By Scott Bestul

Rut Reporter Scott Bestul is a Field & Stream’s Whitetails columnist and writes for the website’s Whitetail365 blog. The Minnesotan has taken 13 Pope & Young-class whitetails and has hunted, guided for, and studied deer in the north-central region all his life. States covered: IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, MO, WI.

We’ve reached an interesting phase of the season here in the north-central region; in most states, the general firearms season (rifle or shotgun) have recently closed. I always find this a fascinating, but often challenging, time to hunt. In areas where deer have experienced heavy hunting pressure, it usually takes a few days for whitetails to resume normal feeding and breeding behavior. When this is the case, I typically forego serious hunting and scout or observe feeding areas and let whitetails emerge from shell-shock mode.
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By Scott Bestul

Rut Reporter Scott Bestul is a Field & Stream’s Whitetails columnist and writes for the website’s Whitetail365 blog. The Minnesotan has taken 13 Pope & Young-class whitetails and has hunted, guided for, and studied deer in the north-central region all his life. States covered: IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, MO, WI.

I’ve received several reports of bucks chasing does this week, and the stories are interesting indeed. One of my Minnesota contacts called yesterday morning to discuss his hunt from the previous evening, which started with a small 6-point buck dogging three does past his stand. “I could have sworn it was a bull coming, he was grunting so loud,” says avid whitetailer Bob Wick. “That buck chased the does hard through a wide circle that eventually took them out of my sight.”
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By Scott Bestul

Rut Reporter Scott Bestul is a Field & Stream’s Whitetails columnist and writes for the website’s Whitetail365 blog. The Minnesotan has taken 13 Pope & Young-class whitetails and has hunted, guided for, and studied deer in the north-central region all his life. States covered: IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, MO, WI.

I just returned from a Kansas bowhunt where my timing couldn’t have been worse; though big bucks were abundant in my hunting area (the sign was incredible and sightings/reports from locals called this “the best year ever”), my buddy Dave and I saw few mature animals.

Reading the situation was as simple as it was disappointing; the majority of the biggest bucks in the area were tending does and moving little, while smaller bucks were moving widely and hoping to blunder into some love.
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By Scott Bestul

Rut Reporter Scott Bestul is a Field & Stream’s Whitetails columnist and writes for the website’s Whitetail365 blog. The Minnesotan has taken 13 Pope & Young-class whitetails and has hunted, guided for, and studied deer in the north-central region all his life. States covered: IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, MO, WI.

The rut can be chaotic and unpredictable, but this much is certain: it’s the one time of year when a big, old buck can make a huge mistake. That was certainly true this week, when a 5-1/2 year old whitetail—a buck well known but rarely seen by hunting partners Micah Hanson and Jeffrey O’Donnell—walked by O’Donnell’s stand Wednesday morning. “We had this buck on trail camera last year, when he grew a weird unicorn point off the base of one main beam,” O’Donnell says. “This year he dropped the goofy point for some reason. But we always knew it was him on this year’s pics because he’d lost his left eye a couple years ago in a fight.”
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By David Draper

Rut Reporter David Draper grew up hunting deer and small game throughout this region and presently lives on a family farm in Nebraska. Draper, former communications specialist for Cabela’s and an authority on the Great Plains, subsists on a diet of duck breast and venison. States covered: ND, SD, NE and KS.

Earlier this season, Rut Reporter Scott Bestul moved West with a report on the Great Plains region, so I thought I’d return the favor with some rut-related news from Illinois, where I’m hunting this week at Richardson Farms.

The main story here in the heartland has been the weather, with Mother Nature making things tough for hunters. While the rain and high winds have made things miserable for us, it hasn’t done much to dampen deer activity. In the past few days, I’ve caught quick glimpses of bucks chasing does and have had at least three different bucks cruise by my stand, grunting their way through the woods in search of a hot doe. Mossy Oak Pro Staffer Bucky Hauser watched a big 12-pointer try to breed a doe three different times yesterday evening, though she wouldn’t stand long enough to let it happen.
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by Scott Bestul

If you didn’t cash in that get-out-of-work pass on Friday, do it today—or extend it to give yourself a four-day weekend to fill your tag with a tank whitetail.

The chase phase is a period of frenetic activity for whitetail bucks, and today will be especially busy. Local bucks will be in a lather from the first does that have entered estrus. They have smelled the scent of a hot female in the air and might have pursued or even fought for her. Those on the losing end of such a skirmish are not content to skulk about. Instead, they turn into heat-seeking missiles, intent on finding the next doe with an open dance card.
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