Well, last year I started bowhunting on crop damage permits July first. Now try that one if you want heat. It's a bear to climb up in a stand already sweating in a T shirt at 5:30 with the temperature hovering in the high 80s. You go earlier it might be 90. I personnaly like the idea. The end of January they are herded up in a big way. Getting drawn or going undetected is tough. I love the cover you get in early season. And like someone said, they're on the food sources. Much easier to pattern. It gives you a better chance of getting one in velvet. They are more dispersed offering more and multiple opportunities. In late January it's feast(and then can you draw?) or famine. Besides that, after watching all the bucks during crop damage and not being able to shoot them, I'm ready to whack a horned bugger.