Velvet Bucks and Sweaty Stands

Today, it's official--one month until Kentucky's bow opener. Lots of guys around home grew up with an October 1 opener. It was still warm then, but nothing like this. The first year we had a September opening day was also one of the first years I bowhunted myself. I was in junior high school. I remember Dad complaining about how hot it was, and that it probably wasn't worth sitting in a stand until things cooled off. I went anyway, and did the same thing again next year. I arrowed my first deer, a little buck, over a water hole that year. It was 90 degrees that afternoon.

But I've learned, particularly the last five years, that September isn't just a time to sit in a stand and wish it was November. On the contrary, I'd actually pick the first week of September over the first week of November for sheer probability of a shot at a big buck. Is sitting in a sweltering stand and swatting mosquitoes while waiting for a big deer to step under a corn feeder or into a food plot as much fun as hitting a set of horns in late fall? Uh, no. But we're talking probability here. How often are the words probability and fun used in the same sentence, anyway?

I've had a lot of shots at good deer in September. They're still cruising field edges in bachelor groups, often in daylight hours (http://www.realtree.com/community/feature.php?ID=361), and if you do your homework, getting a shot can be relatively easy compared to the rest of the season. My best-ever bow buck stepped out into a picked September corn field with three subordinate buddies two years ago. Last year, I touched an arrow off at a solid 140-inch 10-pointer while hunting in possibly the hottest weather I've ever hunted. That shot didn't turn out quite so well. Therapy isn't cheap, so I'm going to do the manly thing and not discuss that any more. The fellow pictured above was hunting with us that same week. His shot went as planned, and he tagged this nice full-velvet 9-pointer for his efforts. I wrote his name and hometown down, like a good journalist, but unfortunately, I've since lost it. My apologies.

The point of all this is I'll be hunting as hard on opening day of bow season as I will when the rut kicks in, blazing heat or not. You never know when that bruiser is going to step into your shooting lane, and if you're fortunate enough to have access to some September bow hunting, take advantage of it. And for goodness sake--trust your rangefinder when it says 29 yards.

-Will Brantley