BOB WALKER'S SECRETS TO STALK HUNTING DURING THE RUT

EDITOR'S NOTE: Bob Walker uses proven tactics to hunt the rut. Having hunted deer since a very young age and living in the middle of some of the best deer-hunting land anywhere, Walker has had plenty of time to observe deer carefully. To eat some of the best summer venison sausage you've ever tasted, contact Walker or his wife, Alice, at R & J Meathouse, (205) 627-4295 to process your deer.

QUESTION: How do you stalk hunt and hunt on water during the rut?

ANSWER: First, I always get the wind in my face. You've got to know the creek or stream, whether or not it's got piles of logs in it or other obstacles. Actually a shallow creek, a little drainage ditch or anything that has water in it will mask the noise you make. Start walking, and ease through the water. You'll often hear someone say, "I only covered 20 yards in 10 minutes." Well, that works fine at any other time in deer season but not during the rut. That's when you want to cover some ground. Let your eyes do the work. After you scan the area and stand there awhile without seeing anything, move on. Keep moving, and look the whole time you're walking. Don't ever look down.

QUESTION: If the deer see you walking in the water, do they panic because you're water-bound?

ANSWER: I don't think the deer panic exactly and they will hold a little longer than ordinarily when they spot a hunter out in the water before they take off. During the rut, the doe is the one most likely to see you. The buck probably won't see you because he's worried about one thing: that doe. If a doe spooks and runs ahead of you, keep following the same water or a line parallel to the way she went. You'll probably see her again because the buck will still be chasing her. She's not as worried about you as she is about the buck.

QUESTION: How do you keep ducks, squirrels, turkeys and other animals that see you in the water from giving an alarm sound that spooks the deer?

ANSWER: I try to stay away from big water. If you have to go down a slough, wood ducks will be in the area if there are any acorns around. There's not much you can do to keep from spooking a duck. He'll see you, and he won't stay round. But I don't think the ducks' alarming bothers the deer much because the ducks fly out often. I worry much more about squirrels than I do ducks giving alarms. When two or three squirrels start barking at you, a deer will listen to them more than it will to ducks. Because the ducks are there two or three months out of the year, and the squirrels are there every day, the deer learn to listen to the squirrels. Of course, I listen to the squirrels, too. If I hear squirrels bark, I try to figure out what they're barking at.

QUESTION: Will the squirrels bark at a deer a lot of the time?

ANSWER: Yes, they'll bark at the deer especially during the rut when the deer are running. The squirrels will bark at anything running. When you hear a squirrel barking, listen for a deer running or watch for that deer. He may have run right under that squirrel and stopped, and the squirrel will sit there and scold him.

TOMORROW: RUT-HUNTING TACTICS THAT PRODUCE BUCKS

Check back each day this week for more from Bob Walker...

Day 1 - Hunting During The Rut
Day 2 - Walker's Favorite Equipment For Hunting During The Rut
Day 3 - How To Know You're Taking The Dominant Buck
Day 4 - Bob Walker's Secrets To Stalk Hunting During The Rut
Day 5 - Rut Hunting Tactics That Produce Bucks

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