Kentucky is home to some of the best deer hunting in the country. With 1,048 entries in the official Boone and Crocket Club’s sixth edition Records of North American Whitetail Deer, Kentucky ranks number 6 for Boone and Crocket whitetails. Knowing that these big bucks are roaming the bluegrass state is enough to get any deer hunter excited about the upcoming season.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife leases or manages more than 85 wildlife management areas for public use. As a public land deer hunter myself I can appreciate the many opportunities that the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources provides to Kentucky deer hunters. The diversity of habitat, whether public or private land across the state, allows the hunter to choose the way they hunt. From hardwood ridges and swamp bottoms to agricultural fields, Kentucky deer hunters have it all.
I spoke with Christian Swarts of Bardstown member Salt River Electric Cooperative about his favorite way to hunt deer in Kentucky. Christian is an avid Kentucky deer hunter and with several great bucks to his credit he is one to listen to. Kentucky deer season opens the first Saturday in September offering an opportunity to harvest a trophy buck earlier than in most states and with a one buck rule in Kentucky taking a buck this early means the end of hunting bucks for the year. This doesn’t stop Christian. He prefers to limit out early. Christian says, “My favorite time to hunt is the early season. I like to watch the deer from afar and pattern their movements from food to bedding area. To me this is the best time to take a nice Kentucky buck.”
The pre-rut begins in October. For many hunters this is their favorite time to hit the woods. When Christian fails to harvest a buck during the early season his focus shifts to cruising bucks that are looking for does. This is usually the last couple of weeks in October. Christian tells me that his second favorite time to hunt deer in Kentucky is during this seeking phase of the rut. He says, “When the leaves begin to turn, and the air begins to cool I like to set my trail cameras in likely travel routes of these cruising bucks. You never know what you are going to see when bucks are traveling outside their home range during this phase of the rut. Monitoring trail cameras and figuring out when a particular buck is up and moving through a certain saddle or across a certain ridgeline, is a lot of fun. It can also lead to a great buck for the wall.”
Of course, September and October are reserved for archery hunters here in Kentucky. October is still a great time to get in the woods to scout for the upcoming gun season in November. The rut is usually in full swing come opening morning of gun season giving hunters an opportunity to harvest one of those Boone and Crocket bucks and help move Kentucky up in the rankings.
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