[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/3-late-season-hunting-scenarios\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/3-late-season-hunting-scenarios\/","headline":"3 Late-Season Hunting Scenarios","name":"3 Late-Season Hunting Scenarios","description":"When most people think of late-season bow hunting, they think of sitting in freezing cold temps, with ten inches of...","datePublished":"2015-12-17","dateModified":"2018-12-04","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/#Person","name":"Hector Agosto","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Legendary Whitetails","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","url":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","width":522,"height":226}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/shutterstock_68852755-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/shutterstock_68852755-1.jpg","height":702,"width":1198},"url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/3-late-season-hunting-scenarios\/","about":["Hunting"],"wordCount":1338,"keywords":["Hunting","Hunting Strategy","Tips"],"articleBody":"When most people think of late-season bow hunting, they think of sitting in freezing cold temps, with ten inches of snow on the ground, all while chasing highly pressured bucks.\u00a0 Sounds fun, doesn\u2019t it?Certainly those conditions can hold true, but at the same time patterning deer has never been easier.\u00a0 Deer are on strict daily schedules which have them moving to food from cover almost like clockwork.\u00a0 Find the food and you\u2019re in the game!\u00a0 At least that\u2019s what most articles will tell you about hunting the late-season.Well guess what, most of us don\u2019t have an unpressured piece of ground to hunt with a five acre standing bean field flooded with deer night after night.\u00a0 Truth is, late-season is challenging.\u00a0 Less hunters in the woods is one\u00a0favorable aspect about the late season, but of course it also means less deer due to the recent firearm season.\u00a0\u00a0 Here are some late-season tips for the Average Joe out there who doesn\u2019t have a standing bean field to hunt over.Find the FoodIt\u2019s not too difficult to find the main food source during the winter months.\u00a0 By now, most of the acorns have been consumed and ag fields have been harvested and worked under, leaving only a few, if any, high quality food sources for the deer to seek out.\u00a0 Throughout much of the Midwest, standing crops, cut-but-unplowed grain fields, and food plots provide deer with high energy food for the winter.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve got any of those present on or near your property, that\u2019s where I\u2019d begin looking for a spot to hang a stand or place a ground blind.It gets quite a bit more difficult to pinpoint regular deer movement when there\u2019s not a main feeding destination.\u00a0 If you\u2019re hunting big timber areas where agriculture is non-existent, then chances are you will not see large deer numbers or regular patterns associated with, say, a standing bean field in Iowa.\u00a0 Nonetheless, there\u2019s still preferred feeding areas, it\u2019s just that they come in the form of preferred woody browse.\u00a0 Clear cuts, patches of dogwood (red brush), briar, and other young woody growth provide the best food for whitetails during the winter in heavily forested areas. \u00a0One tip to use is if the woods look nice and pretty and easy to walk through, chances are deer won\u2019t be spending much\u00a0time there because there\u2019s neither food nor cover.It\u2019s Not that EasyJust because you found the food doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s a slam dunk.\u00a0 Now is when the real work begins.\u00a0 If you\u2019re like me, chances are you like to kill deer, not just watch them.\u00a0 In my opinion, this is where late-season proves difficult . . . especially in farm country.\u00a0 Getting \u201cbow range close\u201d is extremely challenging if you\u2019re set up over any food source over 5 acres in size, but do you really have any other option if this is where all of the deer are?Like all things\u00a0deer hunting, the answer depends on the situation.\u00a0 Well that\u2019s helpful, you might say.\u00a0 This is why I\u2019ve outlined a few hunting scenarios below.-3 Late-Season Scenarios-Scenario 1: The Tree LinerHere lies a pretty common hunting scenario for many of us Midwesterners: a big, cut corn field attracts all the deer, but two or more sides are bordered by thin tree lines and those just so happen to be the ones with favorable wind conditions. \u00a0Thus, tree stand locations are severely limited.What to do:Tree lines are tough to hunt during the late season because there is absolutely no cover up in the tree, which causes your silhouette to stick out like a sore thumb with even the slightest of movements.\u00a0 Unless you have a burly oak, or a multi-stemmed cluster of trees to hide yourself in you may want to hit the ground instead.\u00a0 If you hate sitting on the ground, take some time to build yourself a backdrop to hide your silhouette when you’re up in the tree.\u00a0 One way to do this is by strapping an old Christmas tree to your tree or fixing cedar bows to from a backdrop.\u00a0 If that\u2019s not an option, I\u2019d recommend tree hopping during every sit to keep the element of surprise in your favor. \u00a0A lot of times, ladder stand are the best tool for this scenario because most of the trees are crooked, thus, preventing you from using a hang on stand.Scenario 2: Food Surrounded By Open HardwoodsHere\u2019s a tricky one because most of us would be tempted to sit right along the edge of the field to catch a good look at whatever comes out to feed.\u00a0 However, unless they come walking out from underneath you, you\u2019ll probably never get a shot.\u00a0 Not to mention, the deer may never show up until after dark due to the distance the field is from bedding.What to do:Instead, treat the open hardwoods as their staging area.\u00a0 Find where they are entering the open woods from thicker patches and set up between the food and bedding.\u00a0 Depending on the size and layout of the hardwoods, try to get in off the field edge 100+ yards or so for the best chance of catching a daylight mover.\u00a0 This type of setup will also allow you to get out cleanly as the deer will just be passing through.In big timber tracts, clear cuts are the equivalent of crop fields with the exception that deer will often bed down right in them because they are thicker. \u00a0Here, I’d recommend sitting near the very edge as they are typically used as travel corridors.Scenario 3: Feeding Field on Property LineIt\u2019s fairly common to have permission on a farm where the edge of a field is the property boundary.\u00a0 This makes it difficult to hunt deer that are coming off the neighbors to feed on your property.What to do:Here, the best way to get close is with the use of a portable blind.\u00a0 By portable I mean anything from a bale blind, pop-up blind, or even better, a homemade blind on a trailer.\u00a0 If you know that\u2019s where you\u2019ll likely be targeting late season activity, get the blind out in plain view as soon as possible.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s not in the perfect spot, you just want deer to be used to seeing it in or near that feeding field throughout the season.\u00a0 Spend a few nights glassing from a distance and then move the blind to a good spot based on your observations and go in for the kill!This can be a killer tactic for hunting any large food source.\u00a0 Just beware, you\u2019ll want someone available to clear the field for you at dark.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t have someone to pick you up, place a remote controlled coyote call 75+ yards from your blind on the walk in and sound it off when you\u2019re ready to leave.Wrap-UpLate season hunting is certainly no walk in the park, but success can be achieved.\u00a0 Harsh weather conditions and highly pressured bucks combine to make some undoubtedly tough sits.\u00a0 Persistence is key, it\u2019s just a matter of how much you want it…and how close the food is. "},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Legendary Whitetail's Blog"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/3-late-season-hunting-scenarios\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"3 Late-Season Hunting Scenarios"}}]}]