Late Season Northwoods Advice

[Cchez]

Seeking any advice i can on this. I don't have a lot of experience hunting the late season up here (northeast mn), generally im tagged out by rifle season. Its been a tough slow year for me so far. Only saw two bucks during the MN rifle season (1 shooter but couldnt get a shot), and all the bucks i saw before were 1.5 year olds.

So my question to you veterans, what are some food sources/habitats i should be keying on? I don't have any ag around, and there are no acorns. My gut has been telling me to get into some of these thick conifer swamps and hunt the little openings that are full of dogwood and and willow. Im guessing thats where all the deer disappear to after that first week of our gun season. Seems like most places turn into ghost towns around here by the second weekend. Any advice is much appreciated.

[mauser06]

Do you have snow on the ground? That'll make your task a lot easier.


I'd say you're on the right track. Find the food. What that is there, I don't know. Deer eat dang near everything in their habitat. Especially when it's cold and they are hungry.

[dan]

Logging areas that are growing back thick... Concentrate on the down wind side... Keep moving... If you dont find the deer or sign you want keep moving till you do.

[UncleBuck3268]

When Dan says keep moving, he means keep scouting. This effort is not easy. It honestly comes down to how bad you want it. Transitions, food sources etc... but don’t forget to date the fat chick!

[Coalcracker]

Logging areas that are growing back thick... Concentrate on the down wind side... Keep moving... If you dont find the deer or sign you want keep moving till you do.

This. And Benoit them! Track him down.

[Cchez]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Now i just need to keep an eye on the wind for tomorrow

[BigWoodsME6]

I do not hunt whats considered the "North Woods" of Maine but I do hunt large chunks of ground 2+ miles between roads and I agree with everything said in here. With out oaks look for thick areas along transition lines where the deer can easily escape and hide/bed. Overgrown clear cuts are one of the best transition lines to search around especially after heavy hunting pressure. If you have snow that is manageable to travel along at a decent pace then get on a track, find any thread from Magicman to get a good understanding of how this is done, I think he hunts your state.

[headgear]

Logging areas that are growing back thick... Concentrate on the down wind side... Keep moving... If you dont find the deer or sign you want keep moving till you do.

Yep what Dan says, keep moving until you find them, don't stop until you find something worth hunting. For me most of the time with snow I just look for big tracks and keep after them, sometimes I will track them down, sometimes I will track them and if I am running out of light setup on them. Sometimes I will just scout it it out, take a guess at bedding and setup on them. Every situation is a little different.