 WHERE
BUCKS GO DURING THE RUT
Apples For A Secret Rendezvous
Editor’s Note: Ernie Calandrelli of Buffalo,
New York, with Quaker Boy Calls, hunts white-tailed
deer regularly.
"When I'm trying to take a very big buck during
the rut, one of my favorite places to hunt them is  around
apple trees in thick cover," says Ernie Calandrelli
of upstate New York. "Although bucks will be chasing
does during the rut, I've found that an older-age-class
buck will look for his does in what he believes to be
sanctuaries. A doe can come in to an apple tree in thick
cover at any time of the day and feed on those apples
without  being
seen. I'm convinced a big buck knows that this place
is where he can find his does, breed them and not be
exposed to hunters.
"I also locate big bucks during the rut on the
trails between feeding and breeding sites. The bucks
know that the does must eat and bed down. So, the most-likely
place for them to discover the most does is along those
travel corridors between those feeding and bedding sites.
Too, you'll often encounter an older-age-class buck
in a funnel  area
where two woodlots are pinched-down into a bottleneck.
Because bucks have to be on the move during the rut,
they'll be chasing does on both ends of the funnel.
You're more likely to see bucks passing through a funnel
at any time of the day during the rut."
TOMORROW: THE IMPORTANCE OF THICK COVER
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