Hunting the Transition from Early Season to Rut Season

As the rut season approaches, start to adjust to the bucks’ new behavior and capitalize on all the activity the rut season stirs up. They’ll make their presence known through rubs and scrapes and start moving around more during the daylight hours. You can take advantage of all of this activity by scoping out the herd from your Stump blind. Check out our tips, below, to learn how you can use this information to fill your tags and get some venison in your freezer before the holidays.

Less Daylight Means More Movement

As we begin to have shorter daylight photoperiods (the measurement of the amount of daylight between sunrise and sunset), the decrease in daylight triggers hormonal changes in the deer herd that in turn triggers the rut season. When the bucks’ hormones shift and their testosterone rises, they’ll be more likely to move around during the daytime to find as many does as possible.

As the weather cools to the moderate fall temperatures, it will also be more comfortable for the deer to move around during the day without overheating in the hot summer sun.

Checking Rubs and Scrapes

As we approach the rut season, the bucks will be checking their rubs and scrapes to see if any does are visiting. These rub and scrape sites are a way for the bucks to leave their scent in the hopes that the does will pick up the scent and then leave their own in return to answer the buck’s “love letter.” The deer will paw at the ground, releasing scent from the tarsal glands on their legs, in the crook of where their knee would be. They urinate over their legs and rub them together to allow the urine to mix with the oils from the tarsal glands to create the substance that leaves scent. Each deer also has a unique mix of bacteria, much like each person has a unique scent, so this also contributes to the pungency of the odor. So, if you position your blind near these sites, you’ll be able to catch both bucks and does as they leave their marks.

Keep an Eye on the Weather to Catch Bucks Redoing their Scrapes

Make sure you’re watching the weather. Bucks will revisit their scrape sites to refresh their scent after a rainfall. The rain washes away their scent and the bucks will know that their scent is gone. They’ll revisit the site almost immediately, sometimes as soon as within the hour after the rain stops. Make sure you’re in your blind and ready to go to capitalize on this activity as soon as the rain stops.

Use Our Stump Blinds

Our Stump blinds can easily be moved around your property throughout the season as the deer patterns shift. The perfect spot for your blind might change throughout the year as the rut season waxes and wanes along with hunting pressure from other hunters. The flexibility of our Stump blinds allows you to move your blind around according to the deer, working with the trends instead of having to work around them.

We hope you can make your ideal harvest this upcoming rut season and enjoy some venison in your freezer and on your Thanksgiving table.

How do you hunt the transition between early season and rut season? Let us know your tips in the comments below!