The rut is in full swing, and you’re set up on a prime runway with fresh doe tracks headed back to a thick bedding area. You’re positive you’ve done your homework, the wind is perfect, and you just know the buck of your dreams will show up, headed right for that spot.

About that time, you hear crunching leaves behind you and see a monster whitetail with his nose down, headed in the opposite direction of where you’d figured he’d come from. You try your grunt tube, then rattle, but to no avail; there’s no turning that buck back, and he’s gone forever. Sound familiar?

If you ask any serious deer hunter who swears by the rut, most will say the same thing: Find the does, and you’ll find the bucks. So very true . . . but finding the does doesn’t necessarily guarantee a mature buck will end up in easy shooting range on that “perfect” bedding area trail, stopping right in the middle of an opening. Of course, are there any real “guarantees” when it comes to trophy bucks?

The rut brings many variables. Your success is often determined by how many bucks there are in relation to the number of resident does in and around your hunting area. More bucks and fewer does mean greater competition during the rut, and it leaves bucks scrambling to find as many receptive does as possible before other bucks beat them to the prize. When the buck:doe ratio is far out whack, there’s a surplus of female deer and a lower number of bucks. This makes the bucks less reactive to calling and harder to intercept.

That said, how can we make the most out of either scenario, and increase our chances at harvesting mature bucks during the rut?

First, let’s recognize that, during the rut, bucks turn into nomadic testosterone factories. They’re pumped up with hormones, seemingly ready to explode. They’re on a mission, plain and simple: to find as many does as they can and to rid their path of any lesser bucks that might be standing in their way. They have no set pattern, as long as they get what they want.

Not only that, big rutting bucks are efficient in what they do. They’re not looking for just any doe, they’re looking for the ones that are either in estrus or about to be. So right off, let’s get this straight: Instead of hunting doe bedding areas, at this time we need to find and hunt the “hot” does.

Right now you might have a strange look on your face, so let me explain. We’ve been taught for so long to hunt doe bedding areas, but in doing so, we can waste valuable time. While we’re on the fringe of those bedding areas, we’re taking a very big gamble. We’re waiting for a buck to come down the trail looking for love. However, as the rut kicks off, few of those does have yet come into estrus.