Early vs Late Season

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Lockdown
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Early vs Late Season

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun Sep 28, 2014 5:46 am

This is my first year hunting buck beds. I live in MN and I'm a die hard bowhunter. I've got public spots mapped out in 9 different counties, all of which are public slews and swamps. I found some very promising buck beds this spring and feel like I've got a good grasp on Beast Style hunting. Using conventional methods in my area I've found that the late December hunting can be awesome, and I've seen some really nice bucks during this time which leads me to my question. Have any of you found that a big buck's staging area increases during the late season when there's snow and the temps are low? Part of me feels like my best chance might be waiting until the snow flies so I can really track a big buck and pinpoint him to a point or island, even if I don't have the actual bed verified from my spring scouting. I'm in hard core farm land country and a lot of the bedding seems very random compared to marshes surrounded by trees or hill country scenarios. At many of these properties, often times deer can leave islands and points in any direction to get to crop land due to their small size. For me, the deer around here are by far the most predictable in late December vs any other time of year. Am I right in my assumption that the late season should be great for hunting buck beds in my area? One real issue I can think of is getting close enough to a bed in crunchy snow. Just looking for some pros/cons from some of the experienced late season buck bed hunters.


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Re: Early vs Late Season

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun Sep 28, 2014 5:57 am

I know Dan has mentioned "wintering" bedding areas and the fact that some primary areas get abandoned late in the year. Do the bigger bucks sometimes bed with larger numbers of deer late in the season instead of staying solitary for the most part?
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Re: Early vs Late Season

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Fri Oct 10, 2014 4:14 am

The loss of coverage and hunting pressure surely moves them to other beds. But try to hunt suspected trails or find some way to get out there. A hot area now might be dead by late season. The guys on here that really learn their area seem to connect most.
A few beds I found last year in a state forest were either from pressure or rut beds downwind of doe areas. So for me it wouldn't help waiting till late season. In that situation.
Will you be able to go early and then revisit same area late?
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Re: Early vs Late Season

Unread postby Beartown18 » Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:41 am

I would hunt hard early, then use the knowledge you have of your area to increase your late season success. Late season has never been good to me in my area.
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Re: Early vs Late Season

Unread postby Trailcamaddict » Fri Oct 10, 2014 8:06 am

I always want to try some late season hunting but find the deer on the private I have access to are almost completely gone to wintering areas! The public is usually void of tracks unless it is next to an ag field, but then about 20 other guys are hunting the area.
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Re: Early vs Late Season

Unread postby phishy » Fri Oct 10, 2014 12:48 pm

i have limited late season experience, but one dominator i always hear is food, then food and more food...... i suspect bucks will start acting like a herding deer more and tolerate others since their testosterone levels will be down significantly and they are really hungry..... i'd hunt those places you have marked near food,

I like scouting in late december, unless of course theres good ice for fishing, then its a toss up



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