 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  RickBin 

Link Copied to Clipboard
YB23

Who's Online Now
104 members (338reddog, 405joe, 7mm_Loco, 10gaugemag, 444Matt, 12 invisible), 1,350 guests, and 683 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums81
Topics1,187,588
Posts18,397,869
Members73,815
Most Online11,491
Jul 7th, 2023


 







Fish & Game Departments | Solunar Tables | Mission Statement | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA
Hunting | Fishing | Camping | Backpacking | Reloading | Campfire Forums | Gear Shop
Copyright © 2000-2024 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.3.33 Page Time: 0.198s Queries: 15 (0.002s) Memory: 0.8010 MB (Peak: 0.8463 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-28 08:34:23 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS