00:00:02 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your home for deer hunting news, stories and strategies, and now your host, Mark Kenyon. Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast. I'm your host, Mark Kenyan, and this is episode number three and sixteen, and we're back with another Rut Fresh Radio episode in which we're getting you updates on the progress of the rut, current deer activity in the tactics that are working right now from hunters all across the country. All right, welcome to this week's episode of Wired to Haunts Rut Fresh Radio. It is no I am your host, Spencer new Hearth, and we are flying solo today without Mark Kenyon because he is pulling some all day sits as he tries to get close to that buck he's been hunting. Tran, I hope that you've been spending some time in the woods too, because this is the best time of year to be out there. As we've talked about before, the rut only comes once a year. It's like a ten day window where the dear movement is the absolute best that it's going to be, and I hope everyone has a chance to take advantage of it. But during this part of the rut, people often talk about the rut phase called lockdown. I think the idea of lockdown has outgrown what this phase of the rut actually is for most hunters. When they're talking about lockdown, they're talking about this like two to three day window where the doughs are now willing so the bucks will breed them. And when that happens, a buck in a dough will hook up and they'll bed down in some area for almost the entire length of daylight. Um the areas that they seem to bed down in are fairly random. As a South Dakotain, I've seen a ton of bucks and does locked down in the middle of a cut cornfield where there's not a tree within like a half mile of where they are. But then you also see them sort of locked down in your more traditional areas like thick timber, where dolls prefer to bed and during this phase of the people often talk about how mature bucks basically go from cruising at midday and being as reckless as they will be all year to not being seen at all because they're sat down with some doughs somewhere. Now there's some truths and some lies about what that actually is yes, this is like the peak breeding where dolls are willing and bucks will find them and they'll bed down for periods of time, But it is not as dramatic as all of the doughs coming into estus within like a forty eight hour window where they all then find willing bucks and they all then stop moving and a light that's not the case. Studies have shown that the rut is like a bell curve, and the top of the bell curve right now deer movement has peaked, and sure those bucks will bed down with those doughs for some time, but after that's over with, those bucks are gonna get up and start cruising again and start looking for another dough, and all of those doughs are not entering esters at the exact same time. If you haunted an area that has a high density of deer, you're still going to be seeing a lot of movement. But if you're limited to like a ten acre property, and there's only one mature buck around and today he locks down with some dough and he doesn't move for eight hours, and then tomorrow he gets up and he moves off to another property in search of doughs, then there might be that perceived lockdown where it seems like the bucks have stopped moving. Now that's not the reality, and this is certainly a tougher time of year to hunt that maybe it was a few days ago, But if you're not in the woods, then you're only hurting yourself because those deer are going to be up and they're going to be moving. If you want more info one lockdown, check out the meat eater dot com, where Mark Kenyon has an article coming out later this week on what you need to know about the lockdown and how to hunt this phase of the rut. For this week's Colors, we have Brad Beaver from Lone Wolf Tree Stands in Indiana. Then we talked to Spencer Kaschewsky from Red Lion Hunting in Georgia. And then we go to North Dakota and talk to Alex Comstock from white Tail DNA and then from Heartland bow Hunter in Kansas. We talked to Trent Siegel, and I'll tell you before we get into these interviews, everybody is really optimistic that we talked to you this week, which this can kind of be a tough time of year to keep grinding and keep after it and stay optimistic, because if you've been at it since early November, then you might be about over this. But from Brad Spencer Alex Trent, you're gonna hear some really positive and encouraging things about why you should be in a tree right now out okay, and let's go to our first color alright, and joining us on the line first is Brad Beaver in Indiana from Lone Wolf Tree stands Now. Brad in Indiana, what would you say the bucket activity has been lately on a scale of one to ten? Um, So I've founded Indiana for uh three dastes straight now. I came in on Monday, um, and I'm just I've seen a tun of buck activity. Obviously, it's that second we can remember, so it's gonna be good. But I would definitely put it up there nine or ten. Um. It's just I've seen bucks with noses on the ground, I've seen bucks running those hard so um yeah, definitely definitely nine ten. Are you seeing a lot of midday movement at this point? That's tough question. I haven't really been hunting mid day because of work, UM, so I can't. I can't say yes or remember that. Um, but I I can't attest to obviously being being kind of peak, right. I know a lot of guys who are hunting all day, you know, or seeing there all day. Um, you know this is the time if you're gonna sit all day and and hunt the mid day, this it's want to do it. When you're out there, you do a lot of mobile setups. Um. How much are you moving your stands just like an extra thirty yards closer or are you often second guessing yourself and and moving a stand just a little bit down a trail this time of year, You're sticking with what you know, right, So that's a great question. Um. Actually, tonight kind of to answer your question, I my hunt and I I saw my target bock to three yards off, um, and I sent them to a woods, um, pretty far off with some dough. So I did something a little unconventional. But because it's the time of year and because of the running activity, um, I'm kind of get away with it. But actually got down half an hour from two minutes before dark and move my stand hundred hundred ft the yards to the east to accommodate for tomorrow's wind. Um. So I'm hoping to actually catch them coming back to the bedding area. But to answer your question, um, this is the time to stay mobile, and this is the time that if you have a book that you want to target and do you think you can jump on, this is the time to to do it. So obviously I saw that book to the under guards off. I knew where he was, so I knew I could get away with moving without without spooking him. Whereas if I came in tomorrow morning, I'm not sure where that book's gonna be. So, UM, answer your question, Yeah, I this is the time to stay mobile. What's your strategy as a bow hunter once we approach lockdown? Um, once we approach lockdown, I kind of go with the mentality of the only way you're gonna kill a book cause it's that dough. If it's the dough that he's on comes by, you know, you can rattle and you can call it books all you want with it. If they're locked on, does you know, usually that's that's all they're I'm gonna pay attention to. So as a bowner, I'd like to get into betting areas obviously said all day if you can, Um, just so you're kind of dough hunting at that point, Um, if you can, if you can get on the the dough that that he is on, um, that's about the only thing is gonna bring him in. Are you concerned it all this time of year with food sources? Um? Yeah, that depends a lot on the weather. Like Indiana just got four into the snow last night, so I've seen a lot of digger in corn fields trying to overturn the snow and get the corn. Um. But again, I mean right now, being the second week in November, they're gonna be moving in where they can, so just just get in the woods. How about signmaking? Do you think rubs and scrapes are still relevant at this point? I would say so a little bit. Once we move more towards lockdown, UM, I would say they're books are probably gonna stop checking scrapes as often, just because they're more concerned about that doll, like I said earlier. But um, I personally, I always if I can find a scraper, rub or a rub line, I'm I'm always gonna hunt it, no no matter the time of year. Um. But again, as we approach the lockdown, I think they're they're probably gonna be more focused on on that actual dough than checking the scrapes like they would knocked over. Going forward. Then in the sex week or so, what do you think that bucket activity is going to be on a scale of one to tend in Indiana, I would say this week we're gonna be pushing. I would again put at nine or ten. But as we approach lockdown, obviously everybody knows, um, it's it's tough to kill a buck. I means walking on the dough. So um, it may come down a little bit. You may not see bucks moving as much, um when they get locked on that door, but it's hard to tell when when that's actually gonna happen. So I'll keep it at nine or ten. I hate to put it at a perfect ten, but um, the movement I've been seeing, it's it's really good. Brad, great intel, Good luck in Indiana, thanks for joining me, Thanks for having me on man all right and joining us online. Next is Spencer kind of Schewsky from Red Line Hunting in Georgia. Spencer in Georgia, what would you say the bucket activity has been lately on the scale of one to ten. I think the past few weeks, I would I would kind of consider it kind of being a little bit more of a six out of the scale. Uh ten, Um, But I think good things are coming. So what phase of the run do you think most of the state is in right now? Um? I think, like I said, the last few weeks kind of that early stage run activity. Um. I've heard a lot of stories of some smaller bucks chasing some does you know, kind of sparring a little bit. Um. And then the last couple of days, I've gotten more stories of some bigger Bucks coming in at um, coming in booking at some smaller bucks as well and kind of chasing them out. So I think we're I think we're getting geared towards full rut here in the Atlanta area of Georgia. Are you seeing a lot of signmaking right now? Then? Yep. I've still still seen a lot of rubs I've noticed actually just walked out to my spots today and have noticed some new tree marks that I've seen, some new rubs so that I've never seen before. What food sources ship hunters be keyed in on right now in Georgia? You know, I think in our area the eight corn rolls are still pretty heavy. Um. So I think the bucks and um, big bucks and smaller bucks are still seeing off the natural egg corns. UM. But I've had some good stories of you know, people using corn that um they've They've still got some doughes coming in, but the big ones aren't coming to the bait piles as much, just because I think there's so many acorns out there for them to eat. So where are your trail cameras focused right now during this stage of the rut? Um, I've got most of my trail cameras around some good rugs, um, some scrape, and some trees is kind of where I put on. I got a few good paths that I know that the deer kind of coming through from woods the woods. We're kind of lucky. We got a little couple of funnel areas that we've been hunting that I think are going to be the most successful as the rut gets in closer. Wouldn't we get a full moon around this time in November? Do you think that changes anything for you and Georgia? I do, I think, Um. I think after that fool moon in the next few days, it's just gonna heat up more. Um. You know, if you look at the moon phase and the days how they're getting a little bit shorter here in Georgia. I've always noticed that once those days start getting a little shorter, that the road is closer and then the deer starting to move a little bit more. Um. Along with the cold front that's about to hit us, is I think the rud is gonna be in full full effect here in the next few days. Are you guys doing anything really aggressive this time of year, like any calling your D coin? Um? No, no on the dcoin. We had a couple of guys do some rattles a few weeks ago. They had some success with rattling. But I see the last couple of days, uh, some you know, some light grunt calls. Um, some little dough and cans is what I've heard some success stories on. But I think, especially tomorrow, I'm gonna be trying to use my my buck grunt a little bit more heavily than I have in the past. In Georgia, when do you start to expect to see some midday cruisers. I think we're gonna start seeing some more of the midday cruisers about this time. We've seen some more bucks being hit on the side of the row. You can't even you probably can't drive more than a couple of miles about seeing a decent buck on the side of the road, which is kind of tells us the rud is near and the bucks are starting to move during the day. Was exciting going forward. Then in the next week or so, what do you think that bucket at TV is going to be on a scale of one to ten in Georgia? I think with the cold front coming in and in the weather in Georgia, I mean, I think it's gonna be a nine out of ten, ten out of ten. You know, here in Georgia we really don't see the weather getting down into the twenties. And the fact that it's happening right at the perfect time of rut, I think the potential has gonna be huge expensive. With good luck to you in the games from Red Light Hunting. Thanks for joining me. I appreciate it. Thank you so much, Spencer, all right and joining us on the line. Next is Alex comp stock from White Tailed DNA in North Dakota. Now Alex in North Dakota. What would you say the bucket activity is ben lately on a scale of one to ten, Yeah, I put it probably at about a five or six. I've been out here for about ten days and it's a It hasn't been constant movement, but it's kind of coming spurts, and I've seen a good amount of matur bucks and um. I've seen everything from chasing to cruising to mid day move it, but it just hasn't been like the constant sass and furious. It's just been kind of coming and going in spurts. That makes sense. Five or six seems really low for this time of year. What do you think are the factors that are making this the worst rut in North Dakota. Yeah, I think the biggest thing that's affected me is there's a lot of corner and UM. This year in North Dakota, it was really wet and so farmers weren't able to get to the crops as as soon as they normally do, and so there's a ton of standing corner around me and uh, I think that's having an effect on some of the lack of deer that I've seen. It would be kind of my guess you've founded North Dakota for a while. This year, with there being so many standing crops, how does that change some of your sort of traditional rut setups. Do you have tree stands at different locations to factory in for all the standing corn? Yeah, so I really wasn't prepared for that, being I used to live out in North Dakota, so it was easier for me to adapt, but now being having to travel out here, UM, I did move a couple of stands closer to corn. M couple of my like go to. I guess I would call funnel areas where deer usually traveling like a really good example, as I have a skinny pinch I travel. It goes north and south, and deer always traveling through there. Um this year, a lot of traffics going east and west going from into the standing corn. And so I've tried to change a little bit and I've got a couple of stands real tight to that corn. So what are you ideally looking for as a public land bow hunter during this time of year. I'm looking for areas that just aren't being hunted in North Katota. That's usually pretty easy to find. UM. Rifle season open here last week, and uh that didn't really change much for me. I did something I do a little bit of, uh scouting around the hunter pressure I'll drive. I got down on Saturday midday and figured if anyone was raffle hunting, they'd probably still be out all day, so they only have the weekend, and so drove around looks for other hunters, um figured where they were, which there was just a couple, and then kind of made game plans from there. So what is the route would you say that we're in right now in North Dakota, I'd say we were in definitely like the seeking and chasing phase. Um. I mean I'd say there's probably breeding going on too, I had, you know right now. It seems to me that when you have a hot doll round, I mean, as always is during the run, it can be a game changer. I mean I had the other morning I said, I had what I assumed to be a hot dog around me because I had eight bucks on her. And then today, for example, I saw nine different doughs and didn't see one buck. So I think when you have that that right dough in the area, that can really change everything. Right now, when we get into lockdown in the six week or so, what do your setups look like then, I'm trying to get in those either as are the really thick areas where I think bucks are me pinning dose down um or getting in between dough bedding areas, because, especially on North Dakota, I found that fifteen can be a really good time frame get between doll bedding areas and hopefully you can get time at right where you know a buck's getting off one dough and looking for the next. You'd be in those travel corridors. Um. I've had some really good hunts out here that time of year. Do you think signmaking is relevant at all in that part of the country right now? Not? I don't think so. Right now. I've been here since able the fourth. Those first couple of days, scrapes were still being hit. I mean I watched a couple of bucks hit scrapes and they were kind of being opened up every day. UM. But in the last few days I haven't noticed any scrapes or any new rubs or anything going like that going forward. Then, in the sext week or so, what do you think that buck activity is going to be on the scale of one to tend in North Dakota. Yeah, I'd like to think it'd be in that seven to eight range UM this time of year, kind of between that fifteenth and twentieth I found to be some of the best honey and I've experienced out in North Dakota. And uh, I'm hoping with the temperatures are actually gonna be trending up a little bit, which I think will help me because it's been so cold here. I mean with the windshield today. It was about negative fifteen this morning and it was just miserable. And I don't know, I think sometimes you might just be hunkering down when I gets to be that cold. And hopefully in the next week it uh it picks up even a little more, alright, as I hope things turn around for you and your public land haunt in North Dakota. Good luck and thanks for joining me, all right, Thanks Spencer, alright and joining us on the line. Next is Trent SEAgel and Kansas from heart Lamb bow Hunter. Now Trent in Kansas. What would you say the bucket activity has been lately On a scale of one to ten, I'd say it's been a nine lately. I've seen a ton of bucks cruising and chasing fighting. Um, I'm only giving it a nine right now because I just haven't seen a lot of big ones in person. Yet I know they're moving out there. Um, I just haven't seen them. So what phase of the road would you say that the state of Kansas is in right now? I think we're approaching um lockdown here. I mean it's it's close for sure. I've definitely seen bucks with does um obviously they're they're fighting for him. I think going forward this week, I'm I'm definitely gonna be focused on hunting the dough areas and and just hoping the right dough brings a big guy out in front of me. If you think we're approaching lockdown, how much longer do you expect to see some of that midday movement among bucks? Oh? I think it's still gonna be good. Um we I mean we here in Kansas have a pretty good buck to dough ratio. Um. So, I mean we're still going to see lots of deer moving all day long. I feel like, especially because the weather is pretty decent. But the big ones three, they're gonna be coming out with the dos or just you know, searching for that next one as soon as they're done with the one there with. So, I still think it's gonna be a great week when we do get into that lockdown phase. What is your strategy? Paint us a picture of where you want your treatsy and to be during that phase of the rout. Absolutely. Um So mornings, I typically try to get tucked up close to a an area I know a lot of doughs bed and just try to catch a buck cruising scent checking that area. Um. And then in the evenings or afternoons later in the day, I'll slip out and try to relocate to a good food source, a big food plot I might have, or um any standing crops that are still there that all the doughs are hitten And just like I said before, I hope, I hope the right dough brings a big boy out. Has this season been to struggle at all to get deer on your food plot with all the standing crops? Yes, um, absolutely it's been a struggle to to find them. I feel like, um, we've had so many crops in and just it hasn't condensed the deer down to their normal areas at this point in the season for sure, with all the food everywhere and um, you know lots more bedding areas or places to hide. Do you pay attention to trail cameras at all this time of year, and where do you have most of those set up as approach lockdown? Uh, most of my cameras right now are UM. I have a lot set up on time ons mode on on big food plots for the afternoon, and then lots of them on trails or scraped Still even though the the bucks aren't hitting the scrapes as much, it will still catch movement going by. UM, and I do. I do use them a lot still. One of the best strategies I have is if it's windy out or have the white right wind direction to something to kind of cover my noise, I'll check him, um and try to figure out if if there's a buck in that area that morning. UM, generally that afternoon he's going to be there too. And that's usually my my best sits. UM if I can flip in if it's windy enough to I'm like say, cover my scent or my noise, anything like that. Um. If if he was on that camera in the morning, nine times out of ten, he's gonna be coming back out with the dough or something like that in the afternoon. And UM, because they're usually my best sits, most of the country just had a cold snap roll through Kansas not excluded. Do you think that really helps dear movement? You said that you've had some really good midday cruising or do you think this time of year that's not really a factor. I I do think it matters. Um, the last two days, the pressure has just been through the roof and I've hunted about the last ten out of eleven days. And the movement alone just on what I saw last night and then cell cams today was just incredible. I mean all day deer, We're we're moving both days. Um, and the pressure I think yesterday was around thirty point seven and today it was, you know, around thirty point five. So, UM, it definitely makes a big difference. I mean, we still see good movement this time of year, but I still feel like if if it's not this cold and high pressure system, UM, we just see that movement that first the first thing in the morning, the kind of last hour or so, a light But the last two days it's been incredible all day long going forward. Then in the sex week or so, what do you think that BUCKETTVT is going to be on a scale of one to ten in Kansas? I still think it's gonna be you know, nine or ten. I mean, this is the time of year. Any of you guys out there, if you have days the vacation to burn or a day off. I mean, everybody getting the stand right now. This is what we as whitetail hunters dream about. We live three hundred and what forty days out of the year for these you know, this month of November. Um, get out there and hunt, enjoy it. Why you can take it all in, watch God's creation, and um, just be thankful we get to hunt in this great country. I like your optimism. Good luck to you and the gas from Hartland bow Hunter. Thanks for joining me, Trent, appreciate it. Good luck man. And that concludes this week's episode of rut Fresh Radio. Thanks to Brad Spencer, Alex and Trent from joining me, and thank you guys for listening. I hope everyone's in the woods for these last few days of the absolute best time of year. We will talk to you guys next week, but until then, stay wired. Haunt

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