Want to tag a late-season buck? Make sure ample knowledge is packed in your bag of tricks. A lot of deer hunters hang up their gear and retire to the comforts of the fireplace and football once the whitetail rut and conventional firearms seasons come to an end. Too bad. For those with remaining tags to fill and the fortitude to brave the frozen landscape, the traditional late hunting season of December through mid-January provides unique and exceptional opportunities to take down a mature buck.
Late-Season Behavior
Once the primary breeding period ends, whitetail bucks are literally run down – physically depleted by their unrelenting drive to chase and breed does. Their relatively poor physical state, combined with rapidly falling temperatures and the onset of winter weather, creates an urgency to feed and replenish energy reserves once breeding ends.
This urgency often prompts a return to daytime feeding and can cause daily deer movements to become more visible and more predictable. And while it may not happen right away, once the shotgun and rifle seasons end, whitetails are less pressured and may feel more secure, further stacking the odds in favor of the savvy late-season muzzleloader or archery hunter.
Food Sources
Because feeding dictates late-season deer movement more than any other factor, a successful late-season hunting strategy begins with an understanding of available food sources where you hunt.
Picked corn and soybean fields may be the most important winter food sources available to deer, and will be used as long as snow cover is not too deep. Of course, any remaining standing crops trump picked fields wherever they exist and may draw deer for miles, especially in deep snow conditions.
Lesser-known late-season food sources for deer include any vegetation that remains green and somewhat succulent. Throughout much of the Midwest, multi-flora rose, sumac and Japanese honeysuckle are important late-season food sources for deer, along with crab apples, persimmons and wild grapes where they exist. Of course, many hunters who enjoy the benefit of actively managing the land they hunt may plant a variety of food plots to attract and hold deer in the late season.
Hunt the Weather
Aside from the obvious benefits snow cover brings relative to cracking the code on deer movement, winter weather provides hunters with other odds-increasing opportunities.
Rapidly falling barometric pressure associated an approaching winter storm sounds the alarm bells for late-season whitetails, often spurring brief but intense periods of movement and feeding. Hunters can take advantage of this situation by being in the stand during those few hours before a winter storm arrives. Similar frenzied feeding activity may also take place immediately after the weather breaks. And while increased deer activity may be most obvious before and after storms, any change in an established weather pattern is a good time for late season hunters to be in the field.
Late-Season Set Ups
The best hunting locations for post-rut whitetails include may of the same travel corridors and funnels that are productive during the pre-rut early season.
During periods of stable weather, mature bucks may spend most of their daytime hours in the relative security of thick cover, only moving to feed during low-light periods. So travel routes between bedding areas and primary winter food sources are key. Consider hunting closer to established bedding areas in the morning in order to ambush bucks headed back to their bedrooms.
Deer can, however, become more active during afternoon periods at this time of year, so blind and stand sites on active fields, food plots and other late winter food sources are good bets for afternoon and evening hunts – especially immediately before or after severe weather.
Bag of Tricks
Ground blinds come into their own during the late season for a couple primary reasons. First, a tree with adequate concealment may not exist at a particular ambush point you wish to hunt. Secondly, ground blinds provide obvious benefits over tree stands when it comes to staying warm and comfortable – an important consideration for any late-season hunter. Ground blinds effectively block chilling winds, and allow the use of small portable heaters inside.
Adequate clothing is critical to the late-season deer hunter, as long sits on stand are often required. Effective layering is key, along with high performance hand and footwear. Choose moisture-wicking base layers to combat perspiration, along with high-performance fleece or wool mid layers. A waterproof wind-blocking outer layer typically completes the late-season wardrobe.
Core warmth is of primary importance, but is too often overlooked. When your torso is warm, it readily releases blood to your extremities. When it is cold, however, it shuts down the blood flow, conserving it for the vital organs. While quality clothing can go a long way in maintaining core warmth, especially while moving, late-season stand- and still-hunters can greatly increase their effective core warmth and maintain it for longer periods through supplemental sources.
Tenzing Outdoors has given stand hunters a top-performing option for maintaining core warmth through the release of their new TZ 721 Waist Pack. Aside from its function as a readily accessible place to stash all your hunting essentials, the TZ 721 features an insulated hand muff along with a series of integral hand warmer pockets at strategic locations inside the waist belt. These pockets accept any readily-available and suitably-sized air-activated or chemical-reaction hand warmer, providing the kind of cozy supplemental core warmth necessary for long, late-season sits on stand.
Don’t let wind, ice, snow or freezing temperatures interfere with filling that leftover buck tag this winter. Remember, he’s driven to feed. So hunt the food, hunt the weather, and stay warm. You’ll be in the right place at the right time to bring down your late-season trophy while your buddies are all watching football by the fireplace.