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Don't hunt October mornings if your after a Mature Buck !!

25K views 251 replies 139 participants last post by  flinginairos 
#1 ·
Don't hunt October mornings if your after a Mature Buck or just want better hunting !

So for those who do not get the North American Whitetail magazine maybe it you should pic up the latest issue .The October 2014 issue has one of the best October and mature buck hunting articles I have read in any magazine .Its a no nonsense and no BS article about how hunting mornings in October can and will lower your odds of seeing or taking and mature buck .It also expands a bit no hunting only evening hunts and how to some extent ...

FYI I and a few of my buddies have subscribed to this hunting philosophy/tactic for a couple of decades and it has proven the best way to see and kill mature bucks When the end of Oct and the first few weeks of of Nov . rolls around .And it has made our evening hunts phenomenal over and over in Oct for both just deer and mature buck sitings and kills when we do go in Oct. and even deeper in the year after the rut closes ..

For those who have the magazine and those going to get it the article starts on page 44 .I recommend reading this and if you are serious about hunting bucks and not burning out your woods and stands .You may end up changing how you hunt if you hunt mornings in Oct and have issues killing and seeing mature bucks that suddenly disappear when hunting season on your ground begins after months of trail pics!!

I know I never hunt mornings before Oct 30th and this sure made me feel good that it was not just something I did and noticed .Lets here what you think if you have read it and for those who have not I just you get it and read it best read in years and its the truth ..

The artical is written by Mark Kenyon and he mentions others that you might recognize in the issue as well.Its called just say NO!
 
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#3 ·
Yeah right.........

IMHO, it's the exact opposite. Getting out of the stand, and walking through the woods or field in the dark, at the time or slightly after you think the deer should be arriving, is the best way to bump deer and ruin the hunting.

If you hunt mornings correctly, by going out early and setting up on trails back to the bedding areas and play the wind, the deer are far less likely to get bumped going in, or out, or to ever have any idea you were ever there. Sure, if you want to slob hunt and go out in grey light.....you should prolly just stay in bed. Or, if you try to hunt over food in the mornings, and bump deer out going in...sure...same deal.

I've seen far too many big bucks shot in the oct morning to believe one iota of that garbage. Do it right, and it works, do it wrong, and most definitely, like anything else......it's detrimental.
 
#4 ·
No method is fool proof. I do know I am more stressed getting to my stand in the morning than compared to evening hunts. I will add, I don't hunt mornings until closer to the end of Oct., and certainly have more evening stands than morning stands.
 
#5 ·
Yes the article has addressed reasons not to , the main one is because the deer are either in the Fields/or woods when you walk through on your way to the stand in the morning and the fact is they have found that the bigger bucks are back in the woods before you even get there and thus push them and bump them in the Oct morning more than any other hunt .Also for the guy who said walking through the Fields at night in the evening bumps deer they address this you are obviously hunting the wrong place in the evening they say to not hunt Field edges and use care when waling out of the woods .I guess hunters should not set till after dark on Field edges ...LOL \

they also said hunters going in deep and setting up betwween bedding and feeding are the ones doing the most big buck bumping they are in the woods long before the hunters ever trample through they simply just get bumped out and the hunter never sees em or knows it .Ridely just echoed the wrong way to hunt if your after mature bucks and trying to hunt mornings..Its almost word for word in the artical as the wrong way .


Seriously its all relative and many dont hunt the right way to begin with they just have to tro,ple in and out and pay no attention to the details this story is for mature buck hunters to begin with ...And it also makes the hunts better later in the year and dont burn out the woods like early season morning hunts .They are simply saying hunting mornings are not worth the risk and ruining the season and thats basically what they said you will ruin the seson in that area for resident bucks.
 
#18 ·
They are also in the woods till after dark before coming out to feed.....so let's just not hunt October at all!!! If you aren't at the food right at last light...where you THINK the deer are coming out at.......then sorry, yes I hunt the wrong places in the evenings, as do most others.

Last years P&Y is still at my buddies in WV, maybe he will post up a picture of it for me till he brings it up. 3 other deer on my wall as well.....all shot in the mornings.

I do agree though, you have to beat the bucks back to the bed. I go in early, as in 1.5 hours or so before legal shooting time. If I end up bumping them, then so be it, that particular buck was probably going to be unhuntable in any of October. In a perfectly managed farm condition...sure....no reason to hunt any of October, no doubt. But going in real early, you are much more likely to have a mature buck bumped TO YOU after first light by other hunters when you are not on one of those specially managed, private farms, than if you were laying in bed sleeping..........

If you are bumping deer going in in the morning like the article states....then you are also massively failing at using your game cameras effectively, and have no idea of the pattern of your targeted bucks.
 
#9 ·
Not so much actually in all the years I have been acttully lessthan you think . Only a few Oct morning "big" bucks start showing up until the very end of the month.Its not as good as many want to believe because they just can not give up old hunting habits that just don't pay off and actually detriment their hunting latter in the year .
 
#11 ·
Let me say this let the posts later in the season after Oct . speak for themselves .I bet vast majority of mature bucks in Oct are killed on evening hunts and I will not argue the best hunting tactics I know or the Article .I say read it then argue with your own morning results and then after all those morning hunts the pics of your mature bucks later in the year guys...

Just post what you think and then prove it wrong this year if you can ..LOL
 
#137 ·
Let me say this let the posts later in the season after Oct . speak for themselves .I bet vast majority of mature bucks in Oct are killed on evening hunts and I will not argue the best hunting tactics I know or the Article .I say read it then argue with your own morning results and then after all those morning hunts the pics of your mature bucks later in the year guys...

Just post what you think and then prove it wrong this year if you can ..LOL

The reason for that is more hunters are able to sit for an evening hunt, people can't hunt every morning because they need to get to work but many can hunt every evening. I've seen as many early morning bucks shot as late evening...skew data however you want but the truth of it all is a big buck can show up at anytime and if you're not on your stand you wont get him
 
#12 ·
This article is spot on, we stopped hunting mornings before Halloween years ago and it pays off. Big bucks during early season are bedded way before you enter the woods.

I have never shot a mature deer during the morning and this comes with hunting the same ground for 25 years. I started killing way more big bucks when morning hunts during October were stopped. Have had amazing success hunting evenings only since
 
#16 ·
Just based on my personal experience I quit hunting October mornings a long time ago. Not to say you cant shoot a nice buck in the morning in October. But it just wasnt productive for me. I dont really even get excited until the last week of October, then I hunt my evenings. When rut kicks in then I like my mornings.
 
#46 ·
This exactly for northern Minnesota whitetails, I get super excited for archery hunting starting the last week in October in the evenings and try to hunt the week before gun opener, best time of year. Right around the gun opener all day hunts because the bucks are up and moving. If I have not tagged out, I wear orange and archery hunt during gun season.
 
#17 ·
Every year someone writes a magazine article that suddenly becomes gospel. People just gotta quit falling for all the hype-type stuff and hunt enough to find out what actually works for them.
 
#20 ·
Honestly, I've never paid attention. I hunt when I can. The past two seasons I've been laid off work and hunted hard. This year, I just moved and am a first shifter. I'll be hunting maybe two nights during the week and on Sunday morning/evening. So,i'll keep mental notes and hope this theory is right.
 
#22 ·
I can hunt mornings and evenings Oct 4 - January. Nothing better to do, so might as well anchor down in my stand and hope a few other October morning hunters bump something towards me. I love hunting in the mornings -- have killed the bulk of my deer in the morning. Better than sleeping in.
 
#24 ·
Now that I think about it, Ive seen more bucks in the afternoon and into the evening than I have in the morning. BUT I have gotten pics of shooters on my cam after getting out of the stand after a morning hunt. Last year I got out of the stand about 930am and a shooter showed up at 10am. Go figure. I would love to stay out of the woods in the morning, but I just can not do it.
 
#70 ·
So true about the bucks showing up after you get out of the stand. I have a trail cam pic of a buck bedded at a scrape less than 15 minutes after I passed the camera. I couldn't believe it. Where I hunt it's pretty much 50/50 morning or evening hunts. It seams some years mornings are better, some years evenings are better. Last year evenings ruled by far, I also saw a few bucks mid morning. I may just sleep in and show up on stand around 8:30-9:00 this coming season
 
#25 ·
It's worth the read, the issue is that not every tactic works in ever location. So although this may work for certain areas it will not for every area. But it might be a good rule of thumb.
 
#27 ·
I think you need to keep the "hunting pressure" in October "lite" mornings and evenings. I always hunt morning and evening on the "openers" because I've killed some of my best bucks on opening day. But after that Where and when I hunt depends on conditions and wether or not I can get in and out without spooking my target deer.
 
#28 ·
Hunting in the mornings in Oct is more about where and how you hunt, based on my experience. To make a blanket statement that hunting mornings in Oct will decrease your chances of killing a mature deer is nonsense. Knowing deer behavior, making the proper adjustments, knowing your entry and exits and knowing where not to go will determine how much you hurt / help your success rate.

More than a couple mature bucks have been killed before noon in October. Conversely, more than a few mature bucks have been killed in the same spots later in the year that guys hunted in the mornings of October.

But, this same philosophy goes for pretty much any time of the year, not just October mornings. Like all articles and opinions, i take them for what they are worth - one persons opinion. Determining when to apply / discount any piece of information you learn is the critical part.
 
#29 ·
I remember reading something similar years ago. The big boys have been laying in their beds all day long and are antsy wanting to get up and move around. But I always have to hunt the morning of the opener - it's just tradition. Then I pick and choose my times based on wind, weather, and a few other things.
 
#30 ·
I very seldom hunt mornings in Oct..... I learned long ago that most movement is in the PM's until the rut kicks in... Give me a cool evening with a rising moon in the late afternoon near a food source or staging area anytime over the AM for Oct.........
 
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