After a couple decades of hunting experience, I’ve learned some lessons and also stubbornly refused to learn some lessons.

For instance: I see a small white pine tree about sixteen inches in diameter with a fresh rub that looks as if it were savaged by a horde of tall beavers. I can’t stand it. Although I’ve read the research which proves that the majority of the time - more than 95 percent of the time - bucks revisit rubs in the dark.

But, I tell myself, there’s that other five percent. So instead of bringing in more firewood, cleaning the bathroom, grocery shopping, cutting the grass or doing any of the myriad of chores that I should be doing, I put up a stand overlooking the new huge rub. Going forward I will waste many hours sitting in that stand, glancing at the rub and imagining a large buck coming in to freshen it. This will never happen.

Here are some lessons that I have learned, and follow, which as the magic season called “Hunting the Rut” approaches, will help you in your quest:

Something Borrowed

I borrow this information from the playbook of a deer (and dear) hunting buddy of mine, Dr. Dave Samuel from West Virginia.

“If you live in an area where hunter numbers are great, don’t rely a lot on rattling and calling. Deer, especially older bucks, have survived to this season after being lied to by these techniques many times. As youngsters, they may have responded to rattling and calling, only to discover human presence.”

“An older buck is the sum total of his experience. It may only take one such lesson or scare to stop him from responding to rattling or calling. Now that we have the capability to use DNA research, we’ve learned that there are a number of older bucks which aren’t taking part in the rut – breeding – at all. We have DNA from them and we have DNA on fawns, in the same area – they aren’t siring any fawns.”

Something Blue

How do deer see color? Research on the positioning of rods and cones in deer eyes has proven that although deer don’t “see” color, they do have the capability to see ultraviolet (UV) light. They will also see the color blue, which for a deer would glow in much the same way that we see a neon light. In other words, if you only have a blue ratchet strap to secure a stand, don’t use it unless you want deer to easily find you.

What about your clothing? Most of us already use the various “hunting detergents” on the market when we wash our clothing. But here’s the mistake with that practice: Before we buy that clothing, the manufacturer washes it with detergent that contains UV whiteners. That is done to make it more attractive as it hangs on the rack.

But if you want to hang a rack on your wall, you need to remove that from your clothing. Just washing your clothing in hunting detergent will remove unwanted odors, but will NOT remove UV whiteners from your clothing. For that you need to spray your outerwear with a UV Killer product.

The rut approaches. Game on. Time to up your game for this fabulous season.