Harvesting big bucks in your home state consistently can be tough, but doing it out of state can be a real challenge! It’s next to impossible to scout anywhere like you can at home, but when you combine todays technology with a smart scouting plan, you can increase your chances drastically! Theres no doubt, I have always had my best success at home when it comes to getting a crack at a big dominant buck, but through trial and error I have managed to come up with a few tactics that can help you be more successful on your next out of state hunt. On any given year, I will normally hunt 5 or 6 states, this year a few more, and it takes detailed planning along with some strategic scouting trips to make the most of my season.
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Monster Minute Blog
Hunting the 2nd Rut
In the past few weeks I’ve discussed late season tactics and what a huge role security cover and food play into this end of the season game. There is one more topic of discussion, and that is the 2nd rut. I’ve read numerous articles about the subject and heard many different opinions on this matter. As far as I’m concerned, I believe what I see and I have witnessed first-hand, bucks breeding does in October prior to the main rut and as late as February long after the November peak. Why, I’m sure it has a lot to do with buck to doe ratios, with some does not getting bred the first time around along with fawns born late and coming into estrous later than the rest of the herd. I’m not going to say I know for sure though, because I don’t. There is definitely some validity to it though, and its worth mentioning.
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Hunting Late Season Food Sources
When it comes to wrapping your tag around a late season giant, your success can rely greatly on your ability to find the best food source available in your area. As I discussed in my last column, security cover also plays a huge role in late season strategies, but you can bet that the cover a mature animal picks for his winter hideout will be related somehow to food. Here in Ohio, Old Man Winter has finally showed up, and the brutally cold temperatures are here to stay for a while. After a long bow season and the rigors of the rut, you can rest assured that any mature bucks that have survived to this point are not the same creatures they were in October, It’s all about survival now, and in order for that to happen, they have to have great cover and food!
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Tips for Hunting Late Season
If you haven’t filled your archery tag yet don’t worry, some of the best hunting of the year is still to come! My favorite time of the season to shoot a mature deer is definitely October, but my second favorite is late season. I know the rut is a great time to kill a big one, but it seems like it’s more luck than anything else. It’s almost impossible to predict or pattern anything in November. That’s a different story during the early and late seasons when deer are on a strict feeding pattern. You have the element of surprise on your side early on in September and October, but during the latter part of the season when the snow starts to fly and the temperatures begin to plummet, deer have to feed to survive making them vulnerable and patternable once again.
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Keying on Security Cover for Late Season Success
When it comes to chasing giant whitetails during the late season, it’s all about security cover! By the time snow starts to fly in December, the deer have been pressured by bow and gun hunters for 2-3 months and you can bet any buck still living will be holed up in the best cover available! Food and the secondary rut will play a part in late season success, but this week we will be talking about hunting pressure and where the big ones go to survive the late season!
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Hunting “Red October”
There’s a special time coming, a time when conditions are perfect for harvesting a giant whitetail buck, I call it “Red October”. In the past few weeks I talked about hunting the Opener and the October Lull, both have there own unique characteristics and offer the hunter an opportunity to tag a good deer, but I believe they pale in comparison to the last 10 days of October! I have had without a doubt, my best luck at shooting Monster Bucks during this period, including all 3 of my 200” deer, and I believe there’s solid reasoning behind it which we will discuss.
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Figuring Out the “October Lull”
The October Lull…..sounds a little depressing doesn’t it! Not nearly as popular a word with whitetail hunters as something like “The Rut”! Probably because it is just that, a lull in activity that happens somewhere between the first week of October and ends a week or so before Halloween. But what’s really happening during this time, are deer not moving because of hunting pressure or the warm temperatures that seem to linger longer into hunting season every year, maybe? It’s definitely a tough time to hunt when you compare it to say, mid-november, when deer are going crazy and bucks are on the move non stop. I’ll tel you one thing though, after spending 30 years chasing deer with a stick and string, I’ve learned a thing or two about hunting big bucks in October and the October Lull is not the time to be sitting at home watching dvr’d episodes of Lee and Tiffany!
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My Favorite Month of the Year for Giant Whitetails!
If I had to pick my favorite month to hunt “Monster Bucks” it would have to be October! Yeah, you heard right, October, not November. I have had my best luck in October and harvested all of my biggest bucks including all 3 of my 200” deer prior to Halloween. There are a few good reasons for my success during the early season, and I’m going to break them down for you and I’m also going to separate this special month into 3 individual phases over the next few weeks and take a close look at them all. I like to break down the month into: The Opener ( obviously the beginning ), The Lull ( basically after the first week and up to the 20th give or take), and Red October or the last 10 days of the month. During this period here in the midwest, there are a lot of changes going on, almost on a daily basis, with both deer and their habitat. Each phase takes a little different approach and there can be some last minute changes that have to be made in your set ups, but above all else you have to be as sneaky, scent free, and as careful as you possibly can not to blow your cover with a big buck! October can be a great time to kill a monster, but it may be the most difficult too.
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