Last Chance Bucks

Late season is the perfect time to take a last chance buck, but it’s often a narrow, winding and cold trail to get there. Heavy hunting pressure, the rigors of rut and unpredictable weather swings have made the Whitetail wary.

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The aggressive tactics of the most popular style of hunting deer in Iowa –deer drives- has pushed the herd into the thickest corners of cover available. The ones that have survived the orange invasion are educated, skittish and sensitive to human pressure. In many locations deer turn completely nocturnal or are scarcely seen in the daylight outside their sanctuary. Now more than ever weather is either a tremendous asset to hunting success, or an unpredictable foe.

Moving to feed.

For field watchers and stand sitters, warm air is not a friend. That comfortable sit in October-like temps usually yields very little deer movement to food sources. Arctic is our new favorite word despite the brutal cold and snow that usually accompanies that caliber of Canadian air. 40° is the new 70°, and the deer know they’re being hunted. So when it warms up, they keep their cool in the safety of thick bedding. Their bodies don’t burn as many calories and they can keep warm on a safer diet of forbs, multi-flora rose leaves and other snacks in their core area. In short, they don’t need to move, so they don’t move. Canadian cold and sub-freezing conditions stack the odds in a hunter’s favor as it draws deer from the safety of their bedding areas to stock up on food to survive the winter. Stalking and still-hunting bedding areas can work very well in warm weather. It can also produce when wind chills are atrocious as Arctic air pours more winter into Iowa.

Deer reports came flooding in in the fog and icy aftermath of the freezing drizzle event on December 20th.

Windless cold is great hunting weather. Relentless wind saps energy from hunters and deer alike making dangerous wind chills an enemy of late season stand hunter. Deer are in winter survival mode and everything is about energy balance. If a deer loses more heat from the wind, than it can gain back in food consumed, the energy bank account has experienced a withdrawl. In that situation, moving to feed was a bad decision and over time the deer would lose body mass and eventually may starve or freeze to death as a result of prolonged cold and snow. Nature has ensured the deer that understand this balance have better odds of survival and reaching maturity.

Hunting an active rub line. Activity turned nocturnal after shotgun season.

In bitter cold, big herds can be found in wind breaks, small food plots and out in the open on ridges when the winds are light. Arctic high pressure when the barometer is high and steady can be great producers of late season activity. Even better hunting weather can be found the evening before a winter storm. Easterly winds picking up, a winter gray sky, and a falling barometer with the first flakes falling send signals to the deer to feed now and stock up before the storm hits. They’ll feed heavily even as the snow is piling up and this is a great time to get set up on a food source.

Happy holidays from Heather, Harley and Me.

Hopefully you can find some time to “enjoy” the tundra-like temperatures of our Canadian heat waves over the next few weeks. Whether you’re toting the trusty smoke pole or you’re aiming for a longshot with your bow, I wish you the best of luck and happy holidays.

Second Season

The shotguns are sighted in, tags are bought and the hunting clothes laid out.

Tags are packed, let's get on with hunting season!!

For close to 100,000 Iowans the anticipation is building for opening day. Snowcover, reasonable temps and a late secondary rut may make this your year to take a big buck with a shotgun.

What more could you ask for? Reasonably cold with morning snow showers.
Sounds like good huntin' weather to me!

First off, I came across and article on Crestonnews.com and learned that this is the 60th anniversary of shotgun season here in Iowa. It seems crazy to think that the deer we hunt were nearly non-existent at the turn of the 19th century. Responsible hunting and resource management has blessed Iowans with good hunting opportunities and I am extremely proud to be a part of the shotgunning tradition.

I don't know who's more proud; father who shot or son who helped
 spot this nice 10 pt.

Opening day has Iowans grabbing the gun and heading outdoors with the blaze orange badge of a hunter. One of the things I love the most about this hunting holiday season is the fun, camaraderie and time spent with family.

Tracking, spotting, flushing all made easier by a light snow-pack.

This year there's snow on the ground and perhaps some more on the way. This is excellent news for shotgun hunters! The temperatures will also be tolerable mainly in the 20s for opening weekend with lows in the teens. Sunday morning will be frigid with fresh snow and clear sky. The fields will fill with deer at night, and morning movement should be better than average.

My first buck. Picture taken by my grandpa.

We've also got an overlap between the secondary rut and the second season of shotgun. Many bowhunters can attest the archery season was "off" and I believe rut came late this year. If that's true, the secondary peak of rut will be overlapping the first half of Iowa's second shotgun season. On the morning of December 13th I observed a beautiful, mature buck with his nose down searching the woods for a girlfriend. Young does and fawns may be coming into late cycle estrous and as a result have a bigger and antlered shadow. I'm not sure how much this will impact experienced, mature bucks when they know they're being hunted, but if they let their guard down - the inexperience of the young does should give hunters a serious edge.

One models guess on the new snow by noon Saturday. In any case, fresh snow would be  a blessing!

Next week's warm up into the 30s and 40s may be a negative factor. Deer have acclimated to the cold after a few battles with Arctic air so they may hunker down in their sanctuary instead of moving to feed in those temps. Daylight movement during the week will likely be significantly reduced due to weekend hunting pressure and the "warmer" readings on the thermometer.

Grandpa's beautiful Browning. It's just a great all-around gun!

There's a special place in my heart for deer hunting second season. This season was my introduction to deer hunting and one of the best and last memories I made with my grandpa before he passed. Normally, I hunt with the muzzleloader, but this year I'm going afield with his gun and a great group of friends. Maybe I'll hear the familiar report from the Browning 12 gauge, maybe not. But one things for sure, I'll be making more good memories with the gun that sparked my passion for hunting over a decade ago.

Good luck to you and be safe this season!

Open Season for Ice Anglers

The Arctic ice maker has sent another cold blast to central Iowa pushing numbers 20-25 below average.

It's the caliber of cold that has kept shot-gunners shivering, but it's the same cold that's putting a smile on the faces of central Iowa ice anglers.

Although early ice conditions are quite variable, fishable ice can be found in much of central Iowa. Based on variables like the average air temperature,  ice thickness, snow pack, wind speed, sky cover and others I have put together a "best guess" model of the ice growth in central Iowa.

By my "best guess" it appears central Iowa should expect 5"-7" ice thicknesses as of December 11th - and it's growing. Southern and western Iowa has seen much slower growing ice and thicknesses will still be iffy between 2" - 4".

According to the Minnesota DNR 4" of ice is recommended for ice fishing. Thinner ice can support a person, but it's very dangerous. As always, if you choose to go out test the thickness often. Feel free to send me pictures and I'll put them on the blog cconoan@myabc5.com.

Be safe and good luck!

Cold & Snowy Shotgun 1

These will come in handy with frigid weekend temps.

A giant slice of the Arctic pie has slammed into the Midwest and Iowa for the Gun season opener. According to the DNR over 70,000 hunters will don the blaze and brave the cold. So while you're contemplating your sanity and getting ready for the hunt, I thought we'd talk about the good, the bad and the ugly about hunting in Arctic cold.

Rutting activity is still being observed and will collide with gun season.

The good: Cold moves game. Especially windless cold. Just like your furnace kicking on relentlessly, a deer's metabolism increases to burn calories and maintain body temperature. And just like the natural gas, electricity or wood burned for fuel, deer require energy to stay warm. So they feed like crazy, especially where the wind is weak. At the center of an Arctic high pressure is a heartless, windless cold and the deer flood food sources. I expect that's where they'll be come opening morning!

Active scrape refreshed by a nice buck on December 4th.

A light to moderate snow storm is shaping up for day 2 of shotgun season this year. As the storm moves in, the barometer falls and cirrostratus clouds filter the sunlight. This signal sends a message to deer to not only eat enough to stay warm, but pack in a little extra chow because the weather's going to turn, and it may not be worth it to come back to food the following day if the wind is howling and the snow is 2 feet deep. One of my favorite times to hunt is the afternoon before a winter storm.

Cirrostratus ahead of a winter storm.

Snow is expected to blanket most of the state in 2"-4" of fresh powder. Snow can be one of the very best weather conditions to hunt in for many reasons. Chiefly, it makes the normally well camouflaged deer stand out like sore thumbs. Visually, it blocks distant vantages so that deer that picks you off and tips off the herd when you park your truck a mile away will have no idea you're coming. It also disorients when falling heavily allowing you to slip up on a wary whitetail. Our steps are quieter in the woods when there's fresh snow and cutting a big track is a breeze. You can even guess the age of a track within minutes as snow is falling using a best guess on its freshness and the rate of snow falling.

Bundle Up!

The bad: You'll have to fight through many layers, and odds are you wont have enough to truly abate the nasty wind chill. Guns, trucks and other mechanical things break, and they do it on the coldest day of the year. Gun oil has viscosity that nearly solidifies in extreme cold conditions, resulting in a dangerous misfire or seized firing pin and otherwise useless weapon. And usually you don't know it until that 11pt buck steps into range.

Ice conditions are variable and can be dangerous this time of year.

The ice is growing, but still dangerous and recent wind has made for broken ice, pressure fissures and variable ice depths. Cross rivers, streams and other waterways with extreme caution if you choose to cross at all. I will be putting out an ice-depth chart and forecast in the next blog and I expect ice conditions to improve vastly by next weekend. Finally, aside from the brutal and harassing arctic wind chill, the woods will be exceptionally noisy as it often is under high pressure and frozen ground. Expect sounds like your truck door closing or snow boots over crunchy leaves to carry well beyond shotgun range. Turn this problem into an asset and you'll be standing over an Arctic trophy.

The Ugly: I lied. There's no uglyness to Arctic cold. It just is. So be prepared for it and go get that buck that escaped me during bow season. Be sure to dress warmly. Once you think you've got enough layers-add another. And if you have the luxury, crank up the heat in a blind overlooking a good travel corridor. That way you can roast marshmallows, read a book and stay toasty while the rest of us push the deer for ya! Then go cut some tracks in the snow on Sunday in the 20° weather. It'll seem like a heat wave :)

Good luck!

Last Chance Forecast

Thanksgiving weekend is traditionally a great weekend for hunting in Iowa, and the weather will cooperate! It is also the perfect time to pause and give thanks for all the gifts we have been given.

I am most thankful for my family and the opportunity to hunt such a great place like Iowa. I am also very thankful for the time hunting has given me to grow closer to our loved ones.

Spending time afield with my girlfriend Heather has been the highlight for me this season. And after two years with a stick and string in hand, I was delighted to be there as she flung a few arrows at some big Iowa Whitetail. I'm also grateful to have gone hunting with good friends and a couple of great new bow hunters.

Between this season's wild weather and the fast pace of life -shooting a nice buck hasn't been in the cards for me and a lot of Iowa sportsmen. In a few short days, Iowans will trade in the bow for some blaze orange and hunters will take after the herd with shotguns. The traditional gun season often significantly alters deer patterns which means the time is now to go afield, bow in hand, and seek out success afield. That shot at an archery buck will soon be out of range.

The good news is, we have an active forecast and weather conditions will give archers an edge on the eve of shotgun season. Fluctuations in the barometer combined with mild temps and then a big storm moving in next week will make hunting conditions fair to good most of the time. I think the best days for hunting will be Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

So don't give up just yet! This storm moving in will at least give us a fighting chance for our last chance buck. True there is a late split for Iowa archers beginning December 23rd, but at that point in the season deer are spooky, the weather's challenging at best. Often a bow hunter's percentage for success and willful hunting spirit drops right alongside that thermometer.

Arctic Cold Sets Hunting on Fire

A wintry blast has blanketed central Iowa with a light icing and around 1" of snow, transforming Fall into Winter.

Just the right amount of snow for tracking, but not getting stuck.
This blanket of white will last in many spots until Monday afternoon.

Now bone-chilling temperatures under Arctic high pressure will collide with the prime time rut and hunters will want a front row seat to one of the best hunting weekends we'll see this season.

Rutting activity will be peaking by Nov. 24th
 and sharply falling off into Post-Rut after that.

Nearly one week after the rutting full moon, this perfect storm of conditions should really fire up the already promising deer activity. We are nearing peak breeding in the Whitetail herd and many locations will begin experiencing the "rut" where daylight deer movement dramatically reduces. Until then, the bucks are moving at full throttle and this cold weather aims to push it over the edge combining feeding activity with breeding activity.

Transformed to Winter overnight.

Snow is also a huge plus! A disgustingly delightful crust of ice and snow will now reveal deer once hidden from view and betray their movements with loud crunching. Snow cover is also extremely helpful in tracking size, sex, numbers and direction of deer movement in your area. In stark contrast to last weekend's 60s/70s in the state, recent snowfall will make this weekend seem like an entirely different world in the deer woods.

Bundle up Hawk Fans. The wind chill factor will be 0 to -10F at kickoff.
Cyclones get a break from the wind, but not the cold.

Rut activity is still high and bucks are chasing does in central Iowa. In the sleet and freezing rain I successfully rattled in two nice bucks and watched a third chase does, mouth agape, and constantly grunting.

 Arctic air will challenge your gear and force the game to feed. Crunchy snow may make that deep-woods stalk nearly impossible, but bitter-cold will make that food-source ambush a hit.

Deer hunters wont be the only ones with success this weekend. Migrating waterfowl will be hitching a ride on the strong northerly early on Saturday. Winds will relax for Saturday night and Sunday morning. Pheasant hunting Sunday morning may be about the coldest walk you'll have this season, but the frost and light wind should hold the birds and their scent well.

My favorite weather days to deer hunt this week would be Friday afternoon,
Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning, Monday morning and Thanksgiving morning.

Although most of us don't like to lose feeling in the fingertips, a heavy-horned buck chasing a doe toward your stand or that flush of a rooster tails exploding from the grass in front of you seems to have a way of making it feel warmer outside.

It looks darn cold this weekend -certainly the coldest we've seen this season. And we may even have to dress like Ralphie and Randy from A Christmas Story to survive it, but I expect this weekend's hunting weather to be great. So layer up, lace on the tundra-boots, and good luck!

Mild but Wild Hunting Weekend

The deer activity continues to ramp up as we approach peak rut here in Iowa. Here's 4 reasons why you need to be on stand this weekend!

Nose to the grindstone! This buck's smelling the path of a nearby doe. May I introduce you to my girlfriend's arrow?

Reason number one, IT'S THE RUT. It's like deer hunting Christmas out there! You never know when that buck you've been after or his bigger brother you've never seen before will come strolling on by. Plan on planting your butt in that stand as long as you can and patience may help you wrap your hands around the gift of big antlers.

This buck traveling in the snowy aftermath of last year's blizzard.

The rut is close to peaking. The rutting full moon will rise on Sunday evening. While that bright ball in the night sky may keep 'em bedded until late, it signifies that the time for the herd to breed is now. Does are coming into estrous all over the place and bucks will be moving to find them. The seeking phase has been transitioning to the chase phase and we are fast approaching lock-down. Last weekend, rut activity in my neck of the woods was tame but a buddy of mine a few stands over reported seeing dozens of deer. Does pursued by bucks with their nose down. So far I've only encountered young bucks on the move, but many hunters are tagging out with big boys and the time is near.

The barometer will fall through Saturday before bottoming out in the evening. Temps will rise until the storm passes. As the barometer rises and the low pulls away, cold air will fill in behind -pushed in by high pressure and a gusty, cold wind.

A storm is moving in! Although it aims to bring unseasonably warm temps, it will bring a boat-load of clouds from Gulf-of-Mexico moisture steaming northward. Cloudy warm is much better than sunny warm as the "apparent" temp will remain close to the actual temps. In theory it wont "feel" too warm. Saturday morning may be best weather for hunting as the barometer falls, foggy/cloudy/drizzly conditions form and temps remain below 55. You wont be the only thing sneaking around in the damp leaves -big bucks seem to prefer the foul weather of an approaching storm. The last storm like this was on Nov. 5th and I had several shooter bucks pop up on trail camera in the soaking rain and "warm" temps.

I'm hoping November 17th will be lucky for me again this year!

This storm will cause the barometer to rise sharply as the temps fall during the afternoon on Sunday. The cooler conditions should keep the bucks moving and may urge the herd into the fields to pack on the calories. A few bucks will duck the wind and head for thick north-south oriented valleys to bed. Still hunting these sly giants doesn't get much better when the wind's whipping and that ground is damp.

Fog, drizzle, mist, heavy clouds and warming temps are likely to make Saturday morning the best one to hunt!

Finally, temps will be comfortable! It's not often we can enjoy 60s on stand in November. Even if we don't see much, I think Heather would prefer the warm scenario vs. freezing temps and plenty of deer. Hopefully, we can get her on her first archery deer. Here's a look at the temp forecast from one of our computer models. Although warm and windy for the most-part, these #s will be accompanied by clouds. I am optimistic that Rut dynamics and the low barometric pressure will combine with clouds to make hunting this weekend one of the best this season.

Model temps Saturday evening. It may be even warmer than these computer estimates.

Sunday morning a sharp front will divide the state from winter-like in the NW, to Spring-like in the SE.

Sunday evening a strong WNW wind will whip in cooler temps.

So make no excuses, and find a way to hunt November 16th & 17th. While you're waiting for a biggun, here's a few articles you might find interesting.
Field and Stream buck rescue

Field and Steam Rut behavior 
p.s. Happy birthday to blog readers Kevin and Jason. You guys are awesome, hope to hunt with you again soon!

Arctic Blast to Fire Up The Rut!

Quiet timber exploded into thunderous clatter of leaves crushing and branches breaking.

Between Nov. 8th and Nov. 17th expect some great rut hunting action.

Two does ran by so fast there wasn't even time to stand up before they had passed. Moments later the leaves betrayed a wide 8 point buck following nose to the ground. Shortly before noon on a cold mid-November day the arrow hit its mark and a lucky hunter's quest for an archery buck was over.




Scenes like this will be playing out all over the Midwest this weekend as the Whitetail rut ramps up. Seeking and chasing is becoming more prevalent during the daylight. Giant bucks are standing proud in open fields guarding does that are nearly ready to breed.

This buck took advantage of the soaking storm November 5th and freshened
a scrape on his mid-afternoon stroll.

In Iowa scrapes and rubs are furiously scratched every minute around the clock as bucks cruise the loop looking for their next girlfriend. Now is the time to be on stand and the action will get even hotter with a huge cool-down slated for the middle of the month.

In November, there's two types of predominate wind; warm and cold. The prevailing warm wind is a due southerly and the corresponding cold wind is a northwesterly.  Set your stands for these for success in November.

Temperature is second only to human pressure on reducing daylight rut behavior for a deer herd. Warm readings typically keeps the herd bedded down until it cools off at night and much of the activity becomes nocturnal. Human pressure is the premier rut inhibitor and can dramatically reduce the predictability of the herd your hunting. Other factors that influence the amount of rut activity you'll see are buck to do ratios and land use practices. Habitat that doesn't promote sanctuary may only see sporadic activity at best.

Arctic cold may drop single digits into the Midwest Tue/Wed. Yowzaa.

Veteran's Day 2013 through November 13th will feature a polar plunge as Arctic high pressure builds into the central Plains. In just over 24 hours the temperatures will drop 30-40 degrees sending the Iowa outdoors into winter mode and sending the Rut into overdrive. Modifying temps may limit activity somewhat heading into the weekend of the 16th/17th but yet another temperature cliff may be on the horizon ready to spark more great rut hunting weather.

Get out and enjoy this weekend, it will be warm but activity will be up from last weekend and it shouldn't disappoint!

Sweet November

Hunters, welcome to sweet November!

Beautiful Iowa buck on a nice November cruise for does.

This is the month where the Iowa Whitetail Rut offers hunters the best deer hunting for the entire year. It's time to start clearing the calendar for some stand time! But the big question is when? When will the deer woods explode into a parade of thick necks and giant antlers? Oh, how I do like to predict things... and like it or leave it, I'm going to use the bottom pin and take a long shot to forecast the rut activity for central Iowa! Here is my rut prediction for 2013.

I always hear, "no one but the deer truly knows the answer, and it varies from farm to farm across the state." Although that's true to an extent, I think we can use science and our own hunting experience to get an edge on this year's rut. Just like our spring warmth that waited until June, the summer heat that blasted into September and our Autumn colors which are a full two weeks behind last years pace -I'll bet this year's rut will likely be a bit "late."

Vibrant colors are clinging late into the 2013 fall season.

The rut gets its name from the fact that there is a distinct period of time during breeding where deer seem to disappear. This "rut" in deer activity can be one of the toughest times to be a stand hunter, made even worse by the frenzied pace of deer activity chasing just a few days prior. The rut can be broken down to distinct phases; pre-rut, seeking, chase, breeding and post rut. Each phase has consistent and predictable behavior, but that behavior is influenced by a multitude of factors such as human pressure, temperature, barometric pressure and moon phase.

Under cold temps, a dark moon and the bright midday sun,
this buck's looking for a date.

I have been following the work of Charles Alzheimer a renowned Whitetail photographer and deer expert for many years. He has some theories on the timing of the rut and each year I put these to the test in my neck of the woods. So far, they've proven pretty consistent and I've been able to track each phase as it transitions into the next.

It begins with the early fall pattern merging with pre-rut. Pre-rut is where the bucks begin making scrapes, rubs and start sparring. This stage begins roughly 1-2 moths before the rutting full moon. They're sizing up the competition and practicing for the big game. Pre-rut then merges with the seeking phase about one week prior to the rutting full moon. Does are getting close, but they're not ready to breed. Bucks begin seeking out which does are closest to ready, traveling longer distances and during daylight hours. Establishing territory, gangs of bucks vandalize trees, fight with other bucks and send scrapes like love notes to their future does. The seeking phase is one of the best times to hunt the rut because bucks are hoofing it during daylight, deer respond well to calls and the woods hasn't succumb to the chaos of the chase phase.

Chase phase is just days prior to peak breeding. This is the time where buck figure out which does are nearly ready to breed and they chase 'em down. Predictable feeding patterns where does lured bucks past you become disrupted by intruder bucks, posturing and sometimes all out brawls right in front of you. Travel corridors that presented broadside deer that you could set your watch to are suddenly quiet. Trail cams reveal shooter bucks parading by under the midday sun. The inconsistency, frustration and excitement of the chase phase is unparalleled in the deer woods.

Breeding will soon follow and it is usually about a week after the rutting full moon. Breeding can last two weeks depending on the herd size and buck to doe ratio. Following breeding is another surge of sporadic activity called post-rut. Post rut can be a very effective time to hunt as bucks struggle to breed every last doe and the does attempt to get back into their normal feeding routine.

The rutting full moon as described by Charles Alzheimer is the second full moon after the fall equinox. This year the equinox was Sunday, September 22nd. That placed the Harvest full moon on Friday, October 18th. So the rutting full moon is the 17th of November and that means that some of the best hunting action may wait for another week until the 2nd week of November to begin. The peak of deer activity this year looks to be the November 11th through November 27th.

Good luck and consider taking some serious time off the week before and the week of Thanksgiving. I hope you see a big one.