I usually have trouble havin any luck during the early season. Any tips or things I could try to increase my chances? Where to sit etc.
Food, water, cover. That is what they like and in the early season they tighten up their patterns. Try to get between the food and the bedding areas and ambush them coming back.
Early season can be a great time to hunt, the deer are generally still on their regular feeding patterns the first couple of weeks in October. Try to get some trail camera's set out to help you learn their routine. I usually set up on field edges in the evenings and try to get in between food and their bedding area in the morning. Access to and from your stand sites is critical so keep that in mind when picking your spots to hunt from. If you can make it to your stand without being seen or heard you will be one step ahead of the game. I like to use creeks and natural depressions in topography to make my way to and from my stands.
No, especially if it in on a travel route too and from a food source. Many times they pass through a creek oh their way to eat or back to bed for the day. Also, make sure u can get in and out of your spots without busting them out. If you sit on a field edge in the evening, chances are that u will scare them out of the field when u leave
creek's can work but you need to find exactly where they are crossing and how often. When hunting water I tend to try and stay near ponds as you know they can only access it there. With creeks look for large travel routes to identify the majority of the deer movement and then look very carefully near those crossings for smaller less noticeable crossings. These are the ones you want to target early season because the big guys and older deer will use less obvious areas of travel. In these instances trail cameras can be your best friend!
Don't overhunt your good areas early. It's hard but I try to hunt perimeter stands that are easy to get in and out of early season, often only in the evening. Then as it gets later in October I move into some other areas near bedding or between bedding.
They usually cross the creek and go through a bunch of thick stuff into their bedding area. I set up right between this. Good or bad idea?
Could work fine just try to keep the does around without disturbing them or their bedding too much because if they're around sooner or later the bucks will be there too.
Boom, well said. If you can pinpoint their travel routs between these three places, you can have good success. I have also noticed that during the early season, the deer tend to be on their feet a little more within the daylight hours. So spend a little extra time in the stand either in the morning or afternoon, but I have yet to see them out all day. Early to mid october they start becoming more nocturnal until the pre rut/rut hits.
I am 15 and will be hunting public land during Sept in Eastern North Carolina. Any suggestions on what time works best?
Be in your stand before light and wait for deer to come back from their feeding fields or wherever they feed and then come out and go back to your stand for the evening hunt.. A few hours before dark and catch them comin out of their beddin areas.
