Ruts come and gone...now what?

You've heard it many times, hunt the rut. It's true more bucks are shot during the rut than any other time...however I don't buy into the theory it's the only time to bag the big boy of the area. Right now is one of my favorite times to be in the woods with a buck tag in my pocket. One reason is that there's just something about hunting the cold and harvesting a buck that just feels special. The other reason is, they are predictable.

You pattern the bucks in your area going into the early season, however hunting pressure and the coming rut simply changed things before you could capitalize. You're left taking educated guesses during the rut hoping to get the big boy to step within range, but let's be honest he's got other things on his mind to worry about being where you want him to. Enter the late season.

Now that we're entering the time where most if not all the does are bred and bucks are beginning to think with the brain between the ears again. That brain is screaming one word very loud, "FOOD!" Find the food and the bucks won't be far away. This food source could be standing corn, rye grass fields or pretty much any other source of food that is in your area.

My dad's first buck ever, came in the dead of winter at the tail end of our muzzleloader season back in 2009. After going years without seeing a buck worth shooting or sadly losing them my father connected on one, hunting of all places 40 yards from neighbor's house and the road...reason? Honey-locust and their bean pods. Parts of our woods are loaded with these thorn covered Honey-locust trees that drop bean pods that run from 3 to 7 inches long. Once the snow falls and the crops are gone the deer absolutely hammer these things as they fall. Knowing this my dad positioned himself in a spot we'd hardly ever hunted but knew with the pods down anything could happen.

So the question is where's the food? I'm a big fan of small food plots or natural late season food like those pods because both are surrounded typically with better cover than a wide open field; allowing that big boy to step out while there's light to have a crack at him. The only thing left to do is be there when the deer are, which raises my next point.

It could be as simple as the
bushes that still hold leaves
or pods still attached to them.
(trochronicles.blogspot.com)

Years of experience have shown me that once the temps drop down in the freezing range and lower that mid-day hunting is big! Just today my father and I hunted a neighboring property known for great morning movement (a little standing corn still present near this property). Well, it was 7 degrees at shooting light...9 degrees after an hour...and 16 degrees when we finally called it quits. Total deer we saw: 0. Now this is where it gets interesting, on our way to our traditional after hunt brunch at a local diner we saw deer up and moving...at 10:30am. Then at 11:30 when I finally pulled out to head home I saw even more deer. Not 1/4 of a mile down the road were two deer, then along a busy highway I saw eight-plus deer on their feet and moving (one was a great young 8-pointer).

We both decided that this coming week, last week of muzzleloader, if we hunt we're going to try middle of the day. Sad thing is I should have known better, 3 of the late season does I've shot in the past 5 years have all come between 9:30am and noon. But like most hunters, I've fallen into the idea that morning and evenings are when you have to hunt.

Now if the temps aren't dropping the deer may continue to move just as they always have, but be sure to pay attention to the mercury. As it plummets, deer movement will almost always shift, typically moving as the sun begins to warm things up.

So getting on the food or travel routes to food, and being willing to adjust with the weather are the keys to increasing your odds this late season to getting your hands on some antlers.