By Brandon Wikman
Tireless daydreaming of quietly sitting in the treetops with bow in hand in search for whitetail has finally come to reality for many hunters across the country. I am eagerly waiting for the Wisconsin whitetail season to ignite and launch into overdrive. The coming weeks mark the grand opening of the 2011 archery deer-hunting season – and I couldn’t be any more excited!
This year is incredibly intriguing because the weather in the Midwest has been ideal. The last few months have been a perfect concoction of wet and warm weather that has boosted crop yield, in turn enhanced antler growth. My Moultrie cameras have been on rapid firing shooting images of an assortment of great looking deer.
The cameras have photographed several bucks are still carrying fury velvet. Typically, deer begin shedding their soft skin at the end of August, but it appears much still sport the summer headgear. Like many, I’ve always wanted to arrow a buck in velvet. The beauty of a reddish short and thin coat complimented by fury wrapped antlers is a hunters dream. Hunters will find that the earlier-than-normal opener will still show deer cruising their exact same travel patterns they used throughout the duration of the summer. That includes trails, feeding locations and bedding areas.
It is obvious that deer slowly transition and rotate to feed on different crops as farmers begin harvesting the spring plantings. Deer are going to be mowing the soybeans, alfalfa and clover for another few weeks – in fact, much before the farmer’s heavy-duty equipment will. Thousands upon thousands of agriculture fields remain moist and green. The summer has been very mild. The scorching heat from previous years has been replaced by substantial rainfall in 2011. The crops are healthy and the deer are too. We must take advantage of the opportunity and make our best attempt to pick off an early season bruiser.
I’ve captured a few incredible Moultrie trail cam pictures of several mature bucks. The photos not only provide me proof of a few bucks on my hit list, but also give me a reason to be in a tree come this weekend. Thanks to Moultrie’s cameras, I’ve been able to photograph a handful of mature bucks on countless occasions. The cameras were set up on the edge of an alfalfa field, where deer have been pounding the greens. Food sources once again prove to be my best location to position trail cameras.
If you are the type of hunter to hunt the rut exclusively, this season is wouldn’t hurt to try your odds in a few days! I wish everyone the best of luck as we get our deer hunting gear back out and underway!
