Garlandville’s Josh McCullough is a veteran of many archery seasons, and he’s harvested some trophy bucks in areas where few are found.
And he’s learned a few things in the process.
“People need to practice in low-light conditions, as that’s when most of the deer move around here,” McCullough said. “The darker it gets the smaller your peep sight gets, and that’s when you’ve really got to know your limits — both of yourself and your equipment.”
Another thing McCullough does is to practice with the broadheads he uses on real hunts.
“I’ll sharpen the blades or change them out, but I want to shoot the same arrows and broadheads during practice and hunting,” he said. “I use Carbon Express Blue Streak arrows with Magnus Buzzcut broadheads.”
McCullough advised that you must have your bow tuned and in sync with your arrows and set up to get the most out of your equipment.
“Aim small, miss small,” said McCullough. “You’ve got to pick out a hair or spot on the deer and aim for the exit, where you want the arrow to exit, not just the entrance point.”
McCullough is a stickler about stand placement and hunting by the wind.
“But it doesn’t matter how good a stand location is if you can’t get in and out undetected,” McCullough said.
He goes to great lengths during the preseason by trimming limbs and even blowing the leaves off of his path to a stand so that he can approach it without alerting deer.
“During the early bow season, look for food, water and cover and you’ll find the deer,” McCullough said. “And if they’re hitting the food plots or food sources in the evening, you’ll have to find their travel routes or a funnel where they come to the field so that you can intercept them before they get to the field after dark.”
McCullough also relies heavily on trail cameras all season, but they’re especially helpful during the rut.
“When the rut kicks in things get chaotic, but that’s another thing I like about trail cams,” McCullough said. “You get a doe on your place that’s in heat and she’ll pull a buck from somewhere that you’ve never seen, and you’ll only have a few days to capitalize on it or he will be gone.
“If you spot him on the camera, you’ll have added incentive to hunt him hard. That happens to me almost every year around Christmas: A new buck shows up, and I hunt really hard those few days because he won’t be there long.”
If you find a good buck on camera and know the area he’s frequenting, then you need to make a special effort before hunting him.
“Your best chance at harvesting a mature buck is the first time you hunt a particular stand,” he said. “You may only have one chance at harvesting that 4-, 5- or 6-year-old deer because it doesn’t take anything to spook those dudes — just the smallest thing and they won’t come out again.”
And, McCullough knows that from experience. A few seasons ago, he harvested the buck of a lifetime on an opening-week hunt in Lauderdale County.
The trophy buck sported 18 points and scored 178 5/8 inches.
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