How aggressive to be?

I’m headed back to SD for the weekend. I get to hunt Friday & Saturday – both AM and PM. My deer are typically much more regular in the evenings. However, with pheasant opener on Saturday, I’m thinking the deer are going to be a bit stirred up and might not be on the normal patterns. As a matter of fact, I expect to see very little movement before last minute that night.

We don’t let anyone(except me bow hunting) on the 80 acres of CRP until after deer season so it does become a haven for the deer. I know right where the bucks bed and they tend to take two paths at night. Path A is to me/the blind to get a drink of water. Path b skirts me by 400-500 yards to feed on young alfalfa. I don’t currently have a ground blind setup nor are the trees big enough to hang a stand in. A part of me wants to gamble and go old school and spot and “stalk” per say. More of a sit and glass and hope the deer feed my way. Of course the wind will be a key factor. I also don’t want to educate the bucks too much as I’ll be back Nov 1 – 9 for my annual rut hunt. The deer in my country are accustomed to getting bumped occasionally but generally by farm equipment etc… They will also get a two week break before I’m back. The last factor weighing on my decision, the bucks hit rut and I’ve had 0 success in that country. They tend to be in the middle of pastures running does and fighting each other.

I feel early season offers the best odds of success and I feel like early season is almost past us now. This is for sure my last trip before rut anyway and I’m feeling the pressure to be aggressive. So much so, that if I have to eat this SD tag again this year, at least I’ll know I gave it my best effort to put myself in the best position to put a big boy on the wall.

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Kooty,
I would push it hard this weekend. Sitting up to be pretty cool so, you know they will move. I know from hunting that same area, its down right tough during the rut. Mix that with the fact that the first week of Nov. ALWAYS seems that every farmer out there combining corn. So that adds in another level of uncertainty.

I would push close and set the decoy out and spray HIM down with some Dominate buck Buck Bomb. If he sees a rival, smells a rival, and hears a rival……….. he will have no choice but to come investigate. This strategy has worked great for me through the years during the last two weeks of OCT.

It sounds to me like you have answered your own question and I agree. Your last weekend until November when they are running scared. Get in on them now. Use the knowledge you have gained, play the wind and go get em!

Myself I have the last week of October off to spend at the farm bow hunting so I am not going to be as aggressive, but if this was it until gun season I would do whatever it took to get an opportunity.

sktrwx2200 wrote:

Kooty,

I would push close and set the decoy out and spray HIM down with some Dominate buck Buck Bomb. If he sees a rival, smells a rival, and hears a rival……….. he will have no choice but to come investigate. This strategy has worked great for me through the years during the last two weeks of OCT.

In the same vein, I was wondering about rattling. Is it too early? Might that get Mr. Big all whipped up if you picked an out of sight spot near his known haunts and rattled?

I’m not totally sold on if farm equipment operating really does worry the deer. As always, I suppose it depends on the deer. My uncle has had deer actually come out of cover and trot TOWARD the combine. This has happened many times over the years.

The deer will stand about 100 yards away and watch, it looks like NASCAR fans watching a race the way their heads move to follow the combine. It was never clear to him if the deer had picked up on combine = easy corn laying on ground or if the combine basically just meant “good entertainment” and a break from the humdrum life that is being a deer in that area.

Grouse

Well, you’ve all confirmed my thinking. Go for broke as smartly as possible.

And for the record, if the coyotes mess up this hunt, I’m going to forgo deer hunting and move straight into winter mode and unleash all my anger on them.

Listen real hard, I’ll honk as I go by, heading for Pierre Sat afternoon. Scattergun’s loaded and the pup’s fired up- – jerr

Good luck. Lots of birds in the central part of the state.