I look at my phone to check the time, it’s 7:22 pm and camera light and shooting light are aggressively fading as I watch a couple does and a really nice 9 point feed 250 yards away in the bean field I’m observing for the evening sit. It’s October 15th, smack dab in the middle of the “October lull.” I will always be a believer that the October lull is a load of horse manure; day time deer movement is related to weather patterns and hunting/human pressure that specific area endures. I say that with a grain of salt though, I admit I have only shot one buck between the dates of October 9th and October 20th. As I watch the clock hit 7:23 pm and realize the deer I’m watching aren’t going to come my way before darkness falls, a quote I heard Dan Infalt of the hunting beast say while watching “The Hunting Public” on YouTube hit me like a ton of bricks.
“Too many people are sitters, there’s not a ton of hunters out there.”
Now for the harsh reality: more often than not, I'm a sitter. I know how to pinpoint pieces of property to see quality bucks, but when it comes down to it, I find myself sitting in “observation stands” and watching good bucks at 100+ yards. I finally bought myself a run and gun stand this year in order to be more mobile and get myself closer to bigger deer, but in the years leading up to this year I can’t count how many times I’ve watched big bucks walk just outside of bow range. Now I want to clarify, there’s nothing wrong with being a sitter, especially with a rifle or shotgun in your hands, and sometimes you can be in the right spot at the right time with a bow in your hands. There’s many people that like to just sit in a treestand to escape the stresses of life and enjoy Gods creation, and if a buck or doe happen to walk by it’s just an added bonus. However, I’ve come to the realization, especially in my home state of Michigan, that if you want to be successful in killing a quality buck on an annual basis, you have to be an aggressive hunter, not a conservative sitter. Does a wolf sit in the same spot for hours on end waiting for his prey to casually walk by? No, he goes to wear his prey resides and aggressively hunts them until he’s successful. I’m not saying to go tearing through a bedding area like a wolf would, but if you know a quality buck is bedded in a certain area, why not move in on him? There’s too many variables, and hunters, in Michigan to hope and lean on the fact that the buck survives until he walks out into your bean field when you have a gun in your hand.
Blake Ledger, a hunting buddy of mine from here in Michigan, is an extremely aggressive hunter. He killed this Michigan public land giant AFTER the rut in December by getting as close as he could to the bucks bedroom.
If one of your goals this hunting season is to notch your tag on a quality buck, I challenge you to become more of a hunter than a sitter this fall. I’m challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone and move in on those bedding areas when the wind allows me, and do something different like figure out a way to quietly get 10 feet up in a tree close to his bed, or maybe sit on the ground if it means getting within bow range of him. I challenge you to do the same thing. If you have a “honey hole” that produces every year in the rut, or you don’t care what kind of buck you notch your tag on, that is completely fine. Hunt your hunt. Otherwise, if you want to kill a quality buck with stick and string, look yourself in the mirror and ask if you are doing everything you can to kill that deer. Chances are you’re not, and chances are you are sick of watching that buck walk by at 100 yards. Throw away the articles from Iowa private land that show how to setup between bedding and feed because this isn’t Iowa, or Illinois, or Kansas. This is Michigan and you have to work harder and think outside the box to grip and grin with a quality buck in your hands. Be aggressive. Be mobile. Be a wolf. Walk past the same stand you’ve been hunting the past five years, be different with your tactics, and use the knowledge you have of the property to get close and don’t be afraid of bumping deer on your way in.
Until that first doe goes in heat, that buck you’re after is staying close to his bedroom in an area he feels safe until dark. Be a hunter and get close to his bedroom, and kill him in bright daylight in the area he has felt safe for the past couple years. If it doesn’t work, oh well, you were no less successful than you would’ve been sitting in your observation stand and hoping he walks by once the rut kicks in.
With that being said, the craziness of rut is going to kickoff within the next 10 days, but with the craziness comes an increased chance that your buck gets kicked on the neighboring property. Don’t let that happen and kill him before the rut begins. Good luck and stay safe!