Western Hunting Journal, Premiere Issue whj001_premiere | Page 75

Hunting the Rut
With all that’s ever been said
about hunting blacktails, hunt-
ing during the rut is always the
one common theme when it
comes to killing a mature buck.
In fact, I can’t think of one nice
buck I’ve ever killed that wasn’t
a rutted-out mess. I’m con-
vinced that if weren’t for doe’s
coming into heat, every mature
blacktail buck would die of old
age. The rut usually takes place
the last week of most rifle deer
seasons, usually late October
through early November.
A doe in heat is the one
thing that makes a buck move
in the light of day. I can’t re-
member ever glassing or see-
ing a mature blacktail buck just
out feeding in the open unless a
doe was involved. The rut is the
one thing that trips up a black-
tail and for a very short period
it makes him forget about ev-
erything that’s kept him alive
all these years. They become
vulnerable and they make mis-
takes. That’s when you need
to be on constant watch. I’ve
seen some crazy things happen
during the rut.
This past hunting season I
spotted a nice mature 4-point
cruising through a cut, an old-
er unit with a perfect blend of
cover and open ground. He was
definitely a shooter. Like me, he
was on the hunt. Only he was
in pursuit of a doe. He carved
up the hillside like a bird dog
hot on a scent. He was too far
away for me to do anything so
I just sat there and enjoyed the
show. He zigged and zagged,
nose on the ground sometimes
retracing his own tracks. It was
making me tired just watching
him. Suddenly, like a mallard
coming out of the cattails,
up jumped a smaller 4-point.
The bigger buck went into full
attack mode and chased it
300 yards down the hill. Both
bucks vanished into the thick
timbered bottom. Minutes lat-
er, thinking the show was over,
the bigger buck raced back up
the hill in pursuit of a doe. This
was like a car wreck; I couldn’t
Bucks like this rarely show themselves except for a handful of days during the rut.
stop watching. But little did I
know it was going to get strang-
er. Watching the buck, he froze
and without hesitation and
took off on a dead run leaving
the area immediately. I began
glassing assuming another
hunter was in the area. Mo-
ments later I spotted what put
the fear of death into the buck.
Standing not 50 yards above
where he bolted from stood
Goliath. The type of blacktail
they put in paintings, he had it
all: Width, height, mass and one
other thing, a pretty little doe.
That single little doe had that
whole area abuzz; she had three
bucks running around like
school boys. Mind you, these
were bucks that hadn’t let the
sun hit their hides in months.
At that point, me and my
partner decided to put a hunt
on him. It was a long walk and
by the time we got to within in
range he and the doe were long
gone. We knew very well that
would probably happen, but
we couldn’t walk away without
trying.
What I witnessed that day
is why I hunt these blacktails.
The day was a complete success
even with a fully intact tag in
my pocket. It’s what keeps yo