Howdy y’all, it’s me again. By the time you’ll be reading this, it’s DEER SEASON!
I hope by now your feeders are full of corn, the cameras are giving you a glimpse into the deer on your property and your tree stands are secured and shooting lanes cleared. As of the first week of September, (when this article was composed) I hope you’ve left your hunting lands alone. Pressuring the deer early in the season (whether scouting, brush hogging, etc) could force the deer to find a new place to call home.
To me, the biggest “tip” for bow season is having your bow properly tuned and maintained, but also to PRACTICE. When I was a young bowhunter, I made the mistake of not practicing prior to the season. I had good bucks on camera and figured “ah heck, I’m good enough, I’ll be fine.” What happened you ask? Opening morning I had a good shot at an old, wide 8-point mainframe. As he cruised closer to my stand, he went behind a couple cedars which gave me the opportunity to draw my bow. When I did, the peep sight tubing snapped. While I generally replace them every year, my lack of preparation cost me a shot at a really nice deer. Of course, I never saw him again.
Another paramount consideration (especially bow hunting) is controlling your scent. Prior to the season, I like to wash all of my hunting clothing in scent killer laundry detergent. There are several different brands available on the market. After doing so, I cut a few cedar branches and put the branches and clothing into a ScentLok airtight bag. I put the bag into a ROAM airtight dry box and store it outside. While also playing the wind is vitally important (that’s why it’s important to have multiple stands or blinds set up, if possible) eliminating human odors will substantially increase your ability to harvest that trophy buck.
Obviously, these are just a couple important tips for (hopefully) early bow season success, but to me they are two of the most important. Happy hunting! P.S. If you have a child that bow hunts and harvests a good deer (or has a good story) email me a pic and synopsis of the story to dalen@mcvaylawfirm.com and I’ll select someone to be the feature in an upcoming article.
