Tips for deer hunting during the late Louisiana rut (2023)

The rut extends through December and even into February in much of the state. Here's how you can use this fact to kill more money.

Gail "Bucky" McDavid of Carencro enjoys hunting during Louisiana's various rutting seasons.

He is so excited that McDavid will be chasing the Area 3 early rut in the Clear Creek Wildlife Management Area in October and November and then following the rut into January by making frequent trips to Thistlethwaite WMA.

And he learned a lot from the rut hunt.

Last January 6th, McDavid picked a stand deep inside Thistlethwaite WMA.

"I've been working hard for two years to find a way to get in away from the pressure of the hunt," he said. "That was the approach I needed, a way to build downwind from where the rutting activity was occurring."

McDavid knew how cautious Thistlethwaite big bucks could get. He's taken a 250-pound 10-pointer there, as well as several 8-pointers, over the years.

"The deer sign I found was certainly in a natural area where females were moving from bedding to foraging," he said. "There was a mast ridge on one side and an extensive palmetto thicket on the other."

It was the transition area that drew the hunter's attention - a densely overgrown area where he expected a buck to move from the brood back to his litter area.

"I positioned myself between the top of the mast and the bedding area downwind of the thicket," said the hunter.

At 7:30 a.m., McDavid heard distinct grunts and rustles in the feed area behind his booth.

"For a while I could hear bucks chasing through the palm trees about 80 yards behind my booth," he said.

After an hour had passed, the hunter said the area had suddenly gone quiet.

"I looked ahead and found a good buck slipping in front of me in the thicket," said McDavid. "He was on his way to the bed area."

From where he stood, the hunter estimated the buck at 30 yards.

When an opening through the palmettos released a vital shot, McDavid pulled the trigger on his .30-06. The buck fell on the shot.

A little later the hunter stood there and watched a 7-pointer. It had 23 1/4 and 24 inch main beams draped by 17 1/4 inches of air. It would later weigh 205 pounds at the weigh station.

It was one of the many quality whitetails caught at Thistlethwaite WMA year after year.

Stay with them in January

Largely due to the late rutting season, Louisiana bowhunters can enjoy a very long season, ending February 15 in Area 6 and January 31 in Areas 1, 2, 4, and 5.

Gordon Smith of West Monroe enjoys bowhunting on some prime private properties in Union Parish in January. He has made bowhunting his life's work as the designer, manufacturer and marketer of the Bowshooter Station (www.lahuntinggear.com).

"In January I will be focusing my efforts on finding the latest scars to get an idea that the bucks in the area are still looking for mates," Smith said.

He will chase "trailing bucks" moving from foraging and rutting areas to litter areas.

"As long as I see fresh scratches and rubs in January, I'll be using attractants and setting up a camera," Smith said. "When I see females roaming the area, I know a buck will show up."

Like most bowhunters, Smith does not hunt stands, instead hunting deer.

"I build my own ladder stands in 4-foot sections where they can be extended," he said. “That way I have identical gear that can be quickly moved in segments to where the deer activity is happening.

"I'll stack them quickly and hunt against the wind."

Unlike most public lands where deer are pressured, Smith has had success using call tactics on his private turf. He will rattle and grunt on a tube. He also uses the can successfully.

Public lands where Bowhunters were very successful in January include all of the following:

Big Lake WMA; Buckhorn WMA; Tensas River NWR; Bayou Cocodrie NWR; Lake Ophelia NWR; Red River/Three Rivers WMAs; the Sherburne Complex; the Indian bayou area; Distelthwaite WMA; and Attakapa's WMA.

It is important to note that there are many rutting grounds along the Mississippi River to the east where high profile bucks have been bow caught in the communities of East Carroll, Madison and Tensas.

A quick review of the 2011-12 Big Buck Recognition List shows that 22 of the 72 recognized bucks were taken in January - one of them in February. That's about 30 percent of the biggest dollars the state took in last season.

This list is available on the LDWF website at www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/pagehunting/32531-big-game-recognition-program/big_bucks_11-12.pdf.

When about a third of Louisiana's biggest bucks are caught in January, that's reason enough to visit the Delta areas, where deer activity is high but hunting pressure can be low — especially during late archery season when the NFL playoffs take place.

Of rutting bucks and signposts

McDavid and Smith provide information on signpost activity (scratching and chafing) as well as signature feeding in an area during the rut.

However, McDavid said these are just indications that deer are in an area.

"Most scratches are done at night," McDavid said. "And I don't chase scars during the height of the rut.

"Instead, I find transitional areas where bucks move away from encountering females, in foraging areas, dense areas that allow bucks to find cover.

"I'll find them in daylight as they roam these parts. The fresh scrapes and abrasions are maybe 80 yards away but they tell me bucks frequent the females in the area.”

Regarding the size of the trees that bucks rub, deer study leader Durham said there is some evidence to support some variation.

"We have evidence that bucks with larger antlers hook larger trees, but smaller trees can be used by young bucks as well as large bucks," Durham said.

According to the leader of the deer study, the size of the girth of a scratch was not associated with larger or smaller bucks.

Bucks also engage in "tree licking" activities such as B. licking and rubbing thin branches and often breaking branch tips over scrapes with their antlers and forehead.

"Deer use the preorbital gland on the inside of the eye as a scent marker on branches," Durham explained. "Another scent marker is used in the middle of the forehead."

Very rarely do hunters see a lick tree, where a variety of scratches and branches are used as a means of communication.

The author observed only one in his lifetime on Willow Point Island in East Carroll Township.

This "group" tree licking was explained as a signal to other deer in the area that a new buck was advancing, a guide/hunter on the island with a deep understanding of deer behavior having spent a lifetime hunting deer and other hunters has led .

But most importantly, the peak of the rut has more to do with the receptivity of the hind and the presence of a group of hinds in an area. If a deer does not go into heat during the peak of the rut, it will go into heat 28 days later - hence the definition of secondary rut.

And bucks have been known to prey on such females, no matter what headgear (or lack thereof) they wear. Velvet buck are known to hunt even in August in various parts of Area 3 where the early rut occurs.