Muzzleloader Madness
Written by: Ryan Reading, Fall Obsession Pro Staff
The 2024 hunting season has gone by at an exceptional rate . We are now at the very end stages of the hunting season in many states. In some states like my home state of New York, there are a few days left of the bow/muzzleloader season.
The weather in Western New York hasn’t been so kind this year, dumping over five feet of snow in a three day span. This made it difficult for almost ten days of the season to even attempt hunting. Most deer hunkered down and the majority hunters weren’t able to physically get into the woods as the snow was just to deep. We do currently have a thaw with rain but a band of an additional three feet of snow is approaching with only five days left of our muzzleloader season.
Muzzleloader season can be a great time to hunt those big knarley bucks that have been traversing the landscape for months in search of hot does . These bucks are worn down. Most have lost some size due to the rut and are looking to regain their energy. If you know where to look for these bucks you can be very successful.
Our recommendations would be as follows. Make sure you’re near a large food source that can sustain large deer for the remainder or the winter or cool months. This can be a large food plot area, a timber cut over with new browse or a large AG field system.
These bucks will start to get into a pattern of feeding and bedding mid to late December with the snow and cooler temperatures. This is when you can set up your ambush.
If you witnessed where these bucks bedded all year or know of a heavy thicket they frequent and know where they’re favorite food source is, you may have that late season chance, whether it's from a stand or a blind. Sometimes being mobile and setting that blind up will catch deer off guard and you’ll be presented with that opportunity to harvest a late shooter buck that you watched during the early season.
We predict there will be some good movements from these large bucks from December 13 to December 16th. The full moon is slated for the 15th of December. We have noticed that large mature bucks seem to daylight the 24-48 hours before the full moon and usually up to 24 hours after. This is based on Tactacam Reveal cell cam data over the last few years .
Now, I don’t claim to know why or what affect the moon has on these animals but I, along with many others in the hunting industry have witnessed this full moon cycle of daylighting. I would even suggest hunting mornings again as bucks may be heading back to their bedding late if you’re able to access those areas without alerting them. All too many times my data shows deer in the corn fields until 8:30 or 9 a.m. late season before they head back to bedding. Again, if the weather is cold, in the teens or twenties the deer will move earlier in the evening to get to that food source.
Position yourself as you would in the early season. Stay stealthy, between thick cover and food and wait that big buck out. Don’t hunt as if you have nothing to lose, because you do. Those mature bucks are different and tend to remember scenarios as you or I do. That may even affect you the following year as they avoid those situations.
Shoot straight and when the smoke clears hopefully you have a big shooter on the ground!