Opening Day Stands
Posted By
Ben Koopman
at
9/27/2011 12:00:00 AM
Southern
Fall is in the air here in Southeast Iowa and that means deer season! Really looking forward to this year because I picked up a new farm. I thought that there would be good potential for some nice size deer but really didn't have any idea what was there until I started walking the farm and found a heavy trail. I figured that was the best place to set up my trail camera, and wouldn't you know it, I got my first hit list buck "Mr. Crabs". I will be hunting over acorns for this nice buck, he seems to like the mid morning since all my pictures seem to be between 8-9:30 a.m. I will also be hunting over my Big N Beasty & clover food plots. That is were my son Hunter got his first buck this year and it shows lots of potential, I don't seem to have that many pictures of big buck yet but plenty of does and as you know where there are does there will eventually be bucks, I just have to be patient. So stick with me this season and see what we can bring down with the Rocket Meat Seeker.
- Brad Demoss
With opening day fast approaching there are a few different strategies that I may use to get on my hit list bucks. The three things to keep in mind are weather conditions, trail camera pictures, and if the deer have changed to their fall pattern. The time around opening season in Iowa is a time were many bucks are splitting off their summer patterns, they are starting to make scrapes and rubs, and many of the mature bucks have split from their bachelor groups and are establishing their territory and dominance. The one thing that I am going to determine is if my hit-list bucks are still in the area after switching off their summer pattern by use of trail camera pictures. I try to always give my stand areas a lot of time to get back to normal before I hunt, so I always check my camera about a week or more before I want to hunt that area. Some things that I would not do is hunt a spot too hard too early, another is walking through open areas where deer can easily see you, and don’t count on your scent clothing, always play the wind. With these few things to think about it may help to have success in the opening days of bow season.
- Jack Borcherding
With the first weekend of the bow season coming up I have been trying to put a plan together. I had planned to hunt over my food plot opening day but with no rain my Big and Beasty has not matured very fast. I think I will definitely hunt the fringes of my hunting properties. I have a blind set up for a north wind that is along a bean field that the deer have still been hitting. Then for a south wind I will be set up on a small ridge of oaks where acorns are dropping. Both of these locations allows me to hunt my hit list deer with minimal impact on them. I will hunt this way for a couple of weeks to see how the deer are moving and then try to adjust to what they are doing or what I think they are going to do. So check back throughout the season to see if Mr. Clean or Tank hit the ground.
- Thad Demoss
Central
The first day of the season for us will be on the 2nd of October. Depending on the wind, we will be in our south stand over acorns and let's explain why. After reviewing much of the footage from our trail cams we have come to the determination that as far as beans go the deer are hitting them with about 10 minutes left of day light, which for us means that the camera light is shot at this point. Also our south stand is on a bluff overlooking the highly trampled deer paths in and out of the bedding areas, which will really help our scouting techniques by determining what deer are coming through our area in the morning to bed after feasting on the beans and corn. In this area we have developed mock scrape sights and mock rub sights. I have had many does, and small bucks frequenting this area and starting to mark there territory. Multiple trees around our area and around the farm are being rubbed. With that said the bucks that we have been watching are still currently "Teamed up" with the other bucks. Most bucks we have encountered have been typically spotted in groups of three or more which goes without saying that we still have in my mind a good 3 weeks before your dominant bucks split off. I plan on seeing my hit list buck Einstein early this year being that the other bucks have scented the area strongly as he has been held off on another farm. He is a skiddish buck which means I am going to have to heavily rely on my decoy placement, my Xecute scent control, and my Rocket Steelhead XL's for supreme flight and shot placement.
- Ryan Rood
Northern
I will most likely be behind the camera filming my daughter, Kelsey, on her youth hunt for her first deer. If she tags out early or my wife films her, Austin and I are going be doing some doe slaying. I have several doe tags this year that need to get filled and we have farms a little south of us that have an ample supply of doe tags available for purchase. So we will be taking turns releasing arrows getting the bugs worked out of the system. Our plan is to hunt the fringes of bean fields and clover plots in the evenings. If the weather man is right we should have cool temps with a south to south east winds. This is perfect for several set ups we have and just maybe we will get lucky and get a crack at one of our hit list bucks. Good luck to all those going out and hunt safe.
- George Dean
