Mastering Early Season Mature Whitetails

There is something special about hunting mature Iowa whitetails during the early season. The temperatures can still be warm (if not flat out hot), the crops are standing tall, and the woods haven't yet experienced the pressure that comes later in the fall. While many hunters wait for the rut to give them an opportunity at a mature buck, early season can be one of the best times of the year to target a specific mature deer.

With archery season opening October 1st in Iowa the conditions you hunt in are often times anything but predictable too far in advance. I've had years when the temps climbed into the 90's opening day while other years I awoke to an inch of fresh snow. Crop fields of corn and soybeans standing one day and picked the next. Years of drought where mast production was in the tank to years of high moisture with browse readily available everywhere. For the serious Iowa whitetail hunter, early-season success often comes down to a few basic things: food, water, access, and wind. Put those pieces together, and you can turn a mature buck's predictable routine into an opportunity.

Start With Food

Food is the foundation of almost every early-season whitetail pattern. In Iowa, mature bucks have an incredible variety of food available to them during late summer and early fall. Standing corn and soybeans dominate much of the agricultural landscape, while natural browse, mast, and food plots provide additional options. The first few days of October a mature bucks movement is almost always determined by their belly. With the rut soon approaching, these bucks tend to limit their movement to short distances from bed to fed and back again. This provides a good week to 10 days of fairly predictable movement if you know where a particular buck is feeding.

Trail cameras are extremely valuable during this period, but camera placement matters. Instead of putting cameras randomly throughout the property, concentrate them around likely feeding areas, field edges, trails, crossings, and transition zones to start. Your goal isn't to immediately identify every detail of a bucks movement but rather begin getting an inventory of what deer are in the area and using specific food sources. From there you can quickly adjust tactics and hone in. Soybean fields are particularly attractive during the early season. A mature buck may spend the daylight hours in secure cover before slipping into the beans during the last few minutes of legal shooting light. Corn can provide both food and security, making it another important piece of the puzzle as many mature bucks use these fields as bedding during this time until harvested making it a bit more difficult. Never overlook the importance of the edge in and around corn fields. A mature buck doesn't necessarily walk straight from typical fall wooded bedding areas into the middle of a field this time of year. He may use a brushy edge, grass ditch, creek, terrace, or timber strip already located in the food source while remaining concealed. Those transition areas are often where your best locations will be found.

Water

Water is another piece of the early-season puzzle that is sometimes overlooked.

During Iowa's warmer October weather, deer need to stay hydrated to survive. A mature buck may not travel great distances simply to drink, but when water is located close to bedding and feeding areas, it can become an important part of his daily routine. Look for natural water sources first. Creeks, ponds, small marshes, and secluded pools can all play a role. If you're hunting a property where water is limited, a small, strategically placed waterhole can be extremely effective. A waterhole located along a natural route between bedding and feeding areas can encourage a buck to stop in a predictable location. Even better, if the water is positioned in an area that allows you to hunt it without leaving your scent behind and allows for safe, undetected access both in and out without spooking deer.

Access Is More Important Than Your Stand

One of the biggest mistakes hunters make when pursuing mature bucks is concentrating too much on where the stand is located and not enough on how they are going to get there. There is always one tree in the woods that more mature bucks walk past than any other tree. However, the best spot in the world is only as good as its access. You can have the perfect tree overlooking the perfect trail, but if you spook deer on entry or exit, cross too many trails or leave too much scent behind that alerts them later, the spot will not be the best for long. I'm sure your neighbor's appreciate that approach though.

Early-season bucks can be especially sensitive to intrusion into the woods because their patterns and environment have been relatively predictable or unchanged all year. If you repeatedly bump a mature buck from his bedding area, he may completely change his routine, move outside of daylight or worse, leave. I often explain entering a known bucks area as walking into your own living room. If some small appears moved or a stange person walks accross you back yard you may notice and it may make you uncomfortable but not think much of it happening just once. However, if suddenly your living room couch had been moved while you were gone or that same person walks through your bedroom, your going to be quite alarmed. Same goes for mature bucks. Your access route should be planned just as carefully as the stand location. Whenever possible, approach from areas where deer are least likely to be. Avoid over trimming, keep the wind in your favor at all times and stay out of their bedroom. Agricultural fields, open ground, roads, ditches, creek bottoms, and other low-risk routes can provide excellent access. Think about where the deer will be before, during, and after your hunt. If a buck is bedding in a secluded timber pocket and feeding in a soybean field, don't walk directly between the two. Doing so may put your scent across the trail he intends to use and could alert him before you ever reach your stand. Sometimes the best access route requires a longer walk.

That extra walk and effort is often the difference between educating a mature buck and killing him.

Wind Is Everything

If there is one rule that should never be ignored when hunting mature whitetails, it is to hunt the wind. You can have the perfect food source, the perfect trail, and a giant buck on camera nearly daily, but if the wind is wrong, you shouldn't be in the stand. Mature bucks don't become mature by being careless and you will bever beat their nose. A single bad wind can ruin weeks of preparation.

Before every hunt, study the wind direction and consider how it will behave throughout the entire evening.

Thermals can be particularly important during early-season hunts. This time of year typically has much higher hunidity and your scent will carry a long ways. As temperatures cool in the evening, air movement typically moves downhill. Terrain can also influence wind, especially around hills, ravines, creek bottoms, and open fields. Don't assume that a northwest wind means your stand will experience a perfect northwest wind all evening. Test it. Use powder, or another wind indicator to see what the air is actually doing when you arrive and during your hunt. Your goal should be to position yourself so that the prevailing wind carries your scent away from the deer's expected travel routes. Remember that your wind doesn't just affect the buck you're hunting. It can affect every deer downwind of you from the time you leave the truck, along your access route and while on stand.

Don't Overlook the Exit

Many hunters spend countless hours planning how they will enter their stand but often give little thought to how they will leave.

Imagine you have a mature buck enter the field during the last five minutes of shooting light. You watch him disappear, climb down, then bump him of his food source while walking out. You may have successfully completed the hunt but ruined the next several days or possibly longer.

Plan your exit before you ever climb the tree.

If deer are likely to be in the field, consider waiting until pitch darkness before leaving. In some situations, an alternative exit route may allow you to leave without bumping any deer or crossing trails.

Put the Pieces Together

Mastering mature whitetails in the early season isn't about finding a magical stand location. It's about putting several small advantages together.

Find the food.

Identify the water.

Locate the bedding areas.

Study the terrain and travel routes.

Choose a stand that gives you the right wind.

Create an access route that keeps you out of the deer's way.

Then, most importantly, know when not to hunt.

A mature buck doesn't need to make a mistake every day. He only needs to make one mistake while you are there in the right conditions.

The early season gives hunters a unique advantage because mature bucks haven't yet experienced the intense pressure that comes later in the fall. Their patterns are often more predictable, their food sources are consistent, and their movements can be studied through careful observation and trail-camera data. But early season also demands discipline. Stick to the basics and success will follow. Don't let excitement justify what you already know is a bad idea.