North Mississippi’s whitetail rut generally occurs during the two weeks surrounding Christmas, which means the peak of the action should be happening now. This is a time when hunters find calling most effective and when bucks are most widely on the move.
At this latitude and in this area, with the rut both somewhat predictable but not necessarily crisply defined, deer behavior and hunting tactics of both the rut and pre-rut periods overlap. Hunters can determine the stage of the specific herd they hunt by using attention and care. Pre-rut and rut are phases of the whitetail year and, as such, don’t conform neatly to human calendars.
“Does coming into season kicks off elevated testosterone levels in bucks, which makes them become territorial and causes them to fight for dominance,” says Jimmy Riley of Natchez.
Riley is a lifelong hunter with decades of experience as a hunting guide. “Right now, bucks are making scrapes, looking for does in season. It’s an awesome time to be in the woods, and it’s my favorite time to hunt because big bucks start to become more visible. They’re not necessarily locked down with a doe yet, and they’re pushing young bucks out of their areas.”
Riley says rut hunting strategies begin with careful, cautious scouting, gathering information without leaving too much scent behind.
“The first step is to find a scrape line and hunt it from the downwind side,” he said. “It’s also good to hunt a scrape line near where does congregate. Food plots are good for this because they offer the best of both worlds. It’s important to scout around food sources, because that’s where the does will be. Food plots, acorn trees, pecans and thickets with browse are all good places to start.
“I don’t like to put a lot of boot tracks in the woods but, when I am coming and going from the woods for any reason, I like to take a different path every time and do my scouting then. If I’m going to lay a human scent trail down, I’m going to make use of it. I like to find scrapes next to thick cover, because that’s where ol’ Sad Daddy, the biggest buck in the woods, will be.”
Once you’ve found a scrape in a likely place, it’s important to figure out what’s making it before dedicating time to hunt there.
“Even a spike will scrape,” Riley said. “You don’t want to sit on a scrape that a four-point is working.”
Riley prefers afternoon hunting for the pre-rut, reserving a strong focus on morning hunting for when the rut actually kicks in and bucks can be seen pushing does through the timber all day long.
Rattle and grunt
“During the pre-rut, bucks are laying down scrape lines and looking for hot does, and they’re trying to establish and defend their territory,” Riley said. “When that buck hears grunting and rattling then, it sounds to him like someone breaking into his house. He’s going to go check it out and arrive ready to fight.
“Any time of the day is a good time to call during the pre-rut. You want to be next to a thicket or be set up in undulating terrain where you know there are deer you can’t see that can hear you. If you’re sitting in a stand or a blind not seeing anything, much like turkey hunting, throw a blind rattling session or a grunt every 20 minutes. If you see a buck walking that’s not coming to you, you’ve got to call to him. Why let him walk out of your world without giving him a chance to come check you out?
“You can use doe bleats, rattling, light grunts or aggressive grunts. If you’re not next to a thicket or somewhere a deer might be within 100 or 150 yards, rattle hard and loud. If I am right next to a thicket, somewhere a buck might already be close, I like to use doe bleats, and I don’t mean just one. At least two if not three. The first bleat gets his attention and the second one gives him your location. The third one, if he can be convinced to come check you out, the third one gets him headed your way. Don’t be afraid to call. Deer aren’t call shy, don’t kid yourself.
“If a buck is walking and not coming your way, you can use aggressive grunts and, as a very last resort, a snort-wheeze. If that deer has recently been whipped in a fight with a bigger buck, he’ll run but, if he was leaving anyway, what have you got to lose?”
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