 How
to Know When Bucks Move
Times to Hunt in the Rain
EDITOR’S NOTE: You have no way of knowing what
day you’ll see a buck of a lifetime during deer
season. But you can pinpoint which days to hunt to increase
your odds of sighting one. By hunting on the days when
deer tend to move the most actively, you’ll have
more deer sightings and a greater chance of taking that
buck you’ve wanted all season.
“Rainy days also make good hunting days,”
Bo Pitman, the lodge Manager at White  Oak
Plantation in Tuskegee, Alabama, mentions. “However,
you have to know what time of the day to hunt. If the
rain has fallen all night and day, and you can tell
when the rain will stop by observing the weather map,
go to a stand near a bedding area in the rain about
an hour before the weather clears. Deer tend to move
as soon as the rain quits, especially during the rut.”
In the rut, bucks actively work scrapes and chase does.
Deer have their own vocal and non-vocal language. They
communicate by a method scientists call sign-posting.
The deer in the area leave messages for one another
at scrapes, rubs and licking sticks. Dominant bucks,
sub-dominant bucks and does communicate by leaving their
scents in and around a scrape, using it like a community
bulletin board. When rain passes through a section of
land, it washes all the messages off this bulletin board.
 Does
want to breed during their estrous cycle, and bucks
need to know the locations of the does. To communicate
this information to each other, they must reestablish
the message center at the scrape. After the rain stops,
bucks have to reinstate their scrape lines quickly by
revisiting their scrapes to set up the information centers
not only for the does but also for other bucks in the
region. Often you can expect maximum deer movement immediately
after the rain stops. Although I’ve found no scientific
research to back up this theory, I believe dominant
bucks often return to scrapes immediately after a rain
to let other bucks and does on the property know, “Hey,
I’m here. I’m still the king of the kingdom.
None of you other bucks better chase any of my does.
If any of you does have come in estrus, I’m looking
for you.”
 “Going
to your stand in the rain just before it quits will
provide you with another hunting advantage,” Pitman
advises. “The rain will wash away your odor and
prevent any bucks that come along your trail from becoming
spooked.” Many times you can hear the deer moving
because of the stillness and quietness of the woods
when the rain stops. To drastically increase your deer
sightings and opportunities for taking a buck:
* watch your TV weather map;
* determine the speed of a rainstorm moving through
your area;
* go to your stand before the rain stops; and
* look for your buck as soon as the weather clears.
TOMORROW: THE WORST DAYS TO
HUNT
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