7 Greatest Late Season Deer Hunting Tips
If you are like me you just cannot get deer hunting out of your system. This is why I have written this article about late season deer hunting tips. For those of you want one last thrilling hunt before the deer season comes to a final close. In this article, I will share with you some helpful tips that will make your last hunting trip a successful one.
1) The Five Day Kill
It may seem illogical to waste days that you could be using for hunting when you are late in the deer hunting season and time is slipping away from you. But the obvious point is if there is no deer you cannot kill them.
So, your best bet is to find where the food is. This late in the game the bucks will be looking to replenish their body mass. (During the rut they will lose 30% of their body mass.) Spend two or three days finding where the food sources are and you will find the deer. The next two days you can actually hunt and kill that elusive game.
2) Be Invisible
This may seem like an obvious one but I cannot tell you how many times I have lost a buck because I was careless. You have got to be invisible and scentless in your late deer hunting endeavors. You may want to consider never hunting in the morning.
I never hunt in the morning because guaranteed you will be seen by the deer they have very good eyesight. You should never hunt upwind of them they will pick up human odor faster than you know.
Always, when you are in planted food plots be sure you set up your blind out in the middle of nowhere. Make your routes to and from the blind are out in the open. You never want to put your blind near forested areas or bedding areas. Never let the deer, in bedding areas, see you coming or leaving that blind.
3) Pick Hunting Areas Where Hunting Pressure Has Been Minimal Or Non-Existent
In other words, you want to scout an area that hasn’t been riddled with high-powered gunfire for weeks or an area that hasn’t been hunted at all. Deer get very nervous in areas that have experienced very intense hunting pressure.
You can bet if you hunt in an area that was heavily trafficked earlier in the hunting season. You will surely see no visible sign of deer anywhere. They stay away from those areas for sure. Especially, avoid heavily hunted areas in the late season because the numbers of deer will be down from earlier hunting.
Be sure you scout out the areas for deer before you go into that area to kill a deer. Again, this is especially beneficial for you because the numbers will be down. Find a deer you want to kill ahead of time.
If you don’t find any deer that you can kill in a certain area. Move to another hunting area and repeat the process. If you set up trail cameras in the areas you would like to hunt you will save yourself a lot of time in the scouting process. Five or six cameras can catch a lot more than a pair of human eyes can.
4) Tree Cover And More Tree Cover
Another key element to bagging a deer in late season is to be positioned in plenty of tree covering. In winter hunting the foliage is scarce. Tree cover will be limited because the trees have shed all their leaves.
Locate a tree or trees that have good background cover. Never sit in a tree with the sky as your backdrop. The deer will pick out your silhouette instantly. Find a tree that still has its leaves intact. In this way, you can use the leaves as your cover.
I have found that late in the deer hunting season, the best trees to sit in are trees that have oaks, (that still have their leaves) conifers, and crotches as their background cover. You will blend in with the natural surroundings. You will not be detected by the deer.
5) Locate Those Forbs
Deer will feast on forbs more than any other type of food . So, you are out hunting in late season find those forbs. The best place to find them is in sun-drenched southern fields. This is where there will be green growing weeds and vegetation matter. These food sources will provide the nutrition the deer need in late season.
You can find deer in any southern field looking for food sources. Ideally, you want to locate fields directly facing south or southwest. These fields generally are six to eight degrees warmer due to the sun shining directly on them. This time of year the deer prefer to eat in areas where the ground is fairly warm.
6) Hang On
This principle is not a game changer for your hunting career. It is some simple encouragement and that is HANG ON! You have been out there for seven days street freezing sub-zero temperatures. One thing after another has gone wrong.
The deer wasn’t where he was supposed to be after you had been tracking him for hours. Another hunter got that shot in before you did. This was really stupid you fell asleep in the tree and the deer passed by hour’s ago.
This pattern has happened all too often you get up excited when it’ still dark outside. You know this will be the day you kill that long-awaited trophy. You trudge and trudge until the sun has set. You didn’t see one deer all day.You are getting sadder and hopeless as each moment passes by. It’s late in the deer hunting season and your time is running out! You won’t kill that game this time. This will be the first time you ever went home empty-handed. The all to familiars sinking feeling is sinking to new lows.
But you knew what you would have to go through to have a successful hunt but this is too much. But you can’t give up because around the next bend is the elusive big buck you have been dreaming of. You whip out your rifle, aim, and fire! Your shot hits dead on right in the center of the vitals.
All those feelings of despair, failure, and pure exhaustion give way to YES! I got my buck again. Does this sound familiar? It does to me because I have been through a couple of these times myself.
But I couldn’t give up I had to hang on and persevere until the objective was realized. You see perseverance always pays off. It may not seem like it while you are persevering but in the end, it does make a difference. So, hang in there and you will get that deer.
7) Cut Those Trees Down
What do you mean cut those trees down? Trees are supposed to be good cover in prime deer hunting land, aren’t they? Yes, they are but the season has changed and deer have changed their feeding habits.
It’s no longer they have the choice of any food plot they want. The weather has turned much colder and the ground is frozen in late deer hunting season. The bucks have lost some of their body mass because of the rut.
Food is harder to come by and the deer have gone into survival mode now. This means they will eat anything mow to keep their nourishment levels stable. They aren’t as picky as they were in the summer and into the early hunting season months. They can’t afford the luxury in this late season.
For all of these reasons, this is why you want to cut down some trees on your property. Once those trees fall this will become a hot feeding spot for deer. All you have to do is wait and be very still. Sooner or later the deer will come to the fallen trees for a meal or two.
They will never suspect you are there waiting for them. You now have turned your property into a prime hunting ground. You can’t but help walk away with a buck or two in tow.
Conclusion
It is my sincere hope that you received some hope and insight on how to kill that deer in the late deer hunting season. These tips are tried and proven. I have used a lot of them myself. I wouldn’t write and tell you to do something that I haven’t tried myself.
Remember, it’s late in the deer hunting season and the stock will not be as plentiful. But there is still enough deer for you to shoot one and take it home for dinner. Scout for a few days, then hunt the deer you have located and want to take home.
Don’t let the deer know you are anywhere near by sight or smell. Their sense of smell and eyesight are good. One hint of your presence and they’re gone. Always choose hunting areas with little or no previous hunting pressure.
Pick groups of trees that have good background cover so when you hide in a tree you will blend in with the scenery. Never have the open sky as your backdrop. The deer will see you instantly.
Look for forbs in abundant supply because where the forbs are the deer will be there too. Forbs are a big part of the deer’s diet. You will be successful hunting if you locate those forbs.
Last but not least cut trees down on your property these will be food sources for deer. Never give up during the hunt. No matter what happens or doesn’t happen you will kill a deer.
If you have enjoyed reading this article please leave some comments. Share this post with all your late deer seasoning hunting buddies. Thanks for reading.