The Great Outdoors 12-4-09

    Let’s be honest. Now that the rut and modern firearm season is over, the majority of hunters have forgotten about deer hunting and are now focusing on waterfowl, small game or the spring fishing season waiting patiently around the corner.
  I used to follow this same schedule until the past two seasons forced my hand to hunt into late December and January. It is becoming my favorite time to hunt.   
    The woods I mostly hunt deer in are a long way from Murray, and I could never find the time to escape during the favored pre-rut and peak-rut phases for long periods of time.
    So when I return home for holiday break, that unfilled tag becomes very heavy in my pocket, and I feel the urge to go to the woods no matter the conditions.
    After a few years in this routine I have become fairly competent in late-season deer tactics.
    Following the rut, deer revert to their normal patterns of feeding and bedding each day.        
    However, this does not necessarily mean they are moving at the same time of day and in the same locations as in the early season.
    Deer, especially the older trophy class bucks, feel safe moving in low-light conditions, but cold nights may keep deer from leaving the warm environment of their sheltered bedding areas.
    Deer know if they sleep late, it will warm up, and they can move around without losing body heat.
    As long as the light conditions resemble those of dusk or dawn (because cloud cover, fog, light snow or rain reduces the sunlight penetration,) deer will feel comfortable moving at any time of day.
    Under low-light conditions, you can be certain herds of deer will be looking for food. After the rigors of the rut, bucks need to eat a lot to restore the fat they lost earlier in the season in order to survive the winter.
    They are most interested in high quality food sources, or areas with abundant forage. If acorns, corn, soybeans, berries, legumes or other high quality food sources are still around, hunters should stake out in those areas.
    But late in the season, these food sources grow scarce due to crop harvesting and depleting grazing plants. The deer will even concentrate on a single area that yields food.
    Last season, I hunted over a patch of corn  still standing in December and saw over 70 deer parade out of the woods and into the field in one afternoon.
    Some of the deer were bucks I had never   seen around the property, and I soon realized a deer will travel any distance to find quality food in the late fall and winter months.
    With these deer habits in mind, I like to set up on a trail going from bedding areas to food sources.  Rather than hunting  closer to the food source, I opt to set up as near to the bedding area as I can without alarming the deer.
    Even though the deer may arrive at food sources well before dark, they are often more alert when feeding. Hunters can easily be detected by deer because of our scent or movements.
    The straightforward and predictable habits of concentrations of deer in the late season is one reason I like to hunt after the rut.
    Another reason is the potential for a true trophy. Those bucks that survived the season so far did so because they are old and wise.
    I love the challenge of going after these smart bucks. It is a chess match, and it won’t be finished until one of us makes a mistake.
    If you still have plenty of room in your freezer and unfilled tags, give the late season a chance.    
    You can sleep in, have the woods to yourself, and if you’re in the right place at the right time, you will see not just one deer but lots of them.
    Then it is just a matter of sitting back and waiting for the right one to walk by.
    Contact Miller at steven.miller@murraystate.edu.