Bowhunters get early start on deer season; time to take advantage

Archery season offers Mississippi hunters plenty of opportunities gun hunters don’t have later in the season. Here’s how to set up for opening day.

Ready or not, deer season is upon us. 

Whether hunters are sporting compounds, crossbows or traditional bows, it’s archery season across Mississippi, and it’s time to get after them.

Every hunter may have his or her reasons for deer hunting. Maybe it’s to fill the freezer; maybe it’s to thin the herd of does or maybe it’s to spend time outdoors in the best time of the year. Regardless, all bowhunters dream of double-lunging a nice buck.

It has been done by many, and you can, too. Here are a few tips and strategies to consider when targeting mature bucks on your hunting grounds.

Hunt early season

Pressure is the name of the game; it causes deer to change their patterns to avoid contact with humans, particularly for bucks that are 3½ years or older. The first few days of archery season is the best time to surprise a buck.

Early fall brings an invasion of people into deer territory. While pressure comes from the presence of hunters, it comes even more from other fall activities such as dove and squirrel hunting and deer-hunting clubs’ workdays.

“The first week and into the second week of bow season is always the best time to take a nice buck,” said Adam Lee of Florence, the owner of Tight Spot Charters, a hardcore bowhunter who has harvested many nice archery bucks from Rankin and Hinds counties over the years. “Otherwise, staying completely off a property until the weather and conditions are ideal is another good strategy.” 

Hunt any honey holes before small-game hunters make their way there. Seek areas on land where no one has been doing a lot of hunting-camp work.

Find the food

Find the food sources, and you will find the bucks. The first few weeks of the season, bucks will be going after soft mast such as persimmon, crabapple, honey locust, domestic pear and apple. Greenbriar and kudzu are good, high-protein sources bucks flock to in early season.

“Early season where I hunt, food plots are dynamite when they first are coming up, and I will exclusively hunt them,” Lee said.

Hunters will have to sort of chase the food as the season progresses. When acorns start hitting the ground, soft mast will be almost gone, and bowhunters should follow the acorns for bucks. They are loaded with carbohydrates, and bucks will be feeding heavily on freshly fallen acorns, storing carbs for the high-energy demands of the rut to come.

Of all acorns, bucks prefer big, green, fresh, white oaks. The only thing better would be chestnuts, but they are extremely hard to find; if you have them, then you have a buck hotspot. Other hard-mast crops to look for are hickory, pecan, beech and walnuts.

Game changers

Many things have changed the world of bowhunting in the past few years. Advances in technology and changes in supplemental-feeding laws give archery hunters more opportunity at trophy bucks.

“I believe cellular game cameras are the biggest game changer of my lifetime for bowhunting deer and being able to target a nice buck,” Lee said. “It’s not as much of a game of chance any more as opposed to the past. Hunters can set up a cellular cam and never have to go into the woods, plot or feeder to check it and leave their scent everywhere. You only have one good chance at a mature buck, and you don’t want to pressure him in any way and blow it.”

Cellular game cameras were expensive not long ago, but they have dropped in price and gone up in quality, such as the Tactacam Reveal X, priced around $140, allowing many hunters to afford multiple cameras and the service.

Advances in scent control also equip hunters to get past the nose of an elusive buck. Electronic devices that generate ozone are very effective for scent control.

“Ozonics works; it’s the real deal. Other similar things work too, but Ozonics is the best,” Lee said.

Many hunters are skeptical of such products, and nothing is foolproof, but testimonies from many successful hunters attest to its genuineness. It helps beat the ever-changing wind directions and thermals that occur during archery season.

Mississippi archery hunters can legally hunt close to supplemental feeders since there is no longer a distance restriction. This will help hunters get better shot opportunities at nice bucks.

Concluding

Practice your shooting and hunt with confidence. Harvesting a mature buck is possible. When you have done everything right, positioned yourself for success and a nice buck comes in close, slightly quartering away — you may have a quick decision to make. Is he nice enough; should I take him? Either way, you’ve found success.