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Gun season tactics?

chunkandwind

chunkandwind

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Can someone who bow hunts during the gun seasons give us
bow newbies some advice on bow hunting the entire season.
This year I will take my muzzle loader out a few times but other
that that it's all bow for me.

Any tips? Radar? Anyone else please?
 
I'm not Radar but hunt 90% plus with a bow. For me I use the terrain more during this time than other times. Bucks will be cruising and use the lay of the land to scent check for does. Sometimes even using secondary points that bucks will run does to. Scent checking saves the bucks lots of energy so I will set up like they would to cover the most ground As possible. To me the does are a huge cue to how/ where I will hunt. I guess I could have said one sentence and that would be hunt the does.
 
Thanks Richmanbarbeque,that is some good advice.Do you
alter your hunting due to the gun pressure?

What about after the rut? Thanks I really appreciate it.
 
I like to hunt the thick areas close to a doe bedding area where bucks will cruise through looking for does in heat . Visibility in an area I hunt is less than 40 yards , so carrying a bow doesn't seem like a disadvantage in this area .
If you can find a good bottleneck in a travel route in an area , a buck can cruise through and scent check the area for does that have crossed the trail . An old logging road through a select cutover is an excellent place to setup.
Look for an area that will force deer movement through a tight area within bow range and you will likely get plenty of shot opportunities .
 
When I bow hunt during the gun season, I try to get in as early and quietly as possible. Try to get ahead of the gunners. I hunt, like has been said, in terrain funnles where deer are somewhat forced to travel within a confined area. I don't hunt big bucks on food plots, but rather in the woods on the down wind side of a food plot. Bucks will scent check fields, but most likely won't expose themselves in the field during day light hours unless there is an estrous doe in the field. When sitting in an area like stated above, be prepared to stay on stand as long as you can stand it, and be ready cause it can happen at any second of the day. Also switch it up from time to time. Often times I won't go out until 9:30-10am and sit the mid day when most of the gun hunters on my lease are out of the woods and napping at the cabin.
 
I mentioned secondary points and what I have found is some spots are very average points during the regular season but are vantage points for bucks to scent check or chase does to wear them down. Last year I was in a spot that I had not seen anything that morning and was even thinking of moving the stand. Five minutes later I experienced the most intense chase I have every seen. The buck stayed just out of bow range and I couldn't get a shot. This was opening morning of muzzleloader season. After the chase was over I analized the spot and it was terain that brough them this way. I have sat there twice in about 8 hunts total over 3 years and seen two VERY mature bucks there. That to me is good odds. Not a year around stand but great for rut time activity.
 
Richman would you care to expand on the type of terrain these secondary points are for you. Are we talking thick bottoms, clear cuts, hardwood flats? I realize it can and will vary per situation, but I's just curious to what type of terrain is prefered for a chase.
 
One more tactic to use in gun season is to hunt escape routes or security cover that deer will seek out when pressured on surrounding properties by gun hunters.
Hunt the ugly stuff that other hunters avoid and deer flock to.
 
Agree with Radar....I hunt 100% of the time with a bow..last deer I killed with a firearm was mid 80's..anyway...I always try to obviously think distance..as in "close"..my favorite areas to hunt are "bottlenecks" "edges" (evergeens into hardwoods) and triple trails coming together...gun hunting pressure moves alot of deer in these areas...so..get in before everyone else and hunt later than the next guy.When the guns start booming and your there with a bow it can get frustrating...but..hang in there..The more the big guns sound the more it might cause deer movement right into your lap.
 
One thing I would like to caution the guys about who want to hunt during gun season is having a buffer zone around your stand that is well away from other gun hunters .
If you get a shot off at a deer , you need a good distance incase it runs off a ways from your stand . You don't want someone shooting the deer you just shot. Not to get into a debate of who's deer is it , but try to avoid this situation beforehand. ;)
 

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