Feature Story

All I know is, every hunting property and deer population has its limits. You don’t really want to find out what they are. Shouldn’t the last day of your rutcation have as much potential as your first?

Here’s how I plan to make that happen this year.

Add Dimension to My Wind Strategy

I thought my wind strategy was excellent. I prepared multiple stand sites for maximum flexibility. I could choose from six ladder stands, three ground blinds, two lock-ons, and three permanent tower stands on food plots. I had marked each in onX Hunt and programmed the optimal wind directions for each, so I could see at a glance which stands gave me a greenlight (screenshot below).

This strategy broke down at several points during my rutcation when the wind blew from an unusual direction, putting almost all those stand options in red-light conditions. The one or two that still worked were stands I had already hunted in the last sit or two, and I didn’t want to hit them again so soon. I needed more options.

It’s no good to have 20 stand options if 18 of them are nullified by a single wind direction. If the wind stays in that quarter for your entire rutcation, you only have two stands to hunt. I need multiple stands available no matter which direction the wind blows, and each of those needs an appropriate access route that also works for that wind.

What I wish I had done was to run simulations of wind from every direction, even unusual ones, and ask myself: what if? Then, I should have prepared stands or identified stand locations that work in every condition.

Minimize Unknowns on the Map

When the wind soured on me, I still had my portable climbing stand, and there were areas on the map that worked in those winds. But I didn’t know them. I had not scouted them recently, so walking in would be a shot in the dark. I’d have to scout with a stand on my back, or just hang and hope.

Late in the week, that’s what I did on two afternoons. I walked into unscouted areas and rolled the dice. It didn’t work. I felt desperate, and that’s not a feeling you want in the middle of your rutcation, especially since vacation days are priceless for most of us.

If my wind simulations identify areas and approaches that work in odd winds, but I don’t have a stand there or know the area, I’m going to fix that. I’m going to scout those areas this winter and again closer to the season so I’m familiar with the food sources and other features, and so I know how I will get in and out of those areas. I’ll either prepare stands or at least drop onX waypoints on trees I can climb.

Game Out the What-IFs

I’ve also learned the “what-ifs” aren’t just wind related. Most of the 400 huntable acres on Grace Acres are in the swamp, a broad flood plain along a large creek. In this flat country of the Lower Coastal Plain, it doesn’t take a lot of rain to raise the creek out of its banks. Water affected one of my rutcations by putting several ground blinds out of action and making other stands unreachable.

You may not have a creek or floodplain where you hunt, but you have factors that may come into play unexpectedly. Farmers harvest crops early. Loggers move in to harvest timber.

The acorn crop fails or has a record year. Whatever variables you know about, predict how they might affect your rutcation plans, and prepare.

Stay Clean

Surely this goes without saying, but be prepared for a week’s worth of scent-free hunting. That means a good supply of scent-free soap, laundry detergent, scent-killer spray, field wipes, cover scents, ozone duffel bags –whatever methods you trust, use them abundantly.

Each time I go to the woods, I’m wearing clean laundry. I don’t recycle that morning’s camo for the afternoon hunt, except in the case of outer layers like jackets and vests. I hang these outside during the day to air in a spot where they can get sun and a breeze. I remove boots outside and leave them there. Outside items like this get a mist of scent-killer spray before the next hunt.

Camp clothes are for camp, and they stay there. I bring comfortable shoes, hats and outer layers that are for camp only.

Stay Out of the Woods

By this I mean except for deer hunting. I’ve learned there are temptations during the middle of the day to go back. You may want to check or move a trail-camera or refresh the batteries. There’s a stand you could move, or one you could hang. There’s an area you’d like to scout that could work out for the afternoon hunt.

Don’t do this. Take steps to ensure these chores are unnecessary during your rutcation week. Freshen those batteries ahead of time. Get all major stand work and relocations done before the season. Scout beforehand the areas that may prove useful.

In many hunting areas, the sudden intrusion of human activity when hunting season opens is a significant change from the normal level. While some level of farm activity might be a year-round factor, that’s still different from human scent trails in the forest, the rumble of ATVs and trucks on woods roads, and the racket of ladderstand assembly. Whitetails did not outlast cave bears and saber-toothed lions only to ignore the sudden sweet aroma of Oatmeal Cream Pies on the wind. Adding such signals on top of your daily stand presence can have nothing but a negative impact on your rutcation success.

Bring some good books, stay caught up on work e-mails, prepare a gourmet recipe for that night’s supper, or take a long nap, but don’t go back to the woods except to hunt.

Take a Break

Deer defeat us when they can predict us. Whether it’s our repeated presence at a particular stand, recurring scent on an access trail, or strange noises from a certain area, deer quickly avoid these signs of danger. That’s not my opinion, it’s the evidence from deer-tracking science. The timing of your entries and exits from the woods can also form a pattern. Just as you break up patterns by rotating stand sites, break up other patterns by taking a morning or an afternoon off in the middle of your rutcation. Give the deer and yourself a break. You may need the rest, and even a brief absence from the woods can do nothing but improve your odds when you do return.

Rutcation Re-Do

The science suggests short weekend hunts interrupted by four or five days of quiet are the best way to catch deer with their guard down. Rutcations may be giving too many advantages to the deer, but I’m not giving up on them yet. After a refit and reboot, I’ll launch rutcation 3.0 this fall and see how it goes. If this one crashes like the first two, it will be time to abandon the week-long approach and return to run-and-gun weekend hunts.