Can’t Hunt During the Fall Months — What Can I Do?

[Skynard]

I bet you have some students who won't be reached unless by a fellow hunter. Consider incorporating your hobby into your job, hunt locally, and involve interested students

I definitely do!

 

[Skynard]

Welcome to HT, thank you for what you do. What state do you currently reside in? It can help narrow down some geographical quick trips.

Arkansas

 

[LopeHunter]

Free-range draw tags for Aoudad (Barbary sheep) in NM can be after December. You can hunt exotics including Aoudad in TX just about any month though the hunt will not be free-range and the level of challenge might be as little as sitting next to an automated feeder or as involved as a typical free-range hunt.

 

[Skynard]

I'm a full-time taxidermist and for decades I wouldn't close shop for long during the fall/winter unless it was for an awesome tag. So, I would do lengthy hunts in the spring/summer when I didn't have to worry about closing my doors ( I don't worry about it anymore, I close up whenever and however long I want) The spring/summer hunts would be axis deer and mouflon sheep on Lana'i Hawaii. Also New Zealand ( I just got back again) Both Hawaii and NZ offer year round big game hunting. Some Hawaii hunts are OTC tags or no tags required, and NZ doesn't have tags, no closed season, no fees, no limit, either sex. All of my hunts are DIY, no guide, public land.View attachment 109276View attachment 109277View attachment 109278View attachment 109279View attachment 109282

Thanks! New Zealand looks awesome. Never thought of that before.

 

[Skynard]

Arizona December and January archery coues/mule deer hunts in the rut. Its OTC and most of the state is open for it.

Thanks so much for what you do.

Yeah I’ve been looking into that. What about any opportunity for a rifle hunt in the west? I know realize that in states like AZ the rut is later because of the weather but is there any rifle hunting in any states around that time

 

[JLS]

In Idaho you can buy an OTC whitetail tag. Wyoming has cow elk hunts that run into December and January. Javelina in Arizona. Upland bird anywhere.

Thank you for what you do.

 

[Idhikker]

I’d hunt Montana general in late November, early December bull hunts in Arizona, late cow elk hunts.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

What would Jesus do?
GO HUNTING!!Take your students.You CAN read the
Bible in the woods.... Jesus likes Venison.
AZ.Leftover Javelina and OTC Deer.

 

[crock239]

Fall break (usually mid to late October, or at least thats when mine was of my brain hasn't gone too fuzzy in the last 20 years) will coincide w 2nd rifle for deer and elk in CO...options there.

Between fall break, early antelope, the chance to take a week off in Nov every 2-3 years, and the Dec/Jan AZ options seems like u could probably pull off a western hunt once a year if that's what u really want to do.

 

[Redside]

While it's not very popular with some us, Montana does offer shoulder seasons for cow elk that start in August and end in Feb. The regular elk/deer season run until Thanksgiving weekend so maybe you could work that in your time off.

Most upland and waterfowl seasons around here go through December.

Archery specific antelope tags start mid Aug. The deadline to apply has already happened, but you may be able to pick one of those up as a leftover if you watch for the release in the first couple weeks of August.

Spring Bear season sometime in April through June?

Wolf hunting Sept through February ish?

I haven't hunted mtn lions, but pretty sure that season is in the winter.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Gotta love those Aug. hunts.In Az.100+ temps,even at 6000ft.
Made the mistake years ago and bought Dark Green Camo's.
The woods and pineneedles are all brown in Aug. might as
well had a bright white suit and a siren on my head.
Never lost sight of my hunting partner.He bought the same outfit!
Here's your sign!

 

[Robinhood21]

West Texas Javelina and Audad!

 

[BuzzH]

Kudos for what you do, but there is no chance I'd give up my falls....summer, spring, dead of winter...no problem.

Falls? No way as an outdoorsman would that work for me, I'd get a new job.

 

[JLS]

Seems like a lot of freshmen would be most likely to find Jesus after midterms come out

 

[rtraverdavis]

And on the seventh day, he rested...

Just sayin’.

I’m a teacher. One could argue that my job also necessitates that I be there throughout the whole fall. I can’t take weeks and weeks, but I can certainly take some time off to hunt, because it’s a priority. I’d be willing to bet your ministry and the work you’d be doing wouldn’t fall apart if you took five days off. You’d likely come back ready to work that much harder.

 

[MJE2083]

I too work in higher education so I understand where you're coming from. Luckily I work with a team of people that are able to pick up the slack if I take some time off. Generally I just hunt locally and take days off here and there. Even though I work at a University I'm not really on the "academic" side of things. I find it easier to take time off during the week when most students are in class. Most of my students shy away from meeting in the morning so it's not hard for me to take a half-day and hunt in the A.M. My institution closes the week between Christmas and New Years(no work) which just so happens to coincide with our flintlock muzzleloader season here in PA, so I hit that season pretty hard.

 

[LaSportsman]

Axis deer in TX in summer. You'll have to pay for the hunt and there is an exotic fee from my minimal research but it's an option.

Hunt hogs year round in Louisiana. Bet Texas and Arkansas too. Haven't duck hunted in decades but maybe you can find a connection for a blind and dog. That goes late December if I remember right. Don't overlook squirrel hunting. All over the South. All you need is a shotgun or .22 and can be done on a Saturday morning.

I bet whitetail rut is close to your fall break as well.

 

[ntodwild]

Hey all, I am glad to finally be on the forum. I keep up with the podcast regularly.

I am a college minister. My job is to reach out to college students and lead them to Jesus. Obviously, the most opportune time to do that is during the school months. I stay VERY busy during the fall semester starting in late August and going through December. The best (and busiest) time to reach college students is the first few months of school — August, September, early October. After that, my schedule winds down into more of a rhythm.

What hunts can I plan that won’t interfere with that time frame?

I am building points for WY antelope that hopefully I can line up with our schools fall break in October.

Here’s what I am thinking/researching:

Spring black bear
AZ Muleys in Dec or Jan

Any other ideas?? I could probably get away for a week in November to hunt but definitely not every year kinda
thing.

I love my job and college students, but why can’t they go to school in the summer? Lol

You have the right idea.

One thing you can also do is look at states with over the counter tags or late season Elk hunts (I know, I know $$$$) but it doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg "IF" your goal is to be in the mountains hunting. I guess your first look would be at your own states special hunts and so on (limited draws). This of course brings you a dilemma of rare draw or rare hunts and not something you can do every year or even every other. The other thing you can really focus on is scouting your state during the off season and taking up a sport like predator hunting during those months.

States with over the counter tags:
Ok, I may give away my every year strategy for hunting over the counter tags out of state for very little money but here it goes. Oddly enough my wife came up with this strategy 4 years ago...... My hunting partner and I are both retired (by no means are we wealthy and both on a "regular" every day middle class Americans retirement fixed income). So here is the secret. My partner and I hunt our home state yearly starting with spring bear, scout summer/hunt predators then on to Sept. deer and elk archery. We have always wanted to extend our season into the late season so we had the grand idea of picking up over the counter tags in Idaho for late season bulls. NOT CHEAP for the average guy every year. My wife being the observant lady she is and living with a life long hunter watches a large amount of money flow out of the bank account 4 years ago to go on an out of state hunt. Off we go and low and behold the odds of both myself and my hunting partner coming home with an animal is......Ha, about a 50/50 prospect (this includes our in state hunting over the years and hunting as a team concept has almost 100% of the time produced at least one animal over the years, rarely two animals). Specially with Elk or large game my partner and I almost ALWAYS hunt together and ALWAYS share in the work of hauling and sharing meat and sharing in the moment. So in comes my wife with this very observant question: " Why the bleep are you guys spending the money for TWO out of state tags? Spending twice the money but still hunting as a team and sharing all of the experience including the meat when most of the time you rarely come home with two animals?????

From that day forward: My partner and I split the cost of one (1) out of state tag, alternate who's name goes on the tag and will be the shooter for that year, split the cost of the trip and of course share in the entire hunt as usual. Needless to say this can be done with 3 hunters and would split the cost into 1/3 bringing the cost down even further. So if you are someone who is all about the experience and not necessarily the one who has to pull the trigger or fling the arrow, find a partner or partners and some hunts "in state" or "out of state" that meet your timeline criteria and plan a hunt.

My state of Washington regulates that I choose a weapon for deer and elk so once I choose archery for the season its archery. It's one of the reasons we initially (4 years ago) started looking for out of state hunts to extend our seasons. In the 4 seasons we have come away with 3 out of state elk on top of our in state Sept success. Most importantly field time and some amazing hunting experiences.

Every year my partner and I (again both retired) spend over 70 days a year in the field with our extended season strategy.

I know this doesn't address your specific question but it may give you some new ideas on how to match your time with hunts you want to be on.

Good luck to you sir.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I'm a full-time taxidermist and for decades I wouldn't close shop for long during the fall/winter unless it was for an awesome tag. So, I would do lengthy hunts in the spring/summer when I didn't have to worry about closing my doors ( I don't worry about it anymore, I close up whenever and however long I want) The spring/summer hunts would be axis deer and mouflon sheep on Lana'i Hawaii. Also New Zealand ( I just got back again) Both Hawaii and NZ offer year round big game hunting. Some Hawaii hunts are OTC tags or no tags required, and NZ doesn't have tags, no closed season, no fees, no limit, either sex. All of my hunts are DIY, no guide, public land.View attachment 109276View attachment 109277View attachment 109278View attachment 109279View attachment 109282

That A5 looks well used. Is the forearm synthetic? Must have cracked? Love my A5's.

 

[glass eye]

That A5 looks well used. Is the forearm synthetic? Must have cracked? Love my A5's.

I've been using it since I bought it in the late 70s. The forearm wore out as the barrel slams back and forth. The barrel began creeping forward to the point where the firing pin wasn't striking deep enough. It was much cheaper to replace it with the synthetic and it won't wear out like the wood. My guns are tools so I wasn't concerned that it didn't match. The past few years it has had multiple baths in the Bering Sea, thus all the rust.