Tips For Late Season Deer Hunting Success

Late season deer hunting demands different tactics. As the cold sets in and food becomes scarce, deer change their habits. This guide will provide key tips to help you hunt successfully during this challenging time.

Key Takeaways

• High-calorie food sources like corn and soybeans attract deer in late season; focus your hunts around these areas.
• Understanding deer behavior in cold weather and timing your hunts for peak activity, especially in the afternoon, can boost your success.
• Utilize strategic scouting and tree cover for your setups, ensuring you’re positioned near bedding areas and food sources to increase encounters with deer.

Focus on High-Calorie Food Sources

As the temperatures drop and the landscape becomes frosty, deer require more calories to maintain their body weight and energy levels. This need drives them to seek out highly palatable food sources that can provide the necessary nutrients for winter survival. Key food sources during this period include:

• corn
• soybeans
• brassicas
• winter crops like turnips and radishes, which become particularly appealing after a frost.

Agricultural fields, especially those with standing corn and soybeans, become hotspots for deer activity. These fields provide the high-energy food that deer heavily rely on in the late season. Additionally, young, tender growth in recently harvested areas can be highly attractive to deer due to its nutritional value. Monitoring these areas can lead to successful hunting opportunities.

Supplemental feeding is another effective tactic. Using corn with attractants can draw deer to specific areas, making it easier for hunters to locate and target them. Furthermore, keeping an eye on doe bedding areas can reveal key late-season food sources and potential buck activity. Deer are known to travel long distances to find these high-calorie food sources once agricultural crops are harvested.

Understanding Cold Weather Behavior

Cold weather significantly influences deer behavior, making them more active, especially after a snowstorm or a significant drop in temperature. During the late season, deer are focused on regaining the energy lost during the rut, and understanding this shift in behavior can be crucial for hunters. This period offers plenty of potential for hunting bucks as they become more predictable in their movements due to the cold.

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Deer tend to be more active during the warmest parts of the day, which means timing your hunts to these periods can increase your chances of encountering deer past them during deer season.

The cold weather not only affects deer but also poses a challenge for hunters. Staying warm throughout the hunt maintains comfort and focus. Adapting your hunting strategies to these patterns can significantly impact your late-season success.

Understanding How Wind Plays A Roll

High winds also make deer more apprehensive. As leafage and vegetation flutter, this confuses the deer’s sight and its ability to distinguish scent, making it anxious. A hunter needs to judge the weather and wind accordingly, making decisions thereafter of where and when to hunt.

The best thing for a hunter to do if this situation arises would be to find a gully or ditch, or the lowest side of a hill or summit. Deer tend to move to these areas where they feel safe and secure.

Temperature is a big factor for any hunter to take into consideration, especially during windy days. If the day is warm, and the temperature mild, the deer may seek out more open spaces to be cooled by the wind.

However, when the temperature gets cold, like it does in the late season, deer will tend to stay put and soak up as much of the sun’s heat as possible to warm up. As evening approaches, they will often become more active and keep themselves warm with movement. If wind speeds become more severe, deer will generally move into deeper thickets or bush for shelter.

Bedding Areas: Key Locations

In the late season, deer rely heavily on bedding areas to recover and conserve energy, making these spots prime hunting locations. Deer tend to select bedding areas that offer dense cover, which helps them stay concealed from predators and harsh weather conditions.

Finding these bedding areas is vital for late-season hunting success. Food plots should ideally be positioned near these bedding areas to increase the likelihood of deer visiting them. Knowing the relationship between bedding and feeding areas helps hunters strategically place their stands, improving chances of encountering deer.

Field edges, dense thickets, and areas with heavy cover are typically where deer will bed down during the day. Identifying these locations and setting up your stand accordingly can give you a significant advantage in your late-season hunts.

Afternoon Hunts Are Prime Time

Afternoon hunts are often the most productive during the late season. Deer actively seek food sources in the afternoon, making this the prime time for hunting. Unlike the early season, when deer may move more during the morning, late-season deer are more predictable in their afternoon movements as they need to replenish energy after the rut.

For deer hunters, setting up near main trails that lead to these food sources can improve the chances of a successful hunt. Strategic timing is crucial, as deer typically become more elusive and travel less after being hunted for several months.

Focusing on afternoon hunts and understanding deer activity patterns maximizes opportunities for hunting late season whitetails. This approach can make the difference between a frustrating season and a fruitful one.

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Scouting Strategies for Late Season

Scouting plays a critical role in late-season deer hunting. Winter progression makes deer movements more predictable, requiring adjustments in scouting tactics. Recognizing bedding areas and their shifts due to weather and food availability is key.

Trail cameras near heavy cover reveal patterns of late-season mature bucks and deer sign. These cameras can provide valuable insights into deer activity and help pinpoint the best locations for setting up stands.

Deer trails leading from food sources to bedding areas are key indicators of where deer are likely to be found. Carefully monitoring these trails and adjusting strategies can boost hunting success.

Dress Warm and Stay Comfortable

Staying warm during late-season hunts is crucial. Cold temperatures can quickly drain energy and focus, so dressing in layers and using quality gear is vital. Wool base layers and outer clothing are highly recommended for maintaining warmth during cold weather hunts.

Using a heated vest as a mid-layer and fleece as an outer layer enhances warmth and mobility.

I love a good set of Gore-Tex rain gear as an outer layer when the temperature drops. They are warm and wick moisture away, while blocking out the wind.

Accessories like a balaclava and neck warmer protect against wind and cold, will help keep you comfortable during long sits.

Don't forget your feet. Warm hunting boots and heavy wool socks will help keep your feet warm so you stay in your deer stand longer in frigid temps.

Using a muff to hold hand warmers and keeping spare batteries for heated gear can significantly enhance your comfort. Dressing appropriately conserves energy and keeps you warm, making late-season hunts more enjoyable and successful.

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Setting Up in Cover

Tree cover provides numerous advantages for late-season deer hunters. Choosing stand locations with heavy cover not only hides hunters effectively but also breaks up their outline against the sky. Tree stands with a backdrop of branches significantly enhances a hunter’s chances of remaining undetected.

Positioning tree stands near natural cover, such as thickets or brush, provides additional concealment from deer.

Natural land contours can provide cover when hunting from ground blinds help keep hunters out of sight while maintaining a strategic vantage point.

Hunters should always take care to disguise any human trace. That includes masking your blind and all equipment.

An alternative to lugging around the sometimes awkward blind, is making a natural blind from surrounding materials. (It is always best to check your local regulations to make sure that building a natural deer blind is legal in your region). Vegetation such as broken or dead tree limbs, dry grass, corn stalks or bushes can assist the hunter in breaking up his outline and concealing him from the deer.

Keep in mind the goal is to make your structure look like a part of nature, not a man-made construction.

Strategic setup in cover increases chances of a successful late-season hunt.

Planting and Managing Food Plots

Food plots can be a game changer in late-season hunting. Deer depend on these energy sources for winter preparation, making food plots highly effective hunting spots. My favorite choice for late-season food plots is turnips.

Once cold weather sets in, turnips start coverting starches into sugar and the deer love them. I have seen deer digging relentlessly to reach turnips in the late season, oblivious to what is going on around them.

Planting clover can enhance food plots, as it stays green longer into the winter, providing a consistent food source for deer. Incorporating brassicas, such as turnips and radishes, can attract deer due to their high nutritional value.

Timing is important when planting food plots; crops should be sown early to establish before heavy frost. Effective management of food plots creates reliable food sources that attract deer throughout the late season.

Timing Your Hunts

The late season means cold weather, and for killing a big buck, the colder the better.

Long distance glassing with binoculars in the late afternoon will show you where the deer are entering the food sources. The colder it gets, the earlier in the afternoon they will arrive.

Once you have patterned that big buck and know where and when he is entering the field, then it is just a matter of setting up downwind and in range.

Proper timing during the late season can significantly influence your success. Adjusting hunting times and strategies based on deer activity patterns and geographical factors maximizes your chances of a successful hunt.

Summary

Late-season deer hunting is a challenging yet rewarding endeavor that requires strategic planning and adaptation. By focusing on high-calorie food sources, understanding cold weather behavior, and timing your hunts effectively, you can significantly increase your chances of success.

Remember to dress warmly, use decoys and calls effectively, and set up in tree cover to remain undetected. By applying these tips and strategies, you’ll be well-equipped to tackle the challenges of the late-season and enjoy deer hunting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are high-calorie food sources important for late-season deer hunting?

High-calorie food sources are vital for late-season deer hunting because they help deer maintain their energy and body weight during colder months, increasing your chances of a successful hunt. Focus on finding these nutrient-rich areas!

How does cold weather affect deer behavior?

Cold weather boosts deer activity as they search for food to replenish energy lost during the rut, especially after snowstorms or temperature drops. So, get ready to spot more deer as they move around looking for sustenance!

What are the best times for late-season deer hunting?

The best times for late-season deer hunting are in the afternoons when deer are actively foraging for food. Get out there, and take advantage of this prime hunting opportunity!

How can I stay warm during late-season hunts?

Dress in layers with wool base layers, and don’t forget heated vests and accessories like balaclavas and hand warmers to keep you cozy. Stay warm and enjoy your hunting experience to the fullest!

Why are food plots effective in late-season hunting?

Food plots are effective in late-season hunting because they offer reliable, high-energy food sources that attract deer when natural food is scarce. This makes them prime spots for successful hunts!