Some hunters don’t even think about bowhunting until cooler weather signals the start of another hunting season. Others are into bowhunting year-round. They may not actually draw their bows on game, but they know that their success in hunting is not bound by seasons, but by initiative and dedication.

Sure, the time when you can actually loose an arrow toward a buck is still several long weeks away. Those days will pass more quickly if you spend some of them in places where you plan to start the next bowhunting season.

Maybe you have a traditional bowhunting area where you will bowhunt just because it is a place you enjoy. But if you’re looking for the best odds for tagging a buck, then you should start doing your homework now.

A PLAN TAKES SHAPE
If your sights are set on the biggest possible buck, a good place to start is your state’s trophy record list. Compile a list of the most recent entries in the record book, certainly ones that are no more than 10 years old. Entries any older than that might not mean much this fall. Habitat changes when deer become overpopulated and deplete the quality of their environment. Maturing habitat will change in its ability to support deer. Land use or access to the land can also change.

Include all trophy bucks in your calculations, not just those taken by bowhunters. You care only where the bucks were taken, not how they were taken.

Separate the list into counties where those kills were made. Do you see a pattern? If you’re not willing to travel across the state to the area where the top record-book entry was tagged, there may well be a county near you that’s more productive than the others.

The next step is to get a topographic map of that county and find the best habitat, pockets of cover and “funnels” that whitetails may use in traveling between their feeding and bedding areas. In all likelihood, the best habitat doesn’t blanket the entire county. And just as likely, that habitat will extend into neighboring counties. Political boundaries rarely match habitat boundaries.

FOOD AND COVER
You probably understand that it takes good genetics, good nutrition and age to produce trophy antlers. For all practical purposes, the bowhunter can narrow those factors down to just nutrition and age. Look for cover that offers good food and room to roam, places where bucks can grow old and eat well on their way to becoming trophy-class deer. Learn how to identify places that are most likely to hold the best bucks.

Rutting bucks cover a lot of territory, and prime deer habitat has more and bigger bucks than most hunters realize. Even the best deer hunters are frequently and pleasantly surprised at what they find in “their” woods each fall.

Nutrition is vital in the short term. The quality of browse that’s available during the late winter and spring will largely determine antler growth this summer. There’s not a lot you can do about this, except look for areas that have the richest, most reliable food sources.