What are your late season tactics?

[MN Legacy]

Well for me Late Season hunting is tough. I would have to say that my best strategy is finding the food source like corn or
soybeans or sugar beats and waiting them out. I usually have to get permission on some differant spots because thats whare
the deer are. Also if you can find these spots the hunting can be fantastic and will keep you busy watching all the deer and you
forget about the cold. Another thing about late season is the deer tend to be spooky and they can hear everything because in
the snow and cold magnify the littliest noise. When I find one of these spots and the deer are hitting it I usually fallow the tracks back into the wood and usually sit whare multiple trails come together and than be patient and wait and maybe you'll
see a monster. I know alot of people complain about the price of Lone Wolf Treestands but this is whare paying the extra cash
will help because the Lone Wolf are silent evan in cold weather.

[Zap]

Find em........................then kill em.....

[Zap]

[BigHunt]

...............

[addisonlee]

For me, my main tactic remains the same. I hunt close to bedding. The biggest differance is that snow can throw some unique twists into the hunting... Crunchy snow can make it real hard to get close. Fresh snow can make it almost too easy to just walk around a bedding area or two at a safe distance and seeing if a big buck is in it before deciding where to hunt...
They do move close to food, but mature bucks will choose safety over easy most of the time.

Do you find mature bucks still using the same beds during the late season as they did earlier in the season? Thanks.

[Stanley]

After gun season in Iowa it's some hard hunting for about 2 weeks. You can spot a deer from the car 3/4 miles away and they will bolt like lightening. Around the 1st of January things settle down for better hunting. Hunting food sources is the best bet. Even old bucks must eat/rehydrate when the weather is cold and after a long rut. I kind of get closer to food than bed this time of year. Another thing if your hunting with a musket it is a different game than with a bow&arrow. With a bow you would want to stay closer to bedding areas with a musket you can hunt the food sources from 100 yards away and be very successful.

[dan]

Do you find mature bucks still using the same beds during the late season as they did earlier in the season? Thanks.

Yes, and no... The older a buck, the less I see him moveing bedding areas, but even the old ones do. I try and get to know an area really well and know where all or most of the buck bedding is and hop around..
Once they calm down from the guns they do move earlier and if food is near bedding and deer have not had much pressure, you can sometimes catch them on a field in daylight... Its a good time of the year to glass bucks. They are more patternable too, because there are less food sources available.

[Stanley]

Do you find mature bucks still using the same beds during the late season as they did earlier in the season? Thanks.

Yes, and no... The older a buck, the less I see him moveing bedding areas, but even the old ones do. I try and get to know an area really well and know where all or most of the buck bedding is and hop around..
Once they calm down from the guns they do move earlier and if food is near bedding and deer have not had much pressure, you can sometimes catch them on a field in daylight... Its a good time of the year to glass bucks. They are more patternable too, because there are less food sources available.

Great point

[addisonlee]

So how much time from the gun season do you think the deer will need to calm down? Given there's a state-wide anterless season in December as well.

[cwoods]

Marty- 2 of the coolest pics posted!

[dan]

So how much time from the gun season do you think the deer will need to calm down? Given there's a state-wide anterless season in December as well.

Well I guess that depends on the amount of pressure, and the deers paranoia... I hunt non-stop. You can't kill them sitting on the couch.
However, I have noticed here in Southern Wisconsin the hunting always starts to get really good right about the last couple days of December... Right when the season usually closes.

[BigHunt]

So how much time from the gun season do you think the deer will need to calm down? Given there's a state-wide anterless season in December as well.

Well I guess that depends on the amount of pressure, and the deers paranoia... I hunt non-stop. You can't kill them sitting on the couch.
However, I have noticed here in Southern Wisconsin the hunting always starts to get really good right about the last couple days of December... Right when the season usually closes.

bow season