From Mild to Wild

We've hit 50 or better three times this December in central Iowa, and we'll likely do it at least one more time before the year is through. While this comfortable weather may be good for traveling around the holidays, it can actually make for a difficult late season hunt.

Warm weather really slows down the deer feeding patterns. In years past when there's a late season thaw, it tends to send the bucks into a nearly nocturnal feeding pattern. So if you've been seeing less mature deer movement lately, don't be alarmed. My theory is they are wary from the hunting pressure, worn down from the breeding season, and when it's warm they don't move as much. Physiologically, warm blooded animals don't have to burn as many calories to stay warm when the temps are above average. Also, their thick winter coat probably works a little too well when it's sunny and temps are in the 40s/50s. So it seems, if they don't have to move, they wont. A quick glance at the long-range predictions below and you can see this pattern should be here to round out the 2011 hunting season.

Warm Temperatures are Expected to End Hunting Season

So, I have slipped back into ambushing transition areas and travel corridors as my primary hunting strategy. Deer are still pretty spooky, so I try not to over hunt one particular area. In fact, I'm saving my more reliable hunting areas for those days when the mercury and the snow are both falling which will hopefully happen at least twice before the season closes.

In the meantime, enjoy hunting in these early season temperatures! We will see one strong surge of cold air rushing in for the start of 2012. Freezing temps and strong, cold wind will stir up some good quality movement Monday January 2nd and Tuesday the 3rd. The rest of season is looking very warm. Click here for more information on this wild pattern straight from the Climate Prediction Center.

Good luck and Happy New Year!

Winter and Late Season Muzzleloader Have Begun

Shotgun season ended quite warm, but the weather was very enjoyable to sit in. According to the DNR, 70,000 deer were taken during the recent hunting seasons -about 30% below 2006 harvest levels. More on that story here. Game activity for us was best in the morning and our group of hunters ended up filling 6 tags to close the weekend and the season.

While winter officially kicks off today (Dec. 22nd) deer have been settling into the wintertime feeding pattern for the last few weeks. Late Season Muzzleloader is in full swing. In my opinion this season is the second best time to tag a big buck. The first of course is the rut, and the pre-rut early season runs a close third place due to patternability. But during Late Season deer are even more patternable. They group together and feed in good numbers, crowding food sources to restore their weight before the dead of winter.

When the weather turns nearly intolerable, I'll turn to my muzzleloader. Taking advantage of the harsh conditions can really pay off for hunting Iowa game. One of the best strategies I use when planning a day to hunt is to focus on "high pressure" days. These are usually the days with the coldest lows on the 7-day forecast. These days see especially high activity levels when the winds have been strong and then relax. I usually try to hunt the evening before and the morning of the days with the coldest low temperatures.

See if that pays off in your neck of the woods and good luck!

Excellent End to Shotgun 2

We have had a real wild ride so far this fall and this week was no exception. Central Iowa started in the deep freezer last weekend with single digit lows to open up the second shotgun season. Wed. Dec. 14th Des Moines came close to record rainfall and record highs with 0.56" ( just .05" shy of tying the record) and a high of 56 (not quite the 60 they had in 1975). The only creatures who know just how crazy this weather has been better than outdoorsmen, are the game we pursue!

This is our season! Hunting season! My natural element.

Now the cold side of this storm system will swing on through and it will present Iowa with words hunters should welcome from forecasters; Canadian, Cold, High Pressure. Thursday the winds will be strong as this high roars into Iowa, but after it settles in we're looking at reasonably light winds and great temperatures. It will be the type of cold that is tolerable to the hunter, and great for game movement!

This time of year, the rut is winding down. Deer are switching to survival mode full time and the bucks can finally slow down for the buffet since they wont be distracted as much. Under light hunting pressure, deer will be hitting the food sources hard in the evenings, trying to pack on the pounds before the true chill of an Iowa winter settles in. If you're party hunting and doing drives, deer bedding areas aught to produce well for morning pushes. Plotting an ambush to take advantage of natural feeding activity sounds like a solid plan for the afternoon and evenings. I'll be focusing on areas with sanctuary from the orange army right next to row crop fields and other food sources.

Thursday will be a 3 of 5 star day of hunting with the best movement in the evening. Friday should be a 4 or 5 of 5 star day. High pressure will create a nice cold start, a few clouds will try and fill in giving the sky a look like it might storm and both feeding and travelling activity should be high. Another plus is the shotgun pressure will be relatively light. Saturday and Sunday both look like nearly perfect days to hunt with lows in the 20s, and highs in the 40s. Keep track of that 7 day right here on myabc5.com.
On another note, licenses for the 2012 hunting season and the special January Antlerless season go on sale Dec. 15th and more information can be found on my links to the right under Iowa DNR.

Good luck this weekend! We'll talk more about Late Season Muzzleloader after I fill my shotgun tags!

Rain Dampens the Middle of Shotgun Season 2

A strong area of low pressure is pulling out of the desert southwestern US, and moving towards Iowa. As a southwestern storm system, you can expect it to bring 2 things: warmth and moisture. We will see enough warmth, that this storm will be entirely rain. We could also see some new daily rainfall records as upwards of an inch will fall in central Iowa.

The daily rainfall record for December 14th in Des Moines, IA is 0.61" set back in 1992. There is about a 95% chance that record will fall with several rounds of rainfall starting Tuesday afternoon and lasting through Wednesday evening. The rain wont be the only thing falling. The barometric pressure has been high the last week or so thanks to an arctic high pressure close by. Now the pressure will steadily fall until Wednesday night, and that can be a very useful hunting asset.

I've hunted many rainy days in my life. When the temperature is cold (30s) and the rain is anything heavier than sprinkles (enough to get you soaked), I have found deer movement to be light and usually the animals are immature. But this doesn't mean rainy weather is a bad thing! I have sat several evenings where it rained steadily all afternoon, but right at sunset it let up to just heavy mist and drizzle with fog. Every one of those evenings featured great deer feeding activity and shot opportunities. My theory is low pressure spurrs strong feeding activity, but heavy rain dampens this movement significantly. Heavy snow on the otherhand, has never slowed the deer down at my end of the field. I relish the days where I'm covered in snow as the flakes are falling and the deer pile into the fields. So it will be important to watch the forecast the next few days as this storm moves in. Keep track of the radar here, and any breaks in the action moving your way should result in an excellent evening ambush.



My 2003 2nd Season Shotgun Buck. Thanks to Rod and Cory
Simon for inviting me along for the hunt!



Here's my hunting weather forecast, Tuesday evening will be 4 out of 5 stars for hunting. Wednesday morning will likely be a 2 out of 5 stars hunt. Wednesday evening will be 3 out of 5 for most of eastern Iowa (worse if the rain stays steady), but western Iowa (west of highway 169) should bump up to nearly 5 out of 5 stars to hunt. Over there, the rain will relax to just drizzle, mist and dense fog as the barometric pressure falls to the lowest point it's been in 10 days. Deer can probably sense the cold winter wind is just hours away and feeding activity should be very good! Thursday the deer will be in security cover most of the day with strong cold winds driving across the state. This is excellent for stalking deer in the bedding areas, but horrible for stand hunters. We'll talk about the weekend in my next blog. Good luck!

Cold, Snow-Covered Shotgun 2 Opener!

Over 1/3 of the lower 48 is covered with at least a little snow. With each day winter is sinking further south and settling into the Midwest. In central Iowa we've had 4 out of the last 5 days below freezing -more like January than December. Thursday night central and southern Iowa picked up a light snowy gift for shotgun season.




This image is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Snofall Analysis. More info here http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/

 

The heaviest snow fell just south of I-80 in western Iowa, leaving only the NE 1/3 of Iowa snow-free. Here's a look at where the snow band set up last night courtesy of the National Weather Service.

 From a weather standpoint snow does several things: cooler days, colder nights, and it often makes clouds. Cooler days result from refrigerating effects and the white color reflecting most of the suns energy. So the suns rays don't really warm us up much. Bitterly cold nights result when the sky clears and the wind is under 10mph. Cold air then settles and pools over the top of the ice/snow sending the mercury way down. Low temperatures will often be 5 to 10 degrees colder over snow pack than snow-free areas. Fresh snow cover can also create clouds as it melts or the moisture sublimates (goes straight from Ice to Water Vapor). Bottom line, snow is cold and great for hunters (see my blog from November "Snow is a Good Thing").

Low Temperatuers Opening Morning. Brrrrrr. More info
here: http://graphical.weather.gov/sectors/dmx.php

Perhaps the most obvious is visibility. White snow really highlights the deer hiding in timber which gives hunters one more advantage, especially for deer drives. Cold weather also makes deer patternable. It forces them to use the topography and vegetation to help keep them warm and they also need to eat now to burn calories and survive the frigid night-time temperatures. So many deer will now fall back on the late-season bedding areas and preferred food sources. Southern facing hillsides that shed the snow first, often still have areas of green grassy vegetation deer sometimes find attractive. Otherwise, corn fields or standing bean fields are late season favorites of mine. In the morning, I'll hunt heavy travel corridors leading to these late-season bedding pockets and for the evening, I like to be overlooking a food source by early afternoon.

Opening day looks like a 4 star hunting day, and opening weekend will feature above average hunting weather. Keep track of the forecast here. Enjoy and good luck!

Slight Chance for Snow, Good Chance for Success

We've got one more chance for snow this week, but don't expect too much out of it.

This graphic is courtesy of the National Weather service and it gives a good general idea of where our next snow is headed. But I think this estimate is on the high side and if anything with this storm changes, it will be less snow as the storm tracks further south.

Regardless, the weather for the Second Season Opener looks fantastic. If we take a look back at November, rutting and breeding activity peaked the 11th through the 18th in central Iowa. Fast-forward and the secondary rut should peak 28 days later which would place it just in time for the end of shotgun 1 and opening weekend of shotgun 2.
Plenty of shotgunners are reporting rutting activity recently. Rubs, scrapes and mature bucks with their noses down after does suggest we're in a mini-chase phase of the secondary rut. From December 8th until December 15th bucks will be actively roaming and seeking out those last does. This combined with the cold temperatures and high pressure will make the first few days of Shotgun 2 really good hunting.

Here's a glance at the extended outlook for Shotgun Season 2. Our pattern looks seasonable and relatively dry. So expect deer to transition back out of subtle rutting activity and into a feeding pattern.

Beautiful, Cold Weather for Shotgun 1

We've got the coldest air so far this season blanketing the state this week. Check out our 7-day forecast here, and you'll notice central Iowa will be in the 20s and 30s for the rest of the first shotgun season. This is nearly perfect weather for hunting Whitetails on what is considered to be one of the two most important hunting seasons for harvesting deer and managing Iowa's Whitetail herd.



Big deer love cold weather!

 According to the DNR "The Iowa DNR expects that nearly 90,000 hunters will be heading to the woods and fields during Saturday’s opening day for first shotgun season. Iowa’s shotgun deer seasons are the most popular among hunters and account for more than half of all deer harvested." Read more by clicking the Iowa DNR link to the right under "Chris' Weather and Outdoor Favorites."

From my field notes, below average temperatures often coincide with peaks of game movement. Surviving cold temperatures means spending time in food sources like corn fields or other grain fields. Hunting pressure and changing habitats often force deer into sanctuaries which then drives them to "commute" a bit more to the fields. This can create a favorable opportunity for an ambush, especially as deer become more patternable.



Rutting Activity is Increasing



I am really excited to report an increase in rutting behavior. The other day, I watched as a large 10pt buck chased after a medium sized doe. His nose was down and the chase was on. Scrapes are being refreshed and rubs are also showing up like the one pictured below. These are subtle signs that central Iowa is approaching the secondary peak of the rut. This stage is generally just a shadow of the exciting activity we usually see in the middle of November, but when combined with our cold weather, it really increases the odds of tagging a trophy with the gun.

In my next blog, I'll try and pin down the best days to hunt the secondary rut and I'll also have an extended weather outlook for the first week of Shotgun 2. Safety first and happy hunting!

Shotgun 1 Storm

I hope you have good gear if you’re planning on heading afield for the Iowa shotgun opener! A large winter storm is brewing and this sloppy weather will put your water-proofing and dedication to the test. Just a few degrees will make all the difference between a snow-filled evening with success or a soggy, cold and potentially fruitless opening day. So let’s unravel the details!

Courtesy National Weather Service

Central and eastern Iowa start the day with a southeasterly breeze with cold rain showers in the morning. An icy mix could start us off near Ames, Boone and Carroll and light snow will begin in the morning in NW Iowa. Winds will shift to the east around midday and become a stiff northeasterly in the evening. Temps will be in the 30s and it looks like it will be “warm” enough to keep things rain for much of the state before it changes to snow. Cold air will sink down from the Dakotas during the day and NW Iowa should see several inches of snow throughout the day and into Saturday night.

Low barometric pressure, combined with snow falling will make for spectacular hunting in NW Iowa. Deer feeding activity will start early and it should feature an above average number of animals in preferred food sources like corn fields. Unfortunately for the rest of us, a cold rain is not typically good weather to hunt. From my field notes, I have not had a single successful hunt where the rain was anything heavier than sprinkles and the temperature was in the 30s. It can be done, but observed deer movement under those conditions is substantially less than a normal day. The only saving grace would be a break in the rain. Click here to check out our radar to see if you're lucky enough that your evening sit will catch a break. If the rain backs down to a light drizzle, mist, and fog go hunt! It will eventually get cold enough for snow in central Iowa, but that will probably be after dark and I’m only expecting about an inch or two at best.

Forecast snow accumulation on ground by Sunday a.m.

Sunday morning the sky should clear out a bit revealing a fresh blanket of white from Creston to Des Moines to Waterloo and points northwestward. A cool and primarily northwest breeze combined with high barometric pressure will make Sunday (especially evening) my pick for the best natural deer movement. I think the only deer moving on Saturday are the ones getting pushed out of their bedding.

Saturday’s storm will bring a variety of weather. Keep tabs on the latest advisories and details on our website and with the National Weather Service. Good luck and stay safe!

November Antlerless Success and Shotgun 1

For many, The Novemember Antlerless season is the first time to pick up the gun for big game in Iowa. To me, it’s pretty good practice for the upcoming shotgun season and as good of an excuse as any to head afield. Here are some highlights from my hunting party’s successful venture.

Charcoal grey sky, cold temps and wind
characterized most of the holiday
hunting season in Iowa.

This weekend weather made it a bit tough to hunt! Friday’s humidity and warm temps, Saturday’s morning rain and then the persistent cold wind all proved formidable conditions. This low pressure and fowl weather had most of the game bedded down this weekend but we saw plenty of deer being pushed around by hunters.

The best natural deer activity was Sunday night as high pressure settled in and the fields filled up with hungry critters. I hope you enjoyed your time afield, we sure did.

Success! Antlerless Deer tagged by Bryon
Rowland and his 12 ga. Shotgun

Right now the long-range look at Shotgun 1 is revealing an enormous "cut-off" low pressure. These storm systems are notorious for their unpredictability because of their size and the fact that they do pretty much whatever they want since they are 'cut-off' from the regulating winds of the jet stream. What the heck does that mean to everyday folks and sportsmen? It means you're probably going to be cursing the weather guy for changing the forecast 80 times before next weekend. My best guess (I mean forecast) for the weekend is chilly, windy, possible snow showers. I’ll have better details for that forecast in the next blog.

November Antlerless

Whether you like it or hate it, November Antlerless season is coming up this week.

This three-day season just after Thanksgiving is the first opportunity for most in the state to take after Whitetails with a shotgun. Sportsmen have been giving this season mixed reviews since it was started, but I enjoy this early opportunity to spend time hunting with friends and family. Here are a few interesting points about this season from the Iowa DNR: “Licenses are only available in areas where the county-wide quota has not been met and valid only on private property for the November Antlerless-only season. Shotguns, handguns, muzzleloaders and bows may be used.” –Iowa DNR  

My forecast calls for near record warmth to start this special season the day after Thanksgiving. Most of the state will even be warmer in the morning than our average high temp and we’ll end the day in the 60s for Friday. Humidity will also be high in the morning. These factors generally hurt deer activity, but a pretty strong storm will be approaching casting late day clouds overhead. The falling barometric pressure and the way the sky will look will urge those deer and other game animals to prepare for a storm so feeding activity in the fields should be above average.

If you like colder weather, winter returns to the forecast for Saturday and Sunday. Deer activity should be lower than normal on Saturday. Winds should be up around 30mph so most animals will be hunkered down for the storm. The exception there would be animals pushed around by holiday hunters. Focusing on travel corridors, thick cover and south/west facing hillsides should help you be successful. High pressure tries to bully its way in on Sunday, so the winds should back down a bit. I’d expect Sunday afternoon to be one of the best days to hunt this weekend.

The first Shotgun season is just about in our sights, please check back in for that forecast after Thanksgiving.

Whitetail Rut Winding Down

This time of year can be tough to hunt as the herd transitions from the seemingly patternless chaos of the rut to a more regular and predictable feeding pattern.



"TallBoy" as featured on trailcamtrophies.com (linked on the right)
proof that  post-rut big deer are still on the hoof.



Mature deer are re-focusing their habits around food and building up good mass to survive the winter. One thing I have noticed over the years, I still see several “strange” and large bucks on my trail cameras right up until Shotgun Season. I suspect post-rutting big bucks are more cautious about daylight movement, but also maintain that expanded home-range from rut. Big deer this week will still be checking various herds to make sure does have been bred, grabbing a bite to eat and then moving on. The ‘regulars’ in your area will also begin to return and overall deer activity should be above normal so your chances of seeing a brute this week are still very good.

Unfortunately for holiday hunters, the temperatures will also be above normal later this week. Although it will be very enjoyable weather to sit, this is likely going to adversely affect hunting conditions. Movement when the temperature is over 50 degrees is limited and mostly at night. One way you can combat this is to target cool geographic locations on your property. When it’s warm, target west facing slopes in the morning and east facing slopes in the afternoon and north facing slopes for an all day outing. These areas stay in the shade longer and should see daylight activity longer. Creek and river valleys near the lowest topography around will also be good choices, especially if the winds are under 15 mph. Cold air will pool here and furry critters with a full winter coat will be more comfortable moving about.

Next, I’ll blog about the November Antlerless season and later this week I’ve got a long range forecast for shotgun hunters.

Success!

This archery season has been a bit tough for me this year, but finally I had some success. Here's the story and some pictures.

I over-slept two alarms and woke up late Thursday Nov. 17th. After a few minutes of internal debate I decided the frosty, 20-degree weather and high pressure was too good to pass up. So I sauntered into the stand about 8:30am spotting a bobcat, 8 point buck and a doe on the way in. It was already a good morning in the woods and deer were moving, but like much of the season I didn't have any good shot opportunities. I also showed up 2 hours later than I should have, so I figured I missed out on the really good hunting. As I reflected on this season's mistakes and misfortune I sent up a little prayer to the man who got me hooked on hunting -Grandpa. He passed unexpectedly several years ago just weeks after taking me on my first deer hunt. 

In the silence of the frost-covered woods I thanked him for sharing the season with me and looking out for me. And then I asked him for a little help. When I looked up from my prayer, I spotted antlers about a football field away from me coming through the timber. It took this 8 pt buck a minute or two to walk slowly and steadily straight to me. While I have seen much bigger bucks over the years, I certainly recognize opportunity when it walks in. So I quietly thanked Grandpa, stood up, and when the deer came into range I took the shot. After the shot, he ran only a short distance and as luck would have it, straight up-hill toward the truck!

While my buck tag for bow is filled, I still have 2 archery doe tags and I look forward to many more outings with the bow. If all goes well, I'll be hunting all the way through January with shotgun and late season muzzle loader so I’m looking forward to many more memories afield :-)

Thanks again to everyone who has been a part of my hunting season. If you're still out to fill a tag, deer activity is still moderate to high, so keep after it and it will pay off! 

In my next blog I'll talk about how the weather will influence our post-rut pattern and I'll make some predictions about the upcoming special November Antlerless Season. I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving!

"Lockdown" in the forecast

It has truly been a wonderful experience to watch how the season is changing before our eyes. Just 10 days ago, a cold snap spurred the most impressive display of fresh scrapes and rubs I have in my notes. Buck movement during daylight hours has also soared over the last few weeks as we have been steadily progressing through the early rut phases. Bucks have gone from wandering and searching to a more focused chasing and shadowing of the does. The "Chase" phase will likely blend with and transition to the "Peak Breeding" phase this week in Iowa (Nov. 15th-20th). Once this phase is underway, hunters will notice a sharp decline in deer activity as they hunker down with ready does.

This phenomena, known as "lockdown," can be a very frustrating time to hunt and I'm predicting it to happen this week and linger on into the weekend. In some parts of the state this could be less noticeable, especially in areas where the Doe to Buck ratio is skewed. A healthy herd is considered to be around a 2:1 ratio, but areas I have hunted appear to have a much more lop-sided ratio than that. When competition for does is low, movement can still be high as bucks have their work cut out for them. So be prepared to practice a lot of patience hunting this week. This phase of the rut can create an eerie silence in your neck of the woods. If you're in a good spot, that silence will be shattered occasionally as bucks move from doe to doe, but the wait in between can be quite long. One things for sure, if you're not seeing deer, move! Use last weeks wet snow/rain as an asset and find those tracks in the mud. Determine heavily used areas (not just trails) and set up for a NW wind or a S wind. Also, consider spot and stalking. During "lockdown" I'll often leave the stand disssappointed only to see dominant bucks in unconventional spots - a lone tree in the middle of a field or some patchy brush along a terrace. Here, they've often pinned down a ready doe and are protecting her from his competiton. It can be a tough time to hunt, but if you adapt you'll be successful.

Some of the coldest air yet this season will be blasting in later Tuesday dropping that mercury for Wednesday and Thursday. Strong winds like those in the forecast can make great conditions to sneak up on a bruiser. A stand with a high vantage can be a great asset too for on the fly scouting and observation. I'll use one to locate deer, track their movement and then plot a stalk if the wind/conditions permit. We will have another cold surge starting Sunday. I am hopeful that this Canadian cold air and high pressure combination will offset the negative side-effects of the "Peak Breeding" rut phase. One thing's for sure, I'll be out when and where I can. The rut is an unpredictable, fascinating thing to be a part of, so go enjoy it if you have a chance!

Hunting The Iowa Rut Part II

Iowa is entering the "chase" phase of the rut which can be one of the most exciting times for deer hunters.

"Chase Phase" This is the phase most hunters associate with the rut. Mature deer are moving in broad daylight, and activity is nearly non-stop. Does are coming into estrous, and a buck will become her shadow until the time is right. This is typically a very exciting time as monster bucks magically appear and disappear. Fields that normally experienced regular feeding activity can often become frustratingly inconsistent. Big bucks are often extremely aggressive and vocal. They'll often respond to calls unless they’re with a doe.

"Peak Breeding" This usually occurs within a week of the Rutting Full Moon. This is the 2^nd full moon after the equinox. Physiological changes in does cause the majority of the doe herd to come into heat at nearly the same time (give or take a few days). This year the rutting full moon was November 10th which would place "peak breeding" around the 17th. One of the most frustrating characteristics of peak breeding is “lockdown.” Bucks are nearly twice the size of does, and they corral a doe that is nearly ready to breed often standing over her to keep watch and keep other bucks at bay. One tell-tale sign there might be a hot doe and a big buck nearby is an immature buck that remains curiously in nearly the same spot for long periods of time. He is standing by, ready to swoop in for an opportunity. Often, he can lead you to a trophy buck. If the wind is right and there is enough cover for stalk, this aggressive strategy works well especially when stand hunting becomes unproductive. Breeding is a tough time to be on stand, as activity comes to a crashing halt just days after the frenzied “chasing” phase. To be successful, you might try being mobile and aggressive.

"Post-Rut" Activity levels ramp back up to a secondary peak, but both feeding and travelling can be irregular. I have had good luck with this phase of the rut. Fall back on a feeding pattern or sit on those morning travel corridors close to bedding… patience pays off well as does try to resume their daily routine. Mature bucks will frantically check the herd to make sure the job is done, and this could bring them right by your stand.

Most of this information is adopted from the theories and research of Charles Alsheimer but it's blended with my experience and field notes. More information is available here. There are several factors that can suppress or enhance deer activity in your area and we'll talk more about those, plus a check on activity levels in the next blog. 

Hunting The Iowa Rut

The Whitetail Rut is generally broken down into key phases, each with their own unique differences. This time of the year is regarded as one of the best time’s to shoot a mature deer, but some phases of the Rut can be very difficult to hunt. Here’s a look at the characteristics of each of the phases of the Rut.

Pre-Rut: This phase can be quite lengthy lasting for several weeks. Deer are becoming more active during daylight. Bucks are scraping in the dirt, making rubs on trees and sparring with each other. Summertime bachelor groups are dispersing as dominance is established. Does couldn’t care less about bucks. Small bucks begin nudging does around as this phase transitions into the “seeking phase.”

Seeking: Small bucks -as my friend likes to say “college boys”- begin pushing does around. They’re checking to see if any does are ready for breeding, but generally move from one to another without giving chase.  Mature bucks are also expanding their home range marking travel routes with scrapes and rubs. You’ll catch them cruising a field edge or travel corridor, moving with purpose. Fights for territory sometimes break out but don’t seem to last too long. This is an excellent time to be a stand hunter. Rattling and grunting work well now. Travel corridors between bedding areas will often have numerous bucks cruising the loop looking for a girlfriend. Daylight action increases, but deer are still generally patternable. Bucks begin to hound does as this phase transitions to the “chasing” phase. Central Iowa is transitioning from the “seeking” phase to the “chasing” phase. I’ll talk more about the rest of the Rut in my next blog. Good luck!

Snow is a Good Thing!

Well, as promised, it snowed across much of the state! For central Iowa, it snowed a lot. Ooops.

 This storm shifted substantially overnight targeting central and SW Iowa with plowable snow, thundersnow (a thunderstorm producing heavy snow), and slushy to snow covered roads.



Image courtesy IEM shows narrow corridor
of intense snowfall. If you awoke to thundersnow,
accumulation rates were 1"-3" per hour.

 The band also constricted in size from earlier forecasts with a compact strip of 5-6" of heavy wet white. As a forecaster, this one was a bit of a heartbreak.  The storm displayed it's full potential over a populated area 50-70 miles further east than expected. These things happen, and I apologize. But snow is a fantastic asset to a successful hunt. Here are some reasons why:

Snow is great for visibility. Deer become very easily spotted in the timber or afield. Watch out, you are easy to spot too! So be careful and consider using vertigo-style camouflage that brings in white colors to break up your outline.

Fresh white snow makes tracking a breeze. The snow stopped falling the morning of the 9th, so you can use this information to help pinpoint when the deer were walking through the area. Size of tracks, direction of movement and how old the sign is can all be determined by using snow to your advantage. Old tracks will have fuzzy/muddled edges, and fresh sign will have a crisp clean edge. When the snow melts, you can still use the wet ground and mud to brush up on your tracking skills. Identify the most recently used heavy trails and hunt them immediately.

Melting snow means wet ground. Add in breezy weather and you have a perfect recipe for sneaking and stalking. I love to still-hunt on a windy day where the leaves are wet and my steps are quiet. The wind moving the trees helps conceal your own movement and that will help you get closer to game. So even after the snow melts, the water left behind can still help you out.

Snow is cold. This seems like a no-brainer, but when it snows, the air becomes refrigerated by the snow and temps are colder. Colder weather makes the deer move and feed more aggressively. Isolate good food sources, use the snow to find fresh sign and good trails, and set up close for an evening ambush. Be sure to get out early, colder weather brings the deer out to feed sooner. For morning hunts, plan your attack in reverse. Deer will be filtering out of the fields in less uniform fashion and usually in family groups. Set up someplace near doe bedding areas, and pick on those south or east facing slopes, and try to find several heavily used trails leading into this area. If the wind is right, I'll sometimes even sit right in the bedding areas and see deer moving around through the noon hour.

So snow is a good thing and I'm hunting the heck out of the next few days. I hope you can enjoy it too!

Central Iowa Snow

Central Iowa will wake up to white stuff as the region will see its first snowstorm of the season beginning the night of Tuesday the 8^th and lasting into the morning of Wednesday the 9^th.

Winter Weather Advisory from National Weather Service for Tuesday
night into Wednesday morning.

Here is a look at some of the latest computer model snowfall projections.



Global Forecast System Model Solution
for Nov. 9th Snowstorm



Notice the differences in the model solutions.



North American Mesoscale Model Solution
for Nov. 9th Snowstorm

Forecast models tend to struggle with the specifics of storm systems, so the reality of this snow storm should be a bit different than these pictures. I would expect accumulating snowfall for much of central Iowa. The Des Moines metro should see around several inches on the ground for the Wednesday morning commute. Plowable snow is likely and some folks should see more than 5 inches in isolated spots. Regardless of the snow, we’ll all get much colder behind this storm.

That's great news for outdoorsmen! Our next cold snap is going to bring fantastic weather for upland birds, waterfowl and the best part of the Iowa Whitetail Rut! Here are three great reasons to make some time for hunting this week. 

1). According to the calendar we are just days away from the rutting moon. This is the 2^nd full moon after the Autumnal Equinox, and is theoretically the most common indicator for the peak of the whitetail breeding season. This means we are seeing some of the highest levels of deer activity all year. 2). The harvest is nearly complete which adds another great hunting element. The deer that used crop fields as security cover are now retreating to the brushy draws and woodland during the daylight. That creates a daily ebb and flow of animals to and from food sources like row crop fields. 3). Colder weather usually coincides with high game activity levels. Snow is fantastic to track animals, identify heavy trails and observe recent movement. Cold weather also causes game animals feed more heavily and move more often. And more movement means more exciting hunts.

Buck movement has nearly tripled on my trail-cameras in the last 2 weeks. Iowa White-tail are
in the seek-and-chase phase of the Rut- one of the best times for bow-hunters!

The best days this week will be midday Nov. 8^th, all day Nov. 9^th, 10^th and 11^th ! Good Luck, and enjoy the first snowstorm of the season!

Rain, Snow and Cold!?! Yes Please!

Big changes are coming in the weather pattern, and it starts today (Wednesday) with a strong low pressure storm system that will bring wind, rain, and even some snow to Iowa.

The mention of snow in the forecast has people abuzz and this storm system has animals on the move.

Wednesday will be soggy, rainy and cold.

Sadly, 90% of this system will be cold rain, but the most intense rain showers later today might change over to heavy snow, especially in SW IA after 3pm. Keep checking our radar here: http://www.myabc5.com/Global/story.asp?S=14661140  The ground is too warm for any accumulation, but the grass is just high enough off the ground to collect a new coat of white in the heaviest snow squalls. My money says you will not see snow like this, but the change in weather is very exciting for outdoorsmen!

Almost the entire month of October, temperatures in central Iowa were warm.  We did have some wild swings, and each chilly spell seemed to feature more and more pre-rut deer activity. Bucks have been preparing and the time is finally here!

Over the last week we’ve seen an increasingly impressive display of deer on the hoof. I hunted the last cool high pressure and was able to call in several nice deer Oct. 27th and 28th. Rattling and grunting works well in the early phases of the rut. Most of the animals I’ve been seeing have been young- in the 2 ½ year old age class with several 100s to 130s. But mature bucks are on the hoof and in my last outing a mature buck, 140s-150s and probably 4 ½ years old or better, was cruising for does in a soy bean field in the middle of the morning. Signs suggest, the first does are either close or coming into heat and it’s got the boys going nuts. The next two weeks will be the best time to bow-hunt a bruiser!

High temperature and human-pressure are the two biggest rut-suppressors. My research suggests the magic temperature to be a sunny 50 degrees. Warmer than this and deer activity locks down. As the mercury drops movement really picks up. Cold air is swinging in behind today’s storm system and the chilly temperatures plus high pressure should make November 3rd, 4th and the morning of the 5th an exceptional time to hunt! We’ll be pretty warm Saturday afternoon, but Sunday the 6th should be another good day to get out in the woods. Good luck!

The Wild Ride Continues

Our temperature pendulum keeps on swinging as central Iowa goes from 50s and 60s this weekend, to possibly 70s for the first half of the upcoming week. Then colder winds and rain will send the thermometer plummeting into the 40s mid-week.

These swings can play havoc with deer activity, especially when the surface barometric pressure is swinging wildly as well. Generally cold weather and high pressure is one of the best combinations to hunt, but a strong low pressure can also foster a spike in deer activity even if it's warm especially if light rain or snow accompanies that low. This happens often when a cold front moves through, and often the inclimate weather seems to remind the game animals to stock up on food before the storm.

Latest Winter Outlook from NOAA

At some point late in fall or early in winter (probably December), we'll transition to an active but cooler pattern. Here is the latest winter outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Regardless of the weather deer activity is picking up as the rut approaches, so get out in the woods if you have the chance. The next three weeks could be the best time to bag a big one. In my next blog I'll talk about the activity I've been seeing and where that places us in the rut phases.

Keep Your Cool for Warm Weather Whitetail

70's are great to enjoy with a cold one and the grill going, but often not very productive for hunting big game in Iowa. Warm temperatures often bring daylight deer movement to a screeching halt, especially in areas where human activity and pressure is present. Think 'cool' and hunt the microclimates to increase your odds of success.



Small changes in topography can create big changes in temperature

The sun angle keeps getting lower, and the nights are getting cooler and longer. This leads to some very interesting micro-climates that could make the difference between seeing nothing and sneaking up on a trophy. A micro-climate is a dramatically different set of weather conditions in a relatively small area usually caused by the terrain shape and vegetation. An example on a warm, sunny day would be the south facing slopes of a hill vs. the north facing slope. The side facing the sun could be in the 80s, while the opposite slope could still be hanging on to the morning cool and only in the 50s. Don't believe me? Take your thermometer off the garage and with you the next time you hunt on a sunny day. Set it up on the side of the tree facing the sun and leave it for 20 minutes. Then hang it on the shady side of the tree and once again leave it for 20 minutes. There's going to be a big difference in temperature, perhaps as much as 40 or 50 degrees! Animals that wear a heavy winter coat all year round know about these variations very well, and on hot days they'll focus on deep valleys and north facing hillsides. If you can throw in some cedar trees or a thick canopy of forest vegetation, plus some nearby water to drink -the deer will be there! You should be too.

The good news is, the warm weather wont last too long. We are in a very active pattern, with the thermometer swinging wildly from hot to cold and back again. Each wave of either extreme is only going to last 2-4 days before the pendulum swings back again. My long-range forecast (found below in "Wild Ride for Fall") calls for more of the same -dynamic swings that will keep both hunters and game on their toes (or hooves). So don't use the heat as an excuse not to get out and enjoy this fantastic weather hunting. Just change your strategy a bit. It wont be long before wind chills and freezing rain give us an even better reason to stay in the comfort of the living room!

Feeding Pattern to Pre-Rut Behavior

We’ve got a pretty good recipe for above average game movement the next few days. A few weeks ago we were in the 80s and this snap of chilly weather will have our heaters crankin' and the deer on the hoof during the daylight. Add to that, the harvest continues. With over 50% of the corn out, and over 90% of the beans gone -each day uncovers more deer habitat. It pushes deer around and tends to confine them into the timber.  Finally, just one month from now will be the start of peak breeding, the greatest contest a buck might play in his whole life, and they are practicing for it now. Most professional hunters and deer biologists agree this is determined by the moon. The moon is in its last quarter phase, growing dimmer with each passing day. Moonrise will be after midnight for the rest of the week, and many of us will notice this crescent settling in the western sky mid-afternoon. So it looks like another pretty good combination to hunt the end of the week. Below normal temperatures, an arctic high pressure and the proximity to rut signaled by the moon should all combine to have the deer transitioning between an active feeding pattern and a pre-rut pattern.

Expect to see sporadic sparring matches, scrapes and rubs in the woods this week. So stay mobile. If you encounter a good scrape line with several in a row – hunt it! The deer have a plethora of food options from the falling acorns to the newly cut corn fields, so it’s important to isolate which areas they prefer this week, because it will be constantly changing. I call it interactive scouting (a crossover between truly still-hunting and scouting and it really pays off. Good Luck!

Hunt the Harvest

This weather is really making it hard to come to work! The grey sky look we’ve started the week with, and the chilly conditions make excellent weather to hunt in –if you’re lucky enough! Colder weather has deer shifting their food preferences around. Similar to how people suddenly prefer soups and chili once the mercury drops, those same alfalfa fields sizeable herds were grazing in are now secondary to adjacent row crops, especially carbohydrate-rich corn. But standing corn can be very tough to hunt sometimes. So I thought I’d take a look at the latest harvest reports to check in with our progress.

According to the Iowa Corn Growers Association, “Dry and windy weather last week accelerated crop dry down and provided the opportunity to harvest nearly half of Iowa’s soybean acres.  The moisture content of the corn left to harvest throughout the state fell 4% from previous week to an average of 20%, with the corn currently being harvested running 18% moisture content. 10% of the corn crop is experiencing moderate to heavy ear droppage compared to 5% normally. Almost 50% of Iowa’s soybean crop was harvested last week, with soybean harvest jumping to 70% complete, still behind last year’s 74% but 5 days ahead of the average pace."  Source: IDALS Press Release, October 11, 2011.

As of today, 45% of corn is harvested and 87% of soy beans are out. Farmers are focusing on the soy bean fields right now to try and finish the harvest with the right moisture content in the seeds. So be patient if you’re hunting setup overlooks a corn field, it might be a few weeks. Perhaps switch your setup to a fresh-picked bean field as the deer rush out to snag the easy snacks left behind by the harvest. But leave that stand on the cornfield edge, because the latest crop report suggests you’re sitting on a corn-kernel gold mine! This year’s weather conditions appear to have caused twice as much ear droppage. This corn that falls off the stalks and onto the Iowa dirt typically are not harvested -bad news for farmers, but great news for hunters. Cornfields should become an excellent, reliable food source as the season wears on.

To be successful, be observant and adaptable like the quarry we’re chasing. Good luck out there, and if you’d like to keep tabs on the Iowa crop harvest click here.

Great Combination, Good Timing, Happy Hunting

While the recent temperatures have been enjoyable, I am excited for some real Fall weather! A week and a half of highs 10-20 degrees above average dropped the animal activity down quite a bit. But that will be changing in a big way the next few days! Here's the setup:

A large disorganized storm system will push a cold front through, so cooler temperatures will be moving into the area. This storm will strengthen to our east as a large Pacific High Pressure moves in. The two systems pushing each other around will create strong winds from the northwest Thursday and even Friday. These winds will signal big weather changes to the animals, and the cool breeze will combine with high pressure which should have big deer on the hoof during the daylight for the first time in weeks.

This setup is pretty favorable for seeing increased activity in the stand, but lets sweeten the pot. Consider too the moon phase is just past full. (Track this with my link to the right). The end of this week the moonrise for central Iowa is during the middle of the night, and the bright moon is hanging overhead through the first half of the morning. From my notes, this is often a favorable moon phase for lengthy morning activity and good hunts. All of these factors are timing out for the end of this week and the first half of the weekend. Bucks will be testing each other's boundaries and sizing up the competition for the breeding season and my forecast is they're going to pretty active the end of this week. I think I'll clear my schedule for some stand time!

Here's the theory in review:

Warm Lazy Pattern Broken + Cooler Temps + High Pressure + Last Bright Moon Before Full Moon During Rut = Happy Hunting!

I think you should test this one out. Good Luck!