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LAST DAYS OF SUMMER Often the last hot days of summer are the first weeks of bow season. The hot days of summer effect how deer and even the wild turkey will and when they will travel. Whitetail deer don’t move around much during the heat of the day unless they are forced to. The way to success this time of year is to be there when they decide to move. Even
if the temperatures climb into the 80’s and even the 90’s. This can
be the greatest time of year. The deer have had 7 to 8 months to relax
from the hunting pressure of last year and are not on the alert YET!
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OASIS If September and October is dry, I suggest hunting around a water source. If nothing else the traffic of a watering hole in woods can be just like a watering hole in Africa. With Raccoons leaving at daybreak, squirrels coming in for a early morning drink, wild turkey showing up around mid morning for a drink and of course the buck of a lifetime you been looking for coming in to quench it’s thirst. The only difference, you are the KING OF JUNGLE since you are the main predator. |
Secluded watering holes are great deer magnets. They don’t have to
be big or even deep just deep enough to have water in them year round and
with very little open ground to cover the deer love these quite secluded
safe place to get a drink.
Since most of us can hunt turkey with our bow tag these secluded watering holes are a bonus for turkeys. More often that not right after coming off the roost or before going on the roost they will head for water. Also if you have majority of whitetail does in the area using the watering hole. There is one thing for sure. Bucks will show up eventually. Know if you can match this up with agricultural crops or clover fields near by you should have all the keys to success and end up with a deer freeway between the food source and water source. Also apple orchards at this time of year can be buck magnets with this fruit pack with water that they are looking for may be all they need. |
Some lite rattling this time of year can get bucks curiosity up. Sounding like two bucks sizing up for later in the year or maybe a doe has entered in to rut early may bring the buck within range. Also if you are meat hunting I suggest that you try a fawn cry. This method of calling can be some the fastest action deer hunting you have ever seen. Does will come in running. But be ready they won’t stick around long. When using either method try to keep the calling in the cooler mornings or afternoons and in the areas of food or water. Basically where the deer want to be anyway puts everything together.
STAY COOL
How do we stay cool? GOOD question. This time of year be sure
you bathe before each days hunt. Also if you can find them try un-scented
towlets before the afternoon hunt. Also wash you and your clothes more
often with unscented soap or have two one set for each day’s hunt.
Also wet your shirt, or hat and facemask with cooler water. That will help
keep you cool. Typically the afternoon is the only time you have to do
this. This will also keep your scent down by trapping it near your body
with water droplets instead of floating thru the air. Also don’t
put all your camo on until you get to your stand or location and also consider
taking it off in the morning before you come out of the stand. Carry
plenty of water to drink also. If your cool inside, that will help keep
you cool outside and also try a wet towel around your neck. Good
luck with this years early bow season hunt and the only time I hope you
get hot is when you’re dragging that big buck back to the truck.
Archery deer hunters head to field Oct. 1
Missouri's 2002-2003 archery deer season runs from Oct. 1 through Nov. 15 and from Nov. 27 through Jan. 15. Show-Me State archers harvest more than 20,000 deer annually. Though small compared to the firearms harvest, the harvest of 26,000 deer by archers each year relieves deer congestion around cities.
JEFFERSON CITY -- If you have been seeing people dressed in camouflage out and about at dawn and dusk lately, it's not because the U.S. Army is on maneuvers. Archery deer season opens Oct. 1, and bowhunters are on the move. They are scouting hunting spots, checking their equipment and getting in shape for Missouri's three-month bow season.
Archery deer season runs through Jan. 15, with a break for the firearms hunting season Nov. 16 through 26. Archers can take up to two deer with a Resident Archer's Hunting Permit ($17) or a Nonresident Archer's Hunting Permit ($120), which are good statewide. Residents or nonresidents also can take as many as five additional deer in some areas with Antlerless-Only Archery Deer Hunting Permits ($5 each).
The areas where antlerless-only archery permits are valid increased this year. During the 2001-2002 season, the permits were good in seven management units. This year the number is 24. Units where hunters can use antlerless-only archery permits this year are 1 through 17, 20, 22, 23, 24, 30, 58 and 59 - in effect, the northern half of the state. You have to buy a regular archery hunting permit before you can buy the permits.
Bowhunters partake of a tradition that traces its roots back tens of thousands of years. Though most modern archers use high-tech equipment, the essentials of the challenge are the same whether your bow features aluminum pulleys or wooden limbs. You must get within a few paces of a quarry that possesses superb senses. Then you have to place an arrow in an area the size of a dinner plate. If you forget to check wind direction or breath a little too loudly, a wary whitetail will evaporate like smoke in the wind.
Last year, Missouri bowhunters outwitted whitetails 26,165 times. It's an accomplishment that increasingly benefits homeowners and automobile drivers in areas where hunting with firearms isn't permitted.
"Deer continue to cause problems with property damage around our cities," said Lonnie Hansen, a wildlife research biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. "At one time, about the only problem that deer caused was damaging farmers' crops in rural areas. Now the biggest problems with deer are in urban areas and suburbs."
Those problems, said Hansen, include damage to expensive landscape plants. "It's easy to laugh at this unless you're the one shelling out hundreds of dollars to replace shrubs," he said.
Even more troublesome are deer-vehicle accidents. Insurance company records show that the average deer-related auto accident results in $1,700 damage. A few of these accidents prove fatal for drivers or passengers.
Although the statewide archery deer harvest is insignificant compared to the firearms kill of more than 200,000 annually, it is very significant in areas where hunting with guns isn't allowed.
"One of our biggest challenges is controlling deer populations in areas where hunting with firearms isn't practical," said Hansen. "In those areas, archery deer hunting provides a safe, economical way to keep deer numbers - along with property damage and danger from deer-car accidents - at levels that are acceptable to the public."
- Jim Low -
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