My friend Chuck Jones is one of the better whitetail hunters around the sport. For several years now we've hunted deer together, me as the "shooter", Chuck as the videographer filming segments for the Knight & Hale "Ultimate Hunting" cable TV show and video series. Jones just seems to know where the deer will be at any given time, regardless of the time of year or conditions at hand. That makes him a handy guy to have around!

Like Chuck, Missouri resident Walter Parrott is a woodsman par excellence. While Walter is best known as a former national turkey calling champion and gobbler getter extraordinaire, he is also pure poison on mature Whitetail bucks.

So one year, when the hunting during the pre-rut near Chuck's western Kentucky home got a bit difficult, the three of us got us thinking. Everyone assumes that the pre-rut and rut periods are are pretty much slam-dunk times to shoot nice bucks. However, as we all know, even rut hunting can turn colder than an IRS agent's heart.

One evening at the dinner table, after another day of not putting the puzzle together, Jones, Walter and I sat around and wondered about what we might be doing wrong to not be getting any action on decent bucks. That's when David Hale came in, and in his quiet manner, summed the whole thing up. "Just because the rut is supposed to be on doesn't mean it's necessarily easy to take a good buck."

How true that is. In the end, Jones and I managed to shoot a respectable 8-pointer on camera. Later that week Chuck and Walter tag-teamed a nice deer too. We got our TV shows, but more importantly, we got a lesson in humility. Just because the rut is happening doesn't mean you can forsake the basic tenets of deer hunting.

That hunting trip helped us come up with a list of the 10 most common mistakes whitetail hunters make when the rut is hotter than a snake's belly in a wagon rut, but their luck is colder than the planet Pluto. How many of them do you make each season?

1. Hunting the same sign too long. "One thing I have noticed-and am guilty of myself on occasion-is that a lot of guys don't get out and scout much, and are satisfied by finding a single fresh scrape or a big, fresh rub," Jones said. "They then bet the whole success of their entire hunt on that one sign post paying off. The problem is not necessarily hunting scrapes too long, but hunting over the same scrapes too long. They forget that some scrapes are visited only at night, some are rarely if ever visited after they're made, and very few are worked on a regular basis. They forget that you have to stay flexible and go with the flow, regardless of the season."

Lesson: Never stop searching for fresh sign, and always be willing to move your stands and adjust your tactics if "Plan A" isn't happening.

2. Hunt where you saw bucks a month ago. "During the rut forget about where you saw bucks last month," Walter said "It's better this time of year to hunt where the does are, because that's where the bucks are, or are going to be shortly. If there are no does where you saw a good buck before the rut began, you can be sure there won't be one now."

Lesson: When the rut is on, the bucks will be traveling in search of estrous does. Hunt funnels situated between bedding thickets and preferred food sources to intercept bucks on the move.

3. Hunting in places that are too thick. Instead of hunting in the thickest place possible, Jones recommends hunting the edges of the thicket so you can see, and get a shot at, the deer when they move past your stand. "Thickets are a great place to find deer," Chuck said, "but you have to be able to shoot them when you see them. Hunt the edges and be patient, and sooner or later you'll get the opportunity."

Lesson: One good thicket is a brushy trail near the edge of a greenfield, where bucks will often come to check the field for does both visually and with their noses. Afternoons are best for this type of set-up.

4. Not clearing enough shooting lanes. You need several shooting lanes this time of year, simply because bucks are roaming more, and therefore will often come from unanticipated directions. "How many times have you heard someone say, "he came in behind me, and I didn't have a shot?," Walter asked. "I make sure I have a cleared shooting lane in at least three, and preferably four, directions during the rut. By the same token, I try and keep my trimming to a minimum so the area doesn't look like a manicured park."

Lesson: Trim shooting lanes on all sides, but don't trim so much that the local deer know something's up. "Measure twice, cut once,:" said Parrot, a bricklayer by trade. "There's a fine line between enough cutting and not enough."

5. Scent isn't eliminated. "Just because bucks get dumber during the rut, they're not stupid," Jones said. "And big does never are. You have to maintain cleanliness and complete scent control at all times in the deer woods. That includes your body and your clothing system."

Lesson: Always follow a meticulous scent control system that includes using Code Blue scent-eliminating sprays and soaps, and dusting with Stealth Dust once on stand. And always wear your Gore Supprescent outerwear and footwear, the most durable and effective scent adsorbing system out there.

6. Don't hunt doe pockets. Walter is a firm believer in hunting food sources all year around, but especially during the rut. Preferred food sources tend to concentrate the does into little pockets of deer," He said. "And sooner or later, one of those does will come into estrus, and when she does I want to be there. That's when the action will get fast and furious."

Lesson: Spending all your time hunting scrapes and rub lines in the deep woods- away from the fields that attract does by the truckload-is a good way to spend a lot of time looking at rubbed trees and pawed earth, but not necessarily the best way to look at antlers. Hunt where the does are concentrated, and sooner or later a rutting buck will appear.

7. Don't use their deer calls enough. The rut is the best time of year to call a buck in, especially using a grunt call but, at times, doe bleats will also produce. "This is the time of year hunters need to be calling, because there is a high probability that a subordinate buck will respond to your grunt call," Jones said. "I also do a lot of blind calling now, because the deer are roaming and might be nearby any time of day. And don't overlook some soft bleating."

Lesson: Deer hunters have been schooled to be in stealth mode once they hit the woods. However, during the rut making some noise-calling can bring bucks past your stand you would not ordinarily see. Why carry a deer call with you if you are afraid to use it?

8. Don't hunt all day long. "It's been written about for years and years, but often people forget that during the rut a big old buck can be seen roaming just as easily at noon as he can at dawn and dusk," Jones said. "This is probably the number one mistake rut hunters make. Forget about going back to the lodge for lunch or a nap. Instead, get ready for action between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. That's when a surprising number of the biggest bucks I have ever seen taken have been shot."

Lesson: If you want to eat a big lunch, take a nap, or check with the office on the cell phone, you might as well be playing golf not deer hunting. While the "prime time" early morning and late afternoon periods are still the best, midday hunting can produce surprising results on mature bucks when their hormones control their movement patterns.

9. Inattention to equipment. Sure, it's the rut and you're in a big hurry to get into the woods. But, as Parrot noted, if your equipment isn't in A-1 shape or your weapon is not sighted in, you've already met defeat before you ever got started. "Because it's the rut, more people hit the fields running, but too many of them pay too little attention to their equipment-specifically their rifle, slug gun, or bow-than they need to," he said. "Be sure to sight your gun or bow in, and make sure all the 'stuff' in your day pack is in good working order and ready to rock and roll."

Lesson: The only way to prevent you being the one at camp telling the tale of the big buck that got away when you missed that slam dunk shot is to make your weapon is sighted in, then practice with it until you are ready to make the toughest chance that may arise.

10. People don't make an effort to find different places to hunt. "Most of us get very comfortable hunting the places with which we've become familiar." Jones said. "Heck that's half the fun of a deer hunt. However, your old faithful stand site this year just may not produce. I always try and have at least two back-up 'honey holes' I can go to when my favorite stand site just isn't happening. It will pay big dividends to stay flexible and hunt where the deer are, not necessarily where you want to hunt."

Lesson: A guy can never have too many good stand sites. If your "Plan A" doesn't work, it will pay big dividends to have a "Plan B and Plan C" ready to go. The rut is not the time to be spending valuable hunting time knocking on doors looking for new places to hunt.