Welcome to Wired to Hunt's rut Fresh Radio, bringing you the latest reports from the Whitetail Woods, presented by First Light, creating proven versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind. First Light Go farther, stay longer, and now your hosts Casey Smith and Tyler Jones.
This is rutfresh Radio. I'm your host, Casey Smith, and guess what.
It's actually been a tough week in the Whitetail Woods, but the looming effects of a potential coal front has everybody on their toes.
This is rout Fresh. Let's go what's happening to everybody? This is rutfresh, brought to you by First La Gear. Casey, you've been doing some hunt lately? I have not. I am like I am just chomping at the bit to get out there. Yeah, I've been doing quite a bit of elk hunting.
If you want to hear more about that, go check out the Element podcast also dropped today. We'll have a episode that gives a lot of details from that hunt, because it was awesome. They were fired up and going crazy because September is the l crut. However, September not so much the whitetail rut. But bucks are killable if you can get them on a pattern and you made
a remarkable to go off air. How that's a little bit tough right now because a lot of people have killed their patterned buck already in the month of September, and now we're getting into the place where maybe you're trying to plan B or planning C. You're trying to find something new, and it gets a little tougher, especially because animals are interesting. They are all just a little different,
just like humans. Like most humans are pretty predictable. We're gonna eat something for breakfast, something for lunch, something for dinner. But outside of that, you might have a Michael who wants to go to Taco Bell or me and you that want something kind of nice and cooked at home. Right So that to say, right now, it's a little bit tough because a lot of deer are doing different stuff. And that's kind of what it sounds like kind of
across the country too. The guys are kind of remarking that it's like pretty standard procedure out there, except for the fact that nobody knows for sure what that procedure is.
Well, I think a lot of it is that there's a lot of nocturnal movements still right now, and I think that those just kind of stagnant tempts, even if they're not super hot, are still just not like inspiring deer to move earlier. And it seems like with a
guess that that's kind of a thing for sure. But you know, also, you know, you still have this pattern pattern ability thing going on, and you guys will probably hear like some of this going on, I'm sure from a lot of the places across the country in the next week or so, where if you do like your season may just now be opening up, or it may open up October one or something like that, So sometime recently or within the next week, and if you have
something going your way on trail camera, then it's probably gonna still go your way. You know. A cold front would be great to inspire them to get up on their feet, but it also could mess up some guy who's got a pattern, you know, going right now. And so if that's the guy and he's got a cold front looming, he needs to go get out in the woods right now and kill it. Dear for something changes, you know, So it's also a good time of year or two.
And this is kind of where the way I think of things sometimes it doesn't align with everybody else. But if you got deer that are moving pretty nocturnal, it's a great time to hunt mornings and get into bedding.
You know.
It's like kind of a turn and burn type thing, where like if you don't kill them, you might bust it out. But like if you're you know, getting deer on trail camera that are at night on a food source, if you know a good idea about where they're bedding, you can go on a morning, you know, get in there real early and be in the right spot. You know, it makes me think about believe it was October third of the year twenty twenty one, you did that exact thing South Dakota. We knew fourth it was it was
Eric's birthday. That's right, Yeah, that's right, birthday bug from Eric. So we went then went and boughtym a twinkie at the gas station.
Every hostess we could find it.
But yeah, so like it's the thing that works early now that is you know, kind of a week out still, but the deer pretty much going to be doing that same thing until they shift to kind of that pre rut stage, which we're all antsy about.
Right telling you, you know, and that's something that another thing to consider, you know, if that that was a public land deer, right, if I was, if I had a place that I needed to play more conservative than which I have a few you know, I'm not going to go probably and do that unless I see something change so or you know, even I can't remember in twenty twenty when I killed a deer on a scrape in Illinois, a big buck, and I played that pretty
conservative too, because we knew that that scrape had been producing all summer, right, and so we knew what was going to happen. We just needed we needed something to really solidify the fact that there was gonna be a good chance of daylight movement. And that was a big cold front. And and instead I almost went a week early. And if i'd have gone that that buck that I killed showed up that on that cold front the week prior. It just was he was in the in the dark.
So it ended up being good. I talked to some people up there that were more from the area and they were like, you should wait, I think because things are still really just right at right at dark pretty much if they're coming out in daylight. So it went doubt.
That brings up a little something we were actually fixing to get to go finally do some why too, I'm gonna tell you what state, because you're gonna creep us out a little bit, and I don't want you to come over finding us.
I know I pay for some of the people from Maine to figure out our spots.
So but the place that we're going, we got some permission on some private ground that is like a lot of ag fields, and I don't know how much ground we're gonna have. If that's not agg fields, you know, it's gonna be like kind of like tree rose fence rose in the fields, so a lot of deer around. But that makes mornings really tough. And if there is cover, we are liable to have to go through the agg fields to get to it. So there's not a lot of acreage to it. So the mornings or evenings thing.
It's going to have to be something to kind of decide on this, Tyler, how do you feel about it? Are you do you feel like because we're gonna do this in about three days because we don't have a lot of time to hunt this place. Is it worth going in and boogering stuff or is it worth just trying to have three good evening hunts where you don't have deer that are all scooped up?
Man? I think I think you know, it's going to be probably worth being a little bit conservative until the last morning. Maybe you know, they're just kind of seeing at least the first day or two. What what you
what you at least assume is going on. And the issue with this and this is like a this is a three through thing across the US probably, but ag is produced by tractors which have to enter that ag field through a road system at some point, right, so you end up where you enter properties is the ag and the betting is further back in right yep most
of the time. So that's why it's hard, because you can't just you know, come in from the backside a lot of times because if you could, then they would plant that too or whatever, you know, and I feel like we won't be walking.
But if you had a little e bike or something, it might help that, you know, you can zoom back there and just have a little bit different impact. Do you think that this is something I actually don't know the answer to. But deer seem to enter ag fields at specific places, like they this is the spot that the deer come in. They don't just kind of spider
web in. But I almost feel like in the morning sometimes they kind of like spider web out, like they kind of get caught out there and they're like, oh, jump the fence.
Yeah yeah, right, sure, I feel like that too.
It's makes it a little tougher to try to pattern deer because I was thinking, I was like, you know, we could pull up. One way we could use our mornings is glass and feel and figure out where they're leaving the fields and then know you can go set up there.
But a buck might do a loop. They don't use.
They don't actually do a lot of linear things. You know, a lot of times they're looping to go who knows.
What fee the next month or whatever. Yeah.
Yeah, So I don't know, it'll be interested to see because I haven't ever hunted this situation too much.
There's usually always like an option for.
The morning, and maybe there will be I don't know, but it's gonna take some scouting stuff figure out well.
And I think that if there is an option it's probably going to take a long walk and therefore early mornings.
Yeah. Well, I've been doing a lot of long walking and uh, I don't really want any more.
The evening. It's kind of tired.
Man.
Yeah.
Well, we do have a diverse group this week from around the country to talk about what's going on the White Tail Woods. It's kind of weird too, because a lot of times things are different because the country is so big and White tra are so different. But this is like a really specific time of year where it's like just that calm before the big game type thing where everybody's just like, all right, it's coming, you know, or whatever.
So who are we talking to today? Yeah, So I try always to spread these things out when we you know, quote unquote book guests. But I want to make sure we're getting some south, some north, some east and west that kind of thing as much as possible. And it's hard depending on what sasars are open. But Arkansas opened up recently, so our buddy Nick Gonzalez has been up there hanging out with the mosquitoes and trying not to get carried off in Arkansas. We're also going to talk
to cam Baits up in Wisconsin. Cam's a super cool dude, very knowledgeable, smart individual that has been hunting the Wisconsin area. And that's a state I've never hunted. Actually I've scouted it, but I've never hunted it. I've seen it. That's what you do. And then Jason Read from timber Ninja out North Carolina. He's, you know, the speaking of walking, he's the master walker. He loves walking very far into Christopher just be walking all the time. He's out there walking
around in North Carolina hills. And then Garrett Addison from Minnesota. He's been doing a much different game where you don't walk very far because you hunt right next to the driveway in the urban areas. That's cool, Yeah, it's it's it is a diverse group and there's a lot of different things going on. You know, a lot of you people have been sending us messages about states and places
you know, you'd like to have. Unfortunately, there's about four guests every week, and uh, there's you know what forty something states that have white tail in them, and we're gonna cover them as much as possible. Uh, but you know, south central, western eastern Illinois might not make it. You know, you know, no, I mean so especially not right now
because there's not a season open days, right. Illinois will make it, you know, during the season, I'm sure, but like your particular area, I'd like to help you out and get that done. But it's it's enough for us to get the states all lined out as much as possible. So we're trying. We're trying, guys, and I appreciate your support guys listening to this thing. I know Mark appreciates it as well, and we'll try to have him back on one of these days when he gets done trout
fishing and all that kind of stuff. So anyway, let's get to those guys all right on the phone. Now, I've got Nick Gonzalez. He's an Element correspondent. He's been out in Arkansas. What's going on, Nick, Oh?
Not much.
About to get some Chick fil.
A, man, it's about to be, you know, a pleasurable fast food experience, spicy deluxe time man, for sure. Cool. Well, so you've been in Arkansas doing some hunting. You're hunting publicly in I was how'd that go?
Say?
The least? I've had better hunts?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I didn't didn't see a whole lot of deer action on this trip. Saw a few dough lots of mosquitoes, and a lot of snakes.
Oh snake, all our bodies out there, What was what was the tactic that you were so a little background here. You you went on a hunt early last year Tarkansas and had a good hunt, So I'm assuming you were kind of just going off of some of the previous knowledge there. What was the tactic that you were going in there on?
Yeah, so last year we were kind of hunting the food. We also had some water, so last year was a real dry year, and the location that we hunted last year was one of the only spots in the area that had really good water, which is what they were patterning. This year, we weren't able to get to that same spot just too due to a couple of different circumstances, so we had to improvise out new areas. But essentially we were hunting the same thing, just bead to food,
mostly acrons. Found some per simmons while we were out there as well, so that's kind of what.
We were after.
Is that what those snakes were eating per simmons?
Uh No, the only thing that's all eating. Those actually were coyotes.
Oh, they they see loves coyotes, man, man, k let me tell you something. I have a lot of encounters with coyotes these days.
It seems they intend to really like to mess up my hunts, which I hope that didn't happen for you.
Yeah, So what kind of acorns? Were they? Red oaks or white oaks?
I couldn't tell you, to be honest with you. I need to do some more research.
Were they small and in swampy areas?
Yeah?
They were small and they're real green.
Yeah. Yeah, so probably like swamp or water oaks as they call them, and willow oaks I would assume. But uh, those things we found they they tend to work later in the season two because they got so much tannin in them. But any anyway, so you know you have a rough hint. But you did see some deer, right, I did?
Yeah, just a few doze and they were both times, are both sets that I saw them. They were hitting the agrons just coming out of just coming out of their bedding in the evening.
Where were they betting in being Yeah, just like super thick honeysuckle and stuff like that or what was it?
Yeah, basically just yeah, thick areas like that. Yeah, it's all swamp land out there's everything. You know, it's kind of hard to find the betting because everything looks the same.
Cover Sure enough, Man, did you find any rubs yet while you were out there?
I didn't find many at all. Actually I saw one on a really small tree, but.
That was it.
Not like a little wispy to just give you not much confidence. So you know, if you were if you were thinking about like this next week based off any you know, weather patterns or any variability that you can think of, would you still hunt the same pattern maybe a different area, But would you still hunt deer moving from betting into the acorns?
Yeah, for sure. I mean I think that's probably your best bet at this point. Just I think that's the only thing that they're moving for right now.
So i'd be moving from them cotton mouths. So, if you had.
To predict the buck movement over the next week and give it a rating of one to ten, what are you going to call it for Arkansas?
Honestly, probably like a four, just because the weather is going to be about the same. It's still pretty warm, I think maybe mid to low sixties in the mornings and then mid eighties or so in the during the day, so I don't expect it to be much better than it was this week.
M Yeah, okay, well, man, I hope that it goes better for you next time you go up there, man. And I hope your Chick fil A is super tasty and as they say, I hope it's their pleasure, you know what I mean that they save you that the chick Fila.
They're pretty consistent, so I'm sure they are.
Chick Fish for board is pretty good on this one.
Man.
Yeah, well, thanks for hopping on and doing that for us. Man. And uh yeah, we'll be talking to you soon.
All right, sounds good.
Appreciate you guys.
On the phone. I've got cam Baits. He's been out in Wisconsin hunting. What's going on camp?
Oh Man, I'm honestly, I'm waiting for cold weather to roll in. But that's not too big of an issue. Yeah, I hunted the entire opening weekend, so Saturday Sunday learned a lot actually, But yeah, I mean, I'm waiting for some of the colder weather to roll in to really see some more deer movement in the in the morning hours and the evening hours than normal.
Yeah, but it's been good. Cool. Yeah, So I got I got a quot for you. Then, uh, Saturday, I coach the pee wee football game and it was ninety six. What's cold for you in Wisconsin? Cool? Oh?
Man.
The temperatures I want to see in the morning, I want to see in the thirties to forties.
Yeah, in the current months we're at. Yeah. Yeah.
Opening day though, I think it was morning temps were fifty five and then afternoon temps were seventy two and sunny.
Man. I think there's a song about that, isn't there.
Actually, So you know, this might be a little bit like basic level, but I think it's probably a good idea to talk about.
What do those cold tents do for you?
They get the they get the deer moving sooner. When it's a little bit warmer out, the deer tend to not hunker, They just bed longer, and so it pushes out those moving times from where you'd want to see at the six am, seven am, they push out to or.
Eight, nine, ten am.
So and so it doesn't really allow you to well, it doesn't allow you to prep for the day.
Well m M, gotcha.
So do you also, you know, the tempts you listed there were looking at kind of like first frost dates and stuff.
Does the the.
Brows or the the food sources tend to shift whenever you get that first frost.
Yeah, by then you'd still see some of the you'd see some of the farmers picking corn by then, or picking beans. They've already started to pick corn up here. But you start to see deer shift from movement out to those types of food sources like egg food sources.
You see them.
Start shift inwards to.
Trees, dropping acorns, stuff like that.
So is that what you've been hunting, is you know a major egg food sources.
Yeah, so I tend to I tend to make my decisions off of trail cameras right now because the land I hunt isn't driving distance of my house, and so I tend to hunt off of trail cameras right now.
And basically I'm really looking at travel.
Corridors, not necessarily where I would set up.
But to go, all right, are you moving in this direction?
If they're moving in this direction, then yes, they're probably hitting that field during the evening time. And so I'm just seeing what's moving to the food source.
Gotcha, are you thinking about scrapes at all yet or is it still too early?
It's too early.
I would expect to see that here in the next week or two where you see an uptick in scrapes and rubs.
Actually, so in the next week is are you would you change what you're doing if you're going forward and hunting next week or would you stick with you know, trail camera data that's showing you where they're head into and essentially hunting between bed and food.
I would say within okay, I would say within the next week, I'm going to stick with the trail cam data and I'm going to hunt between bed and.
Food here in the next two to three weeks.
Then I would start looking for scrapes and rubs and really determine, Hey, am I going to put my setup near one of those travel corridors from scrape to rub and just use that as where I would set up.
All right, cool man, So looking forward for the next week, then if it's kind of consistent with what you've been saying on a scale of one to ten, what do you expect bug movement to be like over the next week?
Buck movement over the next week I would expect it to probably be a six. Pretty good, that's not bad, man.
Yeah, but that's also factoring in, Hey, through the trail cameras, Do I have them figured out? Because I mean they're still moving during the day, But it's do I have that sussed out to know? Am I going to be close to where they're still moving during the day between these food sources embedding? Then I would say it's a six. But below that, if you're just winging it, it drops.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, well I feel like every time I'm winging it, I have low odds anyway, So try gammers are helpful things, man, for sure. Well we appreciate it. Cam. Thanks for the report. Man, I hope that going forward. Uh like in two or three weeks you're killing rutting bucks over scrapes and stuff. Man, Yeah, I mean that'd be awesome. I'll for sure let you guys know. All right, guys, Yeah, I have a good one you too, see you on the phone now. I've got Jason Redd. He's been out in North Carolina doing
some timber ninja stuff and hunting. How's it going, man, Man, it's doing good. It's a beautiful day. I hear some birds out there in the background. It sounds like, Yeah, I'm sitting on the back porch. Yeah, you know, I mean Portchiting this time of year can be pretty fun. It's a little warm in Texas, but I don't know if it's the same there in North Carolina or not.
Today Verhah is about seventy four. But we came out of this. It's been hot. This is the end of summer here, but this is our kind of like first little sprinkling at fall.
Yeah, that's cool. So you've been hunting a little bit this week. You're the kind of guy that likes to get after a target buck sometimes and really trying to figure out something, especially on public land, and you know some of that. Can you explain kind of what the country you've been hunting looks like?
So, yeah, I hunt mainly National Forest up the mountains North Carolina, So it's a lot of old grove forest, you know, really no no timber cuts, you know, masts and terrain is like your key key thing components here. But yeah, I've been after a buck for four years that I'm hunting right now.
Yeah, you told me you feel like you're kind of squeezing in on him. And figuring him out. Now what kind of what kind of pattern have you been unting him on right now? What I've been really focused on is food. Acorns are key here.
Acorns are dropping heavy in my area, and I know where he likes to bed this time of year. He's opened up some sign in there last week. You know that they just started shedding their velvet last week, and these rubs definitely looked like you know, he was shedding his velvet.
And then he.
Also, you know, with that velvet coming off, that testosterone going up, you know, deer kind of doing some funny things right now. These bucks are and he already opened up a scrape this week too, so you know, it's right in the line, on this elevation line, with his bed at this saddle. The one thing that limits me though, is that I know he's bedding on private and I'm hunting on the public, so I can't push any further
than I am. So you know, really what I'm working on is, you know, him coming to this saddle to eat acorns, but with so much mass on the ground right now, he doesn't had to travel very far.
Do you have cameras in the area.
I just put one in that area because he wasn't in there last year this time, but he had been the previous years that I've hunted him, and for whatever reason, I didn't get him in their early season last year. And I think, you know, as he's you know, he's at least a seven year old beer, so I think, you know, his home range is shrinking and this is primarily has been his core area. So I think he's going to be in there tire this year.
I'd be interested to see how much daylight movement you're getting for sure. That's ah, you know, that's an interesting It's an interesting time of year because you know, as we get kind of closer to October, some of those scrapes will open up and those kind of things, and uh, in my in the past, you know, it's it can still be hard to kill him very far from their beds, you know, and until like late October a lot of times.
So that's interesting. Now, if you were you know, you said, you've had kind of a just a spout of decent weather, good decent tempts. It's been kind of warm before that. What is uh, what is the forecast looking like going forward? I mean, are you going to be probably sticking to the same type of thing, trying to really just hunt really close to that private and and hopes that he shows up in the daylight.
Yeah, I mean so, actually I'm going on a trip out of state next week, but if I was hunting him, you know all this week, you know that moon's starting to come full, and I do notice a little bit more mid day movement when you have a full moon in the early season, because I you know, I think this beer out but uh yeah, but my goal is I did put a sale cam in there, and I want to see, you know, if there's potential that he's
beating on the other side of his sadle. If he is, I can push a little bit further, so I'd be in there, you know, really.
As close as I could. Because any type.
Of weather change, you know it's somewhat drastic or the moon can make that deer guy his bed a little bit surelier and travel a little bit longer.
Sure So, if you had to make a guess at what the buck movement will be like on a scale of one to ten in the next week, based off of weather patterns, moon or just time a year or anything any variable, what would you rate the buck movement to be like, if you had to guess.
I think, if you know, as we get into later next week, i'd be more along with seven scale personally, and I would, like I said, I think I would gamble on that being a midday, early season movement, So I'd be getting to my stand about seven or eight o'clock and pretty much sitting all day if I had
something I was seriously after. If I don't have something I'm seriously after right now, I'd have a stand on my back checking fresh sign around dropping oaks, because you know those bucks, they tend to like a certain o shaw until they move on to another one.
Gotcha, man, that's a good report. Well, I appreciate the time, Jason, and I hope that you get to wrap your hands around his antlers at some point man this year. Yeah, buddy, we will, thanks man. Okay, Now on the phone, I've got Garrett Oddison. He's hunting up in Minnesota. He's been hunting with the White Tailed DNA team and Alex Comstock up there. Man, what's been going on?
Oh, not a whole lot, Tit's I've been pretty slow. Actually, are mature bucks are kind of mi I A we actually just had one show up the other day. But for the most part, we're just sitting in spots waiting for those boys to show up.
Yeah are they?
So? Are those big mature bucks you when you say showing up you're mean on camera?
I guess right, yeah, pretty much, or we're the mouth.
I guess Okay, sure.
So we're in a suburban setting, so you'll talk around.
Here, yeah, man, I mean people are seeing that. There's joggers, there's bickers, all of it. Man, So sure sure yeah. So as far as as far as the camera data goes, are those deers showing up in daylight? Ah?
Not yet so far.
I think we're so are we're blocked up in our city. We're giving sections, so we're only able to hunt so far. And some of these big mature bucks are smart, you know, and they pulled off in the spots that you can't hunt.
And then once we get closer.
To the middle of October November, they're going to start growing.
Up in those spots where we can hunt.
Right now, we're getting them, yeah right, we're getting them after dark right now?
Gotcha? So what what patterns are you hunting them on? Are you just hoping that you can get as close to bedding as possible, or are you sitting near feed of some sort or what?
Yeah, right now we're sitting pretty close to feed.
We're still, like pretty much mostly everybody in the Midwest.
Hunting food to bed.
We're just trying to get in between those bucks and just hoping for a hail Mary. Right now, one of our teammates is on a pretty good one, and so he's on.
I guess is the what's the feed that you're you have?
Uh, we got acorns, we have apples.
Sometimes the deer, you know, going to people's gardens.
So if you can set up close to as close as you can to people's houses, I mean, that's where the deer is trying to go.
Gotcha. Okay, So as far as like the you know, shoot a deer in that situation, does it ever make you nervous?
Yeah?
It does, for sure. For sure. You try.
That's what the whole summer is, trying to make the most ethical shot and make the most when it happens.
Yeah, I bet man. So, you know, when I talked to you first before we were on air here, you mentioned that it's kind of rainy up there. I guess it's been kind of rainy. Has that been kind of the conditions last week?
Uh?
I know they've actually been pretty hot, which is probably why those bucks are staying after.
Dark two before they're getting up out of their beds.
So do you think this weather will change things?
Yeah?
For sure, because I'm looking at next week, it's supposed to temperature supposed to drop into the sixties, so that should get.
Those deer moving earlier.
Okay, So you so if you were going to be hunting next week, or say you're gonna you're going to hunt, are you hunting the same patterns essentially hunting apple trees, ach and trees, those kind of things, and trying to still hope that those bucks are just getting up on their feet earlier, but you're you know, ending up in the in those spots before dark hits.
Yeah for sure, for sure.
I'm also going off of a historical data. I know where these for the most part. I mean, it's a deer can go wherever it wants.
But going off historical data, those deer they're bound to move through my area. I just got to be there at the right place at the right time, right.
So this, like you said, this next week is looking a lot better than it did opening.
Week, gotcha. Okay, So if you if you had to rate it on a scale of one to ten as far as buck movement goes in the next week, based off of any variables you can think of, what would you what would you give it?
I would go probably solid five.
Okay, that's good man. You know five was my number in high school, So I'm cool with that. You know, awesome, dude. Well, I appreciate the information, Garrett, and I hope that those big bucks show up for you next week.
All right, me too, man, say yeah, yeah.
Those are some fantastic reports from around the country, some real information for you to use and to get you hop about the upcoming days.
Thank you so much for listening.
If you need to get a little bit more hope and you're kind of more the reading type, Mark Kenyon just put out a article about how he spreadsheet can help you kill your target buck. And that guy knows because he is all about his target bucks and all about his spreadsheets too.
Oh he is Holy field master. Right.
You know.
You can also watch Mark if you don't like reading too much, which I understand. Mark actually has a new there's a new episode out on the med Eater YouTube channel for the one Week in November series. Mark is the thumbnail guy. So if you see oh Mark in the sweet new source jacket from First Light with the binos in his hands, trying to look at a deer a target buck apparently down in to the right corner, that's that is a new video on the YouTube channel.
You should check it out. Guys, Thanks for listening this week. This has been ret fresh, Keep it fresh.