3 Whitetail Rut Locations for Hunting in the Midwest

The Path of Least Resistance

My favorite places to hunt aren’t always the hardest to get to or in the worst places, unlike what other outdoor writers might lead you to believe.  One of the most overlooked aspects of a good rut stand is that buck can travel through the area quickly and easily without exposing themselves to much danger.

Areas to look for may include an outside bend of a river swept up against a steep bluff, a narrow logging road on a steep hill, or an open creek bottom that allows this to skirt just out of sight when crossing open ground between wood lots in the midwest.

Big bucks, like all animals, take the path of least resistance when traveling, as long as they feel safe in doing so. They’ll look for places that are easier to navigate. maybe around a down tree or the edge of a rock formation.  Sometimes they’re obvious and other times you’ll shake your head and think there’s no way.   One of the most unique places I’ve seen big bucks travel is over a bridge.

It was my first year hunting Ohio and I was parking at a farmer’s house and walking up the hill to the best-looking oak flat I could find.  However, every evening I’d bump deer out of the over-sized hay field on the way to my truck.  So I smartened up and spent a day glassing the field and to my surprise, a beautiful buck crossed the main road and walked right across the farmer’s concrete bridge and into the hayfield.  It didn’t make sense that a buck would expose himself like that, especially seeing how small the creek was.  However, the next morning I shot the buck in that field and wouldn’t you know it, he crossed the bridge and onto the neighbor’s property, taking the path of least resistance along the way.

Timber Draws Extending Into Fields

While shed hunting some new ground this season, I watched a herd of deer run from one section of timber to another as a group of shed hunters pushed up the thick timber creek bottom towards the field.  Deer after deer piled out of the timber at the tip end of it, only to run across the timber directly into the next patch of trees that looked eerily similar to the one they came from.

Not only was this the path of least resistance, but it was an ideal place to find a big buck cruising during the rut in farmland.  As bucks begin to frantically search for does during the whitetail rut, they’ll often run out of room in one woodlot and need to cross open ground to the next, and one of the easiest ways for them to do it is to travel from cover to cover, which is often a large finger of timber protruding into the field.  This is also a great bedding location, so use caution on approaching these treestand locations.

Inside Corner of Field Edges

Here’s an option that you might already be hunting, but you might be hunting it wrong.  It’s no secret that bucks like to travel the inside corners of field edges and that’s exactly where I found myself during the rut in Kansas this year.  However, my stand placement wasn’t the best as bucks were cutting the corner as they traveled through, just out of bow range.

When it comes to inside corners of field edges, make sure you find the spot within the spot.  This principle applies to every hunting location you’ll ever hang a treestand in but it’s bit me in the but more times than I can count because I wasn’t in the right tree.  After a day or two of hunting what appeared to be a prime spot, I finally figured out why the deer were skirting the corner, not giving me a shot.  It was the downed trees just out of sight that pushed the deer around me.  These deer were taking the path of the least resistance.

Typically, bucks will not expose themselves in the open any more than is necessary, so the corners of fields are a great place to find a buck slipping from one side of the field to another, checking scrapes along the way.  Inside corners of field edges are quick and easy to find on a map. Plus, they’re basically everywhere!  The biggest problem is finding the correct inside corner and sticking with it.

One unique thing about the inside corners is that they can be very entertaining as you should be able to watch animals throughout the field, as well as behind you in the timber.  It certainly makes all-day sits much more enjoyable when nature is entertaining you.

Now, let’s focus on which inside corner you should be focused on.  Check out the map below and many of the inside corners are marked but one in particular stands out to me, marked in blue.  With so many options, narrow it down to the inside corner that will condense the most traffic, highlighted in blue.