So what is everyone's go to when it comes to early season hunting? And how does it change as you get further into the season I'm interested in strategies I'm looking for new ideas for stands and times to hunt said stand.
In our area it is key to find the Oak tree with the acorns they are looking for or the travel path to and from it.
Does anybody strictly hunt afternoons in early season and not mornings? I feel like i read that somewhere.
Plan your season but don't be rigid. Bowhunting undisturbed deer means natural movement. Concentrate on trails headed to fields or oak trees first. Scout. I'm referring to the food sources. Hopefully you know the whereabouts of oaks n the differences. If so find trees full of nuts, both black n white. Deer are going to the white first but once those acorns are gone so are the deer so just move onto your pre scouted black oaks. if you have soybean in the area n its green, that's a magnet but once it turns yellow not so much. Standing corn is ok, recently harvested fields are killer so keep an eye on the crops both wild n planted. Come November the rut starts n with it dif patterns but start w food sources for now. Oh n don't kill your spots. Notice the plural. They'll learn your spot if it's only one. And rest spots. I try n leave a spot for a week or ten days from last hunt to keep it fresh. Plan your entrance n exit strategy so you don't walk through the deer or your scent doesn't. If they're around you after dark wait til they walk off to get down
Youre not gonna kill a deer in bed. Both early n evening hunts are great early season. Prob is some guys may have limited property n they gotta park in the fields. Deer are in fields at night so they blow em up walking in. If that's the case you can't hunt there mornings. Now if you hunt there evenings all would be great as long as the wind is correct but how you getting out without blowing em up? Exit n entrance strategy is key. If you push them away from you there's very diminished odds.
i got one spot that is usually soybeans, will check to see if it is this year when i check my cams. If so, i'm going to try and find a tree on the edge of the field on the fenceline. The question i have though is for those of you who hunt fields in the evening what do you do once its time to climb down and go home? Deer in the fields would spook once your climb down.
As far as early season strategies go, I hunt the smaller one of my properties (NY-30 acres) mornings and evenings in travel corridors (very dense hardwoods) that I've scouted and been successful in over the years. generally I try to fill my doe tags during this time because I generally don't see bucks in this area until the rut, there isn't a large food source nearby, and don't feel that I am disturbing anything. I stay as far away as possible from my best spots in this area until the weather cools the last week or so of October. At the other properties I hunt (2 hrs south in NY), I generally don't hunt many mornings. I think early season strategy is very dependent on where you are hunting, what your goals are, property layout, deer movement, etc...In this area I do more of my scouting the first few weeks of October, and move closer and closer to where I know bucks will be during the rut as it gets closer to prime time. There are also multiple large food plots on this property which make it great for early season hunting and scouting because I can get in and out on our prevailing SW wind most days without disturbing any deer.
It depends on how the summer went if there was plenty of rain then ill look for acorns but if the rain has been sparse like it has this year i will look more to water sources or trails to water sources.
I have one property that I only hunt afternoons... And one that I only hunt mornings regardless of the time of season. They are both used for travel for the deer so I catch them going to bed in the neighbors and going to eat in the fields
If you can, hunt field edges. It gives you more hunting time when the sun goes down. Also hunt near water in the early season when you can..
I don't start hunting mornings until the fourth week of Oct, but after that I do all dark to dark hunts.
If you can have someone drive into the field to pick you up after dark the deer will leave and move back into the field after you leave. A coyote howler also works.
