I certainly can’t lay claim to the fairly new acronym of MRI. That credit goes to Dr. Grant Woods of GrowingDeer.TV. But I am certainly familiar with the concept of using the most recent information (MRI) in hunting deer— and you should get to know it as well.
The premise is simple. Use trail cameras to dictate how, when and where you hunt. In my experience, there is no better time to employ MRI than right now during the dreaded “October Lull.”
Conventional deer hunting wisdom states that mid-October is a time of the season when mature bucks move much less during daylight hours. I agree to a point. I also happen to strongly disagree. How can that be? Well, it really depends on the deer, the conditions and—most importantly—the hunting pressure in the area you hunt.
With the opening of bow season, more than 250,000 people will hit the woods in Georgia.
A healthy percentage of those hunters will be in a stand on opening day and will hunt hard the first couple of weekends. I am not one of them. In fact, I very seldom hunt the first 10 to 12 days of the season. If I do go, I’ll sit in observation- type stands only.
My trail cameras, however, will be supplied with fresh batteries and memory cards. By leaving my better areas alone, I firmly believe I am creating zones that bucks will relocate to as the pressure on neighboring properties increases. The trail cameras confirm this. Some mature bucks will continue to move during daylight hours in the areas they feel safe, while others will simply become mostly nocturnal.
The trail cameras tell the tale. When the first few weekends of the bow season have passed, I check the trail cameras. If I have a buck I want to kill on camera during daylight, I’ll hunt that location. Using the most recent information I have is a key to taming the October lull.
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