Leave the spinnerbaits and round-billed crankbaits in the box this month if you’re fishing wood on the Red River.
Well, we are approaching my favorite day of the year, Oct 1, and it looks like the first several days of bow season are going to be blessed with great weather.
Hopefully you have a few spots picked out already on either prime crossings or food sources.
This is a great time to catch that big buck on his summer-time feeding pattern. They are very predictable this time of year for a couple weeks. Until they start to feel pressure.
You can prolong this period by being smart about where you hunt and when. The biggest mistake hunters make, in my opinion, is hunting their prime spot no matter what. You have to obey the wind. Know where your deer are coming from and where they are heading to, and make your approach (walk in) and stand downwind of all deer activity.
Most importantly, when you have done all of this and the season opens and it is the day you can hunt, you have to have the discipline to not go to your best stand if the wind is wrong. I have certain pieces of property that I will not even go to if the wind is wrong. Trust me, the wind will change in a few days and you will be able to hunt your buck.
Your scent lingers around for about four hours after you have left your stand, also, which can spook deer that you don’t even get to see.
Make yourself and your guests setups for each wind scenario. I like to assume that the wind usually comes out of the northwest or southeast in the fall, so that is how I make my setups.
I also stay about 30 yards from the presumed shooting spot.
Good hunting.
