 If
you have read the first 2 articles (Article
#1 and #2) on trophy hunting this final
article will put it all together. The most important fact that I know about
bowhunting is that the small decisions you make on a daily bases about
when and where to hunt will determine your success in taking the best animal
in your area. These decisions should be carefully worked over because the
1-2 week window of taking this deer will end fast ... and then you get
to think about it for another year.
At this point you should have several possible stand sites for all wind possibilities on edges, ridges and funnels. You should also have aerial photographs of your possible stand sites as well as markers as to where they are on the map. Your next step is to study the aerial and your recollection of what stands will work for which wind conditions. Place a letter (N for north) etc. for each stand that would be acceptable to hunt for each wind. Some may be acceptable for any wind and others only for NW for example. My personal preference on an edge is to have the wind blow into an area that I can see (open field) as opposed to back into cover. My 2nd article talks about the wind on ridges. As I stated in part one, I only have the opportunity to hunt part of many days instead of entire days. When I wake up in the A.M. the first thing I go to is the Internet and look at "current conditions" from the weather service. I make a decision totally based on wind conditions using my aerial maps to determine which stand will work best. If I hunt a midday or evening I concentrate on which way flags are blowing on my way home from work to make stand decisions. Lets go through the rut from start to finish and determine when and where to hunt. I am going to start on the 28th of October (only because pheasant opener is 27th). I'm going to concentrate on areas where does are seen feeding on edged of work ground in the am and pm (unless its real windy) and concentrate on ridges and funnels on the midday. If given a choice I would prefer to hunt the midday at the times when bucks are coming up empty handed for receptive does during the full moon. This is especially true on clear nights. That's mainly because I know that the bucks have run all night and will rest only to get up several hours later and cruise around and check them again. Likewise I want to hunt the morning more on cloudy nights with no moon because they will be on the run more in the morning hours. On midday hunts try to pick heavy and large tracts of ground if it's a real bright day or windy day. If you get a dark calm midday more open ground will be occupied by deer. As the rut progresses and they start breeding your efforts will be more hit and miss because there is always incredible action somewhere but can be hard to locate. I like to hunt on edges of food where I have seen the highest concentration of does as well as bedding areas. I choose trees that I can see a long way from increasing the chance of seeing a hot doe being chase and opportunity to stalk them. My favorite time to hunt is after most does are bred and the bucks start traveling long distances out of their normal range. They are going to take the shortest distance to where they are going and I hunt funnels all hours of the day at this point. There is no better time to hunt than these last couple weeks so don't give up yet. I hope these words of wisdom can help you take the buck of your dreams.
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