Or like Lee and Tiffany Lakosky say…. BBD.

Bowhunting whitetail during the pre-rut in 2009  had a lot of bowhunters frustrated because of all the corn still standing in the Midwest. And for my two sons-in-law Joel and AJ and I, we were no exception.

Only 16% of the corn had been harvested by the first week of November according to the Ag dept. That’s the lowest number on record. We sat on stand (or in our treesaddles) 6-9 hours a day the first week of November and saw very does being chased. The standing corn was everywhere. It actually messed up our funnel situations we had planned on all year Bowhunting Whitetail.

So we had to change gears and go to the harvested soybean fields because we had heard a neighbor who had 52 deer in their cut soys a few nights after they harvested the whole field. That’s a crazy number of deer no matter where you live.

Bowhunting Whitetail So after prepping a new tree near the soys a few days earlier, I settled into my treesaddle around 1am for the rest of the day. Bowhunting Whitetail Nothing showed until four does came out from the other side of the soybean field on my left 150 yards away. They moved my way and I decided to take the lead big doe at 25 yards.  When my 2-blade Rage went though both lungs, she just wheeled around and stood there. I had never seen that before. She started wobbling and then just tipped over Bowhunting Whitetail.

Only 15 minutes of shooting light left when two more does came out from the same area and spotted the dead doe lying there. They walked over to within 2 feet of the dead doe when I heard footsteps coming from the woods on my right. I strained my eyes through the twilight to see a deer with a couple big white mainbeams. This was a shooter.

Bowhunting Whitetail

Once he crossed the fence row into the cut soybean field, I could see him a little better. I just tried to focus on his body making it to the next shooting lane through the branches. As he walked toward the two does, I put my 30 yard pin on him and let it fly.

I watched him as he took off across the field hoping he wouldn’t make it to the other side. He slowed down and tipped over about 15 yards short of the other side. Whew!

Bowhunting Whitetail When I walked up on him in the dark, there was no ground shrinkage  at all. My best buck with a bow. He was a 3 1/2 year old and I figured his rack would score in the 130′s. It came out to 137.

Bowhunting Whitetail The next day AJ saw a shooter buck similar to mine from the same tree but couldn’t get a shot off. Then Joel hunted from that tree the next day and saw an even bigger buck. Talk about a hot tree Bowhunting Whitetail.

We will definitely be going back there in the spring to prep several more tress giving us multiple options for bowhunting whitetail in different wind. directions Bowhunting Whitetail.

Why am I sooo excited? Because in my opinion it is the best week or 10 day period for getting multiple shot opportunities at when bowhunting whitetail mature bucks in the midwest.

Why? Because this is the narrow window of time that the mature bucks are ready to breed, but the does are not. It’s called the pre-rut. That means the bucks will be on their feet during daylight hours searching for that first receptive doe, and the best time of day to be in your stand bowhunting whitetail is between 10 am and 2pm.

I believe the pre-rut is better for bowhunting whitetail and getting more cracks at mature bucks than the rut, because during the rut the bucks are locked down with a hot doe and don’t travel as much while they will spend a whole day tending that doe.

Years ago I had a hard time getting myself to sit in a tree from 10am -2pm, but I quickly learned that mature bucks cruise around looking for hot does in the middle of the day and appear to not be as wary or cautious as they are during the morning or evening hunts. I didn’t see as many deer, but I saw more quality bucks while bowhunting whitetail.

There are 2 main reasons that you will see more quality bucks when bowhunting whitetail in the pre-rut.

First, the does are generally bedded down at midday and its easier for bucks to locate them simply by going from bedding area to bedding area to see if any does are hot to trot. This is why I like bowhunting whitetail in travel corridors like fence rows, tree lines, or any strip of thick cover that connects different woodlots, swamps, or standing cornfields where does normally bed down in security.

Younger bucks may walk through an open field during the rut or pre-rut, but but I have noticed while bowhunting whitetail that a mature buck is much more likely to stay in some sort of cover during daylight hours as he travels.

The second reason I think mature bucks cruise more during midday, at this time of year while looking for some action, is that they rarely encounter hunters bowhunting whitetail during the midday. Now I know a lot of  hunters are quick to dismiss this idea because they simply do not believe a whitetail is that smart. That is true, until the bucks live through a couple hunting seasons with antlers. If they survive to their 3rd hunting season where there’s even medium hunting pressure, this makes them a whole different animal and they wise up to the patterns of hunters bowhunting whitetails being in woods for a few hours in the morning and evening. While bowhunting whitetail I have noticed a big difference in the way they seem to be more at ease and not as wary while they travel at midday.

So instead of getting up early for bowhunting whitetail like I normally do to hunt in the morning, I’ll sometimes sleep in and head out to my tree around 9am. I know, I know, it just doesn’t seem right to head out into the woods at 9am. But I try bowhunting whitetail everyday during this period and sleeping in once in a while helps me from getting burned out.

I never thought I would ever get “burn out” from bowhunting whitetail too much.

If you don’t already have a stand ready to go in one of these travel corridors, be careful not to spoil a good spot for bowhunting whitetail if you scout and  prep a tree at this time of year. Springtime is really when you should be doing all of that.

Well, I’m headed out of state for this week. Looks like it will be dry and cooler for the best week of bowhunting whitetail all year. I’ll keep you posted with any success.

Good Hunting,

Randy

Feel free to leave a comment below of your experiences you’ve had while bowhunting whitetail during the midday.

Got my bow sighted in, camo clothes are washed, carbon clothing is activated, fresh batteries in all my gadgets and hunting equipment.  I’m sure I’ll think of something else but I hate waiting until the last minute to get everything ready.

Do you already know what treestand you’ll be in opening morning or the first weekend? Hopefully you have a small secret deer food plot that is being visited everyday by a deer you’re willing to shoot.

Before you go marching out to your spot before first light, I want to pass along a couple huge bow hunting deer tips .

• If your stand is near the edge of a short crop field or small food plot where you are planning on bow hunting deer, there is a good chance that deer will be there feeding before they go bed down for the day. The last thing you want to do is scare them away by approaching and climbing into your stand. Don’t alert deer especially, mature bucks, to the fact it’s bowhunting deer season. You may never see that buck for the rest of the season!

Instead, hunt a different spot away from short bow hunting deer crop fields in the morning and save these field edges for the afternoon hunt when the deer will be in heavy cover when you arrive. If you don’t have another stand site available, then go fishing or go to work in the morning and only hunt that spot at night. Many hunters never even give this a thought and then wonder where all the deer went when they are bow hunting deer.

• The second of today’s bow hunting deer tips is that the first couple days of the season are usually pretty good for getting an opportunity at mature bucks before they go nocturnal. This means don’t shoot the first 1 1/2 year old buck that walks by just so you can say “I got my buck!”

In order to consistently shoot mature bucks, you have to be willing to let the small ones walk. Look for more as the season moves along.

Good Hunting!

Feel free to share your setup below for bow hunting deer and whether you have a deer food plot bringing ‘em in this year.