This is the video transcript. To watch the video for this episode click here.

ANNOUNCER: GrowingDeer.tv is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops.  Also by Reconyx, Trophy Rock, Gallagher, Muddy Outdoors, Eagle Seed, Nikon, Barnes, Ansmann Batteries and Antler Dirt.

WOODS: Besides taking my family members hunting, Brad and I got to get in the treestand a couple of times and what I thought we would see is, in fact, what happened.  It’s the lockdown phase of the rut.  That means some yearling bucks are out trolling.  You don’t see many big bucks at all just because they’ve got a date.  They may get up for an hour or two; find another date and they’re back down trying to hide from everyone else, so not a lot of productivity as far as mature bucks this week.

WOODS: Did he leave?

RALEIGH: No.  He’s still there.  He’s just bending down now.

WOODS: Raleigh and I are driving to the stand on our property, inside our property and here’s a nice buck standing out here, eating at the edge of the soybeans.  Filming out my truck.

WOODS: That’s a good buck.  He’ll probably come up to Clover Mountain.

WOODS: (Whispering) He’s coming to the call.  Clearly coming to the call.  See if he pops over the ledge on the trail.

WOODS: (Whispering) He’s going to use the Trophy Rock.  At this time of year, he’s using the Trophy Rock.  That’s amazing.

WOODS: (Whispering) It’s about 8:45.  We just had a yearling buck come out.  It’s so foggy, we could barely see but 70 yards.  Cruised right by our tree and Brad followed him out behind us, so I got a chance to take some pictures with my phone and send to the kids at home, so it’s all good.  But what we want to see is either Bent Brow or Big Wide Ten.  We’re right at an area where we’ve got a lot of trail camera pictures of them.

WOODS: What, what’s, where’s he at?  I lost him.  Tell me where he’s at?

BRAD: (Inaudible) He’s a yearling or a two year old.

WOODS: That’s not old; so typical of the lockdown phase of the rut.  The only thing you see moving is the yearling bucks who probably aren’t getting a lot of dates on a property like this where there’s a bunch of mature deer and a balanced adult sex ratio.  You know, the rut is really changing across America because more and more people are passing up bucks; allowing them to get older.  And the older bucks behave different and put different pheromones out than younger bucks do and it’s really changing the rut.  People have to change their hunting techniques, but there’s been a huge amount of geese flying by the last couple days and a major front come in. Temperatures done dropped 30, 40 degrees; chance of snow on Thanksgiving Day.  And I’m telling you, right then or right after, these deer are going to switch to feeding because a lot of does will be bred.  Those bucks have been rutting really hard and there’s going to be some awesome food source hunting coming up.

WOODS: (Whispering) It’s Tuesday, November 23^rd.  The last day of modern firearms season in Missouri.  We have a firearm season about mid-November and then we have a, a late muzzleloader season right before Christmas.  But, tomorrow starts bow season again.  That means the Z7 gets to come out and do a little more eating.  So, I’ve got this stand selected for this morning because it’s a great rut season stand.  We can see three or four hundred yards down this power line.  Got a northeast wind so deer don’t know we’re in the world.  Bucks tend to cruise back and forth like last week when Jessica Brooks killed that great buck here.  So, this stand allows me a good chance to possibly fill my gun season tag and also scout several locations using Nikons for a bow season second tag.

WOODS: (Whispering) It’s been a good morning and a good week at The Proving Grounds.  We saw over ten different deer today which is huge in this habitat where the wind swirls and it’s deep and thick.  We did not see any mature bucks and only two of the deer were in shooting range, but that was great because part of our purpose was scouting; what we call M.D.E., Minimal Disturbance Entry.  As a matter of fact, there’s still four deer over in the bedding area that we’re looking into and they’ve moved less than 100 yards in the last hour.  They’re on their feet and they’re just kind of pilfering around.  And that’s what I talk about – how deer typically move when they’re not interrupted.  And if the wind is swirling at all, they’ll bust you before you ever know they’re in the area.  They’re not moving so fast.  They get to you before the wind swirls again. So, stand locations with a constant wind and access where you’re not busting the deer you’re hunting are critical for success on mature bucks.  You know, reflecting back on this week, we’ve been in a lockdown week here in the rut.  The big bucks have apparently got a date; they’re moving about once a day.  Not too far to find another date.  They’re locking back down so, I haven’t seen a lot of mature bucks this week, but I just know that’s getting ready to break loose.  It’s going to get really cold, so food’s going to become more of an issue as those metabolism rates increase.  Be back out next week; actually later this week, uh, bow seasons back in in Missouri and just watching those food sources; checking those trail cameras.  Because when they light up their food sources and they’re on a more of a consistent food cover, food cover travel pattern versus a random search and find a date travel pattern are successful – once again go up.

WOODS: Thanks for watching GrowingDeer.tv.