brushbuster07

I hunt early season muzzleloader which starts in mid October and runs towards the end...which is the pre-rut phase where I live here in Iowa...how do you guys approach your deer hunt? I hear a lot about scouting...but what in particular do you look for? Then when it's time to hunt...how do you prepare yourself? Washing of clothes, cover scents, deer scents, rattling, calling...what works well for you??

Thanks!

BuckRogers

I hunt the same season you do up in North central Iowa. Where I hunt it is pretty much all crops(before harvest) and switchgrass. I typically hunt in the evenings for deer getting out of bed. However this can be hard to do if the crops arent out. as far as washing clothes... I personally think all the scent elminators ect. are a waste of money. I have gotten 9 deer in 9 seasons without any cover scent. All you have to do is hunt the wind. As far as calling and rattling (again my personal experience, others may be different) during the prerut the deer dont react and most of the times Ive tried dont like it. I have been quite successful in stalking deer but it takes a TON of patience, practice, and intution. I also only stalk deer I see. I dont go bumbling around till I find one. Sitting between bedding and feeding areas works well too. Find a heavily used trail and hunt it if you see signs of deer activity. I look for bedding areas that have REALLY thick nasty cover, another thing (if looking for bucks) is to look for small patches of such cover that people would otherwise overlook. I hope some of this helps you out and if you have ANY questions at all feel free to P.M. me or just post again on here. I love helping people out. Good Luck and shoot straight.

BuckRogers

also I read your other ML article I shoot 2 pyrodex pellets(90gr) and 245gr bullet. If I go with 3 they tend to spray a bit.

brushbuster07

Hey thanks a lot...I'm a freshman in college and I'm not gonna have a lot of spare money to spend on scent stuff...so I was happy to hear your thought on that...I think I'm gonna try a smaller bullet size too...THANKS!

mwaite

When I bowhunted in Iowa, I made sure I was in the woods every day during the last week of Oct. Say what you will about the rut and all that, but I saw the majority of my bucks in that time frame, running around with their noses to the ground grunting like pigs. I would also use estrous urine that last weekend in oct with a estrous bleat can call sequence every half hour because those were the days that I could be there all day long. I suggest being up in your tree BEFORE the sky begins to turn light at all, and stay until shooting time is over. If there are deer near your stand when that time hits, wait until they're gone so you don't spook them out. Take food that is low odor, water to drink, and just sit there. I stayed up for 13+ hours on several occasions, but then again, not everyone has the patience that I do. But I also had a deer parade under my stand all day. I will suggest washing your clothes in no scent soap and hanging them to dry outside, as well as a no scent soap shower before heading out to the woods, but more than that is unecessary if you're cautious with the wind. Good luck!