By: Robert P. James

Another summer has passed us by and the leaves have begun to change color. As the sap flows from the tree tops, back into the roots, temperatures drop, days get shorter and hunters start climbing into their stands waiting for that one opportunity at a buck of a lifetime.

  Arkansas

 I was late getting cameras up this year, but I managed to get them out at the end of August.  Luckily I found a nice white oak flat where a few acorns had begun to fall and captured a picture of this nice up and comer strolling through.  

  Hopefully when I get back to check my camera I’ll have a better buck in the area but either way, come November, you just never know what is going to come through a good pinch point like this!

 I recently scouted a new piece of public property and shed hunted it last spring with my dog Sonny. We didn’t find any sheds but I found the sign I needed, to convince myself that I had to at least run cameras in that area to see what was hiding behind the curtains. After my camera was up for 2 weeks, I checked it to find this incredible public land double main beam buck on it.

Archery season opened up on September 23rd, but temperatures got as high as 92 in much of the river valley, making hunting difficult for many Arkansas hunters. On the 28th, Arkansas will experience our first cold front of the season with an 11 degree drop in temperatures making the high 81 and the low on Thursday night in the mid 50’s. I for one will be in the stand and hoping to get a glimpse of this double main beam monster that I’ve been drooling over. The dry weather and hot temperatures that we have experienced lately could certainly provide a good opportunity to hunt a good water hole on an afternoon hunt. There’s an abundance of White Oak acorns now, so that will be a primary food source for many deer, as the foliage they browse on during June and July is too tough to eat for the most part. There are also a number of fruits that have become ripe in the past week such as Persimmon and muscadine which could also be very attractive to deer on the way to their favorite acorn flat in the evening.

Kansas

This year Matt Winters, a well-known and respected guide for Kansas Premier Outfitters, has agreed to give me updates throughout the season for Kansas. He noted that the combinations of hot temperatures and late harvest have made things difficult for hunters lately. There are still a few remaining bean fields that have edible foliage but overall as corn fields have begun to be harvested they are seeing most deer begin to transition to feeding on the corn left behind from the combines.  He also stated that early in the season like this they only hunt evenings due to the small likely hood that one could even beat a mature buck back to his bedding area before daylight. The same cold front that we will see the results of on the 28th will be impacting them on the 26th. The 27th will be the first dry day they expect to see after the front passes, so he’ll be headed to the stand to hunt a 6 year old deer that he has been following all summer.   

Illinois

Houston Gregory, Illinois Pro Staff member for Wayward Outdoors, is patiently waiting as his archery season doesn’t open up until October 1st. Fortunately for him, this cold front that is being ushered across Kansas as you read this will arrive in Illinois on September 30th, providing a low of 47 degrees to lead them into opening day and a high of 77 degrees on the season opener. Houston has a buck that he’s followed for the past couple of seasons known as “Too Tall”. This deer has absolutely blown up this season as you can see from this trail cam picture Houston received awhile back.

  The hot temperatures lately has kept Houston and Shane out of the woods, primarily to keep their scent out and in turn have less of an impact on his hit list buck “Too Tall”. Hopefully, before long you’ll be watching “Too Tall” as he takes his final steps to the base of a tree with Houston and Shane awaiting his arrival.