Enduring the heat and mosquitoes of the early bow season can spell the difference between success and failure. Photo by Michael Corrigan.

Florida’s archery season opens the last week of this month in the southern portions of the state. You can bet that hot, muggy conditions will be on the menu.

A Florida swamp is perhaps the hottest, wettest and most bug-infested place in the nation for an early-season bowhunter to venture into. Because of this, many simply wait until the first cool fronts approach before venturing afield. I made my start as a Florida bowhunter and for over 20 years, have hunted some of the state’s most forbidding locations. As a result, I’ve learned to cope with temperatures that nearly blew the tops off thermometers.

With weather conditions that are anything but pleasant, why do so many diehard bowhunters take to the field this time of year? The answer is simple: For many, myself included, the archery opener is arguably the most productive time to harvest whitetails.

This time of year, highly preferred soft-mast food sources are available for deer. In some locations, hard-mast crops also become available. At no other time are deer less pressured and more predictable to pattern than during the archery season.

However, when temperatures are high, harvesting whitetails does come with its challenges. Soaring temperatures typically discourage deer movement, and scouting becomes a dreaded chore. Pinpointing available food sources within close walking distance from the truck is critical when the temperature is sweltering.

Careful forethought is also required to defeat the swarms of mosquitoes and to stay cool and dry while on stand.

The challenges are tough. However, I have developed some tactics that can help you increase your comfort level on even the hottest of days and stack the odds of success for the bow opener in your favor.

FIND THE FOOD!
I like to focus completely on available food sources. During the bow opener, as is the case during the entire hunting season, does frequent areas where food is available. As for bucks, you have as good a chance of connecting with one early in the archery season as you do during the rut.

In my experience, in fact, bucks are more predictable during this period than at any other time of year. Bucks are now more relaxed than ever, after having had an entire spring and summer to recover from the previous season’s hunting pressure. Many believe that cold winter temperatures are needed to drive Florida deer movements. However, I have found that hunting pressure will override cold weather conditions -- hands down.

In short, during the archery season, two key elements play in favor of the hunter. First and foremost is the lack of hunting pressure. Second is the availability of soft- and hard-mast food sources, which helps to concentrate deer feeding activity.

Through scouting, my goal is to take a solid inventory of available food sources in the woods I hunt and mark the locations with the aid of a hand-held GPS. I diligently seek out locations that offer stands of persimmon trees, thickets of southern crabapple trees, wild grapes and so on. Once I find them, I can bet on a successful archery season.

For the opener in northern Florida, be sure to also check out stands of oak trees. Shortly thereafter, key in on white oaks. In central and southern portions of the state, acorn-bearing varieties such as live oak, bluejack, water and laurel oak will be key producers of hard mast.

WARM WEATHER WHITETAIL BEHAVIOR
When temperatures are high, contrary to what some people think, deer in Florida do not simply find a nice place to lie about and sleep the entire day. At the very least, they have to take periodic bathroom breaks. One study conducted on whitetails revealed they do so as often as 22 times each day!

This means that during daylight, you can expect deer to move roughly 10 times, as they stand and travel a short distance from their previous bed before lying down again.