By the time the late season arrives, whitetail hunters know whether they’ve had a good season or not. If you haven’t, focusing on the final food sources offering the highest digestible energy is a great way to turn your season around with a buzzer-beater buck. (Photo by Jim Cumming, Shutterstock)
October 22, 2024
By Adam Lewis
Once deer season gets rolling, it can be hard to manage the many moving pieces, especially when things don’t go as planned. Work schedules, family obligations, weather anomalies, and other unforeseen variables can cause a dream season to fall apart. Like a spare roll of duct tape stashed under the back seat, every hunter needs some go-to fixes to get a season back on track on the fly!
THE CULPRIT There are many reasons why a season may unravel, but the main culprit for deer hunters is mean ol’ Murphy — as in Murphy’s Law. Taming him and stopping the chaos is the only way to have success on such a wary animal. Just like with real duct tape, we need to manage our expectations as to what this short-term patch-up can actually fix; and we also need to be real about what leads to the need for it in the first place.
Preparation and anticipating problems before they arise is the ultimate antidote to Murphy. Even having a backup plan to begin with took a little forethought, and the more you can prepare on all fronts as you look toward the season, the less duct tape you’ll need. So, when it comes to patching up a season, think a small piece of duct tape holding the headlight in place until you get home after a fender bender, not being stranded in the Alaskan wilds and repairing a bush plane. Try to eliminate the chance of a blowout ahead of time, but when you can’t, duct tape is handy.
With countless situation-specific examples, let’s look at a few that I feel can fix some common blowouts, as well as some lifesavers for each stage of the season.
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COMMON BLOWOUTS Weapon Malfunctions: Having a weapon failure can absolutely ruin a hunt and potentially your season. If hunting out of state, this could destroy the whole trip. The solution here is quite simple: have a spare. Some hunters have an extra gun at the ready that’s sighted in, but most don’t have a spare bow ready to go. Keeping a spare weapon that you can pull out of the case with confidence and without breaking stride is a game changer.
Always carry it with you, just in case. And make sure to practice with it enough that you don’t think twice about how the bullet or arrow will fly if needed.
Release Adversity: A bow release is something most of us take for granted until we lose it, or it fails. Like all machined parts, they can wear out, and having an extra you’re confident with can be a lifesaver. If possible, get two of the exact same style and brand to eliminate shooting variables, like a slight change in anchor position or trigger resistance. Having it in the backpack at all times will turn this potential debacle into a mere bump in the road.
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Broadhead Fiascos: A few years ago, I missed a public-land monster due to poor broadhead flight. This was a self-inflicted failure that could have been avoided if I hadn’t assumed my setup was still performing flawlessly. Again, prep is key. However, sometimes in the middle of season arrows can start straying during practice and an immediate solution is needed. That’s why I’ve learned to always have backup broadheads that I’m confident with, so I can quickly swap them out. We’ve all heard stories of mechanicals failing in flight or upon impact, or fixed blades starting to sail for no apparent reason. Having a backup of the opposite type could be the best solution for hitting the woods with confidence.
In situations where the author can’t wash his hunting clothes prior to a hunt, he likes to apply activated carbon to his garments to reduce human odor. He says that when applied to high-odor areas on clothing and his boots, the activated carbon eliminates scent almost instantly. (Photo courtesy of Adam Lewis) Clothing Issues: This one is very overlooked, but it can become a major monkey wrench as the season progresses. Unless washing pants, shirts, jackets and under garments after each hunt, these become stench-filled dispensers. The quick fix if you can’t wash them and need to hit the woods is having an extra fresh set you can whip out, or trying an activated carbon trick I learned a few years back. Simply dusting affected areas with activated carbon granules stored in a nylon stocking completely wipes out scent, and it gets you back in the scent-free game within seconds. It works wonders on ball caps, shirt underarms and stinking boots. Make sure you don’t breathe in the dust!
EARLY SEASON AND LULL Keep it Fresh: Having multiple locations prepped and ready to go is a great countermeasure for when things cool off at your favorite stand. I try to have these ready to go on both private and public land, and diversity is the key here. This does require some pre-season prep so you’re not messing things up during the season, but it can reinvigorate a season that seems to be headed south.
In 2020, I had hunted two straight weeks in all my public hot spots with no luck. Suffering from hunting fatigue and no decent buck on my radar, I decided to hit my parents’ small private woodlot. As luck would have it, a mature 9-point had just started daylighting and my timing was as perfect as my shot placement. Having options, and fresh locations to hunt ready to go, can really turn a season around.
Avoid Disneyland: Increased pressure experienced on public land can add up quickly. A phenomenon I’ve observed is that many hunters have become obsessed with “going deep” to beat the crowds and find that dream location where the big bucks are surely hiding. Unfortunately, the secret is out, and these have become destination locations drawing tons of hunters.
The name of the game now is finding overlooked areas, wherever they may be. Changing your mindset and looking for areas that aren’t obvious can get you on a buck that’s also avoiding the mobs.
Abandon the Trees: This is good for public land when the pressure is high and deer vanish. Most hunters have been brainwashed into thinking you have to be in a tree to kill a deer, but it’s not true. By finding thick areas on the fringes, and developing some ground game skills, you can be back on the deer and having close-quarter encounters in no time.
PRE-RUT & RUT Make Him Mad: As a buck’s testosterone gradually rises with photoperiod decreasing, mock scrapes can introduce competition and invoke a beneficial response. This can also be a fix if all you’re getting are nighttime trail camera pictures. Make sure to use rubber gloves and boots to leave zero human odors, and you should also consider some preorbital scents to add realism.
If a scrape already exists and you want to take it up a notch, make your own scrape right next to his and he may hate the competition and show up during daylight to defend his territory. If you know a buck’s personality, you can also use this to your advantage, like Ty Easley of Heartland Bowhunter did a few years back on a buck named “Chunk.” After observing his aggressive behavior earlier in the season, he pulled out a decoy when he was running out of options. That triggered this fighter to come within bow range and presented Ty a lethal shot.
If you’re having poor luck hunting the rut, intruding on your target buck and making him “mad” can help you fill a tag. Ty Easley of Heartland Bowhunter used a decoy to fool an aggressive deer he called “Chunk.” (Photo courtesy of Adam Lewis) Profile a Killer: Use overlooked data from years past to see which times and conditions produced buck movement. Collared buck studies by Mississippi State University show two basic types of bucks: mobile and sedentary, according to Dr. Bronson Strickland. The sedentary home bodies are easy to pattern, but the mobile bucks shift ranges every year. By studying old data, you can effectively predict the movements of one of these floaters and be waiting for him on the day he’ll likely show up.
Dive Deep: With some prep required, these are hunts into highly intrusive locations saved for the rut (likely on private land). Having multiple stands prepped and ready to go with meticulous entry and exit routes can be just what is needed to surprise a hormone-crazed buck.
Up Accessibility: According to public-land guru Dr. Jeff Kelly, having extra tools for a specific task can change the course of events almost instantly. Water and time are huge barriers for many hunters, and they effectively create “no-go” zones. The right gear helps you overcome these. Waders, inflatable kayaks, a small boat, mobile hunting methods, and a pedal or ebike, are all pieces of gear that increase your accessibility. Beware of the Disneyland mentality, but if you can get where others truly cannot, this is a great tool.
LATE SEASON Save the Food: A cold front arrives, and now you’re in the game. That is if you have a great food source. Having a fenced bean plot you can literally open or knowing the location of that heavy red oak drop the deer overlooked earlier in the fall can be key when the mercury drops and food is scarce. Again, a little prep earlier in the year can do wonders now if you still have a tag.
In 2021 I hadn’t punched a tag through the entire archery season in two states, and Michigan’s gun season was nearing an end. You could say my season was unraveling before my eyes, but I had a potential remedy: a good clover patch in my low-pressure backyard food plot. I’d only hunted it a few times that year, and with a wind blowing my scent just off an adjacent bedding area, I settled into my ground blind the evening before Thanksgiving.
Just 15 minutes before dark, my target buck (who had disappeared in late October) stepped out with the wind in his face to replenish his drastically depleted energy reserves. The 20 gauge did its work and anchored him in place, proving the power of having a food source in the bank.
Hunt the Calories: Maybe there are plenty of leftover food sources in your area come late season, or maybe there are only a few. Regardless, finding the food sources offering the highest digestible energy can be key if you want to fill a late-season tag. During this period, big bucks are worn down from the rut and need to replenish the lost calories before the worst of winter arrives. Capitalizing on this vulnerability is a reliable way to end your season with a bang!
