Only 5 Days to Hunt

If I only have 5 consecutive days to hunt I would have to pick the 5 days before Missouri's firearm season opener. This year the firearms season opens on November 12th, so you can bet you will find me in a tree a bunch those few days before. It seems like that time of year the rut is really rocking and you don't have to compete with the orange army!

During the pre-rut/rut I love rattling and grunting. I like to call blind on a regular basis, but tend to have the most luck when spotting a deer and then calling to it. One of my favorite things to do is to fool a buck by getting his attention and arousing his curiosity enough to make him close the distance! Another tactic that we use on a regular basis while hunting high visibility areas is decoying. Talk about an exciting way to kill a buck! It's a great feeling when you see a big buck lay his ears back and start stiff legging toward the decoy. Make sure to be careful with human scent though or you might end up heartbroken.

This time of year we like to hunt pinch points and funnels near bedding cover where we are likely to catch a mature buck cruising and chasing does. It seems to be the best when just those first few does are in heat and the competition is high between bucks.