Trout - HUNTING RUTTING BUCKS: secrets for tagging the biggest buck of your life!

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

I had always hoped to do a book about hunting rutting whitetail bucks. Because there is so much more to the rut than bucks chasing does, I wanted the book to go deeply into each phasepre-rut, primary rut and post-rut. I thank Kate and Peter Fiduccia of Woods N Water, Inc. for making it all happen.

On more than one occasion in this book, I discuss anecdotes. Some of these mention my son John. I thank him for the time we have shared outdoors, and for the unforgettable stories he has contributed. It was so enjoyable writing these anecdotes; the memories will last forever. I look forward to those that are yet to come.

My wife, Vikki, has always been there for me. Her support for this book, her hand at proof-reading, and her time helping with photography cannot go unmentioned. But more than anything, I thank her for sharing time with me in the deer-hunting woods. What a bless ing it has been.

Hunting mature whitetail bucks has never been and never will be easy. However, my good friend Tim Hillsmeyer has made the job a little less painful, helping me become a wiser and better hunter. I thank him for his friendship and for the knowledge he has shared over the years. Between the covers of this book, he now shares some of that knowledge with you.

Hunting is truly a wonderful experience, but companionship makes it better.

I thank Dad, and so many other friends who have made my time in the outdoors so enjoyable. I thank them, too, for being so willing to stop and pose for photographs at a moments notice.

Finally, I thank my God for supporting me, for the hunting opportunities. He has given me the perfect creations and beautiful landscapes I have viewed. It is not the first time I have said this, and it wont be the last.

D EDICATION

This book is dedicated to Tim, whose friendship and knowledge has contributed to my passionate pursuit of trophy whitetails.

Copyright 2012, 2019 by John Trout, Jr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created tospecifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Tom LauCover image credit: iStockphoto.com

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-3867-6 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-3869-0

Printed in the United States of America

T ABLE OF C ONTENTS

F OREWORD

If there is one aspect about whitetail hunting that is talked about in countless deer camps across North America, it is without question the rut and the unbridled anticipation it generates among hunters. Conversations about the rut are responsible for stirring up a wide variety of opinions, hearsay, contradictions, and heated debates.

The subject can get so intense that it can, on rare occasions, even promote fisticuffs. If that seems farfetched to you, let me share a brief story. I was hunting moose in late October in Newfoundland along with a group of other hunters from different areas of the Northeast. One morning during breakfast a couple of the hunters began talking about how excited they were to get back to New York to hunt whitetails because the rut would soon be on. That simple statement started a low-key debate between the New Yorkers and a group of hunters from Pennsylvania. It began cordially enough, but when it reached a point about what triggers the rut and when it actually begins , tempers flared. It ended when one hunter from New York actually socked one of the Pennsylvania hunters in the nose! Thankfully, most debates and conversations about the rut rarely lead to physical combat.

But the point is that many hunters dont fully understand all aspects of the whitetails breeding season. Thats understandable, because there is so much misinformation about the rut on television, in magazine articles and books, and on YouTube and the web. This eventually leads hunters into believing a lot of half-truths, contradictions, and myths about the rut.

Thats an unfortunate situation, because it accounts for a sizeable number of deer hunters being left in a grey area when it comes to hunting rutting bucks. It also accounts for many hunters missing out on the very best period of time to kill a trophy buck. But it doesnt have to be that way. In fact, gathering solid information about the rut, and understanding how to apply that to your own hunting, is about to get much easier for you now that you own a copy of Hunting Rutting Bucks: Secrets for Tagging the Biggest Buck of Your Life! by the late deer-hunting expert John Trout, Jr.

John Trout, Jr. was perhaps one of the most knowledgeable outdoor writers about all subjects related to hunting white-tailed deer. His skills and understanding of the whitetails biology, behavior, and anatomy were impressive. Among deer hunting authorities in the outdoor industry, Trouts reputation for providing hard-core factual information about all elements of hunting whitetails, particularly during the rut, were second to none.

Trouts writings made it clear to all who read his works that he gained his deer hunting expertise the hard waythrough decades of real-world hunting. Trout was first and foremost a highly capable deer hunter who eventually became a first-rate deer hunting authority. I know this first hand, as I have read every book and most of the magazine articles he wrote about deer hunting.

If you want to achieve a masters degree in the rut, now is your chance with Hunting Rutting Bucks by John Trout, Jr. The information contained in this volume will definitely give you an edge on taking the buck of a lifetime during any phase of the rut (pre-rut, primary-rut, or post-rut).

Peter J. Fiduccia a.k.a. The Deer Doctor
2019

I NTRODUCTION

For just a moment, stop and think about the rut. You probably visualize a huge buck on the move in pursuit of a hot doe. Yep, thats a good description and a fair judgment. But as the old saying goes, Thats not all folks.

Let me remind you of one important fact: More often than not, we tag trophy bucks because they did something wrongnot because we did something right. With that out of the way, I can proceed and tell you how this book can help you to reverse that fact.

The rut consists of hundreds of factors that lead up to the moment of breeding. These aspects occur in three cycles, and they all tie together, like a complete and perfect puzzle. It begins during pre-rut, slowly progresses into the primary rut, and tapers off during the post-rut. Any deer hunter with bow or gun who understands these factors, and knows when in the cycle a given factor will occur, is conceivably a major step closer to tagging a trophy whitetail buck.