Wow… where in the world has all the deer hunting season gone? Seems like last week it was just archery season.
Time does have a way of getting away from us that’s for sure and they say “the older we get the faster time seems to fly” Try to capitalize on every time you’re afield and make the most of each hunt while there.
Every time I go into the whitetail deer woods I try to make myself enjoy just being out there in nature and for me it’s not hard. I just love the pretty trees when the leaves are changing colors and all those pretty birds are singing and communicating with one another. The squirrels, occasional rabbit, fox, hawk, owl, and coyote all help make my time out on stand more enjoyable.
I go into the woods with an idea that I may see a deer, or that I may not? But, I do enjoy every moment out there and hope for another trip out another day. I do fantasize about that ole monster buck that might just walk by my stand or a mature doe and that I’ll be able to make the shot that leads me to bringing one home.
Well the rut or breeding season’s over and deer seem to have changed from that ole fast paced chasing to feeding and being more social. Kinda like they were back in the early archery season I guess. Now they all, even the bucks are cooling down from the rut to feed up for the winter months and to put on as much body fat as possible.
By now they have their winter coats and much darker and kinda grey in color. So how do we hunt them now? Well for me I usually do a little in season scouting - scouting while I’m on the way to a stand or scouting while on the way out.
Now, we need to hunt the freshest sign we come across. Wheater it’s a path with many new fresh tracks or droppings or a freshly planet winter grain field. Food and cover will be what we need to key in on at this point.
Just a couple days ago I was walking out from a morning hunt and I decided to take an unusually long walk out and scout while I snuck out. I did find a trail with lots of fresh tracks which had not been used since summer time. So, I hung a stand that afternoon and was only able to get 10 feet or so off the ground. But that gave me the vantage point I needed.
I set up that afternoon just after hanging that stand at about 1:45 p.m. and things were looking pretty sad as the evening wore on. At 4:30 p.m. I had almost given up hope of seeing a deer and thought to myself this just might be a good morning stand and not an evening one. Then as time slowly passed and I looking through my Bushnell binoculars, and great day I thought I was seeing things for a second when I saw legs through the brush at 150 yards or, then I could see his rack.
A buck? Cool, now if he’ll only come this way? And low and behold, he did and I was able to take that pretty good 8 pt. at 4:55 p.m. He’s not a monster but a good buck for me.
So, in late season some things to consider: The deer have been pressured pretty hard, so anything and everything we can do to eliminate our human odor is a must so spray down with some Hunter’s Specialties www.hunterspec.com - Scent Away, and re spray yourself when you get on stand. If the weather warm or it warms up spray down often to help eliminate your odors and to help keep them to a minimum.
When you walk in try to not make a single noise, try to sneak into your stand, and out. Sneaking out is as important as sneaking in. Try not to make any non woods sounds while on stand like metallic sounds. Deer key in on these un natural sounds and avoid these areas like the plague.
The deer we are hunting are a lot smarter than they were earlier in the season and may be a little tougher to harvest now but with patients and some good time on stand, and more patients things are bound to go our way.
Remember, to increase you time afield during the late season hunt the freshest sign you come across wheater it’s dropping, tracks, or a new food source. Be careful my friends an God Bless. Remember
- SAFETY FIRST
