Rut strategies

Kill your target buck with these rut hunting tips

Deer hunting during the rut is the most exciting time of the year for hunters seeking trophy bucks. During this relatively short window of opportunity, the propagation of the species trumps a trophy buck’s survivalist instincts, providing hunters their best chance to target a big buck. 

Hunting during the rut, the time when does are in estrus, doesn’t mean it’s easy to kill trophy bucks. But it does provide hunters the opportunity to be in a deer stand when bucks are most likely to be active during legal hunting time. To capitalize on that opportunity, hunters need specific strategies to successfully hunt the rut.

Be selective

Dylan Wood is 21-years-old, a relatively young age in terms of being a trophy buck hunter. Wood has hunted most of his life, primarily bow hunting since 10th grade, taking several big bucks. He’s learned some serious rut-hunting strategies by spending time in the woods, in close quarters with big bucks, that apply to hunters regardless of weapon of choice.

“I was fortunate to begin hunting when very young, being able to learn from my dad,” he said. “Dad’s hunting philosophy was to hunt hard, be diligent, and be conservative regarding what we harvested. That philosophy has pushed me to learn everything I could about deer hunting. I enjoy the hunting process as much as the harvest.”

His father, Wylie Wood, a lifelong outdoorsman from Edgemoor, SC, said Dylan began joining him in ground blinds when he was 2-years-old.

“He’s always been passionate about deer hunting, but in the last six years, he’s taken this love of deer hunting to another level of understanding by continuously being in the woods,” he said. “He developed the trait of targeting one big buck and hunting that specific buck until he kills it. Along the way, he experiences close contact with many other big bucks he doesn’t shoot. That’s where he’s honed his skills, which has made him an extremely effective hunter during the rut.”

The young Wood said being selective during the rut has enabled him to watch unalerted bucks in their natural setting. He’s observed some of the largest bucks in his area move through the woods, approach does, scent for danger, and react to unusual sounds. Most hunters don’t experience this learning opportunity because when they see a nice buck, they shoot it.

“Bowhunting allows me to hunt up close and personal in a buck’s backyard, and it’s a challenge I enjoy,” he said. “Most bucks I’ve shot never know I’m in the woods.”

The reason for this success is he plans a strategy that stacks as many odds in his favor as possible.

The young Wood said many factors are in play during the rut, and a significant change occurs in the woods when the transition from early season hunting morphs into the rut pattern.

“Rut strategies are different than early season, and it’s essential to know when the rut occurs,” he said. “Signs in the woods provide clues, and first is deer rubs. When deer begin to rub, they’re transitioning from bachelor groups to breeding mode. When I begin seeing actively worked scrapes, I know the deer pattern is shifting to the rut. And I’ll change my tactics from what worked during the early season.”

Switch it up

One strategy is that he no longer uses his trail cameras to simply target bucks, because bucks are now going to be near the does. Cameras are a big part of his season-long strategy, and he’ll reset his cameras to determine where does live when the rut phase begins. Once he’s located that specific area, he’ll study the deer photos and target a single buck. He again resets his cameras to help him track the movements of that specific buck.

“I want to learn everything I can about my target, where he beds, where he eats and drinks, and the time he’s on his feet,” he said.

Wood said one strategy shift during the rut is he hunts mornings more often. During early season the best chance to see a big buck is late evening. But when the rut begins, hunting mornings becomes his preference.

“When the rut is on, deer movement can occur any time of the day. But I’ve seen more bucks in the mornings,” he said. “Bucks move a lot at night, seeking does. And during the rut, that movement continues into the morning.”

He prefers to hunt in habitat transition areas, such as mature woods adjacent to a cutover, with a good water source nearby. Since he’s bowhunting, his hunting setup is in thick cover.

“Visibility is low in thickets, but that’s where I find most of the deer. So that’s where I’m hunting,” he said, “The bucks I’ve killed with the bow are usually less than 22 yards away when I shoot. I employ trails, funnels, and doe movements to get me in the right area. I rarely hunt the same tree twice to avoid setting a pattern.”

Effective hunting is a key strategy, and Wood employed knowledge gleaned from his Mechanical Engineering major at Clemson University to design and build his own deer stand specifically for hunting these thickets.

“I built my climbing sticks and platform to adapt to thick cover hunting,” he said. “It’s all-aluminum, only weighs 3 pounds, is highly mobile, strong, and versatile. I can hunt where the deer patterns dictate, and that’s crucial to rut-hunting success.”

Get vocal

Hunting big bucks at close quarters requires a subtle approach, and Dylan Wood employs vocalization tactics to lure a buck close for a bow shot. 

Wood said the stand site selection must be ideal for hiding him, with the wind in his favor, because when making natural deer sounds, the hunter essentially becomes the hunted. Getting a buck close is required for a bowhunter, so vocalization is effective, but his methodology subtle.

“Vocalization is simply making audible deer sounds to attract big bucks to my location,” he said. “I also use rattling, not a vocal sound but a natural sound this time of year, and it’s a sound that’s great for attracting big bucks.

“My experience is vocalization during the rut needs to be subtle and is effective throughout the day, especially mornings,” he said. “I want deer to approach my location thinking another deer is nearby.”

Wood said he patterns his vocalization tactics, whether bleating or grunting, to what he hears naturally in the woods. 

“I’m in the woods a lot, and I’ve had the opportunity to listen to deer at close quarters,” he said. “They vocalize, but it’s almost always low, soft noises. In the wild, deer generally don’t make the loud, aggressive grunts I’ve heard some hunters make. Those sounds can work, but subtle grunts or bleats are just as effective and deer hear them at long distances. Quiet calls are natural and are consistently more effective on the big bucks I target.”

His pattern is to produce a short series of low, soft, calls, either grunts or bleats. Employing rattling in conjunction with the grunts is effective, but he doesn’t rattle every time he vocalizes. After a series of sounds, he waits 45 minutes before vocalizing again, because overcalling goes against the natural order of deer vocalization. His strategy is to follow the natural patterns learned from watching and listening to deer.

Act natural

“My goal is that a buck moving through my area hears the call and moves in to investigate,” he said. “When hunting thick cover, it’s not unusual for the buck to be within range when I first see him. Knowing this keeps me on high alert. But I’ve had many big bucks come all the way to my stand tree because they were not my target, and I’ve learned the effectiveness of subtle calling from those close encounters.”

Wood said experience has taught him that after he calls, deer that are going to approach usually do so within 5 to 10 minutes immediately after the call. 

“It’s adrenaline pumping time,” he said. “I love the excitement of hunting in the rut.”

Dylan Wood’s rut-hunting strategies apply to hunters using any deer-harvesting equipment, whether bows, pistols, muzzleloaders, or rifles. The key is to understand when the rut begins and to change from early-season to rut strategies. Use cameras to learn deer patterns and use that knowledge to your advantage. Employ vocalization and hunt as often as possible during the rut, regardless of the time of day. 

The equalizer

Dylan Wood’s transition from early-season tactics to rut hunting patterns is based on what the deer are doing. It’s not controlled by a date on the calendar. The rut occurs basically at the same general time each year, but deer movement can be profoundly impacted by the weather.

“One big buck I targeted was nocturnal, as is often the case with trophy bucks,” he said. “I’d bow-hunted this buck hard, and although I managed to get within range, I could not get a shot. It was either too dark in the morning or evening for an ethical shot.”

In those instances, Wood had this buck on camera, confirming it was his hit-list buck. The young hunter stayed patient because he’d previously learned about the big buck ‘equalizer’ that occurs early in the rut. This ‘equalizer,’ is a dramatic weather change.

“The first morning we experience a dramatic drop in temperature during the rut, deer will move incredibly well,” he said. “If it’s been 70 degrees in the day and lows of 50 in the mornings, and then a cold front pushes through, it’ll set this activity in motion. That first cold morning is the best morning to be in the woods during the rut.

“This buck was on my cameras consistently while hunting him, but all the photos were at night,” he said. “The weather change occurred later than normal; I remember Oct. 18, when the temperature dropped into the mid-30s that morning. That was the first time he moved during daylight hours, and he showed up where I had planned. And he was less than 20 yards when I shot him. That cold weather put him on his feet and moving. I’ve witnessed many other examples of big buck activity on the first cold morning.”

Wood said that throughout the rut, cold weather ramps up deer activity. These are the prime deer-moving days for daytime hunting opportunities. 

“But that first really cold morning is special,” he said.