"Tis the season, Late season."
Posted By
indiana
at
12/4/2009 12:00:00 AM
Well the late season is now upon us. Temperatures are now dropping and doe
family units are grouping up with others in their areas as whitetails throughout
Indiana and the midwest will answer their call to herd up and ride out the cold
winter. Feeding is at a premium now; especially for Rut weery bucks that need to
regain some of their lost weight.
Over the years I've learned to focus practically all of my late season
strategies around these feeding areas. The doe herds are easy to find as they'll
come out to reliable late season food sources- most evenings long before dark.
And, any buck worth his rack won't be too awfully far behind. The Primary Rut is
long gone and approximately 85% of your areas' does have been bred for the year.
That's the bad news.
Obviously the good news is that there are still approximately 15% of them
that haven't been bred, or maybe didn't take the first time around. This can
make for the perfect scenario for those of us who haven't scored on our bucks
yet. And, the last time I looked that was most of us. Watching this week's show
made me understand that many of us have dealt with the same hard
realities.
I understand the frustration that most of you are dealing with: the still
standing cornfields are holding most of the deer that are still available and
they aren't necessarily giving us any opportunities to kill them. Here's the
good news. The deer ARE in those cornfields, so locating them is a snap. Sure,
the big bucks are still doing their thing in the timber, but I'd bet the farm
that most of that is happening after dark. They haven't totally forgotten about
the orange army just yet.
The perfect storm is brewing. You know where your deer are located, the
weather is becoming more conducive to getting those deer on their feet during
daylight hours, and some of the does will be cycling into their first; or
possibly re-cycling into their second, or maybe third estrus cycle for the
season. This is a win-win situation if you ask me.
During muzzleloader season I love to hunt on the ground. If we can get
lucky enough to get some good snow on the ground. I love donning snow camo and
putting the sneak on unsuspecting late season deer. Setting up on the edges of
thick woodlots adjacent to prime food sources like recently picked cornfields,
cold season food plots of oats, winter wheat, or another variety, and/or soybean
fields that were recently picked (or better yet, still standing) can still
produce the hunt of your life. If you have any standing soybeans in your area,
don't overlook this area. It may be just enough beans in the corner of a field;
one that the combine missed for whatever reason. Especially if we get snow.
Set up shop near these feeding areas and let that "Secondary Rut" play
itself out for you. Find the best food sources adjacent to thick, late season
cover. Carefully hunt it and let those doe family units go to work for you. Find
them and you may get lucky and run across one that is in estrus. Chances are Mr.
Big will know about it long before you will and will be nearby. Even if those
does aren't in estrus the bucks will still continue to check them. This is one
stop shopping at its finest.
Also, don't overlook hunting during the mid-day, especially if it gets
brutally cold. Many times the super cold weather will cause mid-day feeding.
Couple this with the fact that some does will soon be cycling estrus again and
things can happen at any time of the day. Be there when it happens.
At any rate good luck to all the Indiana Pro Staffers (and all Midwest
Whitetailers everywhere) with the late season. I predict that Santa will visit
early this year and bring many, or hopefully all of us one of those big bucks
we've chased all season long.
'Tis the season. The Late Season. And, it's better late...than never.
Good luck everyone!
Dean Weimer
