If you were a golfer, as a rule, you’d improve your scores the more you practiced and played. The same would be true for bowling, shooting skeet, playing the guitar and just about every other learned skill.
Not so with deer hunting. Sure, you’ll become a better shot with your bow the more you practice (assuming the target panic monster doesn’t show up). And you’ll become an expert at hanging climbing sticks and treestands the more you do it, but you won’t kill more deer, especially mature bucks, simply because you spend more time in the woods. Actually, the opposite is true.
In my opinion, the No. 1 reason most deer hunters don’t get shooting opportunities at mature bucks, at least on private land, is too much scouting and hunting. Hunters want to look for fresh deer sign, check on food plots, switch trail cam memory cards or move cellular trail cams. Of course, the desire to hunt is strong, too.
As passionate (obsessed?) deer hunters, we want to spend as much time in the field as possible. I know I do. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned through nearly 50 years of pursuing whitetails, it’s that I kill more big deer if I severely limit my time in the woods.
Human activity — a better word might be interference — is the primary reason mature whitetails move only after dark, or leave a property entirely to find peace and quiet elsewhere.
Example: As another whitetail rut approaches on my permission ground in South Dakota (160 acres), my two hunting partners and I are excited for November. Even though our cell cams have been showing us pictures of numerous mature bucks during September and October (including two trail cam pics shown in this article), we’ve stayed off the land since trimming shooting lanes in mid August.
From 2000 to 2015-ish, we used to begin hunting this river-bottom a weekend or two in late September, and then just about every weekend in October. And you know what? By the time November rolled around, most of the resident bucks had decided that life was less stressful elsewhere. Sure, we’d still have some success during the craziness of the rut, when traveling bucks would roll through the river-bottom in search for a doe-in-heat. But it was clear that most of the mature bucks had either left, or were moving only after dark.
During the last decade, however, we’ve overcome the temptation of scouting/hunting this 160 too much before primetime, which in our area is generally November 1 through 15. By literally not stepping on the property during September and October, the resident bucks are living a life of leisure. They have no reason to leave because they have food, water, shelter and zero human interference. Sure, they’ll venture away briefly during the rut as they check out other properties for a hot doe, but they are quick to return.
I’d be lying if I said we didn’t deer hunt during September and October. We do, just not on that SoDak 160. Instead, we pursue whitetails on public ground in Minnesota and Wisconsin. During these pursuits, we attempt to kill a doe or two for the freezer. Sure, if we got a shot at a decent buck, we’d take it, but that is a rare occurrence.
Hunters often debate whether the October lull is real. My experience on upper Midwest properties littered with oaks, including a high population of white oaks, is yes. Food plots that lured in deer in mid September receive little attention throughout October. Most of the whitetails, and all of the mature bucks, simply hang out back in heavier cover and feast on acorns. And any attempts I’ve made to “go deeper” and pursue them has simply resulted in making the deer leave or take up a nocturnal lifestyle.
As you prep for this year’s rut, ask yourself whether you have overpressured your private or permission ground. And consider, what would be different in terms of resident bucks and their behavior if the first time you slipped into the land to bowhunt in 2024 was November 2.
It’s never too early to begin strategizing for the future, and by that I mean 2025 and beyond. As you sit in a treestand or ground blind this year, you’ll have plenty of time to think. Should you adopt a different game plan next year?
My advice is simple: To improve your overall deer hunting, scout and hunt LESS. Spend September and October fishing, or golfing, or duck hunting. Do anything but step onto your prime whitetail property. Keep it a sanctuary until the time is right.
Yes, you can kill more deer — and bigger bucks — from the couch.
