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!