By Will Brantley

Rut Reporter Will Brantley of Murray, Kentucky, knows the region well. He spends 40 to 50 days each season in the Mid-South whitetail woods. Brantley shot his first deer at age 10 with a sidelock muzzleloader. States covered: KY, TN, WV, VA, NC.

Oct. 26: It was a cool, still morning in late October. I was 16 or 17, and still hunting with a bow on a neighbor's farm. I eased toward the crest of small white oak hillside and stopped to listen—the sound I heard just the other side of the rise was slow, steady grinding. The thought of it being a deer was actually far from my mind—so, naïve, eager kid that I was, I stepped over the rise. A beautiful 8-pointer stood 20 yards away, thrashing a sapling with his antlers. The flexing tree and blur of tines captured my attention just long enough to distract me from what would've been an easy bow shot. The buck picked me out, threw his tail up and bounded away.

Really, I shared that story not to lament on letting that buck get away, but to comment on the tree he was rubbing. It was a small tree of some sort (I can‚t remember what and had I seen the rub alone after the fact, I would have likely assumed it was from a smaller buck, based on the tree's diameter. I would've been wrong.

Since then, I've made it a point not to discount many rubs that I find when scouting. Sure, I get most excited about heavy rubs on fence-post-sized trunks—but I pay close attention to rubs on smaller trees, too. I like to examine such a rub carefully, well up the tree's trunk. Long tines will usually leave nicks and gouges on the tree's trunk several feet off the ground. Basket racks won't.

[ Read Full Post ]

By Eric Bruce

Rut Reporter Eric Bruce has been writing about hunting and fishing for newspapers and magazines for 25 years and hunts deer all over the South, including near his Georgia home. States covered: AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, SC, FL.

Oct. 26: The southern woods are going through a major transition now and it's evident everywhere you look. The cooler temperatures and the explosion of colorful leaves evidence that its autumn everywhere. But the most important transition for deer hunters are what the bucks are doing right now.

Whitetails have been mainly feeding on acorns and many of them still are. However the bucks are turning their focus from eating to breeding. Case in point: a hunting buddy was situated over a large bean field at dusk a few days ago. He spotted a buck some distance away and it was feeding on the beans. Does started to come out into the field here and there and began to feed also.
[ Read Full Post ]

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.

Sometimes the weather gurus just nail it, and this week they scored big. The predicted high winds are strafing the area as I write this, with gusts that literally rattle the windows and siding on my country home. I don’t know the exact speeds being reached, but they’re speedy enough to hamper air travel and make even driving dangerous.

Then there is this other gauge: It is the last week of October, and I am not heading for a treestand this afternoon. It must be bad!
[ Read Full Post ]

By Will Brantley

Rut Reporter Will Brantley of Murray, Kentucky, knows the region well. He spends 40 to 50 days each season in the Mid-South whitetail woods. Brantley shot his first deer at age 10 with a sidelock muzzleloader. States covered: KY, TN, WV, VA, NC.

Oct. 25: The weather roller coaster of fall 2010 continued this weekend in Kentucky. It was warm and windy with a big full moon, so I took a break from the deer stand to do some fall turkey hunting and deer scouting.

[ Read Full Post ]

By Will Brantley

Rut Reporter Will Brantley of Murray, Kentucky, knows the region well. He spends 40 to 50 days each season in the Mid-South whitetail woods. Brantley shot his first deer at age 10 with a sidelock muzzleloader. States covered: KY, TN, WV, VA, NC

Oct. 22—Overall Activity Status: I’ve been out of town (and more importantly, the woods) for nearly a week, but last weekend (Oct. 16-17), deer activity was steady, especially in the morning. Acorns are the key food source in much of the Mid-South right now.

Fighting: Activity should be reaching a fevered pitch at this latitude in the coming days. Late October has always been my most productive time to rattle.

Rub making: Moderate to heavy.

Scrape making: Moderate to heavy.

Chasing: Little to speak of thus far.

Daytime movement: Although daytime movement was good last weekend (I shot a doe at 3:30 Friday afternoon), buddies tell me that it’s slowed significantly this week. The upcoming full moon may partially be to blame.

Estrous signs: Sightings of lone fawns are on the rise; other signs are few thus far.

X Factor: I expect... [ Read Full Post ]

By Will Brantley

Rut Reporter Will Brantley of Murray, Kentucky, knows the region well. He spends 40 to 50 days each season in the Mid-South whitetail woods. Brantley shot his first deer at age 10 with a sidelock muzzleloader. States covered: KY, TN, WV, VA, NC.

Oct. 22: Although scattered rubs and scrapes always appear in late September in this area, there are usually a memorable few days each year when things really seem to “pop,” and rubs and scrapes suddenly appear everywhere. Last weekend was a prime example in Kentucky.
[ Read Full Post ]