Seasonal Strengths

[Twenty Up]

I’ve got a buddy who’s an accomplished bass fishermen that’s comparable to a beast hunter for deer.

We got to talking how certain anglers were better in specific seasons (pre vs post spawn, spring vs fall...etc) He regarded it to how that particular anglers fishing style played in a factor towards their success, like soft plastics to jigs to crankbaits etc..

Which got me to thinking.
have y’all had more success During a specific period of the season and what in your opinion creates that opportunity?

[JakeB]

Late season without a doupt. Late Dec-Jan. Finally start getting some cold weather, leaves are off the trees, deminished food sources, what little rut activity we get starts to happen, and most importantly no mosquitos.

[oldrank]

I have killed bucks during every part of our deer season. Most have come during the pre-rut or rut stage. There are a few reasons. That is when bucks are most visable. That is when I hunt the most.

[Boogieman1]

Good comparison! At one point or another I have killed bucks at each phase of the season. But there is no denying my strength is during the rut. The entire rut doesn't matter which phase to me, they all play into my strength of patients.

I find the funnels and wait them out. Sounds easy but most don't have the will power to sit days at a time from daylight until dark waiting for that one moment. Or there not sitting a funnel that produces. I believe a lot of hunters head to the stand everyday looking for a reason to go home. It's ethier I saw another Hunter, or a dog ruined it or a coyote scared the deer off. Not me I stay put. In my head I have just as good of chance that one of those things runs a deer towards me as it does away from me.

[JakeB]

Good comparison! At one point or another I have killed bucks at each phase of the season. But there is no denying my strength is during the rut. The entire rut doesn't matter which phase to me, they all play into my strength of patients.

I find the funnels and wait them out. Sounds easy but most don't have the will power to sit days at a time from daylight until dark waiting for that one moment. Or there not sitting a funnel that produces. I believe a lot of hunters head to the stand everyday looking for a reason to go home. It's ethier I saw another Hunter, or a dog ruined it or a coyote scared the deer off. Not me I stay put. In my head I have just as good of chance that one of those things runs a deer towards me as it does away from me.

Right on. The more I hunt the more I realize the importantance of time on the stand.

[elk yinzer]

I believe I have the rut pretty well figured out. Like Boogie said, so much of that is just putting the time in. All day sits are brutal but almost a must if you are serious about getting it done during that timeframe. I know a lot of Midwest guys say mature bucks don't go crazy and move during all hours of the day, but that simply isn't true here.

Early season is definitely my weakness. Trying to put the puzzle pieces together, but not having much success. Beast tactics have upped my confidence but I haven't capitalized yet. I don't really do any late season hunting. I rarely have a tag, and honestly the years I do I've had enough treestand time by the time December 26 rolls around.

I would call scouting a season too. I think I am pretty good at scouting lately. Looking back 5 and 10 years I have improved vastly in the scouting department, but have some areas I could improve.

[hambone]

I've killed some good ones early. I killed by best one, late. But most of the good ones I've killed were between Oct. 30th and Nov. 20th.

[Matt6506]

I’ve got a buddy who’s an accomplished bass fishermen that’s comparable to a beast hunter for deer.

We got to talking how certain anglers were better in specific seasons (pre vs post spawn, spring vs fall...etc) He regarded it to how that particular anglers fishing style played in a factor towards their success, like soft plastics to jigs to crankbaits etc..

Which got me to thinking.
have y’all had more success During a specific period of the season and what in your opinion creates that opportunity?

My goal is to be able to kill a big buck during any time of the season. When I use to bass fish I always strived to be the best I could be when the bite was tough, I try to put the same logic to hunting. Everyone's different so naturally hunters are going to be better at reading the sign at different times. Myself personally I find it tougher in the late season due to most of the ag being on private I can't hunt.

[Swampbuck]

Pre rut is best for me. I have never done so great during the rut. I think it's because I naturally on my own gravitated towards the edges of buck bedding. I never really specifically hunted does so it works against me during the rut, tho works in the pre rut

Early season I am weak. Mainly because it's just miserable hot and the swamp is virtually unhittable until freezes hit. But regardless my experience there is marginal

[<DK>]

So far... my biggest bucks and encounters have come in Sept-Early Oct. From opening day to Oct 10th.

However, If I was given only one choice to kill a true giant - it would be late season while hunting a food plot.

[Grant]

Early season in hill country has been a nut I have yet to crack. I've gotten to the point that I won't try it until it cools off, and I'm wasting 1/3 of the season.

[dan]

The bass fisherman that can only do well in spring, and the one whom can only do well in fall share a common trait, they each only have a little piece of the puzzle figured out... A well rounded bass fisherman whom can catch bass at any time of the year is one whom really understands the fish...

[J Gilbert]

I can narrow mine down to a specific few days- the week of Thanksgiving. I've always hunted a lot around doe bedding areas for most of the season- I've always thought if you find the does, the bucks will eventually come.

We have a "trickle" rut, where it lasts for several weeks and isn't as condensed (we don't have a week of craziness and then it's over)- I believe this is due to the restocking of deer in the area back in the 60's, where part of the herd came from Texas and the other part Wisconsin. I think that because of the length of the rut, a few does don't get bred in the typical time frame of late October/early November, so Thanksgiving week there will typically be a few mature does coming back into estrous, and also a significant amount of yearlings coming into estrous for the first time.

Of 6 bucks 3.5 or older that I've shot on this property, 4 were the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving, and the two largest/oldest were both trailing yearling does near bedding at 8-9am. I think the fact that there are significantly fewer does in estrous at this time tends to keep the bucks on their feet more searching out the last does being bred for the year. Obviously the dates change yearly, but the week of Thanksgiving has historically been the time to kill mature bucks on this property over the typical "rut" weeks.

[Hawthorne]

For a long time I wouldn’t start seriously hunting till late October. So the last week of October has been best to me. Oct 29 has been my best date I’ve killed like 6 bucks that day.Some years I would only hunt a few days early season. I did kill one really nice buck early on oct 7 in 2006.Now since the Beast, Ive been trying more early season. I think the guys that get it done on big bucks early season every year know the game the best.

[Lastcast#1]

Only been hunting and scouting 4 years. My approach has been to hunt hard throughout the season, all phases.
I hope to develop into a solid bowhunter some day and I feel this is a key part of accomplishing my goals. Understanding how deer use the landscape throughout the year.

Currently scouting, locating deer, and patience I would say are my strengths. I would probably sit in a tree and watch deer even if I couldnt hunt them.

Chad