In another two weeks or so, it will begin, that magical time that bow hunters know simply as "the rut." Traditionally, it starts somewhere around the first of November and bucks laden with testosterone go a little crazy then. Not totally, since even in the rut big bucks are cautious, but they'll move a lot more then, even during daylight hours seeking does, and it's a golden chance to put antlers on the wall. What can you do during this final two weeks?

One good plan is to scout for does. The does are feeding up for the weeks to come, and if you can find a place they're using, like a corn or soybean field or an oak grove, that's a good place to put a tree stand. Because where the does are, the bucks will come.  Another good idea is to set up a trail camera or three along likely trails, just to see what's moving on them. If you see a good buck, that's another good place for a tree stand or ground blind.

The actual rut usually comes in three phases, and the first phase will see the bucks making scrapes, often several along a beaten trail. Young bucks even yearlings might make scrapes too, but usually these won't have a "licking branch" hanging down over the scrape.  If no branch, move on. If it's there, check the urine soaked scrape below and look at the size of the bucks hoof print. That'll give you a good idea of what made it.

After that, the choice is yours. Lots of archers just build a stand very near a fresh scrape and wait it out. Usually, over the next weeks, some will get a shot. If not a buck, at least a doe looking for companionship. You can improve your odds by building several stands, each made to take advantage of a different wind direction. When you go out in the morning, check the wind and choose accordingly. To up their chances even more, many archers lug out a Styrofoam life-sized doe, and place it well within range of the scrape, anointing the doe's hindquarters with fresh doe-in-heat scent from a sporting goods store.

A friend did this several years ago and had a six point try for at least 30 minutes to mount the doe. "It must have been painful" he said, "but I didn't want to shoot a buck that small." By the middle of November, most of the does have been bred, and bucks are searching almost frantically for the few that remain or didn't "catch" on a first effort.  And it would pay archers to hunt all day now whenever they can.

A friend of mine who has a small farm in Coshocton County likes to climb into one of his stands at dawn and stay there literally all day, taking a few sandwiches, a canteen, and a pee bottle. Lots of hunters plan to hunt early and late, and they'll do other things from late morning to early afternoon. The friend said "You'd be surprised at how many deer I see even at high noon."

This is the time to really concentrate on clashing antlers, on calls like buck grunts, but also doe bleats, wheezes, and snorts. Or all four. That much enticing noise can bring a love hungry buck literally on the run. Do the same in the final week or so of the rut.  Some hunters give up then, but big bucks are seeking hard for the few remaining does in estrus or fawns that come into season for the first time. Some archers have found their biggest deer the last week, and you might, too.
