The three best times to harvest your target buck this season
With only a few minutes of daylight left I slowly stood, scanning the small clover field located directly in front of myself and Chuck Jones. It was early October and as I stationed myself behind my video camera, a bead of sweat dropped from my face and onto the viewfinder. Jones had been standing for more than an hour, glassing the woods surrounding our setup, and with each passing minute his intensity seemed to increase. All the joking and storytelling from earlier in the afternoon were now a thing of the past.
When the buck appeared, Jones didn’t need to alert me. From the corner of my eye I saw his movement, a slight turn of the left shoulder towards the waterhole the buck was headed to, his bow now partially blocked his face. In the gathering dusk, the buck cautiously approached the water, dropped his head and began to drink. Already at full draw, Jones would settle in on the shoulder area, release his arrow and continue to concentrate as the deer retreated quickly in the direction it had come.
Later, as we kneeled by the downed buck, Jones would exclaim, “Brown, I love early season. You can pattern these mature deer, and as long as you don’t bump them, they’ll do almost the exact same thing every day.”
Early season
While Jones is well known as someone who is successful throughout the whitetail season, his job as a videographer for Woodhaven Game Calls demands that he’s in a tree the first day of the season. For this reason, the Louisiana native has spent years learning how to hunt a period of the hunting season others often shy away from.
Watch the weather
While October can be downright hot in Louisiana, limiting deer movement, Jones is a firm believer that even a few degrees of change can get deer up on their feet.
“If possible, wait until the conditions are right,” he said. “This isn’t the rut where bucks are more interested in does. Hot weather will no doubt cause movement to slow, so if you can wait till a front, I strongly recommend doing so.”
Scout from a distance
In Louisiana, even early season deer can be spooky. For this reason, relying on cellular trail cameras and glassing from a distance can pay big dividends.
“I’ve hunted deer in every state that has a huntable population, and I’ve seldom seen deer as spooky as they are in Louisiana,” Jones said. “I’ll go in and set up cell cameras, making sure I’m using new batteries. I don’t want to have to go back in and disturb an area because I failed to cover my bases. In areas I can glass, like fields or gas and power lines, I’ll do so from a distance.”
Water sources
In early season, Jones believes water is as powerful an attractant as food.
“I’ll focus much of my early season scouting around water,” he said. “Over the years I’ve not only killed several nice early season bucks using water, but I’ve learned to dig waterholes adjacent to food plots. These areas serve as double the attraction for deer in early season.”
The rut
Union Parish native Richard Albritton has been chasing Louisiana whitetails for almost 40 years, and of the three best periods of the season to take a mature buck, he prefers the rut.
“There’s just something special about that time of the year,” he said. “For me, the biggest positive is the fact that at any moment your target buck could walk by.”
And while the rut is without a doubt the best time to harvest a mature buck, it also comes with challenges.
“I talk to hunters every day of the season here at Spotted Dog Sporting Goods, so I hear about the mistakes they make almost daily,” Albritton said.
When pressed to provide some of his best advice, Albritton submitted the following.
Don’t quit early
While dawn and dusk will always be prime movement, the hours between 10 and 2 are often overlooked.
“Unless a hunter has work or family commitments, they need to stay in the tree as long as possible,” Albritton said. “Mature bucks looking to breed don’t take breaks. Its 24 hours a day until they find a hot doe to lock down with. For this reason, I recommend you stay on stand as long as possible.”
Always have your calls
The rut represents the time of year when bucks are most responsive to calling.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen bucks cruising out of range, grunted or rattled and had them walk straight to me.”
Albritton added that during the rut his calls are just as important as the other equipment he carries to the stand.
It’s kind of funny, but I’ve actually left my calls at the truck, climbed back down from my stand and retrieved them. I’m not hunting without them at any time, but during the rut having them is even more important.
Find the girls
One mistake Albritton admits to making himself is focusing too much on the bucks he’s chasing and too little on the does.
“Years ago, I would tend to over complicate the process,” he said. “With time I learned at the end of the day, that buck is looking for does. If I find the does, I’m more than likely going to find him or another buck I would be happy to take.”
Late season
It would be hard to put a number on how many Louisiana hunters Rodney Denton has helped. Denton spent his entire adult life working in the sporting goods retail industry, selling, setting up and teaching legions of outdoors men and women. Because of his job, Denton didn’t always have time to hunt early season or during the rut. For this reason, most of his hunting would take place during the late season, when traffic at the store would slow down. One of the main reasons Denton loves late season so much is because of the lack of competition from other hunters. Denton shared some of his favorite tips for late season.
Food, food, food
Late season represents the time of the season when deer are focused on one thing only: surviving. And doing so revolves around replenishing spent energy after the rut.
“I’m concentrating first and foremost on food sources,” Denton said. “Those deer have endured a long season and with winter, much of the native sources have been consumed. This is when I rely heavily on food plots.”
Denton remarked that even the most wary buck has a hard time staying out of a green field during the late season.
“Watch the weather, and if you get a drop in temps, be on that food plot and ready to hunt,” he said.
Concentrate on the afternoons
Denton suggested concentrating on the afternoon hunts versus mornings.
“If I’ve found a nice buck using a food plot, I’m not going to risk going in before daylight and spooking him out,” he said. “I want to arrive early enough in the afternoon to find the plot empty, sneak in and get ready.”
Denton went on to say that he prefers hunting over trails between bedding and feeding areas in the mornings.
Dress warm
Even in Louisiana, late season can see the mercury drop. For this reason, Denton suggested being sure to dress warm enough to make it all the way to dark.
“I’ve had friends come down from up north, laugh at our weather and refuse to wear enough clothes,” he said. “They come back to the camp with blue lips, talking about how wet the air is.”
Denton added that not only is it important to take enough clothes, but that if you’re bowhunting, you practice with those heavy clothes, making sure you can comfortably draw your bow.
The Louisiana deer season is long, but by concentrating your efforts on these three periods, you can tilt the odds of harvesting a mature buck in your favor.
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