With season fast approaching, it’s that time of the year when hunters start putting together their game plan for the season opener. A lot of these plans revolve around those velvet giants we’ve been watching all summer in the soybean fields, showing up like clockwork and giving some hunters a false hope for early season success. Even though the bachelor groups of summer have been very predictable for weeks or even months, there’s a change about to take place and you better be prepared for it if you want to wrap your tag around an opening day buck. At this time there are a few scenarios that can take place.
If you’re lucky, the soybeans that your target animal has been visiting on a regular basis were planted late, like a lot of the fields here in my home state of Ohio. This allows for the leaf of the plants to remain green into late September or even early October. If this is the case, there’s a good chance your buck will stay on his summer pattern and remain in this preferred food source until the opener - this is the best case scenario.
If you’re not so lucky, the soybean plant was in the ground early, leaving a less desirable food source that will turn brown by early October. In this case, deer will abandon this food source for the most part until the plants dry out completely, then becoming a more preferred food source later in the season. This is when deer can make the switch to corn, using these standing fields as both a food source and security cover. I have witnessed mature deer follow the standing corn in an area and actually relocate to other standing corn fields as this crop gets harvested. This pattern can result in the last standing corn field in an area being a gold mine for mature deer! The acorn drop will be a big draw too. If the bucks in your area have left the fields and are focused on acorns, you can bet there will be fresh rubs in these areas and a strategically placed trail camera will let you know if your target buck has made this switch.
The last scenario doesn’t involve food, it's about the animals' instincts. When the velvet comes off, some mature animals' survival instincts kick into high gear. They know what time it is and where they need to go. This is when some of the biggest, oldest and smartest animals return to their core area. If you did your scouting early in the year before the spring green up, you should have a pretty good idea where his favorite hiding spot is. I like to have these spots pre hung with stands and mineral sites that have already been established. Even though the mineral is not a huge draw this time of the year, he will check it, and a well placed trail camera will let me know he has returned.
If you’re not sure about the location of his core area, and he has abandoned his summer feeding pattern, what do you do? The last thing you should do is waste valuable time in the wrong location, so you better get in the woods and find him! Put a stand on your back, get the wind in your face, have a couple trail cameras in your backpack and hunt him down!
