Deer

Three expert whitetail ­hunters—with more than 40 P&Y-Class bucks between them—reveal their top early-season stand locations. Article by Will Brantley.

Brian Van Horn ?
Years Hunting Whitetails: 30 ?
Biggest Buck: 200-class nontypical
?Favorite Early Stand: White-oak pinch point. My favorite spot for the opening week of the Illinois bow season is where two narrow ridges of mature white oaks meet a larger ridge,

More and more landowner/hunters are taking an active role in managing deer herds, and for good reason — most state agencies don't have a clue as to what is going on out on the back 40. Deer management needs to be site specific and the only one who can do an effective job of managing your deer is you.

Like most bowhunters, I'm itching for the start of deer season. That glorious event arrives on Oct. 1 around here in Canada.

Ask a camp full of hunters how many ever had a hunt ruined because the deer smelled them and spooked before they could get a shot off. How many hands do you think would go up?

Article by Gerald Almy.

We all know what happens during the whitetail rut, right? Bucks become less cautious. They spend more time on their feet. They stick their necks out to court does.?But hold on. Not all bucks rut.

What’s more, research shows that these loner deer aren’t just youngsters elbowed (or “tined”) out of the action by bossier brutes. In fact, they include some of the oldest, biggest

Scrapes

Article by Gerry Bethge.

Phase: Pre-Rut
Preferred Decoys: Feeding subdominant buck
Why it Works: Early-season bucks are social and may approach this nonthreatening fake for company. Later in the pre-rut, it can especially draw big bucks looking to assert their dominance.
Strategy: Place a small-racked decoy in a food plot, a field, or an open wooded funnel. Hunt in the afternoon and call with a mix of contact grunts and light rattling.

This is the episode to watch for deer hunters that like to see antlers - velvet antlers that is!