Early september techniques

Slagiatt

Slagiatt

Active Member
So I hunt whitetails in the mountains in large tracts of national forest. There are no agricultural fields, no food plots, no well defined bedding and feeding areas. Basically everywhere is both bedding and feeding areas. Waterholes are a main focus for deer activity, and i put mineral sites at most of my cameras, which is legal here.
Over the last few years ive seen specific deer move up to 2 miles during the rut, making it all but impossible to predict where they will be. But the same bucks are much more predictable early in the year. Plenty of examples of specific bucks being in core areas spring through september. So i have decided my best chance at targeting specific bucks is the first 2 weeks of september with my bow. After that all bets are off as to where they will show up.
So what techniques could i use in this situation? Ive had good luck with mock scrapes in november. Do you guys think a mock scrape would be a bad idea in early september when the velvet is just coming off? Dont know what else to do to improve my odds of getting my target bucks to come visit my treestand. Any thoughts?
 
In the early season, bucks should still be hanging in bachelor groups for a short time. Keep tabs on them now through the summer, the trails they are using, and place your stands based on that. I have a friend that places a Wildlife Research scrape dripper out several weeks before season opens and uses buck urine in it to do a camera survey(he can't use bait or minerals). It seems to work very well for him. I am sure there is a preferred bedding area they use and if you can find that, I would find the entrance and exit and set up on either side, depending on wind and time of day. Hanging a stand by a preferred water source is also good, especially in September when the temps are still warm.
 
When you say your friend sets up a scrape a couple weeks before season, what time frame is that? Archery whitetail here opens up sept 1st, but i know a lot of places it opens significantly later. What time of the year is he starting that in your area?
 
Scout areas during the summer and try to pattern those specific bucks, their bedding and their preferred water holes, then set up a blind a pray. Hunting boils down to right place, right time
 
Slagiatt said:
When you say your friend sets up a scrape a couple weeks before season, what time frame is that? Archery whitetail here opens up sept 1st, but i know a lot of places it opens significantly later. What time of the year is he starting that in your area?
Click to expand...
He lives in Illinois and usually starts it about 3 weeks prior to season opening(+/- a week).
 
Lots of people start mock scrapes as early as late summer, July and August timeframe. You might try starting one now and just continue to keep it open yourself until the deer take it over and keep it open year round for you.
 
To the mock scrape question you can do mock scrapes year around and the deer herd will pay attention to it. I have freshly made scrapes on some of my farms today that were reopened in the last few days. They will continue to check as a curiosity and as testotsterone starts to ramp up late summer the bucks will begin hitting these mocks on a regular basis.
 
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