Pat's "December Buck Strategies" Feature
Whitetail Deer
Well it's that time of year again to discuss the late season whitetail opportunities. Pat's home page feature article as usual was very well done and discusses all aspects of the late season hunt. We talk about it every year and with good reason.
Today was the first day of second gun season in Illinois so I flew home for a break until Christmas (since they don't allow bow hunting in gun season). I will head back after Christmas for a couple more weeks. My buck tag has been used but I will hunt does and Matt will join me and he has a buck tag. Hunting with Matt will be the highlight of my year.
In the last few days of hunting this week I saw some really nice bucks pushing the fawns as the fawn rut approaches. If you are fortunate to hunt managed farms (2 or 3 does per buck) with food plots it is the best time of the year to hunt. Some nice bucks were already shot on the farms I hunt but the giants are still there.
Please post your late season plans and if you have clothing or tactic ideas please share! Hopefully in the next month or so we see some dead deer photo's in snow with some red thrown in. Good Luck! C
If your area has medium or poor overall buck-to-doe ratio, it may be greatly improved during late season as bucks suffering stress from the rut will travel farther to reach a good food source. The ratio that matters most now is the buck to receptive doe ratio. Increased competion will be the perfect time to increase rattling. I start using the "Puppet Fight" technique which is a haul line attached to four shed antlers on the ground while I manage the intensity and tempo with the line in one hand and the bow in the other.
I once rattled in over 40 bucks between Christmas and a week into the New Year. Mike
Late season is a time I always struggle with, it will be good to see how different guys approach it. Good luck to you and Matt.
Herdbull that really is cool, and nice buck!
I dedicated an entire chapter to this technique in my book. You ng bucks may come charging in, but often times mature bucks hold up and begin to circle. With traditional antler rattling, you can’t make a move, but with the horns on the ground you can easily tickle a tine or thump them to the ground, or break some brush, or simply rustle leaves with them. The sound will direct their attention downward instead of up at you when they come close. I have pulled the line and banged the antlers with a buck circling at 25 yards. He turned and came up to within ten yards.
If I rattle a lot the haul line will get all tangled and twisting the antler sheds together. If it’s too bad I simply cut them out and restring with new line. Also, swing the pile of antlers out a way from your tree before climbing down for safety reasons.
Mike: Great idea! That's the ticket to the last 25 yards or so. Rattling from above works from a distance but creates a dilemma as the buck closes because all becomes silent. Here's another late season buck of Matt's. Can't wait! Home one day and already feeling "lost"! :))
I saw the same thing, big bucks following fawns. Once the young does come into first heat, the chase is on. The fawns are scared and run like hell and zip around in the thickets, but the big bucks can't get out in front to back down all the lesser bucks because of their size and body stress. Ha! The chases can get ridicules with up to ten bucks after the same doe. That is why rattling may help get a buck out of his bed during the late season and come to investigate. Otherwise, even if their is food around, they tend to move and feed at night.
Charlie,
I am always amazed by the bucks that you and your son have killed over the years, you two are two big buck killing machines!!!
For me late season hunting is a love hate relationship. Although I live in NJ, where a 120" deer is a real nice buck, I do live and hunt in an area where there is a large population and normally I have a handful of good bucks to chase. What I have found is that 99% of the time the bucks are nocturnal. Finding the food is key. Once you know where they are feeding, it comes down to watching the weather and not hunting until its cold, rainy or snowing. Here is a nice Jersey 10 pt that I watched grow up all summer and all fall but could never get him a picture of him in the light. I knew where he was living and feeding so once I saw the first big snow storm of the season come in, I rushed home from work and got in the stand, he came in at very last light.
Stay on your toes rattling during late season, it will also bring in coyotes. I have seen it happen dozens of times. I even get a shot off every once in a while.
Why do you guys keep posting pic's of little baby deer. Nothing over 1.5 posted here. Seriously. let one walk for sake of the herd. Unreal.
HA HA HA!
AMAZING bucks guys! And Pat - nice feature!
Njbuck: Congrats and great hunt! Getting the best deer for your area is the goal and you got yours. I live in Rhode Island but now that I'm retired I don't hunt here any more and spend about 60 days a year in Illinois and one other Midwest state either Iowa or Kansas. The key to late season is hunting good places. My success at finding these places has taken 35 years and is because of relationships through Pope & Young Club and Bowsite. I always smile when I see guys bash involvement in the P&Y Club as it's been a great resource for me! C
Herdbull: That trail camera picture is awesome! If that doesn't get you out in the cold nothing will!
Here's another of Matt's bucks taken New Year Eve! Many folks were getting ready to go to parties but we ending up having the best Party of all! Note the frozen pond in the back ground!
Its hard to tell from pictures, but my stand is in the tree in the background. I don't usually hunt it after the leaves come off. Ha! The typical frame of that buck measures 198. It grossed 211 non-typ. We have 3 sets of his sheds. I had him at 35 yards that year, but too far for me to shoot. The following year we filmed him in velvet (see Essential Encounters DVD), but alas, I missed him at about 17 yards on Oct 31. He was later killed the last hour of second shotgun season by my neighbor about a mile from this photo. It gross scored over 230. Bucks like these and the ones you guys have had encounters with, will keep you in your stand longer than anything else during sub-zero wind-chill. Ha!
I've tied my rattling antlers to my pull rope and done it that way with the horns at ground level but never with 4 horns. I'll have to give that a try.
When I didn't have horns but wanted to make noise at ground level I've put an orange in a glove, tied it off, dropped it down and dragged it around in the leaves. That also worked but I already had the buck in sight when I did it. Another time I put my buck knife in a sock, another time my hand saw. They also worked - keeping the deer's attention to the ground and not 20 feet up.
Those are impressive bucks. I've never seen any that big in the areas I get to hunt, probably never will!
Herdbull,Are you covering lots of territory in the late season including areas you don't have stands (ground hunting) and rattling or are you doing all your rattling from established standsites?Or both?
It appears i live in the wrong state... Great deer!!! And congrats to u both!!!
The size of a buck is relative to where you are. I live on a small island and a 100" buck I consider to be a good one. My late season success in the photos above are a testament to quality deer management and having late season food sources. More years I come home empty handed then successful. The largest buck I have killed I shot over 300 yds away from the food source and I had let several deer go by before that buck came in New Year's Eve at last possible shooting light. The most important part of late season hunting is positioning yourself to let deer walk by. At this time of year older bucks have felt the pressure and often do not show themselves in the daylight. I believe this buck in particular gave me a shot because the other deer had walked by and he was comfortable since they had walked through with no problems. Whether I am hunting great properties in IL or at my home hunting public land, which is where I do most of my hunting, I always set myself up to let deer get by me. In my 24 years of hunting that to me is the most important part of killing mature animals, does or bucks. Herdbull, thank you for sharing your technique I will surely give it a try this January. All the best to every one this late season, let some deer go by and see what happens, you will be amazed how relaxed deer are when the smell where others have walked with no problems.
I use the technique from established stands at multle properties. Like Matt says allowing the fist deer to pass is key. So my first option is to stay stealthy and quiet. Often the big bucks only move in daylight with cold fronts. So rattling like this gives me the option even with does in the field. Again, like Charlie, I spend 30 years hunting a hunting spot.
Other adaptive calling suggestions were reported in my "Calling Throughout the Season" feature here on Bowsite in 2011 (see archives). I like to use fawn and doe bleats this time of year as well. As fawns come in heat or their mothers come in, they get separated and their calling frequency can really bring in bucks. Once I get to my stand I usually try to stay all day during cold weather as deer activity can be relentless.
One of the issues I have late season is optics. Every time I bring my binos up to look through they fog up. Even if my mouth is covered they fog up. Any suggestions.
"One of the issues I have late season is optics. Every time I bring my binos up to look through they fog up. Even if my mouth is covered they fog up. Any suggestions"
I HATE THIS!!
I actually have stopped bringing my binos sometimes because they are almost useless due to the fogging from my breath or just heat from my face.
If I'm wearing a face mask, I have to pull it down below my nose so my breath is not forced upward onto the bino lenses. When raising my binos, I am careful not to bring in front of breath stream. Not sure what else you can do, but I never hunt without them. Ha!
"One of the issues I have late season is optics. Every time I bring my binos up to look through they fog up. Even if my mouth is covered they fog up. Any suggestions."
Push your eyecups down and spit on your lens and wipe it off....Leave your eyecups down
Herdbull - I took note of your "adaptive calling suggestion" of using doe bleats. This afternoon before I went out I threw in Jerry Peterson's DVD and listened to his estrus doe bleats and blats. I tried it and I had 3 antlerless come out of the neighbors property unto my property. These were the first deer I've seen hunting during shooting hours since Nov 22nd when our gun season opened. I was looking for a buck so they got a pass but no bucks followed them out. Had I not used the doe sounds I don't think I would have even seen the does.
Good for you Two Feathers!
Genesis is an Eye Doctor (from Mississippi though) so even if his solution may sound a bit crude it will work:))
As for binocs if hunting does late you really need them to sort out shed bucks and button bucks. I use my 10 power binocs constantly even at close distances.
Keep the tips and experiences coming!
Did those doe sounds again Sunday afternoon. This time one is in the freezer! Antlerless only hunt.
Does it get cold enough in Mississippi to fog up optics?
Great feature Pat! I've been having a blast in the late season this year so far. Just about closed the deal on Saturday on a dandy buck. I have 5 dyas off over the holiday to get it done. I've been using a lot of the tactics Pat listed, some very sage advice there.
12/27! The best is yet to come!
My Buck tag is filled this year but there are plenty of Antlerless tags to fill and Matt has his Buck tag! Sweet!
Pat, will you be writing a review on the Sitka Gear’s 2015 Fanatic system? I'm curious what makes Sitka so great for cold weather hunting.
I too took a doe during the last five days. The doe bleats I used also brought in a couple young bucks. Temperatures really warmed up a bit though. I found a fresh shed 30 yards from one of my stands.
Switched back from Fanatic to the Stratus line. The thing I found interesting was all three bucks were in the vicinity doe fawns. No chasing, but hanging close. I dont usually see them chasing too much until after Christmas. Can't wait.
"Does it get cold enough in Mississippi to fog up optics?"
Humidity..........the silent killer....:)
Taking the boys back up to let them have a go this weekend
Goals....find the largest conglomerate of red oak acorns or greenbrier (probably none left) for does and estrus fawns
FRESH or REFRESHENED rublines as bucks start reestablishing their dominance over other bucks....
Sets will have a strong respect for perpendicular travel that bucks use this time of year.
Genesis: My Kansas buck was munching on Sumac berries right before I shot him. Perhaps you have a concentration of sumac berries too? Have fun with your sons! C
Thanks C,I've burned most of mine but have some around,,,,,good luck to you as well!
Late season I always hunt the food source late in the day or just after a storm. I used to hunt right through a snow storm and would rarely see anything. Right after it stops, regardless of time, the deer move like crazy.
I shot this 5 1/2 yo buck on opening day of NJ winter bow season (01/01/2009). At last light he came into the field to feed following about a dozen does.
During late season I mostly use ladderstands in cedar trees at key funnel points. It cuts down on visibility but gives you good cover and blocks the wind.
This is the stand I killed that buck from.
Yes, good cover and wind protection are very important late season. January gets cold. If I lack good cover I get as high as I can get and most times I need to be higher.
December 29th! Won't be long until "prime time"!!
With leaves off the trees we brush in our stands for late season so we are hidden like a squierll. You cut the branches off before they drop their leaves and they will then hold the leaves for a year or so!
Charlie - I've never done that. I've never even thought of that. That's a good tip! Looks good!
