Well, as shotgun season is upon us here in Iowa, this means only one thing for me; late season muzzle loader is just around the corner! Tyler and I have put forth a lot of effort to prepare for the late season in the last couple of years. Last year, we discussed for weeks where to put the food plot and set the box blind on our farm. Finally, we both agreed on the spot; so we built the box blind and hauled it out to the farm. We set it up overlooking an acre of standing beans the farmer had left for us. As bow season was winding down, we were waiting anxiously for the late season while looking for our target bucks. We knew right where we needed to be if it got cold and snowed; but Mother Nature had a different take on things. The temperatures were staying in the mid-40’s and, with no snow cover, the deer really didn’t need our food plot. Tyler and I let the trail cameras do the work through shotgun season. We checked the cameras just a few days before season and were not surprised to find the deer still feeding mostly at night. A few deer were coming to our standing beans. We would go on through the season only to come up empty-handed.
This 2012-2013 season, we are hoping for a better year at the box blind. We have 1.5 acres in standing corn and it looks awesome! I’m excited to hunt over the standing corn and wait for my #1 hit list buck “Lefty”. I’ve looked over the forecast and see that we have some cold weather moving in; I will be prepared for it with my Banded camo! I can only hope it stays in the teens and we get a blanket of snow. The deer will then have to concentrate on food to get their body fat back to survive the winter. I still have my bow tag so I will be packing the Elite bow and my CVA bucks better beware!