Hunting season is right around the corner and you want to be sure that you have some success this fall! Everyone always wants a shot at that booner buck that you’ve been getting on trail cameras the last few weeks. Sometimes getting that guy is easier said than done, especially once the season starts and you’re putting the pressure on.
In this article, we are going to cover my TOP 5 Early Season Hunting Tips that will help you be successful with the bow this fall!
Tip #1: Maintaining Your Gear
Before you even think about heading into the woods to chase after that trophy buck, be sure you’ve gone through all of your gear. Maintaining your gear is a huge step into being able to successfully harvest a deer. This means going through your bows, arrows, tree stands, safety harness, optics and other accessories. You want to be sure that you are triple checking everything that you are taking into the woods with you, to make sure you’re putting yourself in the right position to shoot a deer. The last thing you want to happen is any of your gear failing on you when it comes to crunch time out there in the woods. Maintain your gear!
Tip #2: Limit Your Impact in the Hunting Areas
Try to stay out of those areas that you have trail cameras hung as much as you can as it gets closer to season. By checking trail cameras frequently or going back to look at food plots can begin to chase or spook mature deer out of those areas. Be sure that when you are setting cameras or even planting food plots that you’re doing what you need to do and then getting OUT! Go in there every couple weeks to check trail cameras or maybe even once a month to limit your time spent in the woods before your season.
Tip #3: Use Cameras to Your Advantage
Now that we just talked about checking your trail cameras too much, they can also be a vital tool to helping you scout your property and see where deer are moving through the areas you’re looking to hunt. Use trail camera in heavily traffic areas to ensure that you are able to educate yourself how deer are using your property. By using trail cameras, you are able to limit your time spent in the woods “scouting” thus giving those deer a higher chance of staying on that property. Using high quality cameras such as TideWe trail cameras and hanging them out of direct sunlight will give you the best possible photos for your knowledge.
Tip #4: Knowing Your Early Season Food Sources
Food sources in every part of the season play a huge factor of where you set up to hunt, but the big key is knowing which food sources to hunt during certain times of the year. During early season you need to know which food sources are mature and are ready to be eaten by deer such as, Soybeans or even Hay. If you look or scout over the summer, you’ll notice a lot of deer out in fields like these. These types of food sources don’t truly come to an end until you start getting closer to pre-rut or even rut where they will start switching over to grains like corn or brassicas. So, finding the correct food sources during certain times of the year can drastically increase your odds of shooting a deer during early season.
Tip #5: Mobility
Once you’ve narrowed down the areas that deer are in, meaning you’ve found the correct food sources the deer are using. You’re then ready to figure out a way to get out there and actually harvest a deer. Whether you are a public land hunter or private land hunter it can be critical to have MOBILITY. Meaning you have the means to bring a stand with you into the woods and being able to hunt any given area immediately. Moving around the property rather than just plopping a stand or blind in a spot for the entire season will give you a better chance to seeing more deer and successfully harvesting a deer. Deer patterns can change very quickly and being able to adapt to those changes can help you harvest a deer faster. There are very many climbing stands or even hang on stand available on the market today that are lightweight and very mobile. Use these stands to your advantage to help you hunt more areas that maybe some hunters are not willing to go to.
Summary
These are my Top 5 early season hunting tips that will help you harvest a big buck this fall! Hopefully these tips helped give you a better understanding on how to take on early season hunting whether you’re on public land or private land. We want you to be successful so be sure to check out our TideWe products to help you get the job done! Getting you in the woods to live your passion at an affordable price! Stay safe out there and have a great season!
