Bowhunting During Firearm Seasons

Firearm seasons are open or have been in most of the nation; however, that does not mean that you can’t take a good buck with a bow.  Since most rifles and muzzleloaders now shoot tight groups at 200 yards, that is the kind of location that many rifle hunters seek.  Ironically, once the fireworks start, many bucks head for the thickest cover they can find.

Prime Example

This 8-point buck fell two hours into my first sit at my favorite whitetail spot.  It’s not a stand or a blind, but a medium-sized tree tucked into a cedar-choked creek bed about 100 yards wide.  I wear full camo, except for an orange hat, which is required during firearm season, and I almost always get a shooting opportunity the first day.  My best buck from this spot topped 160, but I rarely get to hunt more than one day and usually take the first 8-point-or-better that comes by.  Despite the presence of an outfitter who hunts this area, I have success because rifle hunters prefer to see distance rather than thickets.  Their loss, my gain.

Surviver

Our state’s rifle season opened on November 29th, and this nice buck stands 15 yards in front of my bow stand after darkness fell and the rifles ceased.  I’ve captured pictures of this buck for several weeks, and he avoided the pumpkin army that hunts the adjacent public land and 25 or more rifles on our hunt club.  We call a deer of this caliber a hunt-club 8-point because deer seldom reach 3 1/2 years old due to high hunting pressure.  If it has three points on one side, it meets the legal requirements of our hunt club, unless it’s a youngster’s first deer, and any antlered animal meets that situation.

Seek Out Sanctuaries

Hunting pressure can force deer into pockets of cover they use infrequently, such as abandoned farm sections, cover between commercial buildings, and even suburban backyards.  One of my spots belongs to an elderly lady who hates that deer eat her roses, which prompted her to invite me to “help out.”  Her backyard is barely an acre but has several large blowdowns from a recent storm and a secluded corner where my ladder stand is.  As of yesterday, a buck was working a mock scrape there and may give me an opportunity.  Look for small pockets of cover that most hunters will overlook, and you could find Mr. Big’s bedding hide-out.