The fresh snow made the walk to the stand difficult. Blazing a trail to a stand in two feet of snow for a South Carolina guy is not something we do often. It was difficult walking to say the least. Living in the south, we seldom get the chance to hunt in snow. When the skies opened and dumped nearly twenty-four inches overnight, I jumped at the chance to sit on stand in a fresh snow. I was hunting with Ralph and Vicki Cianciarulo of Archer’s Choice TV, and their camera man was accompanying me to the stand.
Two days before, I sat over an uncut soybean field and watched nearly 30 deer pour into the field in anticipation of the cold front coming. This night I decided to sit in the woods between the bedding and soybeans and see if I could intercept one of the bucks I had seen two days before.
Hunting late season bucks is not much like hunting early season bucks. It is all about the food. Find the food and you will find the bucks. By the time late December rolls around, the rut is over, and bucks that survived could have dropped as much as 30 percent of their body weight in search of love. Now they are famished and searching for food constantly. When you find the food, you will find the bucks.
If you are fortunate enough to hunt in agriculture areas, look for access areas, and trails leading from bedding to feeding for an afternoon sit. (I stay away from agriculture fields in the mornings to prevent from blowing the deer out of the fields.) Setting your stand anywhere from 30 to 100 yards inside the wood edge will increase your chances of getting a shot at a mature buck.
One of my favorite tactics is to ask a farmer to leave some standing soybeans in the field after harvest. Deer will flock to the dried, standing soybeans. Dried soybeans have excellent proteins and nutritional value for the deer in late season.
Food plots are the equivariant of agriculture and the same techniques are employed. If you are not in agriculture areas or have food plots, and baiting is not an option, finding food can be difficult. Locating late season food sources will increase your chances of filling a tag. Foods to look for include remnant acorns from trees like water oaks, willow oak, beech nuts, walnuts, or other hard mast. Another, honey locust, is difficult to find, but a great resource. These large bean pods are a magnet for deer in the late season. If I can find one of these, you can bet I will have a stand within 20 yards of that tree.
Hunting late season bucks is not for the faint of heart. It has been a long season, many are frustrated and tired. And with some freezer space already filled, the excitement is waning. Records show that many of the biggest bucks of the year are killed in December. Much of this is due to the bucks’ desire to eat, and eat a lot. Find the food, dress accordingly, be patient and punch that tag.
While I sat in the transition zone, I saw movement to my right at about 60 yards. The telltale stride of a deer was unmistakable. Closer examination showed a good 10-point making his way to the soybean field. The snow made seeing his movement easy and the silence of the snow enhanced the moment as he slowly plodded through the chest deep snow. Chad, the camera man pointed him out as he moved along. Standing, I took my Hoyt and got ready for the shot. If the buck kept his course, he would pass by at 32 yards. Just like it was planned, he stopped and started nibbling on a bush and I got the OK from Chad to shoot any time. I focused, and released the arrow, and watched it fly, a foot over his back. The buck bolted and looked back and saw three does that were almost directly beneath my stand. He wheeled around and came right back. At 27 yards he stopped, and I sent the arrow home, collecting my late season buck.
The TV reel doesn’t lie, and you cannot hide from the footage. I was fortunate that it all worked out. Ambushing late season bucks can be a daunting task, but filling a late season tag is something that makes the long offseason easier to tolerate.
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