Even though all of my tags are still in my pocket, that was probably the best week one of deer season we could’ve asked for here in Michigan. Opening day and day two weren’t ideal as expected, but that set us up for a great end of the week as the temperature dipped into the 40s and the pressure skyrocketed into the 30s. The result was social media being flooded with great bucks taken all over the state in both the mornings and the evenings, which is rare this time of year. There is always a good amount of good bucks taken in the evenings week one, but the fact people were killing bucks in the morning shows that daylight activity was significantly increased due the cold front and high pressure system that hit the whole state with vengeance. Sometimes all it takes is a little cold snap to keep those bucks feeding overnight for a touch longer than usual. With that being said, the pressure is suppose to dive back down into the high 20s over the next couple weeks which isn’t fun to look forward to, but we’ll get into that in a second.
As for a week one recap for myself, I started the week in lower Michigan the first few days of the season. On opening day I stayed out of the my spots due to the warm weather, but I did film my buddy Tommy in a spot he has in a great staging area surrounded by oak trees. We saw quite a few does, but no horns that night as expected with the warm weather. On day two I just sat and observed a bean field and again on snubbed on buck movement, again as expected with the high winds, warm temperatures, and consistent rain. Day three (October 3rd), I headed north to hunt with my good buddy Rob Enslen in the Cheboygan area. The third day of the season was just as expected; just an insane amount of deer movement. Between Wednesday and Thursday of last week, the temperature dropped 20 degrees and the pressure went up into the 30.2 range. Remember, the sweet spot for a pressure system when accompanied by a cold front is between 30.1 and 30.3. Due to the weather change, we saw a couple good northern Michigan bucks and a whole mess of does on Thursday evening. Nothing close enough to shoot, but it was our first time hunting the property so we sat in a spot we could observe a big meadow that had natural clover in it that the deer were chowing on all night. We put a plan in place to get within bow range of the bucks the following evening.
My cousin, Justin Crawford harvested this quality buck on the morning of Thursday, October 3rd in Van Buren County. He stayed at home the first two days of the season, and waited for the cold front to come through. Patience paid off!
Before the following evening though we decided to try a different spot Friday morning; a spot that Rob was confident we’d get in bow range of a big slick head, but he not had any trail cam pictures of good bucks at the property all summer. To prove how much a high-pressure system can get the bucks on their feet: The first three deer we saw Friday morning were bucks. One of the bucks was a good 3 year old that we almost closed the deal on, but we were unable to get a shot at him. To make a long story short, we setup a ground blind early Friday morning and we didn’t get it in the correct spot and it pretty much botched our hunt. We did end up seeing around 10 deer though, just nothing besides a small 6 point came in close. The highlight of Friday morning was getting a call from a good friend of mine Nick Kissane, who shot his first buck with a bow on Friday morning! Nick just started bowhunting last year, so I was ecstatic to learn he was able to fill a tag on a nice 8 point. Friday evening we set out to the property we saw the good buck on Thursday evening, unfortunately the deer were on a different pattern and we didn’t see any of the shooter bucks we saw the evening before.
From there I went to our new deer camp property outside of Onaway, MI in Northeast Michigan for the rest of the weekend. Long story short, we didn’t see the number of deer we expected to see; no shooter bucks were sighted and overall deer sightings were very low. Overall as expected though, deer activity throughout the state was extremely high toward the end of the week.
A good buddy of mine, Nick Kissane, with a well deserved grip and grin! His first buck with a bow. Nick just got into bow hunting last year, so to be able to notch a tag this early into the season is impressive!
Mid-October Preview
I’m not a huge believer in the October lull, but we truly might have one this coming week looking at the weather heading our way. If there is one positive, it looks like a cold front will be moving in this upcoming weekend, but it is not accompanied by a high-pressure system. Actually while the temperature steadily drops this weekend, so will the pressure system. I think you’ll see a lot of young bucks and does on their feet with the cold front moving in, but I’m not confident that quality bucks will be on their feet in daylight hours. On top of all of that, Sunday is calling for a full moon which will decrease the daylight activity as well. On the plus side, looking at the forecast it looks like once this cold weather gets here this weekend, it’s here to stay for the foreseeable future. If the cold temps hang around, and the pressure eventually increases, then you have a great recipe for putting good bucks on the ground.
As you can see from this picture, pressure is taking a nose-dive this weekend and staying low continuously into next week. Cold temps aside, low pressure and full moon equals decreased daylight activity for quality bucks. Great week to shoot a doe and fill your freezer!
If you itching to get in the woods though, there’s still a couple strategies you can use to be successful during the next two weeks or so before the pre-rut starts to kick in. Your best bet to see a good buck in daylight hours over the next week is to find the acorns if you haven’t already. If you can position yourself between a primary bedding area and a major food source where there happens to be some oak trees then you’re golden. The closer you are to the bedding area the better, so don’t be afraid to be aggressive and get as close to the bedding areas as you can with the wind in your favor. More than likely a mature buck is going to take his time getting to the food source in the evening, so if you can get tight to his bedding area and find a few acorns to sit over top of you might find him snacking on those at last light before he heads to a larger food source. Another good option this time of year is hunting a scrape or rub line that is at the edge of a standing corn field. Assuming that most bucks know by know they are being hunted, I don’t see a mature buck presenting himself in a open bean field in daylight, but he might sneak along the edge of standing corn field where he feels he could move down his scrape line undetected.
Now those are ideas for guys that are chasing good Michigan bucks, but as I always say HUNT YOUR HUNT. This cold front coming this weekend will definitely have the young bucks and does on their feet, so if you’re just trying to notch a few tags and fill your freezer no matter what kind of headgear the deer supporting this next week could be a great week for you! Any kind of food source sit in the evenings will surely be accompanied with some deer activity before nightfall, so if you’re doe hunting be on your A game because they’ll be on their feet!
Good luck to everyone this upcoming week! I’ll be back for a pre-rut forecast!