Bowhunting

Here is my son Ty and I watching a soybean field in our buddy stand.

In November, more does start coming into heat and the daytime buck movement increases. This is the time to hunt the areas frequented by does; the bucks will not be far away. This is how I filled my 2004 Iowa tag.

We were not seeing too many deer in the normal rutting areas so I moved to a stand over a food plot. The first night I hunted it I had 2 different bucks come into the food plot but it was raining too hard and got dark too soon for a shot. The next evening was clear and calm. I set a doe decoy right in the food plot. And 30 minutes before dark a small buck came through and saw the decoy. He didn’t want anything to do with it and left. Not long after that a doe came in and passed through the food plot, 5 minute later a 6 pointer came right up to the decoy and I decided to take him since it was our last night in camp.

In most states, the gun season starts as the rut winds down towards the end of November. After the gun season, the bucks are very skittish having been chased around for the last two months. These deer are very hard to kill.

One of the best ways to take a late season buck is to scout out any remaining food sources. If you can find one being used, you must be very careful placing stands and hunting, one mistake and the deer will only move after darkness has set in. This is a very difficult time to hunt, but it can be very rewarding with the challenges you have to overcome, cold weather, wary deer, lack of cover, ect.

The Bowhunting season starts when it is warm and the unpressured deer move about freely. Then the deer go into their October lull, when it’s difficult to find a deer. In November the rut heats up and the woods are crawling with bucks again. The late season comes around the deer are spooked more then ever. But this is why I love bowhunting so much, when you do everything right and do succeed the rewards are great.
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