Rubs, Scrapes, and God’s Grace
Photos provided by Evan Gersper Created Outdoors Staff
It’s that time of year, the mornings are brisk, and the leaves are colorful. Each sunrise is truly a blessing and a perfect scene of beauty provided by God. Psalm 113:3 states “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.”.
With the weather changing and the days becoming shorter, this is the time to be in the deer woods if can make into the stand or blind. Bucks are making rubs and scrapes, so key in on these locations. They will be semi easy to pattern in the pre-rut. Hunting the rub lines and the scrapes can pay off. Rattling can be effective this time of year. Adding in some grunts while smacking the antlers together will add some realism to the sequence.
Grunt calls are key this time of year. Bucks are much more vocal as the are out taking inventory of the does in their core areas. They will be out cruising more in the cooler temperatures. Eating acorns, and grazing as the move is a must for these boys as they are trying to build body fat to sustain them through the rut. You will see a significant change in the neck size of your bucks in just a week due to this new feeding habit.
Using doe and fawn grunts can also be effective on both does and bucks. Mature does will be a little more vocal, as they are getting ready for the rut. Most of the does will not quite be receptive to the bucks, however, some bucks may be out scent checking for the first doe’s coming into heat. As a doe gets closer to going into heat, she will push her fawns off. This allows the fawns to continue to concentrate on feeding, and growing; while the doe is busy getting bred.
While we are seeing more deer dead on the road sides, we are also seeing the deer harvest numbers increase. Some younger bucks are starting to chase, while the mature bucks are starting to cruise. The testosterone levels are increasing in the bucks, making them more vulnerable. Carelessly crossing roads is a biproduct of the rut brain. We can use this rut brain to our favor and start using tactics that we may not use otherwise. If you have always wanted to try to decoy a deer, now is the time. We like to have the buck decoy slightly quartering to us, this will cause the buck to approach quartering away or broadside. Doe decoys will be set quartering away or facing dead away, as the buck will approach from the rear of the decoy to scent check it.
As we expect the pre-rut and rut to be action packed. It just isn’t always the case. While you may not be seeing any deer, your buddy 100 yards away may be covered up in deer. Be patient, when that switch flips, it makes it all worth it. We at Created Outdoors know that it can be frustrating and drains the enthusiasm hard. Use this down time to pray, connect with God. Have faith and thank him for the blessings that we have been blessed with thus far. 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”. Until next time, hunt hard, and pray harder.
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Written by,
Evan Gersper Created Outdoors Staff