Pre Rut Deer Hunting, Decoys & Calling
Pre Rut Whitetail Hunting Using Calls & Deer Decoys
Hunting whitetails during the pre rut can be a great time to get a shot at a mature deer. Couple the right weather conditions, a little scrape monitoring, a good food source, and you can have a successful pre rut whitetail hunt.
Monitoring social scrapes during this time of year with trail cameras can be a great tool to help pattern bucks, especially for evening hunts over quality food sources. Although most scrape activity is done at night, there’s a window of opportunity during the pre rut that can yield success. A high pressure cold front during the early stages of the pre rut can be a great opportunity to get in and kill a core buck that’s been hitting a scrape consistently. Not necessarily in the middle of the night, but the bucks that have been hitting them at last light or an hour after dark will be the most killable bucks during this time of the season.
Pre Rut Calling for Whitetails
Grunt calls and rattling can be effective calling methods during the pre rut phase.
It’s probably never a great idea to just randomly blind call. A mature buck will typically try to circle in down wind of the call, winding the hunter without the hunter ever knowing. I rarely call unless I actually see the whitetail first.
Decoying for Deer During the Pre Rut
Decoying mature bucks during the pre rut can be highly effective. A buck and a doe or just a single buck decoy can be a great tool in areas of open terrain where whitetails can see a decoy from a distance.
Check out this video and story of a pre rut hunt over a buck decoy at Heartland Lodge. You’ll notice how the buck tries to circle downwind of the buck decoy.
The pre rut phase is one of the most enjoyable times of the season for bowhunters. The temperatures are usually comfortable, the leaves are vibrant colors, and the anticipation is high for the upcoming several days of pre rut and rut action! Good luck!
Premier Illinois Whitetail Outfitter>>
Zach Jumps
Zach@HeartlandLodge.com
Last Updated: October 20th, 2019