Those kinds of habits change every fall -- but exactly when? When will bucks become more solitary? When will doe groups start to break up?

Hiers said that early bucks generally shun companionship when they begin to shed the velvet from their antlers and start marking their home territory. That can be anywhere from late August to mid-September in most areas. When that happens, everything changes.

“Buck groups will break up in the first part of September,” he said. “When they start shedding, they do it pretty quickly. It seems like the big bucks will shed first. Your scrappy year-and-a-half-old bucks will shed last.”

Pye knows that things get more difficult when bucks start to shed their velvet, break up and move into new territories. He said that does and fawns may continue to move around in bigger groups, but bucks are marking their territories.

“A doe can come in (to estrus) anytime, and a buck can breed most of the time,” he said. “If she’s not in the equation, he gets along with everybody. I think early in the season, good bucks will hang together, and mediums, and then the 1 1/2-year-olds.

“When they start to break up, I start looking for scrapes; there are year-round, community scrapes that all of the deer in an area visit, but what you’re looking for are the trees that are horned every year,” Pye said. “The first thing you should check are the old rubs, because a buck will rub those trees again when he splits up from his group and starts to mark his territory.

“You need to find all of his last year’s rubs, figure out which ones he’s already worked on, then find the others, because he’ll come back and visit them. Those are great places to set up, because he’s going to be there. And the closer you get to the rut, the more he’ll key on certain scrapes and rubs, maybe just move across the corner of a food plot or split a ridge in half.”

Bucks, especially, become more nocturnal after they shed their velvet and go their own way. Pye said it’s time, if you’re targeting a big buck, to move back off the food source and closer to his home turf. He’ll still feed, but he’s more likely to do so after dark. Catching him sneaking back home after a long night out is a great way to put a nice set of horns over the fireplace.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Like many serious bowhunters, Davis and Pye believe that practice is a year-round thing.

“One of the biggest issues I have is the need to scout and practice year ‘round,” Davis said. “I try to think about hunting when I’m fishing, when I’m at a Little League game, whatever.

“I try to shoot at least two or three times a week, and before rangefinders, I was always testing myself judging distances. I’d be walking down the street with two or three hunting buddies, and someone would say, ‘Red car,’ and everybody would try to guess the distance to the car.

“Now, I cheat with a rangefinder that I take to my stand. I will get at least three good ranges around the stand that I can rely on -- you know, like 23 yards to the red oak, 29 yards to the stump, that kind of thing.”

Pye is even more serious about shooting all the time. He said that bowhunters need to shoot as often as they can, especially in hunting situations. He advises hunters to try bowhunting for turkeys or, where available, wild hogs -- situations that will keep you sharp out of the normal archery season for deer.

“I like to shoot as much as I can,” he said. “When I’m practicing, if I’ve only got 10 or 15 minutes, I’ll shoot five or six arrows. If I have more time, I’ll shoot those same groups of five or six arrows, but I’ll shoot them several times.

“I shoot my practice (points) most of the time, but I shoot my broadheads enough to make sure they shoot the same as my field points. The way the new targets are, you can shoot broadheads at them without tearing them up.

“What I’ll do is, if I find an arrow that I’m really shooting well in practice, I’ll set it aside, put a broadhead on it and put it aside to hunt with.”

Pye said that he takes a rangefinder with him to his stand to make sure he knows exactly how long the shots he’ll get are. “I’ll put little strips of flagging tape at 10, 15, 25 and 30 yards after I take my rangefinder and mark off the distances,” he said. “With boys they’re making now like my High-Tec, you can shoot out to 50 yards, but you’re running a fine line out there. I like to shoot 35 yards and in when I’m hunting, because I want to make as good a clean and ethical kill as I can.”

One big mistake that many bowhunters make, Pye said, is to stop practicing once the season opens. “I keep practicing during the season,” he said. “I know guys who will shoot all summer, but once hunting season starts, they stop. They just carry their bow into the woods to hunt, and they don’t shoot it anymore.

“You can bump your sights putting it in the truck or in the case, and unless you shoot, you’ll never know. So, I try to shoot two or three arrows once or twice a week just to make sure. If you have 15 minutes one day, you can do that and keep your bow in tune.”