Learning the Best Days to Bag a Trophy Buck During Gun Season

Editor's Note: Many bowhunters think of themselves as two-season hunters who hunt with bows and arrows during bow season and then become gun hunters as soon as gun season arrives. However, in the states that have bow season and gun season occurring simultaneously, a sportsman may have a greater chance of taking a trophy buck with a bow during gun season than he does with a gun.

I've always found the opening day of gun/deer season the most productive day for me to bowhunt. In most states, the woods will have a maximum number of people in them then, which translates into the most hunting pressure that will drive the bigger, smarter bucks into the thick places. Too, bowhunters will encounter numbers of hunters the days before and after Thanksgiving, and the first five days of the Christmas holidays when children don't have school and before and after New Year's -- if your state has gun/deer season open at these times. Areas will have high hunting pressure then, which will force big bucks into thick cover where you can get a shot with your bow.

The bowman who allows gun hunters to concentrate deer, especially trophy bucks, into hotspots, greatly reduces the amount of area he must scout. He also stacks the odds in his favor for bagging a buck with a bow rather than taking a deer with a gun. The bowhunter has the edge for bagging bucks during gun season.