
Prime Time Trophies
Late season hunting can be
productive,
if you understand the rules of the game
by Russell Tinsley
The deer season is winding down, and while
some hunters are apprehensive about their chances of seeing, much
less shooting a decent buck, those familiar with the ways of the
white-tailed deer aren't getting antsy yet. There is plenty of time.
In fact, late-season is a prime period for bushwhacking a
show-and-tell buck, particularly in South Texas where there is
rutting activity and even an old veteran can be seduced by a female
with big brown eyes. Catch him in a mistake and he can be yours.
But, if you make the mistake, the memory can be bittersweet. Even a
mature buck on the trail of a doe has remarkable survival instincts.
He's been through this before. The rut is misunderstood by many
hunters. They expect to see bucks chasing does everywhere in South
Texas this time of year, the ritual bringing deer out of hiding where
they will be roaming around in the daytime. Unfortunately, it is not
quite this simple. If there is a high density of deer and there is a
lopsided doe:buck ratio, the bucks won't have to move around much to
satisfy the mating urge. A hunter has to be hunting in a place where
a buck lives, in the deer's range, if he hopes to get a shot at the
animal, whether the strategy is horn-rattling or ambush hunting from
a stand.
Bucks are likely to make mistakes prior to and after the rut. Before
the main event, the bucks are physiologically able to breed before
the does are. A buck is ready to go before the rut, but he doesn't
have a willing partner. After the rut, his hormones are still
pumping. Either time, pre-rut or post-rut, he is not as wary as he
normally is. But during the rut, he is preoccupied and he won't be
traveling about in the daylight unless he goes where the doe goes.
And, and he won't stray far from his territory.
If you've picked the right place to hunt, however, you might see the
buck and get a shot. You don't hunt a buck per se; you hunt a spot to
shoot a deer. You need to scout and find places with deer activity
such as rubs and scrapes along or not far from established trails. If
need be, put a portable tripod stand where you can watch such a spot
(older bucks learn to avoid most kinds of established stands,
research has shown). Then spend a lot of time in that stand waiting
and watching.
While bucks rub their antlers to rid them of velvet after they have
hardened, they also use the rubs as "signposts" to establish their
territories. A dominant buck is telling other bucks to keep out, but
he'd better be ready to protect that piece of ground with brute force
because he is going to be challenged. While most of the rubs are made
in early-fall, the buck will continue to add rubs right up to the
rut, as a reminder of his presence. And yes, you can get some idea of
a buck's size by the size of his rubs. The larger the sapling and the
higher up the rub is, the larger the buck. A quality buck will make
rubs on trees 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Juvenile bucks rub
finger-sized saplings.
The same is true with scrapes, which are typically established along
the brushy edge of clearings and washes. According to noted hunter
Bob Ramsey of Real County, a scrape always will be situated in a
place where a buck has overhanging branches he can reach to nibble.
The bigger the scrape, the larger the buck. A mature buck will paw
out a depression 15 to 18 inches across. The buck will urinate in the
scrape and check it regularly, waiting for a doe in estrus to come
along and also urinate in the scrape, telling the buck she is ready.
The buck puts his nose to the ground and takes after her, and if you
are hunting the area, hunting the fresh scrape, you might get a shot
at him. This is a good place to hide and watch. But, Ramsey said, a
buck doesn't always check his scrape every day. It depends on how far
he has roamed from his home area. "He might also check it at night,"
Ramsey added. "Also, more than one buck might check it for activity.
I've had as many as 9 bucks of bucks of varying sizes come along and
check a single scrape in a day's time."
During the rut, a buck might make an appearance at any time of day.
Dr. Steve Damarais said the rut disrupts a buck's activity pattern
and he stays active all day long. This is why late-season is prime
time.
Damarais, a Texas Tech
researcher, and South Texas biologist Bob Zaiglin, who contributes
regularly to this magazine, conducted a 4-year study of whitetail
deer behavior in the brush country. They found, among other things,
that with the arrival of a norther, deer become more active and
movement was significantly greater than before the weather change.
"We have long known this," Damarais said. "But what we found in the
study was, the day after a front is just as good for hunting as the
day the front arrived."
The study also found that deer movements are influenced by the moon
phase. All ruminants (cud chewers) get up with moon and go to bed
with the moon. But it also revealed that old South Texas bucks are
individuals, each with his own habits and behavior, doing things his
own way, not always going along with the crowd, which makes him such
an elusive and challenging target. As a generalization, though,
Damarais said deer activity typically is centered around a 24-hour
clock with two peaks of activity, one around sunrise, the other
around sunset, or what researchers call the crepuscular. When there
was one-quarter to three-quarters moon, buck activity most closely
matched this crepuscular pattern. The greatest variations came when
comparing the full moon phase with the less than one-quarter moon or
moonless phase. During the moonless phase, movements took place
throughout the daylight hours. On the other hand, with a full moon,
movements were intensified during the crepuscular pattern, and the
movements were maintained through the night. "Thus, your best bet is
during the dark of the moon, the moonless phase." Damarais said,
adding that movements can vary greatly with different South Texas
trophy bucks. Each season, some of the bigger bucks are shot around
midday.
To succeed, however, you have to be disciplined to spend long hours
in a stand. Simply being patient isn't enough. You have to remain
alert and observant. A buck can walk in and out of the picture in the
blink of an eye, especially in the thick South Texas thornbrush. No
matter how and where you hunt, though, wind is a critical factor -
the most critical, actually. Human odor is a danger signal even a
love-struck buck doesn't ignore. You can carry a portable stand into
the area you choose to hunt, tuck it among the mesquites, and wear
camouflage, but concealment is wasted effort unless you manage the
wind to avoid carrying human scent into the area you are
watching.
There is something else about wind, too. When a norther first hits,
tree branches and brush are waving and rattling. This compromises a
buck's defense, which is sight-and sound oriented. Deer movement
increases when there is little or no breeze. Well-known hunter Murry
Burnham said a prime time to hunt is right after a norther, when
there is a lull before the prevailing winds turn back to the
southeast. Also, if moisture-laden clouds roll over the cold air,
this often results in a misty condition, which deer like. "Even
rutting bucks are more predictable in their behavior when there is
little or no wind," Murry said. "If at all possible, follow a norther
south and be in the woods when the breeze turns around. That's when
you are likely to see that buck of your dreams."
⌐ Texas Fish & Game Publishing Co., L.L.C. All rights reserved.
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