With the bow hunting season quickly approaching, there’s a few tips to early season preparation that I feel are crucial to success. Most importantly is to not overlook the importance of scouting late in the summer, and preparing your stands well in advance to drawing your bow.
As the month of August rolls around, scouting becomes very important on finding those early season velvet beauties. I like to start by putting some miles on during the early morning and late evening, driving to each of the areas I hunt and just watching what materializes. I take notes, mentally and written, so I can get a general idea of the number and quality of deer in that particular area. Some of the things I note, what the deer are feeding on at that particular time and if there are any other food sources nearby for later in the season. For example, deer feeding on soybeans in August will decrease in regularity as the soybeans ripen in middle to late September. During the early season I like to hunt areas where deer are feeding, and later move into the trees to catch them not long after they get out of their beds.
How many deer are in an area? In areas where the buck to doe ratio is around 1 to 1, it makes hunting a lot easier as the season progresses. Where there is competition for does, bucks are easier to lure by using calls and scents as the rut approaches. Most areas do not have that perfect 1 to 1 ratio, but the closer you can get to that, the higher your odds. I like to focus on finding a couple of different bucks. I like to use QDM (Quality Deer Management) in the areas I hunt. I find what I will consider my trophy for that year, and then find either a mature buck with poor genetics, or a younger deer that I feel does not have trophy potential and watch them closely. The best thing about not focusing on one particular deer is the fact your opportunity for harvesting a good buck will improve. After a few years of using this selective harvest technique, you will be able to see the quality of the deer in your area increase.
Finally stand placement is the most important aspect of bow hunting, other than proficient shooting. You use the knowledge that you have acquired to find the perfect stand location. After watching a particular area, note where and when the deer come out to feed. For the most part, a mature buck will not use the same trail to leave the trees as a doe, fawn, or younger buck. They normally parallel the highly used trails, and are a lot tougher to find. My favorite place to hang a stand is where the main trail and the mature buck’s trail are both within shooting range. This increases the opportunity to harvest the buck you focused on, or help keep the population in check by taking a doe.
Hopefully with some quality scouting and the right stand placement, you will have the chance at a trophy this year.
