Whitetail Insider

Early Season Strategies for Big Bucks

By: Gabriel Karns

Most hunters would argue that the best chance for killing a trophy buck is during the rut; however, early September hunting seasons may provide you with an even better chance of killing that buck of a lifetime. Primitive weapons seasons equal less hunting pressure and land access dilemmas. Bucks are still bedding and feeding with their summer bachelor groups. Cagey, veteran bucks are not yet on full alert mode that sets in when the legions of hunters invade the woods in early November. But most importantly, a mature buck’s habits are predictable—and I use that term loosely, because even the most predictable whitetail is anything but a sure bet.

One thing that we hope to offer through this series of articles on white-tailed biology, behaviors and hunting strategies, is a different angle that is fresh to readers and backed with real evidence—not just talk and theories around the campfire. For my master’s thesis at North Carolina State University, I deployed GPS radiocollars on 19 adult whitetail bucks at Chesapeake Farms, Maryland, to examine the impact of hunting pressure on buck movements, home ranges and core areas. For the purposes of this article, I delved into the month of September and examined the hourly locations of each buck that was collared in 2006 and 2007. Using real GPS data, I have come up with just three of many early season strategies that could help you line up your fiber-optic archery or muzzleloader sights with your best buck ever.

Scenario #1 - Hunt close to water sources in cover (Figure 1). If you are man (or woman) enough to hunt close to mosquito breeding facilities, a sheltered water source can produce dynamite action throughout the hot days of September. Using the wind to your advantage, climb a tree in the early morning (and I don’t mean 15 minutes before shooting light) that is downwind of the water source and the deer’s overnight food source. At sunrise, you should see plenty of deer that stop, take a drink, and move on to bed for the day, but you will also be surprised how many deer simply lie down within spitting distance of the stream or waterhole that you are hunting—providing a refreshing water fountain throughout the hottest hours of the day. In Figure 1, this 3.5-year-old buck bedded within field-goal distance of the stream almost daily for the entire month of September. A cutover (green rectangle) provided optimal bedding cover only 100 yards further into the woods, but water was obviously a higher priority. Hunted on a west or southwest wind, this set-up could easily produce success.

Scenario #2 – Do not hesitate to capitalize on a buck’s “mistake.” Overly cautious hunters often miss precious opportunities because they are too concerned about making a mistake. Now, I am not advising you to charge directly into a bedding area in mid-afternoon and bang away with a hammer and nails to erect a permanent stand. But, if you see a buck make a “mistake,” be waiting the next day and hope he does the same thing. What “mistakes” am I talking about? A bachelor group visiting an exposed waterhole in midday or leaving security cover in mid-afternoon for a soybean snack are both golden opportunities. Looking at more GPS radiocollar data, another 3.5-year-old buck bedded about 6/10 of a mile from the nearest field in thick, heavily-wooded cover on 28 days out of September. However, on the 8th, he remained bedded in a standing cornfield until 11:00 a.m. before slipping back into his usual bedding area. Guess what? He repeated the exact “mistake” on the 9th, but never repeated the same blunder until hunting season was over. Think there is enough light to see through a peep sight at lunchtime? You bet there is. Next time you glimpse a buck that is glaringly out of place during odd daylight hours, plan on making the buck pay a steep price tomorrow. If he doesn’t make a repeat appearance, you haven’t lost anything; but if he does, well…you get the point.

Scenario #3 – Undisturbed bucks are lazy (Figure 2). Mature bucks often fly under the radar by utilizing exposed brush patches, standing crop fields and even man-made structures. If bucks have not been pressured and spooked by reckless hunters, they can become very lazy and go completely unnoticed. Figure 2 shows a 5.5-year-old buck’s home range for the month of September. His miniscule home range was nestled between two major roads and several houses (green rectangles), a standing cornfield provides the necessary food (red polygon), and an insignificant multi-flora rose patch provides bedding cover (blue polygon). A large, spread-toed track in the cornfield might alert an observant hunter to the trophy’s nearby presence. Deer drives are usually reserved for late season hunts on pressured deer, but a well-planned nudge in September could produce a great big buck opportunity during an early muzzleloader season.

There are a host of other early season strategies—glassing from a high point and planning a field edge ambush, soft mast food sources, hunting a fence crossing with a ground blind and more. The bottom line is that September offers hunters a great chance at harvesting a trophy buck. Always keep in mind that bachelor groups are equipped with multiple sets of danger-detecting senses. That being said, you probably will get just one opportunity—make it count. Hunt smart, hunt hard and shoot straight.

About the author: Gabriel Karns is an M. S. candidate in the wildlife sciences program at North Carolina State University, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources

Figure 1. Hourly locations of a 3.5-year-old buck, September 2007. Blue line indicates small stream. Green rectangle indicates 3-year-old cutover.

Figure 2. Hourly locations of a 5.5-year-old buck, September 2006.

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