Good morning,
The morning has been slow so far so I'm writing this to you from my tree stand. The winds are out of the East at 5 mph and the temp is hovering somewhere around 58 degrees. The turkeys are calling softly and the squirrels, as usual are making a ridiculous ruckus. But, before I get all dreamy and bore you all any further by being Mister Meteorologist let's discuss some good early fall / very early pre-rut tactics for big bucks. By this time in October in the Midwest bucks have shed their velvet and are starting to break away from their bachelor groups. However, as we know patterning a big buck this early can be a frustrating endeavor because a mature buck at this point is still very semi-nocturnal. And until about the last week of October he only has 2 things on his mind: food and sleep.
So, the first thing that pops into our head is hunt the the freshly cut corn field by the edge of the woods right? Well, this is probably not going to work this early for 2 reasons: 1, a big buck will use a good cut field but usually he doesn't feel safe in an open field during the day until later in the year. 2, Even if he does feel safe coming out a little early he probably won't make it into your setup until it's past shooting light if his bedding area is any distance away. So again we have 2 options. We can move our setup into the timber at the halfway point between bedding area and feeding area or, we can find an inside source of food such as acorns. The first option can be a risky one. If you know where a your buck is presumably snoozing the last thing you want to do is get too close lest you spook him out. 75 yards away from the bedding area is a good rule of thumb to keep when trying to catch him heading out for a bite to eat or getting him in front of you coming home in the morning. Never ever hunt a stand like this unless the wind is absolutely favorable.
The second option is also a good one. Deer are especially crazy about acorns as most of us know. Try to find a good fallen crop inside the woods. The deeper inside, the safer they feel and the more likely a buck is to be caught in the daylight. But this poses a scent control problem being that you don't want to taint the whole woods with your track. Approach your set up from the opposite direction you think the deer will arrive from and also be mindful of which way the wind is carrying your track. As always spray down and hunt the wind. I hope this will help decide what to do the next time you are chasing Ol' Big in the early part of October. -Lake
