Reprinted from a Nov 2, 2008 column in the Morgantown Dominion Post
November is just a great time to be a deer hunter. Buck sign is everywhere. New tree rubs are evident. Scrapes are getting hit on a regular basis, and buck sightings are also on the rise.
You’ve done your home work and scouting. You’ve been watching some good bucks all summer and now is the time when all that work will pay off. Or will it? The question is, what is the best location to hunt in November? Should I set up where all that buck sign is occurring? Maybe, but remember, most of those rubs and scrapes are made after dark. You need to set up where bucks are found during the day, and finding that location isn’t easy. It isn’t a problem if you are hunting yearling bucks, for they will be found most anywhere. Heck, they aren’t even old enough to know they are bucks yet. But those older bucks are a bit more difficult
So, where do you go? My suggestion is that once you’ve found fresh rubs and scrapes, look for the thickest cover nearby, the bedding area. Check the wind, and quietly set a stand right inside that thick cover in such a position that you intercept the buck as he leaves cover in late afternoon. Remember that you will be putting up that stand during the day, and that buck is bedded close by. Thus, you must be extremely quiet when you put in the stand. Quickly and quietly in and out. Then hunt that stand in the late afternoons. Don’t bother in the mornings as he is probably bedded before daylight.
As you move into the second week of November, the rut is on, and you need to hunt where the does are found.. Find the does and you will find the bucks. But it may not be quite that easy. For example, we now know that during the rut, 58 percent of big bucks leave their home range and go on "buck excursions" (see chapter 9 in my new deer book, "Advantage Whitetails" at www.knowhunting.com). These are purposeful movements, where bucks move up to two miles from their home range. They leave and they may stay as long as three days, before they return.
These big bucks are cruising, looking for hot does. The good news is that during the period of November 5-25, 73 percent of those movements are made during the day. They are thinking more about mating than eating, and they will up and leave their home range to do it. So, how do you hunt such bucks? My suggestion is to get some aerial photos of your hunting area and find the habitat funnels. Funnels located where the does bed would be great, or funnels where long thin strips of mature trees or thick cover connect one major forest to another. Be there, and be there all day. Since the big bucks make their excursions during the day, you need to plan on being on stand all day long.
Another great set up area is along a ridge, where bucks can cruise looking for does in the surrounding ravines. One great spot comes to my mind. There is a small ridge located around seventy yards above and parallel to a large stream. Deer can wade or swim the stream, but it is a bit of a barrier. But during the rut, big bucks will cruise that ridge, looking down into the stream bottom and even across it into open fields. That ridge is a great place to sit, as bucks cruise looking for does. I wouldn’t hunt this ridge at any other time of the year, but once the chasing starts, it is a great location.
Around the middle of November, the bucks have found a hot doe and they will stay with her for 2-3 days before mating. This is a tough time to take a buck simply because the bucks are on hot does.
Once the rifle season starts, bucks can be found chasing does again. Hunters will be moving deer around, making bucks susceptible to being shot. Lots of disturbance will move bucks, especially the little guys. The big boys will find that thick cover and hole up a bit more. But even so, it is the rut and they are interested in does.
Of course, most of the does are already bred, so some bucks have to move a lot as they search for does. But, there is a ton of variation in buck movements. Some mature bucks move a lot, while other move very little. In my new deer book I give some data collected by Dr. Randy Hellickson in Texas. Randy found lots of variation in buck activity. Note, the average buck is only active 43 percent of the time, but Dr. Hellickson found one 6 1/2-year-old buck that was active 87 percent of the time. However, he also found an 8 1/2-year-old buck that was only active 18 percent of the time.
Then there is the individual variation relative to buck mating. A few older bucks do not participate in the rut at all. Who knows what that is all about, but it is just part of the puzzle, the mystery of deer hunting, that keeps us out there year after year.
