How we Hunt Opening Week | Bowhunting Whitetails w/ Bill Winke

The season is only a couple days away in several states and provinces that have a September 1 opener. With that time comes the challenge of figuring out how to hunt bucks that are coming out of velvet and breaking up their bachelor groups. In other states, the season is still a month away, and with the coming fall range buck dispersal, figuring out where to hunt them in October can be very challenging. Opening day of the bow season is something that we celebrate, but it is also a timeframe that we hunt carefully. Good luck out there and be safe.

[@mitchellgenz1373]

Good luck Ethan, great video Bill.

[@ethan_stubbs]

Thanks!

[@joshstirling2213]

Thanks Bill! I love your new channel and format. We just planted a small plot in the timber here in NE KS today. Now praying for rain!

[@bill-winke]

That spot will definitely pay off big time over the coming years. It will quickly become your favorite hunting spot. Close encounters with action at just about any time of the day. Good luck.

[@davidfleer5307]

That one spot Ethan showed us last week is an ideal spot. I was glassing last week in that heat soybean fields in the shade was the key spot and as soon as the sun went down they all spread out in the field and went to a stream for water ✌🏻👍🇺🇸

[@ethan_stubbs]

Thanks for watching David! I’m excited to see what deer will show up. There have been some good ones in the area.

[@wesfox1712]

Great episode, good luck Ethan!

[@ethan_stubbs]

Thank you!

[@midwesternoutdoorsandnatur8272]

Ethan you are lucky to be able to learn from Bill. I’m sure you are aware, continue to be a sponge for knowledge, you seem like a good guy. Be safe this fall, lord willing, lots of hours hunting this fall.

[@bill-winke]

Thanks for the support. We are looking forward to the season. Will be interesting to see what shows up on cameras here in a couple of weeks. Good luck and safe hunting to you too.

[@ethan_stubbs]

Absolutely. Thanks for the support!

[@robertfmccarthy2360]

Good luck guys

[@bill-winke]

Thanks Robert. Good luck to you too.

[@independentredneck2555]

Super excited for the season good luck to the young man in South Dakota hope everybody stays safe!!

[@bill-winke]

Thanks. Good luck and safe hunting to you too.

[@ethan_stubbs]

Thanks!

[@alexpinnow6509]

great episode, the season is almost here in the midwest!

[@bill-winke]

Yessir. Good luck.

[@ericbowhunter]

Awesome looking new plot Bill! Good luck on your hunt Ethan!

[@bill-winke]

Thanks Eric. I am looking forward to seeing how Ethan does. He is hunting a good farm. Could be good. That plot is starting to look really good. I still need to get a stump grinder in there to clean up those stumps otherwise, it is about done. Have a great day.

[@ethan_stubbs]

Thanks!

[@ericbowhunter]

@@ethan_stubbs you’re welcome buddy. Shoot a booner!

[@gouchmcdougal7831]

I’ve been shooting my bow , I usually start on July 4 , but this year I was banged up from racing motorcross. Been shooting , I’m just not amped up like I usually am this time of year. We are still racing bikes but these videos are getting me prepared. And I am dreaming big guys. May the Lord bless him with a good deer and safety on his hunting trip. Luke 9:62

[@bill-winke]

God bless you too Gouch and I think you will get the fever when the temperature cools and you put that bike away for the summer. Good luck and dream big!

[@darinblackburn6023]

Great video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Learned alot from reading your articles in bowhunter magazine 30 some years ago when I was starting out. Good luck to you all this season. I'm ready to get going myself here in Southern Indiana.

[@bill-winke]

Thanks for the long time support Darin. I really appreciate it. Good luck to you too.

[@nathanhoffman9579]

I like your Bushhog/Tiller, man you had that dust a flying. I love making those small food plots inside the woods, I have made a many of them.

[@bill-winke]

Yea, they are awesome. The best thing you can do for your hunting area.

[@artbrennhofer8283]

Thanks for the update. Now get yourself a shower and something cold to drink. Good luck to Ethan, looking forward to some great video from the hunt.

[@ethan_stubbs]

Thanks!

[@KyleC0430]

Good stuff bill! Almost that time !

[@bill-winke]

Thanks Kyle. Starting to get the bug. This cooler weather definitely helps. Have a great day.

[@KyleC0430]

@@bill-winke yes sir it does !

[@drp6574]

Another winner video!! Been in that kind of dust before. No fun but when it works out it's worth it!

[@bill-winke]

Will be interesting to see the deer relate to that opening this year. Hopefully, something grows there. If so, it could be really good. Have a great day.

[@kevinfowler6065]

Oh my the amount of acorns this year is nuts ( nuts 😂). But seriously my trees are loaded.

[@g-man2228]

🤣

[@bill-winke]

Same here - especially black oaks - it is pretty nuts!

[@donwaldroopoutdoors3665]

Its gonna be hi 80's low 90's here in ky , first year in 30 aint gonna be out there , too hot

[@ethan_stubbs]

It's gonna be hot in Sodak too! Good luck this season.

[@CrownedGamer.]

That poor brushog!😂

[@bill-winke]

That thing is beat to crap!

[@scottclark1168]

Great video,our season in NC is in 2 weeks,cant wait,good luck Ethan hope you shoot a giant

[@ethan_stubbs]

Thanks Scott. Good luck this season

[@JayN4GO]

I don’t feel like such a noob. I hunt exactly like you said bill. Maybe 30 years of learning will pay a reward this year.

[@bill-winke]

Jay, it is a pretty safe approach. I think you can hunt them more aggressively early, but with that comes the risk of bumping them. If you don't have to take that risk (other hunters for example) then to me it never made sense. Good luck.

[@hootdeltabravo]

Bill--you have good luck with that ATV seed/fert spreader? Looks pretty durable.

[@bill-winke]

Yes, that one has held up well. It is a Moultrie brand. Good luck.

[@lonniechartrand]

I never watched anyone mow dirt before! LOL

[@bill-winke]

Lonnie, it looked bad, but there were stems from saplings and some brush in there, plus the bush hog kind of smoothed it out. A dirty way to clean up a food plot!

[@lonniechartrand]

@@bill-winke I had to tease you some! If you had seen my wife and I seeding our plots this weekend I am sure you would have been laughing too! We had a forecast for rain this past weekend, so my wife and I went to the farm to do some "Throw and Mow". I have two clover plots that I let grow into deer browse, otherwise known as weeds! But the deer were feeding heavily on this browse, and the pollinators were loving all of the flowering plants. I am also an advocate against the "RMS" aka Recreational Mowing Syndrome. I am not planting pretty food plots that are nice and clean looking. I am providing food for the deer and turkey. I know that there are those that were brought up with the idea of their fields looking pristine, and I had fallen into this rut for a while. Now I mow my clover once a year, usually around the middle of August. Yes, the weeds are tall, but so is my clover underneath! This allows me to spend more time on my forest improvements, saves me a LOT of money on fuel cost, and also a lot of wear and tear on my equipment. Anyway, I had my wife driving the RTV while I was spraying the seed into the standing weeds with the Extreme Blower seeder. Once seeded I then went in and bush hogged these plots, letting the "thatch" fall on top of the seed. This mowing did three things. It got the seed to the ground that may have been hung up in the weeds to make for better earth contact, it laid the thatch on top of the seed to protect it from the birds, AND, it helps to hold the moisture in. As I said, they were forecasting for rain, AND WE GOT SOME! We ended up getting our first ALL DAY RAIN in over two years, and we received two inches total! The timing could not have been more perfect! The one thing I am lax in is getting fertilizer onto my plots. As a retired senior, I just have to hope for the best in that regard, as the cost of fertilizer is just too much on my limited budget. But I seem to get a pretty decent food plot in the end. I really appreciate the time and effort that you and your crew put into doing these videos, as I glean a lot of useful information from them. HAVE A GREAT SEASON!

[@Canyonclark]

Hey Bill, first of all, love the content and keeping up with your seasons again. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you to see if you’d be interested in doing a podcast with us at Ridge Hunter Outdoors. Haven’t had much luck so thought I’d try here. If not, I understand. Appreciate you putting out the content that you do!

[@bill-winke]

Please try me at [e-mail] and I will do my best to help you out. Just keep in mind that I am running a lot of directions now and if we do the podcast, we will need to keep it short. Those two hour podcasts that some people produce are killers. Have a great day.

[@Canyonclark]

@@bill-winkewill do. Thanks so much for the reply and hope your day goes well also

[@jimkindle3563]

💪👊👍

[@wolfpack4128]

I really think the deer on their feet the same amount of time stat needs to be distance travled in daylight by date. That is the info I am interested in from the biologist. If a deer walks around a few thousand square yards during daylight they are still not killable. Penn State had some data on tracked bucks where you could watch their movement and they might be up and feeding but they aren't moving all over the place or into open fields during daylight like September and early November. Even on spots that get almost no pressure.

[@bill-winke]

Yes, that is my experience also. Even on my southern Iowa farm where they never knew they were being hunted they stopped coming out in daylight by October 1 every year. My trail cameras went dead. Yes, maybe they were on their feet back in the cover, but I didn't go in after them. As I stated in the video, I would just wait them out. But if I had to kill one in early October to save my life I would run cell cameras in the timber (if the reception was good enough) and then hunt accordingly. I just don't like to hunt that way. Have a great day.

[@wolfpack4128]

​@bill-winke 100% agree and it is one of the reason I don't like the new approach to public land hunting where everyone tries to setup on top of the bucks. When you travel all over the US and only have a few days to hunt, you have to. But the folks watching these videos are doing the same thing on their prime spots.

[@user-vd2bm1sm2d]

Bill, if you aren't hunting much early October, would you be afraid to do more food plot work then? It's been bone dry in my area of northern Illinois and absolutely no rain in two week forecast. Brassicas all failed from early August planting.

[@bill-winke]

Really dry here too, with nothing in the forecast. I do have some stuff that took root back in late July that is hanging in there, but otherwise, my recently planted stuff is fading fast. I am never afraid to run a tractor in this country. The deer hear them and see them all the time. I can just drive right past them and even when I look back they have gone back to feeding rather than running away. Good luck.

[@g-man2228]

Headed East tomorrow…👊🏻🏹

[@bill-winke]

Good luck. Hope it is a great hunt.

[@erisman20]

Was that Lefty and Skinny in some of that velvet footage?

[@bill-winke]

Yes. You have a good eye.

[@davidvvv501]

Wow that place looks dry.. Everything is dead and tree leaves are yellowing. I'm surprised you had any beans or corn survive..

[@bill-winke]

It has really turned dry in the past couple weeks. We were getting about an inch per week since late May and that has kept things alive but not thriving. We need a really good soaker. All my ponds are dry now - or nearly dry. Good luck.

[@trevorlamble3645]

Having a secluded food plot is a game changer. At any point during the day a deer could visit. Killed my 7.5yr old target buck at 1pm in my secluded plot. Had 10 deer in the plot when I shot him

[@bill-winke]

Agree Trevor. I think it is the very best thing anyone can do to improve their success. Even if you don't get anything planted in there, the bucks will still stop by and scrape around the edge every time they go past. It is even better if you can get something planted that they like to eat. Have a great day and good luck.

[@kenanderson1168]

What broadheads do you guys like most ?

[@bill-winke]

Ken, I am going to shoot the B3 EXO 3 broadhead. It is a small cutting diameter mechanical that is durable enough to get the job done. I like the small cutting diameter mechanicals because they penetrate well and are very accurate under the widest range of conditions. Here is a link to that head: b3archery.com/product/exo3/

[@user-gk4ie6dg8t]

I will be knocking down some buckwheat with a bush hog later this week, watching you mow in that dust does NOT make me look forward to that! We've been battling drought for a couple years now, it sure makes fall plotting a questionable exercise. But keep after it Bill, it has to rain sometime!!

[@bill-winke]

I agree. You have to assume it will rain because if you wait until it does, you are too late. I hate it when you have this big plan for a great spot and then it just doesn't rain. Really disappointing. Good luck and keep the faith.

[@archersexton1009]

Think u could use a little rain

[@bill-winke]

Man, for sure. Did you see that dust storm? What a desert. Have a great day.

[@underdogoutdoors]

Heat, humidity, bugs etc... No thanks! lol.

[@bill-winke]

Yes, it has been rough around here. I sweat a lot anyway and these past couple weeks have sucked me dry just about every day! Have a great day.

[@claytonzak948]

Looks a little dry!

[@bill-winke]

Yes. Very dry Clayton.