DIY Sportsman | More Harvests and Rut Strategy

Bobby and Garrett discuss their recent hunts and harvests as well as plans for the coming weeks. Bobby flew back to his Missouri home down and was able to shoot a doe within an hour of being in the tree. One of the interesting things for that particular hunt was that Bobby used an EZ V flipped around backwards only hours out of pulling it out of the package. That's a pretty bold move, and he explained his process and also thoughts around using the sight for the first time. Missouri has a ton of public land, so in addition to that success, Bobby started heavily scouting for rut sign and pinch points.

Garrett is headed down to Missouri to hunt; however, first he's headed to southeast Minnesota. This is the same area of the state that the public land challenge was held. The pressure in this area of the state for firearms opener is very high. That leaves two potential strategies. One strategy is to anticipate pressure and hunter access routes to set up over escape funnels leading into a lower drainage full of security cover. The other, which Garrett plans to do, is to find overlooked and hard to access public that is likely surrounded by lower pressure private land. In that case, there could be a mixture of hunter-based deer movement and normal rutting activity.

Garrett also recently shot a doe on a "Beast-style" hardwood point leading out into the cattails. The large doe was bedded in seclusion around 50 yards from the set-up tree. What was interesting about that particular hunt was the body language and behavior of that lone doe. The two discuss ageing methods such as tooth wear and lab-based data and why it might be challenging to get the actual age of that doe.