re: Missouri Rifle Season

Good to hear. Well shite..i hope im not getting there too late and miss them chasing lol

I’m Heading back up to Putnam Co. Nov. 1st.I have a 10 day window and hope to get it done with my bow. I lease 220 acres and I’m starting to get some good bucks on my cameras. It’s amazing how well they respond to mock scrapes.

I, too, will be in Putnam County.

We are near Lemons.

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Can you give me any details of your call method in that area in early rut?

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Up there, I’ve had success calling aggressively. I haven’t sealed the deal on any, but I’ve gotten them close and not been able to get a good shot with my bow.
I usually throw out a pretty loud, fairly long grunt, followed by 2-3 short ones. Basically how an elk bugles.
Early on in the rut, I’ll rattle if I’m blind calling and hit a snort wheeze right when I stop rattling. I do that because I’ve heard bucks fighting up there and one snort wheezed right when they broke it up. So I mimic that.
The big one I called in last year, was after 3 does and I hit the grunt loud and stopped him dead in his tracks. He went back and forth a couple times between the does and wanting to come investigate, so I hit a snort wheeze and it was over. He came in on a string.
Don’t be afraid to get aggressive with it. My second year up there I called one in by grunting, rattling, raking leaves(I was on the ground), and breaking branches. Big mfer snuck up behind me and got to 25 yards before I heard him. I turned to look and he saw me move and it was over with.

Some of the best outdoor advice is on the board.

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be more subtle

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I plan on slipping through the woods the majority of the days I’m up there, since I’m just going for rifle. While I’m moving, I’ll be grunting more subtly like a buck that’s on a doe’s trail, but hasn’t found her. Check out Hattybo game calls. They have a YouTube video too. A very subtle grunt. If I’m in a tree and trying to get a deer fired up to come into bow range, or blind calling, I use the intimidator by woodhaven. It’s a lot deeper and you can get loud with it.
Last year, I heard a buck chasing a doe, saw the doe but never laid eyes on the buck. I don’t think there’s a grunt call on the market that could get that loud, and that deep. It echoed through the whole bottom. I’ve heard a few fights through the years up there too. Those bucks up there can make some serious noise when they’re fired up.

5 days until I leave.

I'm already having trouble going to sleep because of the excitement.

Same here.

I won't be a fool and leave at 2:30 am like i did last year and ran off energy drinks and coffee on the way up

My dad and I are headed up Saturday night to hunt the week on a 500 acre farm. It’ll be his first time hunting in the Midwest so I’m praying we can get him one in crossbow range. If I can get an opportunity as well, that’ll just be icing on the cake. Weather outlook is good, I’m just pumped to get in a solid week of hunting.

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Thats because there isnt 293759327 coonasses trying to kill them

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I think there’s a few factors that play a part in it. Hunting pressure definitely being one of them. Having 3 buck tags with no restrictions is another factor. People will shoot 1.5-2.5 year old 4-6pts on public land all day. I think there’s more mature bucks up there than down here also. Making them have to compete more with other mature bucks, which makes them more aggressive/prone to investigate calls.
Our long gun/primitive season, combined with our 3 buck tags, with almost no size/age restrictions(unless you’re in a club or on some federal lands), is what hurts us compared to the Midwest.
If you managed a property and let bucks reach maturity, and kept the doe population lower, you would be able to peak a bucks interest by calling during the rut.