Late Season Whitetail Deer Hunting Tips & Tactics

The late or "second season" period as we call it in Wisconsin, can be the last shot for hunters to harvest a buck. Many hunters skip late season hunting even if they haven't filled their buck tags. If you plan right your chances for harvesting a buck in this time is pretty good, and the best part is that deer a fairly predictable during this period. Lets take a look at some tactics to employ during this period. 

Find The Food

This is probably the easiest part of hunting the late season. The days are short and cold, this means that deer have to feed and feed often. Cold snaps and frigid temperatures in general force deer to feed more in the daylight hours than they would in warmer conditions, giving you a very good chance at a shot. 

So perch yourself up on corn field, whether the corn is standing or not, or some other food source or high traffic areas leading to them. Deer can also have a tendency to bed closer to these food sources in the dead of winter as well, so be sure to carefully plan your approach to your stand setups by taking into consideration factors like wind direction. 

The Colder the Better

A critical time you should be in your stand is when there is a cold snap. Cold snaps really get the deer moving. I'm sure you have driven down country roads on a bitterly cold winter day only to see herds of deer in a field at midday, I know I have more times than I can count.

When the temperatures plummet and the deer start moving there is something that is really obvious that you need to do, but important. DRESS WARM. I'm guilty of getting to my stand when the temperatures were -10 degrees or more and after a couple hours I would shiver my way back to my truck. In hind sight the last buck I shot was in -15 degree weather and I'm pretty sure I had snotsicles coming out of my nose. So be sure you have inside pockets stuffed with handwarmers, warmers in your boots, do what you have to in order to stick it out. 

Got the Time?

In my opinion and experience the afternoon is by far the most productive time to hunt in the late season. For one, its hard to hunt a food source in the morning, as there is a good chance the deer are at said food source when you come crunching through the snow to your stand. You might try hunting travel corridors leading back to bedding areas in the morning and you might achieve success, but as mentioned earlier, the deer might be bedding closer to their preferred feeding areas to conserve energy during the tough winter months. Hunting the afternoon hours will most likely be the safe and best bet. 

Stalking

now this isn't something I would recommend doing often, but it can work in certain situations. Those situations are typically if you get a fresh blanket of powdery snow and your hunting with a gun. The white snow aids in visibility, and if you have spotted a buck that's moving back to a bedding area from feeding you can follow their prints and stalk them. This can be a opportunity, but any seasoned hunter will tell you its easier said than done in most cases. 

Conclusion

The key to late season bow hunting is to keep it simple, because in all reality it isn't that complicated, find food and hunt in the afternoon. Now there is always exceptions to these rules but these are surefire ways to give you the best shot at filling that tag. 

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