How to Take Hot-Weather Buck Deer
Day 2: Hunt the Birds and the Squirrels to Take Hot-Weather Bucks with The Shed’s Larry Norton
Editor’s Note: Bow season opens in mid-October in many states, and in the South, the weather still can be hot and humid then. Hot-weather deer hunting calls for different tactics than when you’re cold-weather hunting. The deer are eating different foods and moving at various times. If you’re hunting in the South, especially if you decide to take advantage of North Carolina’s mid-September bow season, or the August hunting available in South Carolina on private lands, you need to know how best to hunt hot-weather bucks. You can bag bucks with your bow in hot weather. As winter seems to last only a short time today in many parts of the nation, more archers will have to learn how to bowhunt hot-weather bucks. The sportsmen we’ve interviewed this week live and hunt deer primarily in the Deep South for three to four months under hot-weather conditions each year and consistently bag their bucks every season.
 Deer also enjoy acorns during hot weather. However, most acorns don't fall until November and December in the South. But well-known hunter and owner of the The Shed Larry Norton of Butler, Alabama, has learned how to hunt deer under acorn trees before the nuts fall. "Just as the acorns begin to get ripe, squirrels and birds will go to oak trees and eat the acorns off the stems of the branches," Norton reports. "The squirrels and the birds eat sloppily. They'll knock more nuts off the tree than they actually eat. Often, a week or two before the nuts should start to fall, you can find a deer hotspot by looking for squirrels and birds in the trees. Anytime I see four or five squirrels feeding in one tree or a flock of birds sitting in an acorn tree, I move in close and listen. If the birds and squirrels eat on the nuts, I'll hear a noise that sounds like rain falling from the tree.  Then I move-in under the tree and check for deer droppings and empty acorn hulls to know the deer have fed there. Most of the time, I'll find two or three trails leading to a tree like this. I usually can set up a tree stand to hunt near the tree – no matter which way the wind blows – because the trails come from so many directions." Remember however, that deer don't like to move in the heat of the day. Hunt these early nut trees or persimmon trees at first light or just at dark to see the most bucks. Due to the concentration of a preferred food, deer will pour into these areas. Set up your tree stand, and bag a buck with your bow.
Tomorrow: Larry Norton of The Shed Finds Salt and Mineral Licks for Successful Hot-Weather Hunting
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