Episode 7 - Missouri Whitetail Rut Hunt

November in Missouri means one thing for whitetail hunters - the rut hunt. Colin and Locke drove from Louisiana and headed straight out to the Missouri woods to hang their set. And boy, are they excited by what they see...

First Day 

Even though the weather is overcast and predicting some rain, Colin and Locke are excited about the area that they are hunting. They get to their spot around noon and before Locke can get his bow ready and Colin can even get in his saddle, they have a big buck appear right behind them.

And not only did this big, beautiful buck come out right behind them, but they had also two more follow him out! All three bucks were nice, definitely the caliber of deer that they are looking for on this hunt.

Locke and Colin quickly got set up and started trying to rattle and grunt to get one of the bucks to come back. The bucks had been posturing, so Locke and Colin were hopeful. 

But as great as the day had started, it quickly went sour. After only an hour of hunting, a horrible storm came in. The guys were pelted by heavy rain and even hail. 

The storm continued through the night but luckily cleared off just in time to give them a high-pressure, bluebird sky for a beautiful morning hunt.

Day Two

The weather continued to cooperate, with just a little more wind picking up in the afternoon. Locke was able to rattle in a buck out of the CRP field, but the buck circled them, caught their scent, and took off.

With just an hour or so of daylight left, Locke spots the buck from the previous day.

The buck is following a small ridge and gets ready to drop down into a ditch and cross over to another ridge, which would take him out of shooting range. So Locke takes his shot.

And he makes contact!

They head out to see if they can find the buck and after a few minutes of searching they find him. But the buck isn't down. Not only is he standing up, but he's walking away. 

Locke watches him walk up over the crest of a knoll and both Lock and Colin decided to back off. The last thing they want to do is push the buck further and possibly lose him in the CRP field nearby.

Day Three

After reviewing the footage, Locke realizes that the buck had not been quartered away at the same angle that he had thought when taking the shot. He is still confident that it was a lethal shot, but after reviewing the footage from the previous night's hunt, he is even more confident that they made the right decision in not pursuing the buck last night.

Locke and Colin are hunting with their friend, Tyson Harris with Harris Outfitters. After Tyson finishes getting his waterfowlers set up in their blinds for the day, he heads out with the guys to see if they can find the buck.

They head out to the ridge where Locke last saw the buck, and not even 100 yards away from where he had released his arrow, they found him. It had all worked out perfectly.

Locke had been hunting this same ridge for three or four years, with a bunch of close calls on large bucks, but he hadn't seen success until this hunt. Beautiful 10-point Missouri whitetail buck and it is one of Locke's best bucks with his bow to date.

With the Missouri hunt finished out successfully, Locke and Colin get ready to leave for Kansas, where they are going to try and do it all over again.

Check out all the episodes of our Whitetail Hunting '21-'22 Season:

Whitetail Hunting Episode 1: Missouri Early Season Cold Front
Whitetail Hunting Episode 2: West Texas Opener
Whitetail Hunting Episode 3: October Archery in Louisiana
Whitetail Hunting Episode 4: Opening Day in Michigan Upper Peninsula
Whitetail Hunting Episode 5: Arrow Release in Louisiana
Whitetail Hunting Episode 6: West Texas Rifle Opener
Whitetail Hunting Episode 7: November Rut Missouri
Whitetail Hunting Episode 8: Rutting Bucks in SE Kansas