Alex & Ben ARO TV Hot Whitetails

Bruce: Hey folks, Part 1 was very interesting. We got the roots and the fiber of the new show that's coming out with Alex Rutledge, American Roots Outdoor TV, and now Part 2, we're gonna talk about something that's on everybody's mind right now, the rut.Alex & Ben ARO TV Hot Whitetails

The stages of the rut. There's so much written, you can't go anyplace on TV or magazine or the internet without somebody saying something about the rut. So, guys, what are you seeing right now in your neck of the woods as far as activity?

Alex: Okay, well I'm gonna start before Ben because I'm in South Central Missouri in the Ozarks in the Midwest. Our elevation is around 1,000 to 1,200 feet elevation. Our rut is actually kicking into pre-rut.

I've got mature buck with does already starting to guard does

I've got mature buck with does already starting to guard does. We are seeing many mature bucks biting the dirt the last two weeks. The scrapes are very active, the rubs are very evident, we're starting to see bucks seeking. We got bucks showing up that hadn't been here. So our bucks are ahead here. I've not stepped foot in the woods to hunt yet because I'm saving a certain farm that I got for my great niece Addie's, we talked about earlier. I will start bowhunting after this youth weekend here in Missouri. But the success, the techniques people are using right now is finding scrape lines and rub lines and they're finding these clusters of does and they've already fallen in place and the trail cameras are telling them where to go.

I personally use SPYPOINT venues as SPYPOINT and we continue to work with SPYPOINT is the plan for American Roots Outdoors. Trail cameras don't lie, folks. If you'll use this tactic, I'm about to share with you, you will see you'll be more successful. We're telling you to stay out of your woods only to pull your cameras one day a week, over food sources, over scrapes, over rubs, over watering holes, and you hunt by what the cameras tell you to hunt.

By keeping this low-pressure down

By keeping this low-pressure down and once you find that certain buck that's on pattern, and you've set to studying and took a topographical map or an aerial photo of your property, and the wind is right how you can slip in there without spooking these deer, and you watch what I'm telling you, you will close the deal. And that's my technique that I use to stay close to deer. Ben, what do you use, and what's your deer doing in Tennessee?

Ben: Well, two weeks ago I noticed the first scrape mound and then we got a cold snap and I seen a lot of rubs, a lot of scrapes, I had five new bucks, saw 'em on camera last week before I come up here to Missouri so they're definitely starting to move around and get curious about the does and what-not. My tactic that I've always used and it's worked good for me, is I find the does and keep 'em there.

Well, two weeks ago I noticed the first scrape mound

Alex: Mineral licks.

Ben: Yeah, mineral licks.

Alex: We're using rack 'em and stack 'em right now and all that. But anyway, mineral science. Deer feed where it's legal.

Ben: Yeah, where it's legal, to keep the does in your property and therefore when the rut kicks in, it's a breeding ground. That's always been my tactic and it's worked really good for me. In Mentor, Tennessee where I hunt at, we're getting better. This is the second year of the two buck limit, used to be three.

I'm seeing a difference. People are getting a little bit more mindful of what they shoot and are managing a little better I think it's helping. I think at five years it's getting there now. I see it all the time. Big deer are getting killed every year in Tennessee.

I've been blessed to take really good deer in Tennessee so I think it's getting bet...