In this episode, Matt Hartsky breaks down one of the most critical but misunderstood phases in mule deer hunting: what happens when mature bucks leave the does at the end of the rut — and how to adjust your tactics to find and kill them. Through November, bucks run themselves ragged. They chase, fight, cover country, and glue themselves to doe groups with zero regard for energy or security. But when breeding tapers off, that entire behavior pattern collapses almost overnight. Bucks slip away from the chaos, retreat into micro-habitats, and fall back into survival mode. If you’ve ever glassed a hillside full of does in late November or early December and wondered where the big bucks went, this episode explains exactly what happened. Matt walks you through the biological drivers behind the shift — energy deficit, security, and reduced need to shadow does — and how these priorities pull bucks into small, overlooked pockets just off winter range. You’ll hear where bucks actually go after the rut, how far they travel, and why they settle into shaded north-facing cover, broken benches, tight timber pockets, and the backside terrain most hunters never look at. Matt breaks down the timing of this transition, from the late-November separation phase to the consistent post-rut patterns that set in by mid-December, and how snow, storms, temperature swings, and crust events accelerate or delay the move. You’ll also learn how to read fresh post-rut sign — big solo tracks, tight travel loops, warm beds, shaded feeding edges, and subtle snow disturbance — so you stop hunting where bucks used to be and start hunting where they are right now. Matt explains how to e-scout for micro-pockets, how to glass slowly and deliberately for deer that only expose an antler tip or ear flick, how to relocate during midday adjustment windows, and how pressure, thermals, and storm cycles shape every bit of post-rut movement. Finally, Matt breaks down the still-hunting and setup strategies that consistently kill mature deer this time of year. You’ll hear how to slip into tight buck pockets without blowing the basin, how to hunt the seams between open feed and cover, how to capitalize on predictable bed-to-feed micro-loops, and the biggest mistakes hunters make when they try to force rut tactics into a post-rut world. This is a full, experience-based system for finding and killing big mule deer when the rut is over and the mountains are quiet.