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The Tale of a QDM Club by Dave Edwards
Own Your Own by Virgil Peritts
What Is TSI? by Matt Ross, QDMA
Native vs. Non-Native by Gabriel Karns, M. Colter Chitwood, Chris Moorman, and Dr. Chris DePerno
Oaks For Bucks by Chris Moorman
Go For Broke by Tony Hansen, Realtree Whitetail Team
Deer Season: A Time For Kids by Stephanie Mallory
The Need For Minerals by Brian Murphy, QDMA
Perlitz Ranch Hosts Youth Camp by Kelly Haydel
Timing the Rut With Fawns by Gabriel Karns, M. Colter Chitwood
How to add cover for deer by Realtree Whitetail Team
What percentage of a buck's antler development potential comes from the doe's genes? by Realtree Whitetail Team
Where were the bucks? by Team Realtree
Growths on Deer? by Team Realtree
How Many Teats? by Team Realtree
Special thanks to:
Quality Deer
Management Association
Whitetail Insider
Lunchtime Bucks
Every year, the end of October signals the start of the white-tailed deer rut. At the same time, outdoor magazines are accumulating at a disturbing pace on your coffee table. Within these stacks of glossy pages, experts dispense the latest and most heralded strategies for tagging that bruiser November buck. Among the annual expertise is encouragement to endure those noontime hours during the peak rut in hopes of intersecting a meandering or spooked buck. However, according to my graduate thesis research, you probably stand an equal chance to harvest a “lunchtime” buck during the pre-rut.
As I have mentioned in previous articles, my research at North Carolina State University used GPS radiocollars to track mature whitetail bucks during the fall months at Chesapeake Farms in Maryland. The GPS technology recorded the bucks’ locations every hour throughout the entire deployment of the collar and every 5 minutes from mid-October to mid-December—almost real-time movement data. For the purposes of this article, I examined six bucks’ movements from October 15-October 31 during 2007. Remember, the discussed scenarios in this article are actual data from real whitetail bucks in the wild.
Over the course of the pre-rut period (October 15-October 31), all six bucks exhibited at least one midday movement that exceeded 200 meters. On average, an individual buck ( > 2.5-years-old) made a noontime movement once every 8 days during the pre-rut. Broken down by distance, 50 percent of the movements were 200-500 yards, 33 percent were between 500-1,000 yards, and 17 percent exceeded 1,000 yards. Keeping this in mind, I’ll address four specific scenarios from which we can learn something about hunting “lunchtime” bucks.
1 – Switch stand locations for your lunch break 
Most hunters adapt their strategies throughout the course of an entire deer hunting season, but smart hunters adjust their tactics over the course of a single day. For illustration’s sake, you were hunting in a stand along the west edge of the agricultural fields and saw a wide antlered buck slip into the woods across the field at day-break. Odds are, you could hunt all day long and probably see the buck again, but he will still be across the field and well outside shooting range. If you are running out of time on an out-of-state hunt or are trying to tag a trophy before the floodgate of firearms season opens, try this aggressive move. Using the wind and your best hunch as to where the buck bedded, sneak within about 100 yards of the location and wait the buck out. If you don’t catch him stretching at lunch time, you are perfectly positioned to close the deal at sunset.
2 – Hunt travel corridors 
This scenario is a great opportunity to choose your best travel corridor stand and stay put from sun-up to sun-down. This particular buck made the same midday movement twice during the pre-rut. Locating your stand in a high travel zone (A) should give you all-day action. The road running north-south, agricultural fields to the west, and narrowing strip of hardwoods help to funnel deer past this great stand location. Hunted on a west wind, you might ambush a buck making a long-distance lunchtime trek. Be sure to mark several options on your map and place stands accordingly. This will allow for a few options to hunt in varying wind conditions.
3 – Hunt topographical funnels 
Topographical funnels can range from saddles and draws in mountainous regions to low-lying marshes in flatter landscapes. In Figure 3, the swampy wetland is an effective funnel for deer movement. In order to get from one side of the swamp to the other, deer must either skirt the north or south edge. Because the southern edge of the swamp is open, agricultural fields and deer would probably feel vulnerable, a stand situated at the north perimeter is certain to be covered in heavy deer trails. Although this would appear to be a great all-day stand, the only access is through the agricultural fields and an early morning approach would spook lots of deer. Rather, wait for a cold and rainy north wind, stalk up the edge of the swamp, and hunt in your stand until mid-afternoon. Several hours before darkness falls, sneak out to your pick-up and get warm. For your evening hunt, set up over an agricultural food source as deer will be looking for a high energy dinner.
4 – Be in the woods…you never know 
There doesn’t seem to be rhyme or reason to this buck’s movement, but the morale of the story is that you can’t kill a big buck eating pork and beans back at deer camp. It sounds elementary, but simply being in the deer woods at every opportunity is the best way to maximize your chance of tagging a trophy. Judging by the buck’s unhurried movement, I would surmise that he is either trailing an unreceptive doe or scent-checking a known bedding area. The bottom line is that there is no way to predict these sorts of movements; you just have to be waiting in the woods to capitalize.
This hunting season, don’t be afraid to try something different and more aggressive than you are accustomed. Instead of leaving your hunting stand during the mid-morning, pack a bag lunch and settle in for the long haul. You might be tagging a trophy buck while everyone else is napping back at deer camp. Hunt smart, hunt hard and shoot straight.
About the author: Gabriel Karns is an M. S. candidate in the wildlife sciences program at North Carolina State University, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources