18 10, 2013

Oct. 19-20: Best Hunting Weekend!

2020-06-10T09:23:21-04:00October 18th, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|2 Comments

This is gonna be the best weekend of the season so far, so plan to be in a tree as many hours as you can. With cooler temperatures and high-pressure across the country, bucks will start moving in preparation for the rut. October 20 is the kick-off of the hard pre-rut every season, and so some serious rubbing and especially scraping are set to kick in. While bucks have been making sign right along, they are going to really get after it now, with the days growing shorter and the temps cooling down. I bet you find some big, fresh scrapes. While I don’t like this full moon nearly as much as the one that will illuminate the rut next month on November [...]

16 10, 2013

Bowhunting Setup: Hunt a Ditch

2020-06-10T09:23:21-04:00October 16th, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|2 Comments

One mid-October morning in Montana, I froze as an 8-pointer trotted toward me through the woods. He was moving fast, trying to get back to his bed along the Milk River before the sun got too high. Something flashed behind him—a 10-pointer pushing 150 was bringing up the rear! I was hunting on the ground, and the wind was right. Those woods were flat as a pool table and pretty open, but I wasn’t too worried. I let the bucks come close and step into the ditch in front of me. When they disappeared, I drew my bow and stepped out from behind my hiding tree. The 8-pointer popped out on my side, and I ran an arrow through his [...]

11 10, 2013

Cut Crops, Go Bowhunt!

2020-06-10T09:23:21-04:00October 11th, 2013|BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|2 Comments

Many corn and soybean fields will be cut this weekend and in the coming days. The days immediately after a farmer cuts those crops are awesome for hunting. The sudden change in habitat will force the deer to move around a lot, as they settle into new bed-to-feed patterns. The animals will seek out alternative food sources (acorns and browse) in nearby woods and thickets. Any bucks that bedded out in the stalks will transition to new bedding thickets. Hang a tree stand 100 to 200 yards off a freshly cut field, in a timbered draw or on an oak ridge and you will see lots of movement as deer sort things out. Even if you don’t kill a buck, [...]

1 10, 2013

Bowhunt a Culvert

2020-06-10T09:23:21-04:00October 1st, 2013|BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|1 Comment

Bill wrote and talked about bowhunting an urban zone near Indianapolis: One of my best stand sites backs up against the interstate. Weird being in that tree before daybreak and hearing all those cars and trucks going behind me. But it turns out to be a great travel route. They (the deer) go from park property on the other side of the interstate, follow a creek under the interstate and move through the property. Two 10 pointers and a good-sized 8 were taken last year. Bill hits on a killer bow tactic. A bridge access or box culvert beneath a busy interstate or a lonely rural road is a great deer funnel. Whitetails are like us; they take the easiest, [...]

17 09, 2013

September Tactic: Grunt a Buck

2020-06-10T09:23:21-04:00September 17th, 2013|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|2 Comments

A few years ago in September Taylor Fitzpatrick traveled to the Milk River in Montana to bowhunt with our friend Luke Strommen. The then 19-year-old Taylor climbed into his tree stand super early one morning, about 3:30. The air felt great, 42 degrees cool, and the full moon hung in the sky like a big pie. Taylor began seeing deer in the moon glow, moving back to their beds for the day. A 10-pointer that would score 155” walked beneath his stand and got him fired up. The sun came up hours later and he kept seeing deer. A buck with hard, fresh antlers cut across a corner of a distant alfalfa field. Taylor raised his call and floated some [...]

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