Archives for October 2019

Posted from: https://www.bucksbullsbears.com/2019/10/28/top-5-diy-rut-hunts/

By Bernie Barringer

As a travelling
DIY hunter, I am always in search of the next mature buck, no matter where he
lives. That has taken me to several states all through the hunting season, from
opening day till the final days of the season in a state far from home. But
there is one thing for sure, you will find me in one of a handful of places
during the first two weeks of November.

Because you are
reading this magazine, I do not have to explain the lure of the rut to both
hunter and hunted. Sitting in a great spot with confidence boiling over,
knowing that at any moment, a rut crazed buck may trot right up to me with
tongue hanging out, is a heart-quickening passion that I don’t expect to be
fully satiated at any point in the foreseeable future.

I could easily
list two dozen great places to spend your hard-earned vacation during Sweet
November, but I have narrowed it down to my top five in no particular order. If
you choose one of these areas, you may just run into me out there somewhere
during November. I’ll be the guy with the glassy look in his eye, hustling
towards the next rendezvous with destiny; acting like the clock is ticking way
too fast on that special time of the year. Because it is.

Central North Dakota

This would not be
on the top five-list of very many whitetail hunters, but that’s one of the
things that makes it so good. There are tens of thousands of acres of public
hunting land along each side of the Missouri River system from The Sakakawea
dam to Bismarck. I have literally hunted it hard for an entire week without
seeing another bowhunter.

Oh, there are
other hunters out and about, you will recognize them by the shotguns and the
long pheasant tail feathers poking out of their vest pockets. The whitetail
habitat is scattered, but once you find it, you will be surprised at the number
and quality of bucks that use it.

Don’t take a
climbing stand. The tree you want to be in is likely to be a 200-year-old
cottonwood as big around as a VW or a snarly willow. Ladders and ground blinds
will give you more options. Deer numbers are low, but slowly recovering after
some bouts with disease and a couple rough winters. When the population is back
I’ll be back there too. Tags are available over the counter.

Northern Missouri

The northern two
tiers of counties along Iowa’s border offer a mixed bag of positives and
negatives. There is abundant public land available; the Missouri Dept. of
Conservation takes good care of it, planting food plots and managing it well. Disease
has knocked the population down recently, but good bucks are still available.  You can camp for free in the parking lots of
the various hunting areas, in fact some have pit toilets, campfire rings and
picnic tables. Good bucks are available, with a realistic chance to see a real
eye popper, but just about everyone knows about it.

The areas near the
access points get hunted hard, and there are enough hard-working hunters
willing to go the extra mile that even the back-in hollows and ridges see some foot
traffic and the occasional treestand. But the bucks are there and they are
found in numbers and size enough to make it worthwhile to elbow yourself right
in with the rest.

A couple times to avoid are the late-October to early-November youth rifle season which adds a lot of pressure to the public areas, and the opening day of rifle season which usually falls just after the middle of the month. Over-the-counter tags are a bargain at $250, which allows you to shoot two deer and two turkeys. (There’s talk lately about raising nonresident tag fees).

Southeast Kansas

Just a quick look
through the Boone & Crockett record book will tell you all you need to know
about this area. It’s world class when it comes to producing top end bucks.
While most of the other areas in my top five offer a realistic chance to shoot
a mature buck better than you can probably shoot at home, this area offers you
a chance to find the photo of a Booner on your scouting camera SD card.

There is a good
representation of public hunting land, but even better, there is a lot of land
enrolled in the Walk in Hunting Access (WIHA) program. It’s surprising the
quality of land that local farmers have opened to public hunting, and it
doesn’t get the hunting pressure that’s found on state or federal public land.
You must apply for a deer tag in Kansas, but you will draw every other year,
and maybe the first year.

Southern Iowa

I have been lucky
in Iowa. I have drawn an archery tag for the top zones with only two preference
points five straight times. I have hunted Iowa every third year since I started
applying. Many hunters wait longer, but three points will almost guarantee you
a tag. Iowa is land of the giants and there’s a long line to take part in the
rut there.

The southern
portion of the state separated by interstate 80 is where the big bucks are consistently
found. There are pockets all over the state that produce world-class
whitetails, notably the northeast corner of the state, but for my money, I want
to be south of I-80 and most of the time, east of I-35. Because the state
limits the number of nonresident tags to 6,000 the public land is not by any
means overrun with nonresident hunters.

You will find some hunting pressure from both resident and nonresident hunters on the state and federal public land. The state land is often broken up into small parcels, but the Federal land mostly surrounds the large reservoirs and the banks of the Mississippi River. If you do your research, are willing to grind out some long walks, and have some backup areas, you can put yourself in position to take home a buck that will make your in-laws do a double take when they see it on your wall. Iowa is proud of their deer hunting and the license fees show it. With all fees including preference points, it will set you back $650-$750 all told.

Southeast Ohio

Here’s another
surprise to many people. There are huge acreages of public hunting land in
Southeast Ohio. Some of the forests are large enough that few people ever see
the interior of them despite the fact that hunting pressure can be very high.
That may lead you to believe that the biggest bucks are found miles from the
road.

That would be only partially true, but your best bet may be to get along the edges of the public land where it meets the crop fields. This may require a long walk if you cannot find a landowner to give you permission to cross their fence. But it will be worth it. This part of Ohio consistently produces numbers of Pope & Young bucks and enough Booners to keep you on the edge of your seat during long hours in the treestand. Tags are available over the counter at license vendors for only $179.

As I mentioned
earlier, this is by no means a complete list, but if you are considering an
out-of-state DIY hunt, these five are excellent starting points.

Follow FreaknHunting on Instagram @ http://instagram.com/freaknhunting
Catch us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/freaknhunting
For the hat trick, we’re on Facebook @ https://facebook.com/FreaknHunting/

Posted from: http://youtu.be/e21JCn1ajJs

Follow FreaknHunting on Instagram @ http://instagram.com/freaknhunting
Catch us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/freaknhunting
For the hat trick, we’re on Facebook @ https://facebook.com/FreaknHunting/