Seeing signs that the rut is beginning in Delaware, I sat in one of my deer stands for nearly three hours this afternoon. I jumped a button buck while walking to the stand, and I saw another small deer with ten minutes of shooting time left. The three hours between deer sightings was uneventful.
Things picked up after I left the stand, however. While walking back to my truck, I heard the clickety-clack of antlers. I thought someone was rattling, but since it was dark, I decided to investigate. I climbed a small hill to get a better view of where the noise was coming from, and I saw two bucks engaged in a rut-crazed, antler-bashing brawl.
Although thick woods surrounded my location, the deer decided to duel in a lighted clearing next to a road. It was too dark for iPhone video, so I watched for a few seconds.
Then I got the bright idea to blow a grunt a call. My bright idea turned out to be a dumb idea.
After blowing the grunt call, the bucks disengaged, looked in my direction, and immediately moved towards me.
Uh oh.
With nothing but safety in mind, I nocked an arrow as the biggest bruiser continued to advance.
He came within 25 yards of me–broadside by the way–as he appeared to try to circle me to catch my scent. Since I was wearing a Scent-Lok suit, he couldn’t smell anything human, so he started moving closer! When it appeared that I was going to have to make a run for it, some joggers came down the road. Their voices spooked the littler buck. He snorted and ran, and the big buck in front of me trotted after him.
I walked to their grassy battle octagon, and I was overwhelmed by the musky buck smell. Seriously, it smelled like someone dumped an entire bottle of dominant buck lure on the ground. Seizing the opportunity, I made a mock scrape and rubbed some of my buck lure in it.
Let’s see if it pays off tomorrow morning.