Muzzy Season Buck Tips

[Bear55]

Ok this will be my first season muzzleloading, I have plenty of experience with the bow and rifle but I am wondering if anyone has any tips or success stories on finding mature bucks late season. For example should I be hunting the does, food sources, bedding areas, maybe winter grounds? Would I have a better chance of seeing a buck in the morning, evening, mid-day? Should I be stand hunting, still hunting, making drives, or maybe sneaking into a bedding area with the wind in my face?

I do know I have to do my own scouting, find the fresh sign and make my own game plan. I will take a day or two and just hit the woods to see what kind of sign in out there. So any experienced muzzy hunters out there want to share their late season tips?

[mskyfshntchr]

If it has been cold...find food.

The second rut hits during the season usually. I've not done much with it, but that could be costing me deer, too....

I tend to see quite a few deer an hour after sunrise and at dark....especially true if it is winter...Not a lot at sunrise though...

When were the deer last hunted? Is there pressure all bow and gun season?

Just a few questions to ponder...

[96trigger]

FIND FOOOOOOOD.................... Anywhere that there is food, the deer will flock too. Not uncommon in December to see 15-20 deer heading to that last unpicked corner of a cornfield.

[fishuhalik]

That's kinda what I keep reading for the ml season, which is awesome to hear. One of the areas we hunt is all big woods, no fields or anything for food. One of our stands is over a small clearning in the woods, probably about 250'x250'. I was thinking about making it into a food plot. I think it'd be a perfect little spot in the late season if I got it tilled up planted with some rape and clover....

[Archerysniper]

Find the food the does will be their I have seen more rut activity during the blackpowder season than the others.

This one I shot on Nov 29th chasing does in a picked corn field during a freezing rain storm

[fishuhalik]

Very nice deer archerysniper! Looks like it's set then, hopefully I'll get some nice gift cards from cabelas this year for christmas!

[harvey lee]

Thats the one we are all looking to shoot. Very nice buck.

[Bear55]

That's kinda what I keep reading for the ml season, which is awesome to hear. One of the areas we hunt is all big woods, no fields or anything for food. One of our stands is over a small clearning in the woods, probably about 250'x250'. I was thinking about making it into a food plot. I think it'd be a perfect little spot in the late season if I got it tilled up planted with some rape and clover....

I have basically the same problem, there really isn't a concentrainted food source in the bigwoods, all the food is spread out however I have heard the deer will sometimes follow the logging operations to much on the treetops. Something tells me I will be putting on a lot of miles the first couple of years to figure out the best way to hunt late season bigwoods bucks.

[harvey lee]

If the rut is still going in your area when you hunt, I would look for the does. If the rut is done, the bucks will be looking to bulk up for the long winter ahead as they have run of most of their reserves in regards to their fat during the rut chasing the girls.

I know that next week in North Dakota, we will be looking for the does as the rut is just getting going in our area. A late rut this year for sure by a week or so.

[fishuhalik]

It was a pretty late rut for us this year, in Itasca County. Usually on opener it's pretty much in full swing. I saw a couple of does still with their fawns. Real unusual for our area.

[bassNspear]

thats a awesome buck!!!!

[Archerysniper]

Thanks only 10 more days to go

[Gordie]

food,food,food and try to get out scoutng to find one that eluded the gun guys earlier and try to pattern that deer and set up accordingly

Good luck on the buck

[lakevet]

Bear55,

We have been muzzy hunting close to 20 yrs. It is alot of fun. It also is a challenge.

Best/easiest chance for mature buck is hot food source area with little or no other food sources around and no other hunters to disrupt the deer patterns. Food concentrates the deer (and also can concentrate hunters). Right before a major storm is prime time! Colder weather concentrates deer more on food sources.... and means fewer muzzy hunters because of the draw of good solid ice for fishing. With 70,000 some muzzy hunters now , you definitely can have competition for the real prime spots on public land. We have competition on about half of our prime public land spots. Get there late and someone else is there. We also have lost over 50% of our private land access since the introduction of the all season license. Farm country much better than big woods because easier to scout and less cover. In big woods food sources are not concentrated. Bump a big woods buck and he will often be GONE. If it is cold he often will not be back for the rest of the season. They concentrate on conserving energy. Being survivors of the previous season also means they are very sensitive to hunting pressure. Find areas where no one is hunting. Weather major factor. Colder weather behavior much different behavior than warmer weather. Here up north on early winter years we have shot big woods bucks bucks up to 190# dressed in good flesh that have dropped antlers already. Mostly second week of muzzy season. Some had the bloody areas still wet where the antlers were attached. So it is possible to outwit a mature buck..... and not have antlers to show for it. Feels weird to register a mature buck as antlerless. { FYI 2009 hunting regs p.61 state "Antlerless deer" are those without an antler at least 3 inches long} Probably less common in farm areas with warmer weather. Over half the mature bucks we have shot were the only deer in the area / off by themselves. This is partially because of the lower overall deer population in our area, lack of food sources to that concentrate deer, and partially because those bucks don't experience the hunting pressure and are easier to target without another muzzy hunter screwing up the situation.

It will likely take you a season or two to figure out your areas little niches/hot spots. If you find someone is there before you that day, give them way more space than you would in earlier seasons. Be nice. All our conflicts have been with solo hunters who have targeted and camped out on a specific buck all thru archery, rifle and muzzy season and get territorial about the public land that buck is on. They come in after us and have not been nice. Tough to deal with when you have kids with. The deer behave way different than rifle season. You are hunting the survivors. There will be alot fewer spots where you can harvest a deer than back in rifle season. If real cold weather deer may start to yard up and some areas will be devoid of deer. They also just don't move as much over 24 hrs. Evening better than morning because morning is coldest part of day and they are conserving energy by staying bedded. In season scouting/ persistence and experience of previous years muzzy hunting will with time increase your success . Alot of bucks we have shot were shot because we had screwed up in earlier years, but remembered the situation and tried the spot again in later years. We use still hunting, stands, drives; just depends on situation.

Above all be safe. It can get cold out there, and reloading a muzzleloader in the cold when you just shot at a big buck can result in a hunter doing some dumb things that can be dangerous. Like not seating your projectile all the way down onto the powder. If you don't do this your weapon basically becomes a pipe bomb. When reloading, concentrate on that and only on that!

Lastly, enjoy the hunt! While getting harder to find than just few years ago, it is very possible to have days where it is just you and the deer in the woods. It is a wonderful experience and well worth the price you pay in extra effort.

Welcome to muzzy hunting!

lakevet

[fishuhalik]

Good post lakevet! Thanks from all the ml newbs for the tips.

[Bear55]

Thanks for all the info everyone! Good info lakevet, I'm a bigwoods hunter so your advice hits a little closer to home. Funny you should mention bucks without their horns, I was just talking to a friend who shot a nice 8 pointer late season a year or two back. When they finally tracked him down, both of his antlers were knocked off where he laid.

[lakevet]

We have shot way more than one "Antlerless buck" over the years. Its a bummer to flip a doe over to gut it and find you popped a mature buck. Almost always last week of muzzy here in the north woods on a bad winter year. Usually try backtracking to find horns but was successful only once. Which brings up the question, If muzzy hunters are restricted to "bucks only" as in some areas of sw mn this year, is it fair that they have to pass on bucks that were legal for everyone else, but since they dropped their antlers, they no longer are legal? Not a huge deal, but points out how muzzy season is different and your opportunities are less.

lakevet

[Bear55]

Well I'm probably only shooting if I see a rack so those does with balls are going to get past me anyway. Maybe with the warm weather we have been seeing those bucks can hang onto their gear for a little while longer.

[lakevet]

This year you almost certainly will see antlers still on any buck you see. Unless he busted them in a fight.

lakevet

[Gordie]

or were shot off by a gun guy

[lakevet]

Muzzy season, also can shed hunt at the same time!

[TrophyEyes]

We usually thin the doe heard during Muzzy season, picking up as many as 50 does in a week. It is pretty fun, but every once in a while we get a monster. The monsters usually come by way of "pushes" NOT drives. We have one person still hunt through the some of the thick stuff. This allows the does and bucks to move out of the way without blowing them out. The still hunter has gotten the big buck on more than one occassion, finding a wounded, sore, sleepy Buck in the thickest stuff they can find. They are a lot like late season pheasants that way. Either they are far more alert and will get out of the way early or they will hunker down in the thickest stuff trying to stay concealed. We have shot bucks and does from less then 10 feet as they thought they were hidden.

My suggestion is to sit on the stand the first day and then on the second day have someone walk the area "still hunting" to move those resting bucks. Be as quiet as you can and just let them either move out of your way or have an opportunity at a bedded deer. This works very well during a snow fall. We have shot as many as 23 in 1 1/2 hours doing a "push".