Deer Rut Archives

8 01, 2026

4 Great Stands for the Deep-South Deer Rut

Clay Hanback2026-01-05T15:09:13-05:00January 8th, 2026|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Rut, whitetail deer|0 Comments

There is no shortage of cutovers down in south Mississippi and Alabama, and they are great spots to kill a rutting buck in January, especially during a morning hunt. I like to post up on a regenerating clear-cut (3 to 5 years old) with brush, briars and brambles head high to a buck. If you’re bowhunting, hang a tree stand on an edge and near a well-used deer trail. With a rifle, I often just sit atop a pile of logs pushed together by a bulldozer where I can cover 200 yards or so. A buck is liable to push or chase a doe across a cut anytime of morning because he feels safe and hidden in the cover. If [...]

5 01, 2026

Where Do Deer Rut in January?

Clay Hanback2026-01-05T15:01:31-05:00January 5th, 2026|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Rut, whitetail deer|0 Comments

If you live and hunt anywhere in a 1,000-acre swath of the South below the 37th parallel, buckle up. Bucks are pushing does, and will continue to do so for the next six weeks or so. The latest deer rut in North America is finally here in these three states! Time to get out there and have some fun. Mississippi: Historical rut data compiled by state biologists shows that peak breeding occurs in mid-December in the northwestern counties. But as you move south across the state, the rut occurs progressively later in mid-December and into January. In the extreme southeastern counties, bucks push and chase does well into January, with breeding peaking from roughly January 24 through February 6. Louisiana: [...]

2 11, 2025

Are Deer Hunters Shooting Enough Does?

Clay Hanback2025-10-26T09:58:10-04:00November 2nd, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Rut, whitetail deer|0 Comments

State biologists and experts with the National Deer Association have raised concerns about the too-low doe harvest in most corners of America. “From 2000 to 2015, doe harvest far exceeded buck harvest, sometimes by as much as 31%, but we haven’t seen a season like that in 10 years,” says Kip Adams, wildlife biologist and NDA’s Chief Conservation Officer. “Deer populations are strong and growing in most areas, so it’s critical we continue working to boost the doe harvest nationally.” The NDA points to some states where hunters are not shooting enough does: Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Even in Texas, where people shoot more does every year than in any state, the harvest is [...]

28 10, 2025

3 Stands for Hunting Thick Cover in the Deer Rut

Clay Hanback2025-10-26T09:45:08-04:00October 28th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Rut, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|0 Comments

Three days or so before the peak of the rut, many does pile into stands of thick cedars or pines. They’re tired of being chased over hill and dale by horny bucks, so they try to hide out in the thickets. Of course, the boys pitch in there and keep harassing them. Check an aerial photograph for a small clearing in the greens, like a third-row thinning in planted pines. Sneak in there (great quiet walking) and set up in a ground blind on the downwind side of the opening. A doe might pop out to browse with a buck on her heels, or more likely she’ll flash across, still trying to dump a rowdy 8-pointer. An old buck is [...]

26 10, 2025

4 Rut Stands For Farm Country Bucks

Clay Hanback2025-10-26T09:33:13-04:00October 26th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Rut, sportsman channel, trijicon, whitetail deer|0 Comments

Where are the best spots in farm country to ambush a rut-wired buck? The first week of November bucks love to troll nose down across an old pasture or weed field from one point of woods to the next. It’s a natural pinch point. Hang a tree stand in the downwind point of timber where you can see and shoot far out into the cover with a firearm. If bowhunting, move a stand more toward the middle of the patch of woods and set up on the downwind side of the heaviest doe trail in the vicinity. Let’s say that later in November you see a big 8-pointer chase a doe out of the far point of woods and toward [...]