Keep your eyes open for the first signs of the oncoming rut
because the pre-rut period is one of the best times to bag a buck. The first
rubs signal that bucks are getting interested but are not yet quite all the way
"there."
At this period, buck grunts work well but keep your calling subdued. Rubbing
your rattling antlers on trees and just lightly "tickling" them is
the best play early on. I like to occasionally rap a tree or the ground sharply
to simulate the actions of rubbing bucks early in the pre-rut.
As the pre-rut period advances you may become more aggressive in your grunting
and rattling and start to simulate full-scale buck fights. Adding doe bleats at
this time also is a good idea.
What you are trying to accomplish is staying in synch with the natural
progression of buck behavior during the pre-rut period. Coming on too strong,
too early, may spook rather than entice bucks that are not quite territorial
yet.
---Ricky Joe Bishop---