First off you can carry your bow also if you want either season.
Pros to early season:
First chance at deer with a firearm with potential pre-rut activity. Deer are usually on a predictable feeding pattern. Very little hunting pressure.
Cons:
Usually crops are NOT harvested, bugs can be terrible, temps can be in the mid 80's, foliage is quite thick and the season is relatively short.
Pros to Late season:
Longer season, deer can "become" predictable but the weather needs to cooperate. Cooler temperatures. Little pressure although it's increasing rapidly.
Cons:
VERY spooky deer! Sometimes very inclimate weather, It can be very tough to get into a place where the deer really "yard up" as these are usually refuges, but if you can get into an area like this your chances are 10 fold on a mature buck.
I hunt late because I love winter and have acces to a few areas that the deer yard up in, without these hunting areas I would not even consider late season!
I took this 140 class 8 point on a very cold December day at 75 yrds.
My 2 cents
Pupster
Pros to early season:
First chance at deer with a firearm with potential pre-rut activity. Deer are usually on a predictable feeding pattern. Very little hunting pressure.
Cons:
Usually crops are NOT harvested, bugs can be terrible, temps can be in the mid 80's, foliage is quite thick and the season is relatively short.
Pros to Late season:
Longer season, deer can "become" predictable but the weather needs to cooperate. Cooler temperatures. Little pressure although it's increasing rapidly.
Cons:
VERY spooky deer! Sometimes very inclimate weather, It can be very tough to get into a place where the deer really "yard up" as these are usually refuges, but if you can get into an area like this your chances are 10 fold on a mature buck.
I hunt late because I love winter and have acces to a few areas that the deer yard up in, without these hunting areas I would not even consider late season!
I took this 140 class 8 point on a very cold December day at 75 yrds.
My 2 cents
Pupster
Attachments
Shredder
Life Member
With the pros and cons noted above, I would have to rate my opinion on the late season. Most people don't like to bear the inclement weather that december sometimes offers and if they do, these people are USUALLY as in to it as you are. Early season you may have to deal with the turkey hunters which can make things tough and so forth. I see more bigger deer later in the year than early in the year so I think it would be easier to kill a monster in the winter........
150 Class
Well-Known Member
I agree with the poll posted earlier on this site. Bow tag and late muzzleloader. Better hunting late season (to name a few advantges that are hard to beat; feeding patterns are easier to figure out, crops are out and the foliage is reduced) and the bow is a legal weapon for the tag (it isn't during early season. At least not that I know of).
One Cam's season choice poll.
One Cam's season choice poll.
Daver
PMA Member
I agree with the pros and cons offered by Pupster above. A couple of other points to consider... It is still very pleasant camping weather in October. If you are just looking for a real enjoyable time in the woods, pick the early season. I have shot deer in this season in a cornfield that was so freshly picked that the combine was still running on the other end of the field. Look for acorns and "fresh picked" cornfields.
If you are after a bigger deer and have access to property that holds deer in the late season and can handle the cold, pick the later season. Hunt afternoons on the coldest day you can stand. The deer will have to move to eat and even the biggies get up on their feet during these tough weather situations. If it is unseasonably mild, then this season can be a little tough because these deer have been hunted now for about 3 straight months.
If you are after a bigger deer and have access to property that holds deer in the late season and can handle the cold, pick the later season. Hunt afternoons on the coldest day you can stand. The deer will have to move to eat and even the biggies get up on their feet during these tough weather situations. If it is unseasonably mild, then this season can be a little tough because these deer have been hunted now for about 3 straight months.
Old Buck
Life Member
The early season is a good time to help someone else get their first deer (doe). Deer are quite predictable on legumes in my area at this time.
Personally I always get the late season tag. I hold out for a shooter until near the end of the season. If I don't find a buck I want to shoot, which is almost always the case, I harvest another old doe. It is a great excuse to keep spending time outdoors.
Personally I always get the late season tag. I hold out for a shooter until near the end of the season. If I don't find a buck I want to shoot, which is almost always the case, I harvest another old doe. It is a great excuse to keep spending time outdoors.
Liv4Rut
Active Member
i like late season best, because it is generally freezing out, there isnt much pressure, the deer feed ealier, and they got to eat when it is that cold. ive hunted both, actually both the same year, and last year, early i saw 6 bucks and late season i saw 34, so my conclusion is late season is just easier to hunt because they are more grouped together, its not 80 degrees out buggy and the deer can be anywhere, late season, find a hotfield and you will find a big buck!! but its up to you, either way good luck man!!!
moosehunter
PMA Member
here's a couple more things to add to the afore mentioned pro's and con's. if you are hunting early, and gonna scope your gun, get a scope that gathers plenty of light. there is still a leaf canopy so the woods get darker and harder to see before the shooting hours are up for the day. and of course the deer blend in much better in the early season. Late season the visability is much better but you have to deal with cold weather. if you go late season, remember to leave you gun in the cold weather once it's loaded. if you take it in the house for the night then back out the next day you'll get condensation in the barrel and the powder tends to get wet then WHALAA..........NO BANG.
![cursing[1].gif](http://www.iowawhitetail.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cursing[1].gif)
i've gone both season's many times and i sorta lean to the late as my most productive
B
buckknife
Guest
I took early season last year,took a respectable 8 point.Blew my chance on a bigger one.Filled 2 doe tags and a buck with my bow later on.
The one draw back about the early season is it is the only firearms tag you can fill.
this year i will get 2 bow tags,hunt the 2 shotgun and late muzzle loader with my smokepole.
It can get quite warm the second week in october,but the bucks are starting to work scrapes at this time.
I didnot see anybody else at all hunting the early season,had them all to myself.
If you dont want to hunt any of the other firearm seasons the first season can be good.Find a big fresh scrape close to a funnel and be on it when the sun comes up and he will come to you.They run the scrapes early and they seem very persistant on checking them in IMHO.
The one draw back about the early season is it is the only firearms tag you can fill.
this year i will get 2 bow tags,hunt the 2 shotgun and late muzzle loader with my smokepole.
It can get quite warm the second week in october,but the bucks are starting to work scrapes at this time.
I didnot see anybody else at all hunting the early season,had them all to myself.
If you dont want to hunt any of the other firearm seasons the first season can be good.Find a big fresh scrape close to a funnel and be on it when the sun comes up and he will come to you.They run the scrapes early and they seem very persistant on checking them in IMHO.
SWIABOONER
PMA Member
I've gone both, and tend to lean toward late season. Like mentioned before when it gets really nasty out is when I enjoy still hunting, blowing snow and sub-zero temps, my best buck to date was taken that way I snuck in within 25 yards of him while bedded, man I love that game. The extra time of the late season is nice too.
scout
New Member
I've been BP hunting since 91/92 and can only remember a handful of days during that entire time when the weather was cold enough to put mature bucks in the open during day light. We just have not been seeing consecutive days of below zero temps until later in the winter. The day light is so limited they can wait it out until dark.
I've been switching back and forth and found both seasons are hard to hunt for different reasons.
This year I'll be going early season. I just purchased a T/C Encore 209x50 pistol. I intend to fill a couple doe tags and attempt to rattle in one of the 2 1/2 yr old bucks that respond well to it. I'm hoping for somthing in the upper 130's or bigger. It will be my first pistol deer.
The cold is for ice fishin' and rabbit huntin'
I've been switching back and forth and found both seasons are hard to hunt for different reasons.
This year I'll be going early season. I just purchased a T/C Encore 209x50 pistol. I intend to fill a couple doe tags and attempt to rattle in one of the 2 1/2 yr old bucks that respond well to it. I'm hoping for somthing in the upper 130's or bigger. It will be my first pistol deer.
The cold is for ice fishin' and rabbit huntin'