ARKANSAS SPORTSMAN

Bowhunters get first crack at deer

If dove season is the unofficial beginning of fall, then opening day of archery deer season might rightly be considered the official beginning.

It opens Saturday statewide and runs through Feb. 28. Arkansas has one of America’s longest deer seasons, offering a little more than five months of non-stop deer hunting opportunity. Legal hunting equipment includes traditional longbows, modern compound bows and crossbows.

Hunters have already tagged 198 deer around the state. Of those, 134 were does, and 48 were antlered bucks. Bowhunters killed 36 deer in the Cherokee Village urban deer hunt, of which 23 were does and nine were antlered bucks. In the Fairfield Bay urban deer hunt, bowhunters killed 27 deer, of which 24 were does and two were antlered bucks. Bowhunters in the Fort Smith/Barling urban deer hunt killed 21 deer, including 18 does and one antlered buck.

Prospects are promising as we approach Saturday. Deer numbers are at historic highs, and habitat conditions in many places are very good. Best of all, bowhunters get the first crack at deer that have not been pressured really since Christmas, as few hunters pursue deer in January and February. Deer are in their normal feeding and travel patterns, which means you don’t have to spend time looking for escape routes and refuge cover.

However, scouting plays a huge part in successful bowhunting. You might get lucky hunting a spot you picked at random, but most bowhunters have already been in the woods for the last few weeks looking for fresh sign that indicates what deer are eating and which trails they are using. Some hunters employ motion-activated cameras, and others take mental notes while squirrel hunting, maintaining deer stands, cutting shooting lanes or just walking around in the woods. The advantage of using game cameras is that they tell you if deer are using areas during the day or night.

As has been the case for many years, the acorn crop is spotty. Red oaks started shedding cull acorns in early August at my little corner of Hot Spring County. They are falling in good numbers now, and I have seen a lot of acorns on the ground already in Grant and Johnson counties, as well. That seems about three weeks early to me, but if acorns are on the ground, deer will eat them in preference to anything else. Hunt near a tree that’s dropping a lot of acorns, and you’ll stand an excellent chance of being in position to arrow a deer.

Bowhunters love to debate the influence of moon phases on deer movements. Having read countless articles, reports and analyses on this subject, I can only conclude the evidence is inconclusive. I generally don’t like to hunt on full moon mornings because I have noticed that deer don’t seem to move much in the morning when the moon is full. I prefer always to hunt and fish within five days on either side of a new moon.

Tim Griffis of Lonoke said he also doesn’t hunt in the mornings when the moon is full. He said he’s noticed over time that deer move later in the day when the moon is full. He said he puts greater stock in the solunar tables that run Thursday and Sunday in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. I’m right with him on that. When possible, I plan my hunting and fishing trips around the solunar tables.

On the other hand, the moon Sunday was in the waning gibbous phase, and it was 88 percent full, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. From my observations, deer in Johnson County were active at least from 7-9 a.m. For what it’s worth, squirrels didn’t get active until about 8 a.m. in the Ozarks, and barking activity was rising as late as 10 a.m.

The moon Tuesday was 72 percent full, according to the Farmer’s Almanac, and deer moved in open fields at least from noon to 2 p.m. while I was clearing lanes. Hunters killed 24 deer Saturday, when the moon was 94 percent full.

On Sept. 7, hunters killed 27 deer (25 does), on a day when the waxing crescent moon was 5 percent full. The new moon was two days before, on Sept. 5.

The moon Saturday will be in the waning crescent phase and will be 35 percent full. We’ll have a new moon on Oct. 4, which puts Saturday’s opener two days outside the five-day window.

So, when should you hunt? Whenever you can. Whenever you want, within legal hunting hours. Fall is here. There’s no better way to enjoy it.

Sports, Pages 23 on 09/26/2013

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