Early October Whitetails

by Thomas on December 5, 2011

Midwest Iowa Outdoors® & Outside Iowa®

With Thomas Allen

(October 3rd, 2011)

October whitetails are legendary.  Sure, November is the preferred time to sit in the stand from dawn to dark because the rut is simply amazing.  But, don’t skip October all together; some of the best opportunities to harvest a mature buck are right now!  If you are in a location where the doe population is still pretty high, this is also a great time to fill the freezer and some antlerless tags.  Just don’t sit at home waiting for November to get here, things can happen in October that would be a shame to miss out on.

The bucks shift their focus from food to other bucks as the pecking order begins to become very well established.  Fights erupt, scrapes and rubs begin to appear all over the place and the does tend to get very intolerant of anything with antlers.  There is also this little theory called “The October Lull”, which is the time frame when mature bucks are seemingly less visible and deer movement as a whole is slow.

Articles upon articles, books upon books have been written about beating the October Lull, but I firmly believe it’s simply a food preference change matched with the early phases of the pre-rut.  We won’t go into too much depth as we don’t have enough room in this article, but I will say this: spending time in transition areas between primary bedding/security cover and destination food sources will give you the very best opportunity at a mature buck.

If you haven’t done so yet, get those trail cameras off of the mineral sites and bait piles and put them up overlooking scrapes.  In my opinion, this is the most exciting time of the year to be running cameras.  You will get some fantastic pictures.  If you are having a hard time locating the right scrape, consider a mock scrape.  Wildlife Research has a product known as the Magnum Scent Dripper and its purpose is purely for adequately creating and maintaining mock scrapes.

Fill it up with Active Scrape Scent and hang it over a scrape, above the licking branch.  It is designed to drip only during daylight hours and will condition the bucks to check it during that time frame.  If you have a set near by, it could be the difference between whacking that monster early or not seeing him at all.  Once the rut hits full tilt, nailing down a mature deer’s daily habit is nearly impossible.

This is also a great time to fill some doe tags.  The early season pattern is easy to identify and very simple to take advantage of with little impact to your primary hunting areas.  I suggest hunting the outer fringe of your property and be selective on the shots you take.  You really don’t want a wounded doe to crash down in your favorite peak rut spots.  Hunt field edges and try to get them as they are coming out and with the right shot her retrieval will be a cinch.

Finally, resist the temptation to hunt some of your best spots.  It is no secret that the first sit in a particular set will be your best chance at a big deer.  Leave those very best stands until the calendar says its perfect!  I actually have about 20 sets that I don’t even see until the first week of November and over the past few years, I have tagged out sitting in a rockin’ rut stand on the first sit.  It really works!

There are lots of great opportunities during October that are worth experiencing.  Scouting will still be the biggest effort you should exert, but this is just a great time to be in the treestand.  That’s where I’ll be.

Good luck and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.

Live it Up!

(Thomas resides with his wife and two children in Guthrie Center, Iowa.  He is a professional outdoor writer, photographer, videographer, and outdoor talk radio show host; for more information visit www.outdoorpursuitsradio.com.  If you have questions or comments feel free to email Thomas at tha481@gmail.com)

Tagged as: Deer Hunting, Midwest Iowa Outdoors, Outside Iowa, Thomas Allen

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