Expert Advice for Bowhunting November

Expert Advice for Bowhunting November

By Noel Gandy

November marks what could be called the most special month of the year in the deer woods. The rut comes into full swing and love crazed bucks can find themselves throwing caution to the wind. The opening for breeding seems to be fairly short for bucks so asserting dominance over inferior competition, seeking, chasing, breeding, and moving on to the next one can happen in the matter of a handful of days. Oftentimes, mature deer who were once very reclusive and could seem like ghosts can become a bit more “killable”. Archery hunters like to take advantage of the tendencies for big deer to seem a little more callable, mobile, and visible.

The following are some strategies that I have seen stand the test of time personally, have been relayed to me by trusted big buck killing experts, or have been figured out by failure. Keep this in mind, however: deer are wild animals and I do not believe we will ever have them fully figured out!

Tip #1: Go Hunting!
How many times have you heard the saying, “you can’t kill them from the couch?” The excuses of it’s too warm or it’s too cloudy or the pressure is too low or the moon is too bright need to be thrown out with the wash. The fact of the matter is there is a very small window of time for bucks to secure breeding privileges with local does and they’re going to do that no matter the weather. My suggestion: play the wind to the best of your ability, dress accordingly and be in the field as often as you can.

Once you get there…stay! Action during the rut, especially during the first few weeks of November, can come at any time. My suggestion is to be in the stand every free moment that you can. The timeframe from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm, while not always as action packed, can tend to be very fruitful during the month of November. If you can afford to be patient then by all means show some restraint and be patient by sticking it out in your stand or blind.

Tip #2: Use Most Recent Information
The best time to kill a big buck is when a big buck is there to be killed. Once the rut begins rocking then mature deer become more aggressive in seeking out a suitable mate. The pattern for a big buck goes like this: seek out those does closest to me first, lock one down for 24-48 hours, breed, move on to the next closest, lock her down for 24-48 hours, and repeat. Once those first few closest does become bred then you realize that a span of a week or more has passed. This means that a week’s worth of does have been bred by other bucks and the likelihood of finding a mate grows slim. A buck will need to expand his range. Often times, this might include checking known doe bedding areas on adjacent farms. Some bucks have been known to travel many miles in search of a hot doe. Therefore, if you get intel that a mature target buck is in your hunting area, then you need to be hunting him right then when it comes to the month of November.

If you check a trail camera on November 12th, and there’s a big shooter buck trailing a doe on that camera, hunt him the very next day in that area! If you wait until the weekend to hunt that deer then the likelihood that he is still in the area decreases drastically. Chances are not every reader has access to just take off of work and hunt at their leisure. If that is the case, adjust your weekend strategy if you get an early week buck picture. Hunt known doe bedding areas. Even if the big buck you had in mind does not show up there are still great odds that a neighboring deer creeps through that area.

Do not hesitate to check in with the farming community around you about big deer sightings. One of the largest shed antlers that I have ever laid my hands on came at the prompting of a farmer’s intel. I had been hunting this particular buck in a block of timber for nearly two years. I would see him coming and going by trail camera from different directions and could never figure out where he liked to spend the bulk of his time in bedding. A shot opportunity never presented itself due to a lack of a physical sighting during hunting season. It wasn’t until after the second year of chasing him that I had a conversation with the farmer of that property. He went on to inform me that he had witnessed that buck penetrate an old farmstead of about ½ acre multiple times over the course of the Fall.

Tip #3: Go Hunting (Again)
The obvious was stated a few paragraphs above. One thing that I want to emphasize is the fact that deer are very active throughout the entire month of November. Many will argue that the peak of the rut ranges somewhere between November 5 and November 15. I have found by observation that some of the most intense rutting action that I have ever seen happens after the peak. When the bell curve of available does available for estrous begins to take a sharp decline, then bucks tend to grow frantic. According to a recent conversation with my good friend Josh Sparks with Midwest Whitetail, this time of year can easily mimic the week leading up to the rut as far as callability is concerned. He suggests being willing to call at bucks and expect results.

Several years back I had grown fairly dejected at the fact that I had not arrowed a target buck. I had hunted a lot and just couldn’t seem to get the job done. My dejection was very quickly neutralized two days before Thanksgiving when I was on stand and watched a parade of no less than eight bucks chasing one poor doe. She was running for her life and there was my big shooter in the lead. I had gone from not having a deer sighting to now having a swarm of bucks holed up in the very thicket that I was hunting trying to make their way to that doe. I could have shot no less than five of the different bucks had I not been holding out for that one in particular.

The moral of the story. Don’t let your lack of success keep you from returning to the deer woods. I know the days can get cold and can sometimes seem a little lonely but I would encourage you to keep your head up. All it takes is one hot doe to come trundling by and your luck could change in the blink of an eye.

Tip #4: Don’t Be Afraid to Be Mobile
Locked down and rut crazed bucks become different animals. You can get away with a lot if you find yourself encountering a buck that has “that look in his eye.” The look I’m talking about is one of a deer that is madly in love and has nothing else on his mind except for the doe in front of him. I get many reports throughout November of giant bucks standing over a doe in road ditches, in the middle of wide-open fields, or holed up in tiny patches of timber.

If you ever find a locked down buck that you want to pursue, I encourage you to put a plan of attack together to go after that deer. If topography and wind allow it then I say go get him. The key here is not spooking his doe! Be very deliberate and go slow. I watched a deer bed a doe in a fence row last year and he was between myself and my truck. I had to leave for work but there was no way to get past them without them spooking. Due to the nature of the circumstance I decided to see just how close I could get to the buck and see if I could get him into bow range. I got to within 50 yards of the buck. Due to brush, I could not have shot had I wanted to, but it was an eye-opening realization that it was possible.

If I had to do it again on a shooter buck, I would have done roughly the same thing: keep brush in between me and him for camouflage and keep the wind in my favor. However, I believe once I got to within his “bubble” of 50-70 yards I would likely have blown a grunt tube or made some sort of aggressive call to coax him out into the open. I honestly believe it would have resulted in success. I would fully expect him to peak his head out to see what was making the commotion without completely abandoning his prize. Often times, mature bucks will “walk off” competition in an effort to save the doe for themselves. This could have made him just vulnerable enough for a shot.

Tip #5: Check Your Equipment
In a recent episode of Buckventures on the Outdoor Channel, viewers got to bear witness to me take a crack at my largest archery buck ever. I loosened an arrow at a buck standing no more than 18 yards and didn’t even come close to connecting. The reason: the arrow that I had been using for nearly every hunt had become separated from the nock unbeknownst to me. I was using a lighted nock and it had come unseated. As the string released the arrow went one way, the nock went another way, and the deer bolted away unscathed. A 30 second equipment check would have likely solved all of my woes. Never get comfortable when it comes to checking your equipment. Weeds, limbs, pull up ropes, and a variety of other things can make tiny adjustments to your gear. I suggest shooting your bow very regularly throughout deer season so you can stay sharp and so you can make sure your equipment will perform flawlessly.

Tip #6: Go Hunting!
By now, you get the picture.
In the same conversation with Josh as mentioned previously, the Chasing November producer made a great point: “there’s not a blanket that you can put over the whole month of November. Plan to adjust as the season goes on.” I agree 100%! November is a long month; a long, active month in the deer woods. However, what works for one might not work for all in all circumstances. Be flexible, take what you know, learn on the fly, and have fun chasing some of the best whitetail hunting in the country.

These tips might not seem like rocket science but they will absolutely lend to helping secure a more positive outcome when it comes to getting a great Iowa buck this Fall. Happy Hunting!