RE: Who hunts where the does are....during the rut?
I think that this question is very dependent on deer ratios. I have witnessed this in the last five years in my hunting area. about three years ago the DNR decided to really get the deer #s down. Huge amounts of antlerless permits were issued for my county. Now the ratio is really approaching 1:1, definately under 1:2,I beleive in the direct vicinity of my hunting areas.
the impact this has had locally is remarkable.it used to be 'hunt the does' but now when the chase phase really kicks in (right around Nov 1), the does for the most part vanish. family groups that I have seen for the last month suddenly move elsewhere, or at least move very differently. You can even see the difference in how the does act, they are much more jittery and quite often take off at the mere sight of a buck, big or small. The ones that are not hot are hiding, so it suddenly becomes more important to hunt the funnel points to catch the bucks trying to find does. Hunting traditional doe areas may still work, but they are not the highestprobability areasanymore.