So, let’s get busy.\u00a0 Armed with marked up aerials, topo maps, and a notebook, it’s time to sit down and really put a strategy in motion – at the kitchen table.\u00a0 Food sources, trail networks, shed antler locations, deer sightings (including time of year, weather, and what they were doing) are all important pieces of the puzzle.\u00a0 No detail is too small or irrelevant.\u00a0 Early season stand locations will be dramatically different than late season\u00a0spots so I’ll break them down a bit.\u00a0 But in either case,\u00a0it\u00a0is important to\u00a0inform your “boot time” in the field with considerable planning on paper ahead of time, thereby minimizing\u00a0your intrusion and scent\u00a0dispersal imposed on your hunting areas.<\/span><\/p>\n Early Season* (August\/September)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Key points:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n *California’s bow season opens in July.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Late Season (October – December)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Key points:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Note: A lot of people are interested in rattling and calling blacktails, and I am dedicated to these tactics.\u00a0 However, that\u2019s a topic for a future post.<\/span><\/p>\n Does, does, does\u2026it\u2019s almost a clich\u00e9 to \u201chunt the does\u201d but it truly is the name of the game.\u00a0 And precisely why you need to keep track of does year-round.\u00a0 As a general rule, especially in non-migratory deer herds, does generally use the same range all year.\u00a0 So it\u2019s logical to think that these does will attract bucks like magnets as the rut phases progress.\u00a0 This attraction equates to increased daytime movement and opens the door of opportunity for the well-studied bowhunter.\u00a0 Your goal is simply to place your stand along a buck\u2019s path during legal shooting hours.\u00a0 It\u2019s much easier to write those words than it is to do in the woods.\u00a0 To be successful, you need to consider these five primary factors:<\/span><\/p>\n To illustrate how I process this list of variables, review the image\u00a0below.\u00a0 [Note: click the image, then click the smaller image again after the page loads to see it full size<\/em>].\u00a0 Use your maps and aerial images to get you close, and do the fine tuning on the ground.\u00a0 I’ve noted doe sightings with yellow “D’s”, rubs with red “R’s”, shed antlers with icons, major travel routes\/trails\u00a0with white lines.\u00a0 The red ovals are my “mapped” stand locations.\u00a0 I may have two or three stands set up for each location to handle varying winds.\u00a0 In any case, the first factor I consider is hunting pressure.\u00a0 Bottom line \u2013 I avoid other hunters at all cost, even if I know a good buck is in the area.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had too many people walk under my stands or otherwise blunder my hunts.\u00a0 I\u2019d rather work harder to locate unpressured pockets of deer to hunt than waste my precious hunting time by being impacted by other hunters.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m a big fan of funnels between known doe hangouts because they concentrate movements of multiple trails through a finite location.\u00a0 If I can\u2019t locate a good funnel, then I look for trail intersections and hunt the downwind side.\u00a0 Hunting a single trail is good but hunting intersections multiply your odds considerably because bucks will scent check these trails regularly at any point during the day as the rut heats up.\u00a0 As the calendar gives way to November, I target thickets and intimate doe hangouts.\u00a0 Bucks will be on their feet and on the move, often covering miles of country per day.\u00a0 I killed my 2009 buck over 1 mile as the crow flies from where I had been collecting trailcam photos of him.\u00a0 He left his core area to find a receptive doe \u2013 a doe I\u2019d been keeping tabs on for a full year.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.outdoorblog.net\/pnwbowhunting\/files\/2011\/04\/Bucks-Sparring-300x225.jpg\")
<\/span><\/a><\/span>In parts 1 and 2 of this series I focused on gathering intelligence on deer movement and core rut zones.\u00a0 In part 3, we\u2019re going to put that data to work.\u00a0 Before we begin, I want to clarify what I mean by \u201chot stand sites\u201d.\u00a0 I define a “stand site” as a good location\u00a0to set up either a ground blind or treestand.\u00a0 A “hot” stand site is the precise location carefully selected to provide the highest odds at shot opportunities on bucks when<\/em> you plan to hunt that location.\u00a0 Still-Hunting is a different topic altogether so for the context of this post, we’ll not delve into it here.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.outdoorblog.net\/pnwbowhunting\/files\/2011\/04\/DSC087791-300x225.jpg\")
<\/span><\/a>In general, early season bucks will still be in their summer patterns and may still be in velvet, especially smaller bucks.\u00a0 Typically, they will be hanging together in small groups.\u00a0 It’s difficult to pinpoint a really “hot” stand location during the early season mainly because\u00a0lush summer food is everywhere, the\u00a0urge to breed isn’t yet in play, and deer are dispersed enjoying the\u00a0dog days of summer.\u00a0 Still, bucks will be more visible early and late in the day, and if there is ever a time to pattern a mature blacktail buck it is during the first 5-10 days of the early season.\u00a0 Until they shed velvet (and assuming they aren’t bothered) their activity patterns will remain somewhat predictable.\u00a0 Granted,\u00a0you typically won’t find the same buck using the same trail day in, day out, but you can usually get enough information to dial in the general movement pattern and preferred feeding area.\u00a0 Watch the wind and set up accordingly.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.outdoorblog.net\/pnwbowhunting\/files\/2011\/04\/DSC08997-small-300x200.jpg\")
<\/span><\/a>Generally, I do not try to unravel bedding areas during the early season unless the situation calls for it.\u00a0 Instead I focus on food and water.\u00a0 Bucks will feed continually throughout the day, in fact, I\u2019d go as far as to say that if you see an undisturbed buck on his feet, he\u2019ll be feeding.\u00a0 They will water at least once per day, more frequently during sustained hot weather, and they feed throughout the day, often bedding within their primary feed areas such a clear cut bench or on the uphill side of a stump\/tree.\u00a0 During the early season trail cameras can be extremely valuable in figuring out deer movements and learning about the age-class of bucks in the area.\u00a0 Glassing from a high point or a treestand from a distance can also provided an excellent means to see what is moving, when, and where.\u00a0 I once counted 16 different bucks and a bear in one evening from a \u201cscouting\u201d stand set 25 feet up at the edge of a large clear cut.\u00a0 Staying downwind and using the power of optics to dissect the extensive feed area, I was able to watch a pile of undisturbed bucks without breaking a sweat or tipping them off.\u00a0 And because I was 25 feet off the ground, I could see more country – and more bucks<\/em>.\u00a0 It may surprise you but this was on public land in a highly pressured area,\u00a0along a\u00a0major logging road.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.outdoorblog.net\/pnwbowhunting\/files\/2011\/04\/rutting-buck-2-300x182.jpg\")
<\/span><\/a>In general, between October 1 and December 31, bucks will be interested in breeding.\u00a0 Think of these two dates as either end of the intensity bell curve, with the peak somewhere in between.\u00a0 That \u201csomewhere\u201d is also a topic for a future post so for now just assume it\u2019s around mid-November.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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