ORIGINAL: MOTOWNHONKEY
Have you ever noticed when a buck is following a doe that isn't ready? She walks five steps, he walks five steps. She will take him out into the open, across fields, places that you normally wouldn't expect to see a muture buck at. She is annoyed by his presence but he isnt going to leave until she lets him do the deed. I watched this behavior over the years and started to see patterns that repeted themselves. As we all know when the buck is following a doe like this he is at his most vulnerable state. Shes not running from him anymore because nature has told her its about time but she isn't comfrotable with him constantly trailing her. What I have noticed is that when she gets tired and needs to bed down as in a last ditch effort to shake him she will head to the very tip of a field edge, or a finger that goes out and jettys into a crop field. Much like the cover you would hunt for quail in. Have you ever walked to your stand down a fence row where the woods start to begin only to jump a buck laying with a doe? I started hanging stands in these type areas and low and behold I'm onto something. I only go to these stands whenI know bucks are on the does, because frankly it is a super boring spot to hunt. I'm telling you if you put yourself in a stratigic spot in that finger and play the wind, mid-day she will bring him to you. Four mature bucks have meet my broadheads using this setup. I have different early and late season tactics I use to place stands if your interested. When the bucks are following try this setup, you will see what I am talking about. chris
You can tell that MTH has spent a little time in the stands in the midwest. Sounds like our scenario here in IA too. You can see a buck walking out in the middle of section with no tree around trailing a doe or laying by a doe in a little piece of grass or weeds out in a section with no way to get upon them. This is why I have always liked the prerut instead of the peak of the rut. So many huntersonly hunt the peak of the rut and are missing out. The peak of the rut here in IA is around the 2nd week in November.The typical peak of therut buck tends to her and is laying out in some fence row with her or some patchy little grassy area in the middle of nowhere with no tree around and the deer activity and sightings go down in the timber. During this time of the year you are better off to go sit out in a ghuilly suit in a fencerow than in a treestand in the timber.I like to be in the woods around halloween time through the 1st week in Novemberwhen they are on the prowl looking for a receptive doe and working on establishing their scrapes and breeding territory. I hunt funnels at this time and ALWAYS have the wind in my favor as to how deer travel through the area. I do not set up necessarily near a scrape but usually there is a scrape near or in a funnel.You will hear find the does and you will find the bucks. This works to a certain degree but by hunting funnels during the prerut, you will see alot of deer and a lot of big bucks. It works in IA anyway. I also stay away from using any deer lures and deer urines. Simply keep your hunting clothing as odor free as possible, ALWAYS wear knee high rubber boots, and position your stand downwind 15-20 yds of the expected travel route of deer when they travel through the area.