Why Late Season Bowhunting is so Tough - How to Improve It | Bowhunting Whitetails w/ Bill Winke
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- My bow season is over and once we got past the rut, it was really tough. This is typical of bowhunting during the late season. It is really tough.
If you have just the right set conditions (small prime food sources that concentrate deer and limited hunting pressure) it can be decent. But otherwise, it is almost not worth the frost bite! Next year the farm will be better, but I am still not sure I will ever grow to love the late season in the same way I love October and November. Thanks for your support this season. We will be back soon with more.
Glad to see you back intot he flow of things Bill, excited to see what the new series brings!
Thanks Alex. I appreciate it. Have a great day.
Bill, loved following along this season !!
Thanks Bruce. I sure appreciate it and hope you have a great 2023.
good year on a new farm
Thanks Lisa. Much appreciated. We learned a lot. Have a great week.
Yea sir. Dream big. Late season is tough. And l must have missed your kill this year. I was in Ohio from October 18-November 18 with terrible cell service. Which is great. I’ve got to watch that one. Great season. Time to start shooting some 3-D Archery tournaments. Luke 9:62
Thanks Gouch. I hope the trip to Ohio went well. That is one of key whitetail states that I have never hunted, but I know a lot of people who really do well there. Have a great day.
Bill what's the Best Late Season Food Source if You had to pick just One to Plant? Looking forward to seeing how you develop the New Place!
Bass Man, thanks for the support. Corn is the best for late season because it is high in carbohydrates that deer seek to stay warm. They will eat beans, for sure, as my experience shows, but given the choice between the two, they will spend more time in the corn when it gets really cold. They are both worth planting. Have a great day.
Late season is especially difficult with archery equipment you’re right. It can also be tough with gun as well. If your food source isn’t confined enough and still plentiful with a bow you probably won’t have a chance. Same with a gun but it just allows for shooting a little further. The main ingredient is the food has to be there currently and so many other factors. Are they even using it at all? Have you burned the location completely out? For myself I got lucky on Un-pressured doe fawns late season and I was able to make it happen on an ancient buck that is 25 1/8” wide and probably 7+ years old. Took me all season to catch up with him but I did it in a small secluded block of timber surrounding neighbors harvested ag fields. Ps I killed him on my 5.5 acre parcel. I enjoyed your new show Bill and looking forward to next scouting season!
Thanks Josh and congrats on a great buck on a really small parcel. That is a great accomplishment. Those deer will forget all about us ever hunting there within a few weeks. I have no worries about that. We didn't really scare them that badly - they probably saw us coming and going a few times, but I don't think any deer really associated us with the blind, so it is not a big deal. Good luck and thanks again for the support.
Really starting to like that Camo…🤔🏹👊🏻
Yep, it is good stuff. Good luck in 2023.
Nice
I'll be at the ATA show. Are you walking around or will you be at a booth?
We will be walking, though we will be at the Redneck booth a good bit. Jordan and Ethan are going too. Look for us there or leave a note. Have a safe trip.
Great stuff this year Bill, thank you. Cant wait to see what you have to share this winter
Thanks Ralph. I appreciate it. I hope you have a great 2023.
How is it possible to get multiple buck tags in one season?? In one state?
Every state has its own rules. In Iowa if you own land you shoot up to three bucks in a season. I have only shot three a couple times in my life. Some years I am more than happy just to get one.
Fantastic series Bill, really enjoyed your content. Looking forward to a new season of Bow hunting Whitetails, as well as land management series.
Thanks Paul. I appreciate the support and hope you have a great 2023.
The paper clip on the zipper😂. Loved watching your season this year Bill!
Thanks Parker. I need to sell those fancy zipper pulls! Have a great week.
The grind is always worth it, makes victory that much sweeter !
Thank You very much Bill for taking us along. Wishing you and your family the very best in 2023.
Thanks Tim. Same to you. All the best in 2023.
Great season guys! Thanks for letting me join y’all!
Thanks for the support Eric and good luck in 2023.
All things considered you had a great year. A lot of firsts for you and the family. We will be here. Ready and willing to learn. 👊🏻🦌
Thanks Donald. We are blessed to be sure. Learned a lot about how to improve the farm and how to hunt it better. Will be interesting to see what pops up last year since there were very few "up and comers" on trail camera. Have a great day.
Great fun to see the new farm take shape. Keep up the great work, Bill. Your off-season series will be very informative. We'll be along for the ride.
Thanks Jeff. Should be a fun project. I really enjoy the farm/project work. Have a great day.
Bill, Thank you for bringing us along this season to share your successes and lessons learned. We are especially proud of Jordan and congratulate the both of you on the nice deer harvested. I look forward to watching and learning from your experiences.
Thanks Nathan. I appreciate it. I hope you had a great season too. Good luck in 2023.
I feel your pain Bill, late Season is tough and rough. Especially with no food source.I'm still after it too. Season ends 15th, on Sunday. Enjoyed learning with you this season.
Thanks for the comment and the support. Next year will be better. Have a great week.
Hey bill thanks for everything sir.
For teaching us all some tricks and letting us follow along
I like to say embrace the suck and if it was not hard the success would not be as great when we reach it.
You are right about that. Success tastes the sweetest when you have to suffer to get it. Good luck.
Hey Bill, noticed you didn't take any does off your land. Wondering if you didn't have many opportunities or are you happy with your ratio. Great show, looking forward to your next step. Thanks
I am happy with the ratio right now. I needed to go through a season to see what I have before making any major management decisions regarding the herd. I will definitely take some next fall, but I needed to get one year under my belt first. Thanks for the support. Have a great day.
Bill’s Birds or Winke Watching - name ideas for the bird watching series. 😂😂😂
That's about what it's come down to. I used to own the Peterson's Guide to Birds of North America and had memorized them all, but I fear my bird watching videos would be pretty dry! Have a great new year.
Great season thanks for all the videos Bill, certainly enjoy your down to earth teachings! Where do you think your deer are bedding? Seems like they’d watch you enter that tree stand.
Thanks Steve. They do bed on the ridges, generally. That means that at least some of them would see us entering even though we tried to reduce that by wearing snow camo when the ground was covered in snow. Planting that valley plot to corn and possibly creating/transplanting a permanent screen (red cedars) into the very bottom would really help in that regard. Good luck in 2023.
thank you for sharing same thing on our farm in georgia our corn got gone in a hurry, next season i will for sure get in more food . i did however fine a late acorn tree chestnut oaks here in georgia and was able to kill several does over and had a great season !! took some really nice bucks for this area in november .late season almost killed me lol
Thanks Nelson and congrats on a great season. Have a great week.
Got a few nice 2 year olds hanging out!
Yes, there are a lot of young bucks on the farm which begs the question, where are all the older bucks? The only answer that makes sense is that they are dead. That implies that the farm (and the entire area) got more gun hunting pressure in the past than I had thought. There is very little sign of bowhunting (no old stands, etc.), but it must have been hunted pretty hard by gun hunters. Will be interesting to see what happens in the future. Good luck in 2023.
@@bill-winke yeah i think ina few years you'll have it the way you want it or very near. Looking forward to the transformation.
We all know late-season bowhunting doesn't suck but it can be tough, it can also be the best hunting all season.
Maybe I am doing it wrong, but I sure have not had a lot of success with a bow during the late season. Most hunters give it up and grab the gun for that time. Sticking it out with a bow is definitely low odds even on good farms set up well. The deer are just so spooky by then that the older bucks are usually last to arrive and in the meantime, the smallest stuff clears the field and you never see them.
@@bill-winke I think my thing is I've got three hundred acres that I hunt all alone I try not to put too much pressure on it never hunt anywhere on the property with a bad wind, not even a marginal wind
Here in Kentucky gun season only lasts two weeks mid November then it's back to bowhunting till it closes in mid Jan, there is a brief muzzleloader season right before Christmas but I don't own a muzzleloader. I have been primarily bow hunting since the mid-90s seldom pick up a rifle.
My farm has some very good bucks pretty much the whole season except during the rut when all bets are off.
Late-season all the bucks that didn't get killed come back to the farm, I'm still running cameras even though season's been closed now for over a week I'll pull them here in about another week or so to see what I got running around.
The other advantage I have is the surrounding properties are large family farms that are lightly hunted and we have a very good age class in this area.
Preseason I had several 140 to 170 class bucks on cam in a few of the larger bucks I even got on camera midseason just could not get on them
I haven't checked my cameras in several weeks now so we'll see what I got still running around if they haven't shed already.
There is no Ag around me and very few people do food plots, I can't unless I want to fence off a separate area because I have cattle , the property is about 60/40 woods and pasture.
Anyways hang in there Bill one of these days you might learn how to kill these big deer.. lol
I'm looking forward to the off-season content!
Thanks Wes. I appreciate the support and the comment. I will probably start that some time in February. Good luck in 2023.
You're a true pro Bill .. the simple fact that you still backed out quietly during the last day of your season speaks loudly. I know you know this (but sometimes we get tired by the end of a long season) - I used the (immediate) post season to scout for large tracks in fresh snow and follow them back to their bedding areas. Never had a drone but that would be useful as well I'm sure.
No worries of busting out big guys and a good time to carry a 12 or 20 for small/upland game as well. All the better if your neighbours let you stroll a little further as well.
You are right. Scouting right after the season is the very best time. I need to do that as I have only been on about 10% of that farm since we bought it during the off-season. Almost all of my hunting was on the fringes. Good input. Have a great 2023.
Great season, Bill. Just curious, did your brother-in-law tag any deer this season? I remember the episode where you two did some scouting in the off season.
Danny, thanks for the support. Aaron shot one last year (a doe) but didn't shoot one this season. He is on the board and loves bowhunting.
Will you try grain sorghum on this farm? Or is the deer density low enough to just stick with corn?
Zeb, I should be good with corn for a while. My goal is to keep the density low enough that I never have to worry about the deer hammering a cornfield during the summer. Good luck.
Thanks Bill Take Care🤜🤛
Have a great week Rickey. All the best.
First of all congrats to you and your daughter on your bucks this year!
I have to be honest though, I was extremely surprised at how married you were to those few spots you hunted. I personally would have bounced around the new farm a lot more and definitely would not have sat the scrape tree with such a lack of sign. I was shocked you sat there after saying the food was gone and the tracks were sparse.
My situation is a lot different as I'm primarily on heavily pressured public pieces, so I don't typically leave stands or blinds up for fear of theft (99% mobile). Being forced to adapt to theft and heavy pressure also taught me to move around with the deer as they adapt to all the pressure (even the pressure I create). I've actually killed most of my mature bucks in very early season and late season when food/water/bedding is the pattern. They change with the food pretty often so I have to keep moving.
In any case, I appreciate the effort it takes to let us tag along! Keep the great content coming.
Thanks Mr. D For Jordan we didn't have a lot of choice because we had to create controlled short range shots to make it easier for her to process everything on her first deer. I think next year she can hunt more random movement but for this year I wanted to keep things really simple for her. I spent the whole month of November helping her so by the time I could hunt again it was late season so that left me only two spots that had food. I will fix it for next year, but this is a new farm and part of it I didn't even take possession of until October, so there was no chance to do much with it. Next season will look a lot different. Have a great 2023.
Late season is tough, you’ll be that much further ahead for next season. Great video Bill.
I'm learning every day, Mitchell. Thanks for the support. Have a great week.
Man, so much work to be done there. It may take 5 more years to see improvements. True definition of starting from scratch. I look forward to it Bill and hope you enjoyed those sunset days. I really enjoy the land management aspect as well as its more used today than ever.
Agree Jay. My timeline is three years to get most of it done, but you are right, the habitat work will likely last much longer (in fact it is never really completed). Thanks for the support.
Another great episode of Hoyt’s birdwatching America!
I feel the same on late season. Love the videos!
Yes, that is our calling. Much easier to film juncos than 5 year old whitetails! Have a great week.
As always down to earth entertaining and informative . Looking forward to your next season. Great camera work Ethan .
Thanks Ernest. I appreciate it. We all learned a lot about not only just the farm and how to hunt it, but how to create videos that people want to watch - still learning that one (it seems to change every day). Have a great week.
Late season separates the men from the boys.
I am afraid to ask which camp I fall into. I think given time, I can turn that farm into a place where late season hunting can be productive. I did see my target buck the first time I hunted the valley plot, I was just sitting in the wrong spot - so it was a near miss. Good luck.
Bill - What are your thoughts on Brassicas for late season?
I think they are good. I think grains pull better, but if you can't grow them because of the smaller size of plots or higher deer density, then for sure, the brassicas will produce good late season hunting.
Thanks for allowing us to follow your journey this year on the new farm. I have found when it's extremely cold late in the year deer sometimes move earlier in the afternoon in the warmest part of the day but if food is gone it's tough. Have never killed one late myself. Congrats to you all on a great season. Looking forward to the offseason content, 23 season starts today lol!
Thanks for the support Matt. I have seen them move earlier too when it is really cold. I have also seen them bed right on the edge of the food source, must feet away. It can be impossible to hunt when that happens. Good luck in 2023.
Birds = B Roll only 🤣
Unless you are planning to start a bird watching series! Maybe that is our calling. Would be much easier to attract and film juncos, blue jays, pileated woodpeckers and cardinals than 5 year old whitetails! Have a great day.
@@bill-winke I think deer is your calling - even if the deer filming is slow. I'd rather look at the habitat vs birds :)
That farm looks like the hardest looking farm to hunt i ever seen. I would never feel comfortable hunting that valley esp late season. Just seems every deer around would be up on the hillsides watching.
Bucky, I think you’re a very knowledgeable bowhunter.
We need to screen that very bottom so we can come and go better without being seen. I think planting that bottom to corn would really help in that regard also. Finally, I need to do some TSI on the ridges to thicken them up so the deer can't see us as easily, though they will find places to bed where they can see - it is what they do. The corn or a screen (transplanted cedar trees) will make the biggest impact on that spot.
@@russelllangworthy8855 Hahaha, wow My walls would prove you wrong, one thing you have right is though i dont have much knowledge of hunting big valley and hills. But after 32 years of bowhunting i have one of the most impressive trophy rooms out of every hunter in my area.
@@bill-winke I know you are just getting started, been watching you for years. No doubt you will figure it out. Ive watched this grind this year and boy does it look tuff there. Looking forward to all your projects and future studs you will put down on this farm. It does take work to kill big deer and i know you have the know how.
@@buckydoedowner9040 I think you misread my comment. I was complementing your knowledge.
“A” for effort as always Bill! I definitely feel you. I ended my season on the 7th on public I felt got “beat up” the least around me. Decent sit but no shooters. My chance at the giant I was hunting for just a few weeks came down to 1 hunt after the blizzard rolled through the Midwest. The beans he came into for a few nights prior got pounded by muzzleloader hunters. Now it’s a ghost town. My first year in Iowa was definitely an education and what I think was certainly a success. Like you I’ll be putting those things I learned to use next season. Looking forward to those late season tips.
Public land is good here in Iowa, Steven, but once the gun season comes, it dies really fast. If you branch out a bit and network through people you know, I bet you can find a few private spots to hunt. It is nothing like it was when I was a boy here - you literally never got told no, but you can still occasionally find private land to hunt. Good luck.
Are you going to participate in the CWD season?
No, not going to shoot any more deer on the farm. I know some people who will hunt that season, but there are not enough deer to worry about it in my area. Good luck in 2023.
How do you keep the corn on the Cobb for so long? I haven’t seen a corn stalk with corn on it since November. ( Central Pennsylvania)
The density is just not super high and they just now finally finished off that 1/2 acre food plot. Pretty amazing to me too. I figured it would be gone by late October.
Bill has they style of video presentation made it easier on you? I know you quit before after burning out was wondering how this season effected you
Without a doubt, it is not as much fun to hunt with a cameraman because even just setting a new stand takes forever since you have to figure out how to get two people and a camera arm up in there. Plus, you have to create something every week to meet sponsor obligations and sometimes you just don't feel like cranking out another episode. But I really enjoyed being with our daughter all season. That was really cool and that would not have happened if I had not started up this business again and hired her, so in the big picture, I am glad I did it if for no other reason that that. I appreciate the support and hope you have a great 2023.
Bill, i have a question for you if you don't mind. I have a 250 acre farm that I'm trying to grow older mature deer. But it seems I just can't hold them. Even with fields (food plots) and bait stations. How can I keep them here better. Thanks
I would say that habitat is the only other main ingredient to that formula. I really noticed a big difference on my farm in southern Iowa after I made it thicker. It held a lot more deer after that. Also, if your overall deer density is high, those older bucks will fringe out. They don't generally like to live in the middle of high density areas. Good luck.
@@bill-winke thank you
You planning on adding some sugar beets and or radishes for next year to increase your late season food draw🤔
Yes, for sure. I did plant some on a ridge field (about two acres worth), but the deer ate them all in September and October. I need to do a soil test on that field before I plant it again because whatever I plant there (I tried beans first) seem to get wiped out as if they aren't growing fast enough to stay ahead of the deer. Otherwise, that area just has a high number of deer. I will figure it out. Have a great week.
Did you sell Midwest white tail
and if so, who bought it?
Yes, I did. Several years ago. I stayed on a for a while afterwards. The current owners are Mike Reed and couple of other investors that I won't name for privacy reasons. Good luck and have a great day.
Are you going to do any trapping?
No, but that place is loaded with coyotes. I have a neighbor that wants to trap it and I told him to go ahead, but he won't cover the whole farm (let alone the whole neighborhood) I am sure.
whats your definition of late season? Dec 1?
Anything after the general firearms season ends. The deer become so much harder to hunt after that.
Thanks for sharing the full spectrum of hunting. I connected on a nice buck by bow the day after Iowa shotgun season thanks to cell camera intel. I haven't had a lot of success with a bow late season either but my brassicas were still an attractant. By the way, love seeing Ethan watching football with his cell phone 😄
Thanks Brad and congrats on the success. We watched a few games from the blind as long as we were on the ridge. No reception down in those valleys. Have a great 2023.
Glad I’m not the only one struggling late season! If you don’t have food it really makes it feel like there is no hope
True, you can try to hunt in the bedding areas, but with the crunchy snow it is basically a lost cause. You have to hunt them where they are going to and hope to get well ahead of them. That is why the feeding areas work so well late season, but if you don't have the food, you don't have the deer. Good luck in 2023.
How many acres is the new farm?
I've noticed you only hunt afternoons. Why? I shot 2 deer this year and both were in the morning. Just curious.
It's probably because the deer are still feeding there in the mornings and they can spot him coming in, so he waits for them to bed and then he can sneak in the afternoon before the deers show up.
Hunter is right in a sense. His access to the property is right through the feeding area. If you followed long enough or go back and watch some of the videos from earlier in the season he actually talks about why he doesn’t hunt mornings and if he does.. he stays in the timber close to the stand.
Kind of a wild story if ya watch the video bill made about it.. all last year he slept close to the stand in fear he would spook the deer out walking into the stand early mornings so he he would go and come in mid day and then stay the night..
Next year will be much different. We had tons of work to do to get that living quarters into shape by the time it got cold. Also, I was filming Jordan and she is not a morning person. Plus, the best morning stands are on ridges and that means random movement patterns, not a good combination for a first time bowhunter. I wanted to stick to spots where she would have a controlled shot and not have to process that typical buck cruising past randomly during the rut scenario. Next season I will hunt more with a cameraman and not be filming her as much. She will have her own cameraman and that will allow us to go our separate ways. In the end, I will hunt a lot more mornings next year. Mornings are really good during the rut and I hated that I had to miss them this year.
@@bill-winke thanks for replying. That makes good sense. Can't wait to see the upcoming videos of all the improvements y'all are going to make. Always dreaming big...
Sounds like you need someone to help control your coyote population! I am available ha
There sure are a bunch of them there. They come by the buildings at night and taunt the dogs.
I’m Not the only one that tosses those worthless lonewolf seats
Agreed. I don't like seat cushions. They are always falling apart. I guess a good one that is stiff enough might work.
First
Thanks for the support Kurt.