By Scott Bestul

Illinois bowhunter Marc Anthony isn’t afraid to think outside the box. For starters, Anthony—whom I’ve written about several times in the last few years—doesn’t hunt from a tree stand. He’s a ground-pounder who uses a gillie suit as camouflage, then slips close to some really big deer and shoots them with a bow. In short, he’s not your typical Midwestern bowhunter. [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Overall activity status: Deer movement has been a mixed bag in the region this week. In areas where the firearms seasons have been closed for a few days, deer are resuming normal feeding activity. Iowa’s first of two shotgun seasons opened on Saturday, and in Illinois the shotgun hunt continues. Expect subdued movement in those states.

Fighting: No reports of big fights breaking out lately. I expect to hear of skirmishes as post-rut bucks gather near food sources.

Rub making: I spotted a couple of fresh rubs as I hung some trail cameras this week. All were located near good feeding areas.

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By Scott Bestul

Bucks across much of the region have been in lock-down mode lately. This has made hunting them difficult, as bucks—and the does they’re tending—simply don’t move much. That has all changed since firearms seasons have opened in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, and Missouri within the last week. Some truly big buck photos have started showing up in my inbox again; the only difference is the hunters posing behind them are now wearing orange instead of camo.

Every fall I hear a lot of discussion about how the increased pressure of the firearms season affects rutting behavior. My take on this question is short, and slightly evasive: It depends. One of the key qualifiers here is that hunting pressure and its effects on deer behavior can be highly variable. For example, some 700,000 hunters took to the Wisconsin deer woods last weekend.

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By Scott Bestul

I’m hosting FS editor Dave Hurteau for a Minnesota bowhunt this week, and by the look of things, we’ve timed his visit to coincide perfectly with the breeding peak. I’ve received several reports of big bucks either laying up with, or trailing close behind, mature does. This means their interest in some tried and true rut tactics—like grunting and rattling—can be pretty tepid. Hurteau rattled up two small bucks this morning and saw a decent buck yesterday afternoon, which is by no means a poor hunt…But compared to the chaos of the seeking and chase phases of the rut, it felt like a real let-down.

But instead of getting discouraged, it’s time to rely on that standby-quality exhibited by most successful whitetail hunters; patience. Remember, a mature buck will typically only stay with a doe for about 3 days, and as soon as that honeymoon period is over he’ll be looking for love again.
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By Scott Bestul

It’s happening. Right now. If they don’t have does pinned down somewhere, bucks are on their feet; searching the edges of bedding areas, cruising past food sources, working scrapes, hashing up rubs. In the upper Midwest, if you’re not in the woods this week, you’re missing the Big Show.
 
My father shot the buck pictured above a few days back, and his hunt was a classic rut scenario. Dad was in a stand by a secluded food source (a mini food plot we scratched into a log landing) when a trio of does fed past his stand. One of the does had apparently filled her belly and decided to wander off down a logging road. Dad watched the doe start to drift off, then noticed that she’d slammed to a stop and was gazing toward some thick cover nearby. Suddenly the doe whirled around and trotted back toward the stand. When dad heard a low grunt, he grabbed the bow and clipped the release on the string. [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

This is shaping up to be the best whitetail rut I’ve seen in over a decade. I’ve had more phone calls and emails from excited hunters in the last week than I can keep up with, and it’s a good problem to have!

Why is the 2012 rut in the north central region so good? I attribute the great action to the alignment of two major factors that influence buck activity here. First and foremost, the weather in the last week has been stellar; sub-freezing temps at night, day time highs in the 40s, and no significant wind. Bucks that want to move have the perfect conditions to do so and, by most accounts, they’re taking advantage of them. The buck pictured above, a 167-inch Minnesota giant tagged by my friend Bob Borowiak, was shot on one of the crisp, windless mornings that have typified the last week. 
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