Peak deer season has arrived

For the thousands of local deer hunters who have not notched their deer license this year, your time has arrived. The normally cautious whitetail bucks, who usually are tucked into their day beds all day and who only move very cautiously during daylight hours, will throw caution to the wind to find and breed does.  

This is the prime time for hunters to bag a trophy buck. It is called the rut. The urge to mate and start the reproduction process flows through the bodies of both does and bucks, but seems to be especially strong with the normally more cautious bucks. 

For a good example of how strong the urge to mate is, let me cite an example from last fall. 

My wife and I were hunting in eastern Montana during this time of the season. The rut was on. We spotted a group of several does and fawns along with one good mule deer buck. The buck was constantly checking the does to see if they would stand for him, to be bred. My wife made a good shot on that buck but hit a little too far back of the normal heart/lung kill area. Her shot hit the liver area. A deer hit in the liver will normally quickly die, but not a near instant death as when hit in the heart and lung area. You would think a deer with this type of mortal bullet strike would run off or bed down to conserve their dwindling strength.  

But not his buck. His only desire was to plant his seeds for the next generation of deer. During the few minutes it took for him to die, he ran around sniffing the butts of the does to see if they were ready to be bred. Finally, he ran off a short distance, collapsed and died. 

So, these coming last few days of the general deer season along with the likelihood of snow for tracking deer, is the recipe for a successful deer hunt. A good tactic for hunting this weekend, especially with fresh snow, is to sneak through the woods of western Montana and find a fresh deer track in the snow. I look for a medium size track, which means the track maker is likely a doe. Does leave a scent in their tracks, which bucks can detect and follow.  

A couple of years ago I was hunting the Thompson Lakes area. There was 2-3 inches of fresh snow. I crossed a fresh medium size deer track and hoped it was a doe. I tracked the doe across a small opening and into a lightly timbered area. I found a nice stump to sit on and cleaned off the snow, laid down my plastic bag to keep my butt dry and waited. After a while, I felt the urge to get rid of some morning coffee. So, I stood up, then like a dummy, placed my gun on the stump, walked off about 12 feet to drain some coffee. As I zipped up, a nice buck came trotting along the doe track, with his nose right on the ground and track. Then he detected me, stopped and stood there, only about 20 feet away. I froze in place, not knowing what to do. Here, was a nice buck deer, only 20 feet away, but my rifle was 10 feet away, between me and the deer. What to do! Do I try to quietly ease my way to my rifle or step rapidly and grab my gun for quick shot at a fleeting deer? 

The deer made the decision for me. He doubled back on his track and raced off. I ran to my stump, grabbed my rifle and found the deer in my scope and fired a quick shot. The deer ran across the small opening and disappeared into the woods, showing no signs of being hit. Lucky for me there was fresh tracking snow. I tracked the buck across the small opening and into the woods for about 100 yards. Then I saw some blood on the snow. A hundred yards further on the track, there was my buck, piled up, dead. Wow, was I pleased! 

This weekend I will be hunting in Eastern Montana. I have my favorite deep coulee where I always see deer, mostly mule deer and usually some bucks. This can be a leisurely hunt. I will hike to a vantage point, select a soft rock for a seat and backrest and watch. My coffee bottle is next to me and I will hunt with my eyes. After 20-30 minutes, if no deer are spotted, I gather my gear and move to another vantage point. But in most instances, after a short sit, some deer will be spotted. If there is a decent buck in the group of deer, the stalk begins.  

About three years ago, I was hunting with a young hunter. After hiking some coulees for a couple of hours, we topped a ridge and saw two bucks with a doe in the next coulee. My partner shot one of the bucks, then the second buck and doe took off. But they only ran a hundred yards or so, then stopped and looked back. Then the silly love starved doe came back and sniffed the butt of the dead buck. The second buck, instead of running off, stayed with the doe as she doubled back to the dead buck. Bang, the second buck got shot.   

Like I said earlier in this column, during the rut, deer do a lot of stupid things, so many deer get shot. So, wherever you hunt these last days of the deer season, be ready for some action. Have fun and good luck.