The big-racked, muscled-up brute crashes through cover. Operating like a pedigreed cutting horse, he carves out two rival bucks and sends them packing for distant hills. Quickly, he returns to the small patch of cover where the wide-eyed estrus doe waits. The pair will likely stay in that obscure piece of real estate for the next 24 to 48 hours. That’s well away from most other deer — and hunters, who are focusing on better-looking ground with better traditional habitat hundreds of yards away. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
While traditional rut stands work just fine during the peak rut, other unorthodox spots can, too. Hunters should be aware of both sides of that coin. The rut-hunting playbook isn’t as small as some might believe. That’s why I’ve ranked the best 15 spots for peak-rut deer hunting.
1. Funnels and Pinch Points
Funnels and pinch-points are among the most orthodox stand locations during the rut. These are simply natural terrain features that encourage deer to travel through confined spaces. Of course, these are crucial for bowhunters, but they serve as excellent stand locations for gun hunters, too.
Because they’re so effective, however, funnels and pinch-points draw attention from a lot of hunters. On public land and shared private properties, such spots can become pressured and overhunted. In these scenarios, study a parcel’s pressure levels to determine if these spots are worth your time.
2. Doe Bedding Area Fringes
Does usually use the same, or the same few, bedding areas throughout the year. Over time, bucks learn where these locations are. During the rut, they’ll visit these in search of estrus does. Hunters should know where these are located, too.
Hunting doe bedding can be tricky, though. As with hunting any bedding area, you must get in early — long before daylight. Settle in on the downwind side of bedding areas and intercept bucks cruising these edges as they scent check for does. If multiple bedding areas are connected by cover, set up along these routes as bucks travel from one to the next.
3. Upper-Third Ridge Benches
Topography plays a major role in deer movement. Specific features can influence how, when, where, and why deer traverse certain routes. One such feature is an upper-third bench. This is a bench that, as it sounds like, spans the higher part of a ridge — but not the top of the ridge itself. Because morning thermals rise, this is a common area to catch bucks cruising the first few hours of the day. They can smell potential does down below. Furthermore, bucks often prefer the leeward side of the ridge because they can smell from both directions.
4. Lower-Third Ridge Benches
Similarly, lower-third benches are important, too. These are more effective hunting locations later in the day. In the evening, and sometimes even earlier in the afternoon, thermals fall. As the evening air pulls downward, scent collects and pools in the lowest points of the landscape. That’s why bucks travel along lower-level benches to detect potential does that are traveling, or have recently traveled, along the ridge above.
Photo by Honeycutt Creative
5. Leeward Ridge Lines
Now, back to those leeward ridges I mentioned above. These are simply the downwind sides of ridges, and they’re excellent locations to intercept deer travel patterns. These serve as great bedding areas as well as travel routes for deer, which mean they’re especially great stand locations during peak rut. Whether deer are bedding there, or merely using these as travel routes, hunters can intercept them.
6. Saddles in the Hills
Another hill-country feature to hunt is the famous saddle, or a low spot between two ridges. It might be where the same continuous ridge dips down and rises back up. Or it might be where two ridges running in different directions taper and meet. Either way, a saddle allows deer to pass through from one side or the other without having to climb up and over. It’s a smart spot to lie in wait for when they do.
7. Overgrown Fields
Throughout the whitetail range, early successional habitat is vital to deer. Overgrown fields can provide that necessary edge cover. Oftentimes, these fill up with briars, brambles, grasses, and even forbs. Such growth might not look like much to us, but it provides good bedding cover and food sources. During the rut, bucks might even push estrus does into such areas to get them away from rival bucks.
8. Water Sources
Deer drink water year-round, but bucks get especially thirsty during the rut. All the cruising and chasing develops a need to rehydrate, and they frequent watering holes. Isolated water holes are especially attractive. Deer have limited options for finding water, particularly in dry conditions, and that increases the odds of shooting deer over one. You can hunt natural water sources or create your own, although creating these in huntable locations can require some serious strategy.
9. Quality Field-Based Food Sources
Deer spend most of their lives within cover, and that’s the best place to find a big deer. But during the rut, don’t overlook the power of a quality field-based food source. Standing soybeans, freshly cut corn, or any other crop with waist grain on the ground can be great. So can food plots, especially those planted with timely species. Hunting deer over food sources that are directly adjacent to quality bedding cover can produce sightings of a lot of deer, including mature bucks that are checking does or replenishing their energy.
10. Buck Bedding Areas
Buck bedding areas are incredibly productive spots throughout the early season, pre-rut, and late season. Don’t overlook these areas during the rut. Often really old bucks will continue bedding in the same areas they have been using all fall, and only search for does at night. If they don’t find a hot doe, they retreat to the bedding areas they feel safest in.
So, continue to monitor the edges of these areas with trail cameras, and move in to hunt as necessary if you think a buck is still bedding there. Keep in mind that bucks and does often bed within the same block, but bucks tend to bed at higher elevations or in areas that are more advantageous.
Photo by John DePalma
11. Scrape Lines
I know, scrapes, go cold during the peak, rut, right? Sure, scraping activity drops off. But they don’t completely shut down. Bucks continue to check scrapes, and so do does. Does, and bucks that are between does, continue checking scrapes. So it doesn’t hurt to consider their prcense as a secondary or tertiary element when weighing strand locations, especially if scrapes are nearby an area you already plan to hunt.
12. Random Brushy Cover
Bucks don’t like competition. Because of this, older deer that know what they’re doing tend to push does into random areas the remainder of the deer herd rarely uses. Often this includes random brushy areas. Maybe it’s a fencerow, thick sinkhole, patch of grass, or other obscure — but maybe visually obvious — location.
13. Small Pockets of Cover
Similarly, other small pockets of cover can be good, too. Even a half-acre, or even quarter-acre of cover can hold a breeding pair of deer. If it looks like a spot at least two deer could hide from other deer, and hunters, they might just be there. It might feel weird or unproductive to hunt these spots, but if you have good reason to, it just might pay off. Perhaps you saw a buck run into such a spot, maybe you didn’t. But during gun seasons, you should at least glass these areas or consider doing a deer drive through these small pockets.
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14. Drainage Ditches
Drainage ditches are always overlooked. After all, who wants to hunt a hole in the ground? But drainage ditches with the right characteristics can hold deer. At the very least, deer might travel across or through it. Ditch crossings can be good all season long, but during the rut, it’s not uncommon for bucks to push does into brushy areas within ditches.
15. Brush Piles
This is another area you wouldn’t expect a deer, but one worth considering. Brush piles with enough cover can hold a couple deer, and breeding pairs often shack up in such spots. Finding ways to hunt these can be difficult, but don’t overlook potential activity in such areas.
