Written By: Ryan Reading, Fall Obsession Field Staff

As summer is winding down many hunters have been planting fall food plots, trimming lanes, setting tree stands and locating the best places they would hunt during the upcoming season. All the things we do as the hunting season approaches may seem like a no brainer to any seasoned hunter, but there can still be some problems with these scenarios. 

Year after year most hunters continue the same routine. This may include everything we spoke of previously and some scouting. Hunters are creatures of habit. Most hunters do the same thing every season and end up with mediocre results because the deer have actually patterned you year after year. 

Most hunters scout all summer and early fall hoping to be ready for the rut. The main issue with that is most hunters don’t take into consideration the early season and even late season. They focus on one specific small window period when the breeding and chasing takes place.  During the rut, while it can be a magical time, there are many better opportunities that should be capitalized during the early and late season. During this time these bucks that hunters have been following are easier to predict outside of the rut.  

The early season in many areas begins October 1st and, in some locations, even earlier in September. Many hunters hear that hot weather keeps bucks bedded down. That is far from the truth. Bucks, while they may only travel 100 or 200 yards, will still move during warm weather. We must remember most bucks in the early season, and especially in September may still be in velvet. This is the reason many large bucks are not in heavy cover during this time. The engorged velvet racks can hurt the bucks if they are in thickets where the antlers get banged up or caught on brush. Many bucks will hold up in areas less thick until that velvet is shed and racks become polished. Ultimately, the bucks will stay on summer feeding patterns and once the velvet is rubbed off will then start disbursing to other thickets. Hunters must think about it this way; imagine not having a pair of shoes in the woods. You would most likely take the easiest pathway back and forth not to injure your feet but then once you’re given a pair of shoes, you feel invincible and want to explore everywhere because you know your feet won’t hurt. Same with a large buck and their velvet rack. Stay close to the summer beds, water and food if you want to have a chance early. 

As the bucks disperse hunters lose sight of their target bucks and other target bucks move in. The rut is upon us come late October and November. Hunters will hunt as much as possible doing the same thing year in and year out. Hunters will sit in locations they have scouted in the summer and these areas have gone desolate because they never took into consideration what happens during different phases of the year. This would be the time of the year you would want to focus on doe trails and sitting off wind of a doe bedding area hoping for a shooter buck to cruise by. I have learned that all summer wherever you have seen doe frequenting day after day, taking the same trails from bedding is a good place to set up on. 

All summer does traverse back and forth from one area of bedding to food, back to bed. These deer leave scent all year long on these hot trails. The bucks when searching for does can smell that and pick up on these scents left all summer by the doe. This is why areas does frequent, even food plot trails, will be checked by bucks during the pre-rut and rut. Make sure to set your stands off doe bedding and hunt the appropriate winds for that bedding location.

The late season is when most hunters will hunt food sources heavy, only to have what we call “tag soup.” Yes, while this is a great tactic during freezing temps, I have learned that if you can locate food sources back in the timber close to the thick pines where they may be bedded, your chances will skyrocket as they hold up in these staging areas prior to exiting the timber.   

The deer during this time are tired and not traveling far to replace much of what they have expended during the rut. Being set up between the thick bedding and not far off food sources or mast is a great way to tag out. Many hunters see on TV these pristine hunting plots and hunters sitting right in the blinds in the middle of the fields. While that can work on certain hunting lands, it won’t on most. I always recommend setting up at least 75 yards away from the food closer to the bedding. Hunters will see more deer as they enter staging areas and have better chances at tagging a buck opposed to sitting right in the field because most bucks won’t reach the field until after shooting light.  

Now, I will say that if you live in a state that gets heavy snow and cold temps’ deer will travel quite some distances to come down from the hills or mountains to the lower farm or AG lands for winter. If you can locate bottleneck areas where the deer travel through to get to a specific food source as they come down in elevation it may be a great set up to tag out. 

The moral of the article is that as most hunters read this, they will say to themselves yes, that is what I do. Well, that predictable behavior is what 5- 6- and 7-year-old bucks know and that is why the days you’re sitting at home, your Tactacam Reveal Cellular Camera sends you a photo of that missed buck opportunity. I know, I’m guilty of that also. What I suggest is to log all your large buck photos from the previous 2 or 3 years and see if a pattern emerges. Do the bucks come through on the same certain days or times of the season?  If so, I recommend setting up one to two days either side of that photo around those same times and see what transpires. You may find yourself smack dab in the middle of tagging a large buck. 

As hunters we will never know what deer are going to do every time and that is a cold fact. Change the game by changing how you think. Your goal as a hunter should be more focused on how to traverse through the timber silently and be unpredictable to the game you’re hunting. If you focus more on how you can change the hunt to be in your favor by doing different things, you may say to yourself after taking that buck, “huh I can’t believe that happened.” It happened because you did something differently and caught that deer off guard, simple and plain.