I’m not sure about the rest of the state, but in my neck of the woods, Saturday morning sounded more like the opening day of dove season than deer season. From daylight to dark, the woods in north Hinds County were filled with gunshots. With the wind gusting around 20 to 25 mph, I expected the action to be slow. I was wrong. The private camp that borders my family’s property harvested three or four bucks over the weekend. One was a giant main-framed 10 point that will score more than 150 inches. Not too bad for the first few days of the youth week.
The shooting wasn’t the only action to heat up last weekend. The rains Friday and high winds Saturday brought some well-needed cold temperatures. The cold temperatures brought along lots of deer activity. The rut should be here in a little over a month for most of the state. And from what I witnessed over the weekend, the bucks are checking and marking their areas, the beginning of the pre-rut activities.
Almost every scrape I knew of on my property was quickly reworked after the high winds and rains. There were several new rubs to show up as well as several buck sightings around food plots in the afternoons.
The pre-rut is my favorite time of the year to hunt. With the weather being cooperative, it should prove to be a very successful statewide gun opener this weekend. Bucks are checking their rublines and refreshing scrapes on a semi-regular basis. If you have an active rubline leading from a known bedding area, I would hunt the downwind side of that line as regularly as you can safely get away with it.
Many hunters want to be in the woods during the rut more than any other time. The problem with hunting the rut is the complete randomness of deer activity. Big bucks do tend to slip up and show their faces during daylight more often during these times, but it’s much harder to guess where he will do it. The other major problem that occurs during the rut is the fact that mature bucks will lay up with a hot doe for over 24 hours. You may have a buck you’re hunting that has no intentions of doing anything until that doe is through her cycle.
Let me get back to the pre-rut. First of all, the pre-rut is longer for the most part. Bucks are already leaving plenty of sign, and have been for the last couple of weeks. This sign will be routinely checked by the deer that left it. This will last until the first doe goes into heat. Once that happens, all bets are off. But if you play your cards right and only hunt this buck sign when the wind allows for safe entrance and exit to your stand site, eventually you should lay eyes on the big guy that’s killing your saplings. This may sound too simple because in theory it is. But, big bucks grow old for a reason. They have a knack for finding places hard to get to.
The biggest benefit to this upcoming weekend for most hunters is the added distance. Many times while bowhunting, you can get within sight of a good buck, but just can’t get close enough without blowing him out of the county. With a high-powered rifle, the hunting strategies should change, but not much. I like to basically apply the same strategies during gun season as I would during bow season. The only difference is distance. There is no need to get within 25 yards of a deer if you can get the job done at 80 yards.
If any students have any stories and/or pictures to share, please send them in. I would love to know what’s going on in some other areas of the state. Be safe this weekend and don’t forget your hunter’s orange vests. Good luck and shoot straight. I hope to hear some good stories from some of you.
Brandon Parker is a senior majoring in communication. He can be reached at [email protected].