Truly best shot at a monster with a bow???

For those of you who spend a great deal of time bowhunting, or bowhunt exclusively, have you found early bow season to be your best shot at a great buck or a month into rifle season when the rut is peaking???

Early season can be good but ALL of my bigger bucks have been killed from middle of November through the third week in December.

Bushape":1ut0xcu3 said:

For those of you who spend a great deal of time bowhunting, or bowhunt exclusively, have you found early bow season to be your best shot at a great buck or a month into rifle season when the rut is peaking???

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I think it depends on where you hunt and the lay of the land. If you have food plots or ag fields, do your homework so as not to spoke them, bucks can be very paternable this time of year. This gives you a distinct advantage assuming you can figure out how to set up on them, as to come and go from their preferred food source.

Of course mid November on you have a chance as they are thinking with the wrong head. :lol:

Locally, definitely the rut. On my trips to West TN though to hunt public land, I do better earlier before the guns come out.


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Bone Collector":2cxy9osd said:

Bushape":2cxy9osd said:

For those of you who spend a great deal of time bowhunting, or bowhunt exclusively, have you found early bow season to be your best shot at a great buck or a month into rifle season when the rut is peaking???

Click to expand...

I think it depends on where you hunt and the lay of the land. If you have food plots or ag fields, do your homework so as not to spoke them, bucks can be very paternable this time of year. This gives you a distinct advantage assuming you can figure out how to set up on them, as to come and go from their preferred food source.

Of course mid November on you have a chance as they are thinking with the wrong head. :lol:

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I have to agree with this. My brother, cousin and I hunt primarily farm ground. We've killed the absolute majority of our big deer during early to mid bow season. Bean fields and green plots have been the primary food source we've killed them on. We did luck up and kill 2 dandies feeding on acorns during morning hunts but the rest have been killed during the evening. If you have a hot food source early season and are fortunate enough to be able to pick your days off on short notice then you can absolutely kill the biggest deer on your place hunting afternoons during or after a cold front.

I find little daylight movement during bow and unpredictable wind conditions. Tough hunting and educating deer. I hold back until Muzzleloader and Gun for my best spots and that has paid off.

Velvet hunt is best imo, closely followed by mid December in my area.


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bloodtrailing":22h09qfh said:

I find little daylight movement during bow and unpredictable wind conditions. Tough hunting and educating deer. I hold back until Muzzleloader and Gun for my best spots and that has paid off.

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X1000

Velvet hunt for sure. Sure the rut is exciting because you see a bunch of bucks, but they're often running around like idiots and difficult to shoot.

I believe that early season is your best shot at killing a buck that you know is in your area. Followed closely by very late season on an unpressured food source. The key to both of these approaches is the the element of surprise. Mid season or rut is a great opportunity to kill a big buck but my experience has shown that it's not a buck that I knew was in the area.



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Early season may be the best if you are able to pattern a big buck.
I have killed my largest bucks with a bow between Nov 10 and Nov 30, during the rut.
I don't hunt the early season very much and have no desire to kill a velvet antlered buck. I usually go regular opening day just for old times sake but then wait until a good cool snap comes in to go again.

tree_ghost":32dmw5tc said:

I believe that early season is your best shot at killing a buck that you know is in your area. Followed closely by very late season on an unpressured food source. The key to both of these approaches is the the element of surprise. Mid season or rut is a great opportunity to kill a big buck but my experience has shown that it's not a buck that I knew was in the area.



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X2

Bone Collector":2v5j300b said:

I think it depends on where you hunt and the lay of the land. If you have food plots or ag fields, do your homework so as not to spoke them, bucks can be very paternable this time of year. This gives you a distinct advantage assuming you can figure out how to set up on them, as to come and go from their preferred food source.

Of course mid November on you have a chance as they are thinking with the wrong head. :lol:

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I agree with this. They lay of the land and all the circumstances the hunter faces for that particular property. For ours, pattering bucks can only be done while they still have velvet on. Once they lose their velvet, they are a completely different animal. With our place being 96% hardwoods and select cut, you simply cannot pattern bucks. The best strategy I have found is putting yourself in locations for different winds and weather conditions that significantly favors him, but you still have very good odds of being able to pull it off in that particular set. This is 11/10-11/23 at our place. You don't know who "him" is, but you hope that 1) he is desirable enough for your standards, 2) he is traveling in a manner you envisioned (respectfully) and 3) IF the first 2 before-mentioned presents itself, your able to pull it off mentally and physically in that typically very short timeframe