2005 Whitetail Deer Rut Predictions

I have mentioned Charles Alsheimer's lunar rut predictions before. I was curious what he would predict for this year, having read his book Hunting Whitetails by the Moon and his Deer and Deer Hunting magazine articles.

In Hunting Whitetails by the Moon, Charlie calls 2005 an "oddball" year. He states, "In 2005, the pre-rut moon will occur Sept. 19, four days after the autumnal equinox. That means that in 2005, the rutting moon will occur Oct. 17." He goes on to say, "Currently, we don't have adequate data on years when this occurs, because we didn't start getting good data until 1995."

But he makes a prediction nonetheless, saying "...I believe the rutting/breeding activity associated with the pre-rut moon will follow the pattern we've seen to date." Then he adds this disclaimer, "However, there is a possibility, especially in 2005, that everything could be thrown back one month, causing the chase phase and breeding window to occur in mid- to late November and carry over into early December, similar to the way it did in 1997."

To summarize, the book predicts the chase phase of the rut will start around October 14, or possibly a month later (about November 15).

Interestingly, however, Charlie changes his prediction in the October 2005 issue of Deer and Deer Hunting magazine. In the article 2005 Lunar Rut Predictions, he predicts a mid-November rut. He states that the rut will be similar to 1997. He must have changed his mind after writing the book. The article states, "Consequently, this year's rut should be very similar to those we experienced in 1997 and 2002." I am guessing that it was the year 2002 that changed his mind. His book was written in 1999. The rut timing from year 2002 gave him more data. So he now believes that we will have a mid-November rut in 2005.

Interestingly, in 1997, Charlie wrote an article in Deer and Deer Hunting called "2002 Lunar Forecast: The Worst Rut Ever?" He predicted a "trickle" rut that would not bode well for hunters. In his 2003 lunar predictions, he stated "The bottom line to 2002 was that hunters were scratching their heads last November, trying to figure what was going on. In a nutshell the 2002 rut was far less intense than other years and as 'on again, off again,' as anyone could ever remember." He goes on to say, "The good news is that you will not see a repeat of 2002 until 2005."

So I am left to surmise his opinion to be: we will have a classic mid-November rut, though with less intensity and possibly stretched out with periods of rutting activity interspersed with periods of inactivity.

Whether he is correct or not, Charles Alsheimer is a blessing to this sport. I have the utmost respect for the man, and I encourage you to visit his website http://www.charlesalsheimer.com and buy his books. His deer photography is second to none.

Whitetail Deer Hunting: The Two Critical Pieces of Information

Hunting whitetails is never a sure thing. But success is not random, either. Hunters make their own luck. There are two essential pieces of information required to be consistently successful: location of deer bedding areas and location of active food sources. This is true no matter where you hunt whitetails. Never get distracted by deer sign until you know these two basic facts.

It is important not to assume that the deer are feeding in a specific place, like a small corn field or an apple tree in the middle of the woods. It may look good to you, but it may not be attractive to deer, for whatever reason. Scouting is key. Look for sign at the food source. Abundant sign, not just a few tracks. Keep looking until you find where the deer are feeding. Use aerial photos to help in larger areas. But identify active food sources. Get out and look for deer coming out to feed in the evenings. Place scouting cameras if you have to. Do whatever is necessary to find where the deer are feeding. It is critical to consistent success.

It is also imperative to know where the deer are bedding. Identify bedding areas. Look for overgrown fields, thickets, overgrown tree lines separating fields, etc. Then go look for deer sign. Jump deer at midday if you have to. Better to do this before hunting season, but do it during hunting season if you have to. Figure out where the deer sleep.

When scouting a new area, don't get distracted by scrapes, rubs, and tracks in the woods until you know the two basic facts. Only then should you consider the other deer sign and what it means. Remember that rubs and scrapes are territorial markings, nothing more and nothing less. Yes, bucks do return to them sometimes, but simply hunting over scrapes or rubs can be a total waste of time. Find the food and the beds first. Then look for other deer sign.

When you have these two pieces of information, you seriously tip the hunting odds in your favor. Now you can look for trails from food to bed, bedding areas to other bedding areas, funnels, etc. You can hunt closer to food in the evening, and closer to bedding areas in the morning. Pretty soon you will know exactly where to hunt for consistent success.

Deer Hunting Gear - Hunting knife / Field Dressing

Let's talk about hunting knives. A sure sign of a novice hunter is a dull knife or, worse yet, no knife. Get a knife and keep it sharp. I carry two knives and a small sharpener in my pack.

For hunting you will need a fixed-blade knife or a folding knife. Either will do the job, but a folding knife has an immediate advantage: after it is used, it can be folded up and placed in a plastic bag for later cleaning. Then the bag can be placed back in your hunting pack without risk of getting everything else all dirty. A fixed blade knife is typically carried in a leather scabbard, and I personally don't relish the idea of putting a dirty knife back in the scabbard. Of course, this could be avoided by carrying the supplies necessary to clean the knife in the field. But, to me, that seems like more pain than it is worth. I just carry a folding knife.

I carry a homemade field dressing kit. It contains the following items, placed inside a ziploc bag:
1. rubber gloves
2. folder paper towels (at least 2)
3. small bottle of hand cleaner (like Purell)
4. another ziploc bag

I field dress the deer with my folding knife while wearing the rubber gloves. Then I remove the rubber gloves, turning them inside out. I clean my hands with the hand cleaner and the paper towels. (I also use the paper towels to clean any blood off the deer that would interfere with taking a decent picture.) I place the used gloves, hand cleaner, folded knife, and dirty paper towels back in one of the ziploc bags. I use the other ziploc bag to hold the heart and/or liver.
I can throw the bags in my pack, and everything in my pack stays nice and clean.

I carry two knives, and often end up using them both. Usually one gets soiled while cutting the anus, so I switch knives to avoid contamination. Also, I have a field saw that I use for cutting branches and sometimes I use it to saw through the pelvic bone and/or sternum. The only thing is that it tends to create some very sharp bone fragments, which can easily cut your hands. So I only use it if I have to (like on a really big buck).

When I get home I clean my knives in the sink with hot water and dish soap. If the knife is really dirty I use a steel wool pad. I clean the knife completely. Then I rinse it off. Then I take it outside and spray it down completely with WD-40. (the WD stands for water displacer) Then I dry it with a paper towel. Then I sharpen it razor sharp and put it back in my pack. I know some might say "You clean your knife with steel wool? Doesn't that scratch the finish?". Of course it scratches the finish. But its a hunting knife, not a tiara. I only care if it is clean and sharp, not shiny.

Whitetail Deer Hunting: Stand Hunting in a Travel Corridor

These are a couple of mid-November views from one tree stand I have in place in a travel corridor. In the above-left picture, I am facing south toward a small bedding area. To the left about 50 yards is a crop field, typically plowed-under by mid-November. Behind me is more bedding and a couple of secluded crop fields, cut but not plowed under.

The reason that this is a hot spot is that it connects two bedding areas, plus it serves as a staging area for deer waiting to feed or returning to bed from feeding. Bucks cruise this area during the rut. They are typically looking for hot does in the bedding areas, as the small buck in the upper-right picture is doing. Some years there is a nice rub line connecting the bedding areas, and some years there hardly any buck sign at all. But regardless, it is always a hot area during the seeking phase of the rut. At that time of year, I rarely go an hour without seeing deer from this stand. That being said, it's not the luckiest stand for me; I have missed deer and hit some poorly from this stand.

To give an you an idea of the kind of action I have experienced from this stand, one November morning in 2001 a mature 8 pointer came in from the south first thing in the morning. I shot him and he ran off. Five minutes later a huge twelve pointer came in from the north. Both were doing the same thing, cruising from one bedding area to the next looking for does.

A side note: this stand is a sturdy, comfortable, metal ladder stand. I have read that deer spot and avoid ladder stands because they are too conspicuous. I disagree. This stand is hard to spot. I have a difficult time spotting it, and I know where it is. Also, I don't fidget in it like I would in a smaller hang-on stand. I sit or stand still, keeping as close to the tree as possible. Deer don't notice me unless I move around too much or make noise.

Whitetail Deer: Attractant Scents

Here is some advice about the use of attractant scents for whitetail hunting, based upon field experience. The first and most important advice I could give would be: if you are not sure whether it is the right time to use scent or what type of scent to use and where, don't use any. Ninety percent of the time, no scent is the best scent. If you use scent at the wrong time, it will spook deer. I have watched it happen.

Personally, the only attractant scent I use is estrous doe urine, and I only use it during the rut. (especially the seeking and chasing phases) Also, if the deer are likely to be spooked from hunting pressure (such as opening day of gun season), I forgo the scent. I only use it if the deer are unpressured, such as the bow season in the first week in November on private land. Pressured deer don't need any additional reasons to be concerned, and using scent will give them one.

Also, always remember that deer investigate odors from downwind. In fact, contrary to magazine pictures, the bucks I have seen come in to a scent lure hang up about 20 to 30 yards downwind and approach no closer. So I keep my scent lures about 40 yards upwind of my location. That gives me a likely 10 to 20 yard quartering away shot. That is the only reason I use this scent; it helps me position deer for better shots.

I have read that the phermones in the estrous doe urine break down, and that the urine needs to be fresh. I would think that it is important to keep the phermones intact. I am certain they are key to attracting bucks. If you use estrous doe urine, it probably is smart to get some fresh stuff every year. But I have used urine over 2 years old and had bucks approach. I have used many different brands, and never noticed much difference. I can't imagine that the brands that advertise "bottled from a single doe" are any more effective than ones from multiple does. As long as it has the smell of a hot doe (phermones are the key), I am certain the bucks will like it.

The Rut

I need to say a few things about the rut, that magical time when does come into heat. It is important to understand that there are phases to the rut. Shortening days cause bucks' testosterone levels to rise. The first effect of this is that they wander, looking for any doe that might be in heat and marking their territory with scrapes and rubs. This is called the seeking phase. Then, as does start to come into heat but are not quite ready to breed, bucks chase the does around. This is the chasing phase. Then actual breeding occurs. The time of actual breeding is typically referred to as the "peak of the rut". When actual breeding is occurring, though, the action in the woods slows down dramatically. That is because the bucks and does are off in the thick stuff typically.

Keep in mind that, during any of these phases, the does will still hit food sources, sometimes with a buck on their trail. But, generally, the breeding phase, i.e. "peak of the rut", is the worst part of the rut to hunt. The seeking and chasing periods are when the best action occurs. In fact, I think that the term "peak of the rut" should refer to the seeking and chasing phases. Because that is the peak hunting time. In fact, in my posts when I say things like "the rut was in full swing", I am always referring to seeking and chasing.

But that is not the way the term is commonly used. So, if you want to try to time your hunting so as to get the best action, don't make the reported "peak of the rut" your first choice. Instead, look to be in the woods a week or two before that. Of course, depending on your weapon of choice, that may not be possible. Any phase of the rut offers better potential for bagging a mature buck than non-rut hunting time.

Charles Alsheimer has some interesting theories on the moon and timing of the rut. His book Hunting Whitetails by the Moon is good reading. You can order it online through his web site:
http://www.charlesalsheimer.com/ca/default.htm His predictions have been right on the money where I hunt for the last few years.

2004 Recollections

I didn't have much time to hunt in Fall of 2004. I had a project at work that kept me getting any days off until December. Michigan bow season starts October 1, Michigan regular gun season runs November 15- 30, and muzzleloader season started December 11. I figured I would hunt mostly with a muzzleloader.

I managed to get out with a bow one Saturday afternoon in early October. I sat where I could observe any deer leaving a preferred bedding area and entering an adjacent soybean field. I was in a spot in the woods where it was possible I would get a shot at something, but not really likely. I was more interested in seeing what kind of bucks were around without spooking them, so I didn't try to get too close.

A bunch of bald deer entered the field from a few different directions and were feeding by about an hour and a half of sunset. At about an hour before dark, I looked up and a decent buck was standing on the edge of the bedding area looking around before entering the beans. He was about 75 yards from me. I checked him out with my binoculars and noticed a couple of things: his rack was about as wide as his ears and his tines seemed to lean forward toward his face rather than shooting straight up from his main beams. Then he turned and I got a good look at the right hand side of his rack. His G3 and the end of his main beam looked like a crab claw, and his G2 had a serious lean to it. He looked to have pretty good mass. I liked the looks of him, and I was hoping I would get a shot at him.

But not that night. He fed out into the beans until dark. I tried my best not to spook the deer when I left the woods, but I still spooked them mildly.

I didn't get to bow hunt again until the first week in November. The rut was on. Specifically, bucks were seeking does. I decided to hunt a Saturday morning. I got into the woods about an hour and a half before first light. I dragged a scent pad soaked in estrous deer urine behind me, applying more urine every 50 yards or so. I wanted to be sure that a buck wouldn't follow the trail in the wrong direction. I circled my stand at about 20 yards and then hung the scent pad in a tree about 40 yards upwind of my ladder stand. Funny, but it makes me nervous dragging a scent trail in the dark. I am afraid a buck will follow the trail while I am making it and run up on me in the dark. I guess the idea of anything running up on me in the dark makes me nervous.

It soon got light and a smallish 4 point buck followed the scent trail and then continued on his way. A little while later an immature 6 point came in from directly downwind of my tree stand. He was not following the scent trail, but he was picking up on the scent pad hanging in the tree, which was blowing scent in his direction. He was extremely curious and nervous at the same time. It seemed like he was smelling the doe urine and me both. He was taking a step about every minute or so, several times turning around as if to leave, then smelling the doe urine again and coming back. Eventually he got directly beneath me. He actually licked one of the steps of my ladder stand. It was at that point that I decided to shoot at him if he gave me a good shot angle. Eventually he was about 20 yards distant, quartering away. I drew, put my pin on him, and slapped my release trigger. My shot was lousy, but I managed to sever a major artery anyway. He went about 45 yards, stopped, looked back, and then fell over dead in plain view. I had managed to fill one of my 2 buck tags. (side note: in Michigan, if you shoot 2 bucks, one of them must have at lease 4 points on one side) Looking back, I regret shooting that buck. He was young, and would have been a really nice buck given another year or two. But, at the time I didn't expect to get much hunting time in, and I didn't know if I would get any more decent shot opportunies. I forgot my camera, and so I didn't get any pictures of him either. But I do have his rack. I will take a picture of it and post it later on.

As fate would have it, about 30 minutes after I shot that buck, another buck followed my scent trail directly through my shooting lanes. He was also a 6 pointer, but mature with long main beams. A really pretty buck. But I needed 4 points on a side to be legal with my second tag, so he got to walk. Maybe I will see him again in 2005.

I didnt' get to hunt the gun opener (Nov. 15) due to work, but I did manage to get out on the weekend thereafter. I saw a bunch of does, but no bucks. I tried several different spots, saw lots of does and no bucks. It looked like the combination of the rut winding down and hunting pressure had made the bucks nocturnal. I thought maybe muzzleloader hunting in December would be more fruitful. By that time, I hoped the bucks would have calmed down and would start feeding again with some daylight left.

So I hunted December 11 with a muzzleloader in the same tree stand I shot the 6 point from with a bow. Hunted the morning and didn't see much. I went in about noon and ate lunch. I was back in the woods about 3:30. At about 5:00 a bunch of deer (6 or so) came in directly downwind of me. They were heading toward an inside corner of a cut bean field. I noticed a decent buck in the rear. I was seated in the stand and there was a tree branch partially obscuring my view of his rack. It looked a little unbalanced, but had decent mass. I wasn't sure he had 4 points on one side. He was really close (about 15 yards away), but I needed to move to see past that tree branch. I decided to stand up. I waited until I didn't think any of the deer were looking and I stood up. I didn't notice a deer that was directly beneath me. It must have come in from behind me to meet up with the others. It spooked when I stood. (heard me, saw me, or both) A couple of seconds later and the other does started to run. They didn't know what was happening, but they started to run anyway. The buck looked confused. He didn't want to run without knowing what was going on. He was looking for the cause of the alarm. He turned and looked behind himself, which presented me with a beautiful quartering away shot. He was looking completely away from me also. I decided that he had at least 4 points on one side, put my crosshairs on his lungs, and fired. He bolted about 45 yards, stumbled, and then fell for good. He piled up no more than 10 yards from where the 6 pointer had fallen earlier in the year.

When I got down and checked him out, to my surprise I recognized him. I hadn't been able to tell from my tree stand, but he was the same buck I had seen in early October. Only he had broken his left main beam. That is why his rack looked so funny from above. He had 4 points plus a kicker on his pedicle on the right side, and 2 points plus a broken main beam on the left. He was a great looking buck, and the rack had character. I was very pleased. I don't care about the broken main beam. Good for him for not backing down from a fight. To me, the challenge and reward is tagging a mature buck. A magnificent rack is neat, but not critical.

So, in spite of limited hunting time in 2004, I managed to tag 2 bucks.

Past Deer Encounters

This is an 8 point I shot in 2003. He was shot with a shotgun at 10:30 AM on November 15. November 15 is the gun opener in Michigan.

He was dogging a doe. I saw him early, at about 8 AM. But he was about 60 yards away, moving in some pretty thick stuff. He was dogging the doe then too. He was followed by a band of subordinate bucks. They stayed back about 40 yards from him. I had good shot opportunities at 3 of them between 8 and 10:30. But I thought if I sat tight, he might run the doe past me. And that is what he did. He ran past at about 30 yards, following the doe. I was using a Browning Gold Deer Hunter with a fixed 4X Nikon scope. I had a hard time getting on him, partly because he was so close and partly because he was moving. I was trying to get on his shoulder, but the crosshairs seemed to want to float about on his neck. I shot at the lower 3rd of the neck. The shot is evident in the picture. I wasn't sure if the shot was lethal (I have had bad luck with neck shots before), so I shot again. I tried to get on the shoulder, but he was moving quickly. My crosshairs were aligned with the shoulder, but just above the line of his back when I slapped the trigger. I knew I had shot over him. Ironically, the 2nd shot confused him. He wasn't sure where the shots were coming from. He looped around and stopped about 30 yards from me. This shotgun holds 5 shells, but I only had 2 in the gun (my first mistake). I was out of shells, and he was standing right there by me. I grabbed my pack, looking hard for more shells. As I was fumbling with that, he took off and I didn't see where he went. (my second mistake) Dismayed, I looked for blood. I knew he was hit by the first shot. I couldn't find any blood. Finally, I walked through the woods in the direction I guessed he would have run. I went about 80 yards and spotted him on the ground. The neck shot finally got the best of him.

This story highlights a big advantage of using a semi-auto shotgun vs. a pump for deer. After a shot, often the deer are confused as the direction of the shot and hesitate before running. This allows time for a second shot. With a pump, though, the noise from the pumping action lets them know right where you are. With a semi-auto, they stay confused longer and it is much easier to get another shot off. (Assuming you brought enough shells). You may be wondering why I only had 2 shells. I bought a box of 5. But I rechecked my scope and made an adjustment. In that process I used 3. That left me 2. I guess I figured that was twice as many as I would need.

Another point I would like to make is that neck shots are really iffy. There is a lot of room to miss the spine, carotid artery, and esophagus. Always take a lung or shoulder shot as first choice. If a deer is standing still and the lungs and shoulder are blocked by a tree but the neck is not, wait for the deer to step forward and shoot at the lungs. Patience is a virtue in deer hunting.

My First Blog

Well folks, this is my first blog ever. Thought I would dedicate this blog to whitetail deer hunting, something I like to obsess about.

I am a southern Michigan resident, though I have also lived and hunted deer in Ohio and North Carolina. Bow hunting season here in Michigan starts October 1. I have access to some prime hunting farmland (private land). I also hunt public land at times, to mix things up and to try to outsmart some highly pressured deer. The private land that I hunt is about 300 acres in Hillsdale county, in basically 3 different parcels. 80, 80, and 120 acres. It is all good hunting.

The 120 acre parcel consists of a home site, about 40 acres of woods, about 5 acres of overgrown pasture, and about 60 or so acres of crops (corn/soybeans). The pasture is really overgrown, with tall grasses, shrubs, and small trees. It is a beautiful bedding area for deer. I typically do not enter it. I leave it as a sanctuary, though I hunt the edges of it hard. I have a couple of sturdy metal ladder stands in the woods on this parcel, one near where the woods meets the above-mentioned bedding area, and the other in a travel corridor in the woods. Both stands are consistent producers, especially during the rut.

I have been working hard creating some ground blinds, with the intent of having a few more spots to bow hunt from, so as to avoid using my best spots until the rut.