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The pre-rut is my favorite time of the entire hunting season because you can create scenarios that play on the whitetail buck’s basic psychology.

The pre-rut is the week to a couple of days before the actual rut is on.

This means that there are not any hot does quite yet; however, the whitetail bucks are starting to get more active in the daylight looking for that first doe to come into heat. This gives you a small window of time to take advantage of these want-to-be sexual bucks.

This post will be shorter because I will not be going into great detail on how to do each strategy. Rather, I will be just explaining what types of pre-rut strategies you can use to get a good shot at your target bucks.

These strategies will allow you to trick the mature bucks into thinking that either there are hot does or a young buck is trying to come into their territory.

Rattling for bucks

Rattling can be used in many ways. I personally use a rattle bag which is easier for me to carry in my backpack than an actual set of rattling antlers.

I personally use the Primos rattle bag on Amazon. I use this type of rattling system because it allows for easy storage in your backpack, hard to lose the ‘bone’ inside the bag, and gives real sounds that get the buck’s ears perked up.

Pre-Rut Strategy 1- Light rattling

Light rattling can be a good way to get a mature whitetail buck to believe that two younger bucks are fighting over a hot doe.

This is most effective during the pre-rut because the mature bucks know when the rut starts and are not easily fooled.

Make sure that you are not aggressively rattling because it will scare all of the younger whitetail bucks except the most mature one away. The problem with this is the most mature whitetail buck may not even be in the vicinity. You do not want to make all the other good bucks fearful of the aggressive fight and ruin any chances to get a shot.

Pre-Rut Strategy 2- Aggressive rattling

Aggressive rattling can be a slippery slope. Done wrong and that mature buck will never step out in daylight for you. But, done right and you could be in business.

I want to save how to do this for another blog post. However, just know that if you are going to aggressively rattle to get a buck to come out and see what is going on, you better do it very strategically.

If not done correctly, you may never see that mature monster in daylight. Because this strategy is more advanced and tricky I would avoid using this in the pre-rut. Just wait to get aggressive for the rut.

Pre-Rut Strategy 3- Grunt Calling

A good grunt call can be the difference between realistic and fake-sounding calls. You will want a grunt call that has many different tones like a mature buck, a doe, and a fawn to choose from. I recommend Illusion Systems by Extinguisher on Amazon because they are highly rated and even promoted on the Deer Society.

As hunters, we use grunt calls as our way to act like we are a part of the deer community. We can converse with other whitetails and if you have good technique can even fool a monster buck into believing that you are a smaller buck ready to fight.

As I said above, I will post more in-depth about how to use grunt calls correctly. But for right now, I just want to mention how you can use a call to your advantage.

You use a grunt call during the pre-rut to make it seem like you are another buck chasing a doe in heat. Or you can also use it to challenge another buck using a snort wheeze. (Most grunt calls have a snort wheeze built into the call)

Both tactics can make an older buck jealous and territorial which will draw him out of his bedding area and into your shooting range.

Pre-Rut Strategy 4- Using Doe in Heat Urine

Whitetail does have a distinct smell when they are in heat and ready to mate. That is the indicator of a doe in heat.

The doe in heat urine that I like to use is the TINKS Hot-Shot #69 doe-in-rut can on Amazon. It spays mist that you can put on your boots or on any trees, rubs, or scrapes that you may be hunting over.

Hunters (including myself) will use doe in heat urine that you can buy and put on our boots. This allows us to cover our scent and make you smell like a doe at the same time.

Whitetail bucks are waiting in anticipation for the rut. So, using doe in heat urine during the pre-rut is a perfect way to trick those big bucks into thinking that the rut is here, and it is time to mate.

Doe in heat urine is a great tool to utilize during the pre-rut because all the bucks want that first doe. Once the rut is on, all the does in the area will be in heat and your doe urine will not be as special anymore. It is possible that it will still be effective during the rut because bucks mate many does in one year.

Rattling, grunting, and doe in heat urine can be some of the most effective strategies to entice mature whitetail bucks to come out and play during the pre-rut. The hard part is being good enough at it to make the buck believe that the rut has started and it’s time to chase.

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