Beat the buzzer

Jonathan Burrows scored this buck during the 4th quarter of the 2023 deer hunting season.

Stock the freezer before the clock runs out on deer season

Depending on which state you hunt in, the deer hunting clock is starting to wind down to the point that you may have only one or two opportunities left in the season to score on a decent deer.

For the deer hunter who stays the course, deer sightings, especially good deer sightings, will likely diminish since the season first started. Late season hunting emphasizes the importance of having experience on the land you hunt — food sources, deer activity, temperature, barometric pressure, moon phase and a host of other factors come into play. Taking notes in a log and studying them may help you pattern deer in December and create a workable, late-season strategy.

To that end, consider a few seasonal factors, as well as a trick or two that you should include in your late-season plans.

Late season foods

Probably the number one pattern for deer, both bucks and does, during the late season is to know the food sources they are using. Most of the acorns and other mast fruits are gone by December. Now they have to rely on residual planted fields, food plots or evergreen browse. Conserving energy, especially with winter coming on, is important for deer. Most will locate their bedding areas within short distances of feeding areas to reduce the amount of energy they expend.

Where baiting is legal, baited sites might produce that random buck sighting, or at least attract a group of does that could, in turn, lure a buck to the area.

Less pressured areas

Hunting pressure will take its toll on deer that reside on properties that have been hunted all season. These deer recognize the sounds and smells of hunters in the woods, even if they’ve never seen a hunter or been shot at. It’s time to do something different, maybe not so radically different for the deer, but more so for the hunter.

With leaves off the trees, hunters in elevated stands stick out, so a better late-season strategy is to hunt from natural cover on the ground. (Photo by Phillip Gentry)

Most deer land can be broken down into two areas – stand sites and sanctuary areas. It’s safe to assume that mature deer have already pegged the stand sites. So to throw them off, look for dense patches of ground, with no stands, where deer feel more secure. These areas should have the requisite food sources, bedding cover, and access ways that deer prefer. Then pick your stand site accordingly.

Be mobile, be grounded

In December, most annual leaves have fallen and deer have more of an inclination to check overhead for danger. An easier alternative to invading sanctuary areas is to hunt on the ground. Now’s the time to use natural ground blinds that will keep you well-hidden and break up your outline so deer can’t make you out. Pick natural cover such as fallen trees or small groups of trees, and keep movements to an absolute minimum.

When hunting on the ground, having the wind in your favor is a requirement more than ever. It’s also advisable to have some type of natural barricade like a steep bank, fallen tree, or even a ditch or creek bed at your back to discourage that wayward young buck or doe from wandering into your stand site and giving your location away at the worst possible time.

Low light

Bucks tend to be all but nocturnal late in the season. Your best chance of spotting one is between feeding and bedding areas at either first or last light. Locating your stand 100 to 150 yards back along a trail leading to a food source is the best way to maximize your chances of seeing a buck during legal light, but you can also maximize that time with good optics.

Legal hunting time for deer is the time between one hour before official sunrise until one hour after official sunset. It may be near impossible to see a deer with the naked eye on either end of this time period. Using rifle scopes with larger, light-gathering objective lenses and/or scanning an area with binoculars utilizing the same light-gathering technology may help you spot your quarry at the far end of your hunting area during legal hunting time that you otherwise would not have seen.

Light-gathering binoculars and other optics can help you survey your surroundings during low-light conditions. (Photo by Phillip Gentry)

Hunt the trickle rut

Many hunters abandon rut hunting tactics during December, but fawn birth data shows that deer are likely to breed on trickle cycles throughout the season. In areas where deer herds may not be balanced, it’s not unusual to see bucks chasing does well after the season has ended. The key to rut hunting tactics like rattling and grunting is to temper them, so interested bucks are drawn in and not spooked away.

Another thought that fits well with rut hunting is to hunt anywhere you know other deer will frequent — does or even scrub bucks. Obviously, a mature buck is looking for an unbred doe, and a pair of young bucks will sooner or later start to chase each other and even play-spar. Things can get interesting fast if this happens within earshot of a dominant, mature buck.

Hunting the trickle rut can be effective, as bucks seek out does that haven’t been successfully bred yet.

Warm spots on cold days

The alternative to hunting the early and late cycle may become prevalent if weather temperatures are below freezing and cold weather creeps in and locks everything down. Deer may move to feed during the middle of the day when temperatures are at their warmest of the day, rather than feeding early and late or even after dark.

Locate hillsides or clearcuts with southern exposures when the mercury dips. Just like humans, deer will seek sun-warmed areas when it’s cold. Hunting these areas from 10 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon may be the ticket to meeting up with that good deer.

On cold mornings, hunt areas with southern exposure, where bucks can go to warm up.

Pattern fellow hunters

If you hunt on a deer club or piece of property with a number of other hunters, sooner or later someone will suggest a “man-drive.” Participate if you want to, but consider an alternative. Late December means holidays and time off work and bringing guests to hunt. Most of these hunters will be in the stand on a Saturday morning at daylight and hunt until somewhere around 9:30, 10 or even 11 a.m. The egress of a bunch of hunters during the late morning may be all the “man-drive” you need to get a mature buck on its feet.

You’ll have to do some quick study on where to hunt on these social hunts, but if you can find some good security area in the midst of other hunters, sit tight in your stand as others begin to vacate theirs.

The sounds of human activity such as gravel crunching, four wheelers and quads cranking up, and talking, has a tendency to move deer from one area to another. If you know two or three hunters are going to be down in an area of bottom land, then hunting the deer travel route that drains that bottom area might get pretty exciting as other hunters move out at the end of their morning hunt.

Each pattern or variable will be dependent on the land you hunt, but with some advance planning, perseverance, and just a little luck, you can score before the final buzzer sounds.