2009 Bow Season is Just Beginning!!

[Mayfly]

This last week the 2008 Minnesota Archery season comes to an end, but does it really? Although the season is closing and you can’t actually harvest an animal you can still hunt. As a matter fact over the next couple of months you can learn a lot about your deer and get a head start on next year!

Use the snow to your advantage. Right now someone that knows nothing about deer could tell you what trails the deer are using and where they are bedding. How many times have you seen a trail that appeared to be an active trail only to find out out once the snow fell that they were only using 20 yards of it or they weren’t using it at all! That has happened to me more than once. Last year after the season I hit the woods with the only intent of tracking their movement and trying to locate bedding areas. I wasn’t worried about spooking deer or leaving my scent as I wouldn’t be hunting for another 8-9 months. The amount I learned was incredible, I located two new bedding areas that I did not know even existed and found the main trails that linked the two areas together and then more trails that led to main feeding areas.

With this information I picked stand locations and got ready for the next fall. A lot of people wait until summer and then scout and put up stands. Just think about how difficult that is. The woods are over-grown, there are leaves everywhere and once you get a stand in a tree you can only see about 20 feet sometimes. So you place stands during the summer that have visibility and then when the ruts kicks in and the leaves are gone you find yourself in a tree that sticks out like a sore thumb. If you would have scouted that tree in late winter and early spring you know exactly what your view will be like with no leaves and what cover you do have. It just makes so much more sense.

Another bonus to scouting after the season is that you can hopefully get a glimpse at some of the bucks that made it though the season. You can do this with trail cameras, spending time in the woods or shed hunting in March. Deer season isn’t just about going into the woods with a bow and don’t let the “season” limit your time in the woods. To be a successful deer hunter you need to keep at it year round and use the elements to your advantage. Hopefully over the past few months you have already learned a ton about the deer in your area. Don’t let that knowledge go to waste, keep at it! Next season will be that much more rewarding!

[sconihunter]

Good tips!

[stevejedlenski]

you have to keep in mind though that deer this time of year have completely different patterns than they do in the fall or spring and summer. yes scouting can help this time of year but just to get a general idea of areas and where trails and other things are, but trails used now may not be used at all in the fall... just a reminder

[Mayfly]

After reading this most serious deer hunters are now thinking to themselves, “But my deer are now not doing the same thing that they are doing in the fall” and you are exactly right. During the winter the range of the whitetail is at its smallest range of the year. Deer are sometimes bunched up more than usual because they are keying in on food sources as it gets harder to find food. This will change their movement a lot but if you know what your deer were doing in the fall you can use that information now. That trail you were hunting all season is not going to be abandoned. The deer are still around and although they may not use it as much now they still do use it. Don’t plan your hunt on this winters movement but use the snow and the beaten down cover to move around a little bit more and see what else is going on. Like I mentioned above I found two bedding areas I did not know existed. Are they using that bedding area year round? After this fall I can safely say yes. Don’t ever get too locked into one pattern or time of year. You constantly need to be thinking outside of the box.

One more example: Next fall you are hunting a trail that the deer have been using to get into a bean field. The majority of the deer enter on the trail that you are on but in the distance you see a buck enter the field. He comes in every once in a while and seems to be using the same trail. From scouting last winter you know there is a lightly used trail in that area and you have two trees marked that would be good for the area. Without any scouting during the season, because you did it last winter you know the area, what it looks like and even have a tree or two picked out. The next evening you can walk in and know exactly what you are doing because a little off-season homework paid off.

[Cody Gruchow]

well all though what tim said is very true, i agree mostly. But for the bedding areas you didnt know were there, they are there now only because they are trying to cut down the distance they have to travel from a bedding area to a food source in the winter time. i have seen this many times, thought i had a great spot because there was beds everywere but never once did i see a deer move through there and never once did i jump one from there. From now till august the only thing that is on a deers mind is FOOD! They feed as heavily as possible right now and same goes for the spring and summer, they need the nutrition. So the trails may change a little from now to august depending on how long the food source lasts. During the summer i had this certain group of bucks come to the pond to water everyday just before sunset i could of set my watch to them. but as soon as september rolled around they vanished never to be seen again...whys this???? I say its because something clicks into there brain and says shed this itchy velvet and find me some does. So they change there patterns drastically. they are out establishing there territorys, and finding were the does are at. Bucks are ready to breed as soon as they shed there velvet, but does are not. So its relativly simple to hunt deer its always ABC. A being the beding area. B being a major travel route or bottleneck or natural funnel from the bedding area. a C being the food source. I have always been taught to Hunt the Does and the bucks will follow. just my 2 cents worth

[BIG 6 BUCK]

Nice read Tim     

[Jdrummer]

Great reads! i just started shooting my bow today ,well sunday. I am setting it up for carp shootin'. I have the roller guide, a new sight, a release, and a 30 dollar set of arrows. After today i am so pumped to get out in the back yard to do some shootin! When does Bow season open anyways?

[mathews4ever]

Great post tim. I think that the best part about late season scouting has to be NO BUGS. Plus if you hunt 100% public land like I do, the deer don't change patterns much. About 20min after season starts every tom, dick, and harry with a bow or small game license chases 95% of the deer into their hiding spots and they stay there all season. While shed hunting on public land this past week I figured out how a big buck I had been watching was getting around. I knew where he was but I couldn't figure out how he was getting there. Now I know and the best part is it is only about 200 yards off the road, in the middle of a marsh.

All successful bowhunters should remember that to be consistently successful you should scout at least 3 days for every day you hunt.



I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. - Thomas Jefferson