Getting on Early Season Bucks
Getting on Early Season Bucks
We all have those deer obsessed friends that reliably kill big deer, almost every year. At the least, they get on big bucks and have an encounter with them A lot of times, we just chalk it up to excuses like: they have better hunting property, they have more time, they’re just lucky. Yes, all three of these things are awesome when they happen. But, having top-notch woodsmanship skills, an ability to dissect your data, and your ability to read a specific deer are all much more important when it comes to bagging big bucks.
To hunt big bucks, you need to have big bucks in the area. It’s ok if they don’t necessarily live exclusively on your property. We would all prefer that, but you can read and manage your property for big bucks. With that said, bucks tend to gravitate towards certain terrain. Let’s look at some of those areas and how to hunt them early season.
Scrape Lines
When it comes to mid-October to mid-November, we see scrapes popping up. Ten years ago, no one was hunting over scrapes, and we didn’t know how to hunt over them. Now we’re able to learn from some veterans, like Jerry Everhart, and can leverage the magic of scrapes for our hunting success. If there is a scrape, a buck made it (unless you’re on public or shared land and it was a hunter making a “mock scrape”). This is your first indication that bucks are in the area. Now, you want to get your eyes on what bucks are visiting the scrape, and I guarantee if one buck made it, several bucks are monitoring it.
A lot of mistakes hunters make is hunting these scrapes too early. Chances are, if you’re after a specific bruiser, he is visiting it primarily at night. However, research tells us that as October progresses, bucks start to spend a little more time active during shooting hours progressively too. So, don’t crash in and hunt over your scrapes too early, because the deer are still primarily active at night. Yes, they can be good, you’ll catch deer checking them. But unless you’re using your trail camera data, or you are scouting, it’s easy to “burn” up these stands and after 3 or 4 sits, the bucks will start to catch on to your presence. Scrapes are awesome, but hunt them wisely. Don’t sit in the stand if the wind is blowing in the direction, you anticipate the deer to approach. Wait until your cameras on trails leading to and from the scrapes, start to show bucks in daytime. Or, I like to hunt that first cold front that comes in during October. It really gets deer up on their feet early. Additionally, when you set up your stand, if you can find a tree within 20-25 yards from that scrape, it often makes for a sure shot opportunity if deer are in the area.
Field Edges
From logging thousands of hours in the stand, we know that deer like to travel along the edges of structure. They’ll walk the edges of corn fields, deer screens, native grasses, and the edges of timbers. One thing I’ve found most interesting is they tend to cross before a corner intersection. This isn’t true 100% of the time. I haven’t seen your hunting area, but I’ve noticed that they’ll cut through before and after a corner in a food plot, field, or timber edge. Depending on your specific property, you might not want to tuck your tree stand back in the corner of the field edge, but you may benefit from hunting the edge of the field. We’ve seen hunting shows where the hunters love hunting on the edge of a big ag field. I recommend finding a heavy trail coming out of a timber (or in the grass) to your back, and hang your stand on the timber edge about 20 yards away, facing the field. This way, you will be 20 yards from a heavy trail, and you will also have the field edge in front of you offering a shot. The deer will want to funnel towards your stand to access that trail. This also makes a good scenario if you rattle, grunt or snort-wheeze to a buck. They know that trail 20 yards away is there, and when they head towards you, they’re likely to head to the trail past you.
Food Plots
When it comes to hunting food plots, they can be a powerful tool. Early season, when soybeans are green, you’ll find deer and likely big bucks frequenting a green soybean field. They can be patterned pretty reliably within the first 10 days of bow season. After that, the mast crops start falling, the soybeans start defoliating and that patterned buck is gone.
A green alfalfa field is easier to hunt and gives you a window up until it snows. Like soybeans, if you see a buck visiting alfalfa during the first 10 days of bow season, you can likely hang and hunt to get a shot opportunity at him. Just pay attention to your wind, where he is coming from and where he is headed. I like to hunt early over soybeans, alfalfa, or even clover. Hanging a trail cam on the fields, or by scouting from afar. You can pattern what deer and the time of day they’re visiting the fields.
Corn is a food plot I love to hunt too. Standing corn can be tough, as they’re using it for habitat too. It’s powerfully attractive to deer and once the combines start rolling in your area, it will either pull them to or from you. If you can hunt over a freshly picked corn field, the next few days that’s where the deer will be. It will be a hotspot for a while, but then dwindle down. The window is short, but as corn comes out, especially the first fields in the area, then the deer flock to these areas.
Don’t forget your brassicas. A lot of people will plant turnips and radishes together to extend the life of their food plots. The turnip greens will get eaten, as will the turnips, but their attraction will peak after the first hard frost when sugars start to go back into the bulbs. So, if you plant radishes in the food plot as well, you will get that early season attraction for October bucks.
Fence Lines
Along similar lines, it’s not uncommon to see a bi buck walking up and down a fence line. Just last year, a young man shot a Boone & Crockett class deer from a fenceline. Another hunter was hunting him too on a different property. However, by observing the buck walking up a fence line, the bowhunter was able to hang a stand and ambush this buck. I also have a friend, Walt Mitchell, that was able to shoot a gross 201-inch deer walking down a fence line. He primarily hunts the areas that hunters don’t want to hunt and that happens to be fence lines.
However, there are some tips when it comes to hunting fence lines. It can be tough to find a tree, especially one that will fit your stand. You might have to resort to using a blind to get where you want to be. When using a blind, especially if you’re trying to ambush a big deer. You have to really brush in your blind. Make it look like a brush pile when you’re done. Even still, you risk the buck or doe disliking the structure and bolting. I still prefer a tree stand when it comes to hunting fence lines. However, I like to sit with my bow in hand, and will stand up and be ready as soon as I see a deer. You’re likely to stick out and most likely will not have structure behind you to minimize your movement. From my experience, and the stories I’ve heard from fence-line-hunters, it seems like they can produce during anytime, but they’re a little more successful late October as bucks begin to think about the approaching rut.
If you want to make a crossing close to your stand. You can pull the top strand of barbed wire down to make it a little lower to cross. Deer can be remarkably lazy when it comes to fence crossing, They’ll walk an extra 200 yards just to cross where it’s a little lower. Just be mindful if the neighbor owns the fence, if there is livestock, or if someone has given you permission. You still want to be respectful as you hunt.
As October approaches, we’re getting excited and keyed up for opening day. Do some scouting now, especially on food plots and ag fields. Look for fresh scrapes and hub scrapes that are used year after year. Don’t forget about the fence lines and field edges. Be safe and good luck!
by Jessica Graham
September 2024
