Should you find a new place to hunt if all you see are does?
QUESTION: My trail camera is loaded with doe pictures, and the area I hunt is filled with does. I have seen a few trophy bucks, but at random and never consistent. Should I look elsewhere for a hunting spot if the bucks aren’t showing themselves? — Chris W.
ANSWER: If your goal is to kill a buck, there is no better or stronger attractant than a doe, and the more, the better. Does tend to have smaller home ranges and core areas than bucks and are more social in the fall. Eventually those does will start coming into estrus. When they do, they will draw in the bucks. The more does present and coming into heat, the more bucks they’ll attract.
And because they won’t all come into estrus at precisely the same time, that might extend the attractiveness period for that area. Several studies have shown that mature bucks leave their core areas and go on excursions during the rut. One study found several different bucks visiting the same locations — suspected to be occupied by doe groups — repeatedly. You may want to explore and hunt other areas before, but when the rut kicks in, go where the does are.
— Recent Ask the Biologist Question:
Got Milk? It’s common for does to have milk in their udders in deer season.
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