Great thread
I LOVE late season. I’m not going to count my December 2017 buck as a big late season buck because he was killed because of a hot doe. I helped Tyler kill a late season bow buck years ago but that was a 2 yr old.
Late season is one of my favorite times to hunt. In my opinion, the deer are never as predictable as they are when there is deep snow and cold temps. If you find the right situation, some food sources can have deer on it through out the day. I’ve had more than one late season hunt where I head in early and there’s already does on the food.
IMO they’re more confined with deep snow and they just aren’t likely to relocate to a new property a couple miles away. They yard up to conserve energy. The more deer there are, the more beaten the trails are and the easier they can get around.
I have had many big buck sightings during the late season, but close encounters are hard to come by. The big ones are too smart to hit the food up during daylight. Sound issues like crunchy snow are often a problem and for some reason when there’s snow on the ground I seem to get picked out of trees easier too.
Ground hunting can be a little tricky depending on the situation. I’ve killed some late season does and one little buck back in the day, literally last minute of the season. Killed one doe in SD in January hiding in cattails with my tan carhartt jacket and bibs on. That was an awesome hunt... passed a 2 yr old 8 right before her.
So far our forecast for 2020 isn’t looking good. Cold with no snow is NOT GOOD... no way to cut tracks. And they won’t yard up much without snow. Hopefully things change soon.