![]() Often mature bucks slip up in their last effort to breed a doe. If that’s true where you hunt, pay close attention. Especially in the Midwest and parts of the East, many of these seasons traditionally overlap the waning days of the rut. You also could be hunting a gun season that includes some part of the rut. That obviously equals less pressure, which - given enough time - can result in deer slowly transitioning back to normal patterns. But there are some positives.įor starters, in most states and provinces with extended gun seasons, you can expect fewer hunters afield. Planning a hunt in the waning days of the season might add stress, because when it’s over, it’s really over. Make the wrong call and you’ll have to wait another whole year to rectify that choice. Nevertheless, if you’re trying to get the most out of your days off, it pays to think this decision through. Of course, your decision might already have been made for you, due to a school concert or some other obligation. Your next big decision could also cause a migraine: Do you hunt the opener or plan on a hunt that closes out the season? Each time frame has its pros and cons. Let’s say you now have just a few days of annual leave left and your spouse green-lights a hunt. You might want to squirrel away four or five days for a rut hunt near home or even out of state. The family vacation is likely to eat up one week of that chunk, and then you need to add in unexpected family travel, away games for kids, a three-day weekend getaway and even a surprise home disaster. That figure has held strong for decades, and most workers deliberate hard on how to divvy up their time off. Department of Labor statistics show the average American employee gets approximately two weeks off of paid vacation per year. How much time can you put into the hunt? Few of us can be out there every day. Most critical of all, of course, is your own situation. Family, career, season dates, rut timing, land access, deer density and hunting pressure all can factor into the ruling. I’d taken time off to hunt the last days of the season and didn’t have a backup plan.ĭo you labor with the decision on whether to hunt the opener or the tail end of gun season? That’s actually a common question, and answering it involves numerous considerations. And reports from the landowner indicated his crew might be moving cattle through the best whitetail cover for a grazing rotation. An overabundance of rainfall had limited access on the greasy farm trails. The property had been hunted hard in the early days of gun season. I had no family or work obligations, so my focus on filling a tag was as clear as the mountain water described in a John Denver song.Įven so, I had my doubts about success. Three days were all that remained in gun season.
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