What To Do When Your Opening Day Plan Fails

If opening day dreams always unfolded according to plan, there’d be a lot fewer mature bucks on the landscape. Unless you have a tightly manicured hunting situation, your odds of killing a mature buck on Oct 1 aren’t exactly in your favor. This is especially true if your opening day involves public land, where you’re likely to encounter as many trucks as a Best Buy parking lot on Black Friday. Not to mention, you’ll likely deal with those fickle early-season winds if the warm weather overstays its welcome. Instead of throwing in the towel or hoping for the best, here are a few ways to salvage your opening day plans.

Big bucks have humbled plenty a hunter, and they can give you tunnel vision if you’re not careful. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a few backup spots on deck just in case your plans go awry come opening day. You might have a perfect game plan in August when that big buck shows his face every day in front of your camera. Of course, changing weather, food sources, and other hunters can quickly derail those plans by the time October arrives.

Instead of banking on one spot, have at least three backup spots you can hunt if you don’t get the right wind or someone’s parked at the gate. It’s much easier to have a few spots you can immediately hunt instead of trying to throw a plan together while you drive around.

Even if you didn’t prepare for backup spots, you can still salvage your hunt and gather some useful intel. Let’s say you hit snooze one too many times and now all the “good” spots are taken. Instead of calling it quits, drive around and make note of where you see other trucks and drop pins. This will give you a good visual representation of all the places that get hammered. Of course, you can’t know exactly where folks hunt just based on their parking spot, but you will find the spots that get overlooked. You can make note of these spots or even scout your way through them.

You can also use this strategy throughout the season as the pressure heats up and the deer shift their patterns in response. Think of these spots as natural funnels away from pressure. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve taken this approach and been pleasantly surprised by the amount of deer I observed during shooting hours, even in highly pressured areas.

I used to sulk whenever I had to pivot away from spot-A. Now, I see it as an opportunity to hunt another location or even scout a new piece I’ve had on my radar. While I wouldn’t quite call it still-hunting, I’ll scout through new areas with my bow in hand whenever I have to pivot from a hunt.

Instead of committing to a random spot, you’re better off scouting through an area to catch deer traveling or finding intel for a later hunt. Last year, I decided to sleep in and scout a new spot. On my way into this area, I watched multiple does feed through just out of bow range, and I even came to full draw on a buck that nearly ran me over. The encounters were encouraging (and cool), but also gave me another reliable spot to keep in my back pocket.

If you decide to scout through an area, do it with your bow in hand. You don’t have to approach it like a still-hunt if your main goal is intel, but I would suggest knocking an arrow once the deer sign ticks up. Pay attention to the wind. If you’re scouting a promising spot, there’s no need to blow your scent to the deer. You can travel with the wind in your face, but I tend to see more deer scouting or still-hunting with a crosswind, especially bucks.

Sometimes things work out for the best when they don’t go according to plan. This is especially true of deer hunting. Even if you think of calling it quits, just try something new. You definitely won’t kill a deer from your couch.