Please rate this late season tactic.

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johndeere506
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Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby johndeere506 » Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:14 pm

I am "OK" at late season, not so good for big bucks. I've had this work and will save the long story. I was going to bait my best 3 spots up there when muzzy ends, put a camera on each and come back for 1 hunt 2 weeks later w a bow on the last day of whichever can/tracks show the most promise. I'll be bed scouting after up there.

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Last edited by johndeere506 on Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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johndeere506
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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby johndeere506 » Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:15 pm

I'm much better than OK late season, just not for big bucks.

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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby Zap » Wed Dec 10, 2014 12:29 am

Bait, no cam and hunt each spot very early morning when conditions are right.
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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby Wapiti » Wed Dec 10, 2014 1:57 am

Zap wrote:Bait, no cam and hunt each spot very early morning when conditions are right.


I've never had much success in the AM late season (ours runs thru the end of Jan). Much better in the evening for me.

Do you choose good moon days to hunt late season mornings Zap?
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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby johndeere506 » Wed Dec 10, 2014 3:18 am

Ive seen mornings work as well as evenings, but were random, and 0mph winds. The evenings in daylight were the coldest of several days in a row.

I really don't like baiting. Id rather be scouting and still hunting than carrying bait. But...this time of year it does seem to help.Then I follow the tracks back to buck bedding. I don't like hunting bait, too many eyes, to many noses. Id rather hunt his trail after he shows me what he looks like. I'm not even sure there are bucks there big enough for me to be excited about or even legal (APR rules). The bait and cams help me determine that too.

I am apparently not very good at finding concentrated feeding in the big woods. Maybe Im looking for something too obvious. I might drive up and hunt thursday and scout for late december.
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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby Chris Conroy » Wed Dec 10, 2014 3:24 am

Zap wrote:Bait, no cam and hunt each spot very early morning when conditions are right.


I agree with no cam and to wait 2 weeks, but I would rather go in the evening. I think that you will bust any deer already in the area. Walking in later, most deer will be bedded. You can be set up and ready when they come out. Most likely you won't see them until the last minutes of shooting light, if you're lucky.

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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby Dhurtubise » Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:40 pm

If you know where a big buck is bedding, you can bait a couple hundred yards from his bed. It takes a couple of weeks to establish but it works. Hunt it on a super cold day in the 11-1:30 time frame. Those big woods tactics worked well for me last year. This year has been too mild so far. I've not had too many big boys around, except in my back yard.

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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby Zap » Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:42 pm

Wapiti wrote:
Zap wrote:Bait, no cam and hunt each spot very early morning when conditions are right.


I've never had much success in the AM late season (ours runs thru the end of Jan). Much better in the evening for me.

Do you choose good moon days to hunt late season mornings Zap?


I have found no pattern on that.

Generally speaking the really big bucks here hit the pile in daylight only in the morning.
Best if its close to bedding and your hunting a trail not the pile itself.
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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby Mibowhunter91 » Thu Dec 11, 2014 8:20 am

I have never baited before but I've been thinking of giving it a go this year close a bucks bed when u guys bait how often do u freshen the site up?

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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby Zap » Thu Dec 11, 2014 8:34 am

don't let it go dry.
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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby Dhurtubise » Thu Dec 11, 2014 2:16 pm

Zap wrote:don't let it go dry.


I agree this is the best. However you can train them over a few weeks to come at certain times when there's enough competition and you use a timed feeder. I can't stress enough the importance of really cold days. They are definitely harder to sit through, but those are the days the big boys come out. Also, if you are laying the bait, I think it was BassboyLLP Who gave me this tip last year, don't put all your bait in one pile. Spread it around over half acre or so. The deer will come in and browse all over the place and they seem to be a lot less nervous. It's also a lot harder for other hunters to figure out what you're doing. They spend a lot more time when they come in when it's spread out like that too.

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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby dirt nap giver » Thu Dec 11, 2014 3:20 pm

Might want to be careful baiting this time of year.
Someone please chime in and correct me if I'm wrong.

If the deer in your area are on what is called the starvation diet then baiting with corn can actually kill them.
This of course depends on wether or not agriculture is reletively close to the area your hunting. If ag is close by and has been a part of their diet then it isn't that much of an issue yet.
It is my understanding that once the ag crops are gone, their metabolism changes to accommodate the adjustment to browse as the food source. For them to have corn when they are in the starvation diet stage actually can poison them

I also would hunt the trail or down wind 100 yards or so playing off the bait rather than over it. I know that tactic works.

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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby john1984 » Thu Dec 11, 2014 3:34 pm

dirt nap giver wrote:Might want to be careful baiting this time of year.
Someone please chime in and correct me if I'm wrong.

If the deer in your area are on what is called the starvation diet then baiting with corn can actually kill them.
This of course depends on wether or not agriculture is reletively close to the area your hunting. If ag is close by and has been a part of their diet then it isn't that much of an issue yet.
It is my understanding that once the ag crops are gone, their metabolism changes to accommodate the adjustment to browse as the food source. For them to have corn when they are in the starvation diet stage actually can poison them

I also would hunt the trail or down wind 100 yards or so playing off the bait rather than over it. I know that tactic works.

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Your gonna kill all the deer johndeere cuz bait is nothing but pure poison. It's poison.

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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby matt1336 » Thu Dec 11, 2014 7:44 pm

If you're on private land you can funnel the deer past your stand by making a trail to the bait from where ever you want. When I had access to private land in the late season Id use my 4 wheeler to take the bait in and be sure to drive past my stand- leaving tracks in the snow- making an easy path for them in the snow past my stand. It worked great for bucks and does. Obviously his works best with deep snow.

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Re: Please rate this late season tactic.

Unread postby Dhurtubise » Thu Dec 11, 2014 10:34 pm

matt1336 wrote:If you're on private land you can funnel the deer past your stand by making a trail to the bait from where ever you want. When I had access to private land in the late season Id use my 4 wheeler to take the bait in and be sure to drive past my stand- leaving tracks in the snow- making an easy path for them in the snow past my stand. It worked great for bucks and does. Obviously his works best with deep snow.

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That's a great idea. I'll have to try that one year when we have a ton of snow (like last year). We only have had 5" of snow this year, with no snow in the forecast (my season ends Monday) and it's been really mild. Not really good for these tactics.

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