If you think of November as a mountain, the week of the 15th would be the apex. It is a general consensus that the whitetail rut coincides with this same idea. Right now the rut action is arguably the best, bucks are chasing, fighting, and grunting. Soon though the action will begin to slow and the deer will return to regular feeding patterns.
Some hunters were able to notch tags during the climb to the top and had some incredible encounters to make the final story that much more special.
We all knew it was only a matter of time until Mark was able to put down a great buck, and he did it in a grand fashion. After not seeing this buck since last season, Mark was not sure whether or not this buck was still around. One evening in November changed all that, this wide buck came into view of Mark’s hunting spot looking for a mate.
After watching this buck chase a doe for 20 minutes, he gave Mark a 38-yard shot. The arrow hit its mark and the buck went down quickly, a textbook hunt for Mark Drury.
As the owner of Lancaster Archery Supply, Rob is no stranger to bowhunting. He took his annual trip down to Kansas with good friends, and after an all-day sit, Rob was able to arrow this solid Kansas buck.
This time of year has the mature bucks on their feet looking for love. Rob was able to capitalize on this buck’s need to breed and sent an arrow exactly where it needed to go to make a quick clean harvest.
With this buck being a resident on her family’s Illinois farm for the last three years, Melissa knew this buck very well. After not being able to catch up with him during the early season, Melissa waited until the rut to capitalize on this buck’s dominant instinct.
Using a buck decoy, Melissa was able to entice this brute into bow range with the sight of another buck looking for a fight. After recovering her buck Melissa discovered that one of this buck’s antlers had been damaged under the skin the one antler was loose on the buck’s head.
The GOAT of bass fishing is also an avid deer hunter and a pretty good one at that. After Retiring from professional bass fishing this past year, KVD had much more time to spend with family and in the woods.
November found Kevin in a tree overlooking a swamp in Michigan when this tall 8 came sneaking by on the prowl for a doe. After making his shot Kevin was unsure of his hit, but soon lost that feeling when the buck fell close to his stand. With his tall 8-pointer on the ground, KVD knew he would be enjoying grilled back strap very soon!
November 6th found Grant in the timber hunting a well-known transition area where bucks come trough to munch on acorns, and check scrapes. That is exactly what this buck, whom Grant called “Big Sal” did.
Big Sal worked a couple of scrapes checking for any visiting does and then fed on acorns for about 20 minutes before he presented Grant a shot. Once he did Grant was able to harvest this very cool buck that had 19 scorable points!
With the mountain idea in mind, these next few days will be the last apex of rut action. Not to say that some magic can’t happen in the weeks to follow, but with the arrival of firearms season in many states, bowhunting action will dramatically slow if not stop altogether. If you have not tagged a buck yet go afield and keep hunting, you can’t kill them from the couch!
