http://www.bowhuntingmag.com PETERSEN’S BOWHUNTING 83
Opportunities
I mentioned green lights earlier. There are three: First,
when a buck exhibits consistent daylight activity. Sec-
ond, when a cold front is passing through. Third, the
very end of the month as the rut approaches. I hunt
those events every time they occur, but I’ve written
about this passive-aggressive style of hunting a lot here
in the past. Basically, you monitor and wait, watching
for one of these green lights. When it turns on, you hunt
the biggest bucks as close to their core areas as you dare
to go. Then you pull back to watch and wait again.
This approach keeps your hunting area fresh
throughout October and prevents you from burning
out your best stand locations before the best days.
However, it can get pretty discouraging when all you
do is wait and don’t hunt. That’s why you need to have
a second agenda.
The real opportunity of October is even more over-
looked. While we wait for the green lights to hunt our
best bucks, we slide right past the ideal time to shoot
does. Many areas need to have does removed each year
to maintain a healthy herd level, and October is the per-
fect time for that task. It’s super fun to hunt does, and
they taste great on the grill!
Just don’t hunt does in the same places where you’re
waiting on a good buck to turn killable, and don’t hunt
them in the areas you plan to hunt during the rut. That’s
it. Everything else is wide open. I have a number of
spots on the farm each year that don’t have good bucks
anywhere near them. I love hunting those spots in Octo-
ber just as much as I love hunting my best spots during
the rut.
There’s just something relaxing about doe hunting.
There’s no pressure to perform, and no stress that you’re
going to make a bad decision and screw up your hunt-
ing area for the next two weeks. You can wing it a bit
more and take a few more risks. It’s also refreshing to
just go deer hunting without a specific target or goal in
mind besides filling the freezer.
A friend of mine (a very serious deer hunter) once
told me that he would rather have five or six doe tags in
his pocket than one buck tag. I know the feeling. Grant-
ed, not all areas have abundant populations of deer that
permit aggressive doe hunting, but even shooting just
one doe in October makes those stand sessions very
meaningful.
Not only is it generally good for the herd to remove
a few does, but they produce high-quality organic meat
for the freezer. Filling a doe tag or two in October will
also increase your confidence and steady your nerves
for the buck hunting to come in November.How to Hunt October
Again, you can divide October hunting into two cat-
egories: going after the bucks you have on your target
list and just going out for a great day in the woods. The
first category requires a careful plan; I’m going to leave
that discussion for another day. The second category
only requires one thing: a good food supply. If you find
the food, you’ll find does; then it comes down to either
hunting the edge of the feeding area or hunting a heavy
trail leading to it.
Again, the downside for making the wrong deci-
sion is limited. You aren’t messing up your best buckWhen hunting feeding areas, it often
makes sense to hunt the downwind
trails leading to the feeding area
rather than the food source itself. This
allows you to sneak out at the end
of legal shooting time much easier.
Inset: Processing your own deer allows
you to put super-fresh, super-healthy
venison right on the grill shortly after
the harvest.