3 Reasons to Hunt the Late Season

By this time of the season the temps, leaves, and optimism have all dropped. There’s no doubt that December and January can be some of the most grueling months to hunt. However, they can also reward the persistent and downright stubborn. Sure, it’s easier to cut your losses and look to next season for the rut to save you, but there are plenty of reasons to keep hunting if you have a few tags left in your pocket, but here’s a few.

Less Competition

Most hunters have called it quits by now. Whether folks have their filled tags or turned their attention to fly-tying or pheasant hunting, the competition wanes as the season goes on. In frigid parts of the country, the temps and snow will keep a lot of hunters in their beds. Down South, deer season might run from September to February. This means that most hunters have been hitting the woods for three months by the time the rut and late season roll around. Most of those hunters will be burnt or tagged out by then. Instead of packed parking lots, you could find yourself alone at the trailhead.

Where I hunt in Mississippi, most people have called it quits by early to mid-January, despite the rutting activity. Not only are the bucks actively chasing, but the food sources have dwindled, so the deer are scrounging for natural browse or hitting food plots and ag fields. Even if you don’t hunt south of the Mason-Dixon, the lack of food should still work in your favor.

Concentrated Food

If you listen to or watch any type of mainstream hunting media, you’ve heard that food plots or sources are the place to be during the late season. While you might not have a pile of booners pouring into your green patch at last light, research shows that daylight buck activity around these feeding areas peaks during the late season.

For private land hunters, especially in low-hunting pressure scenarios, sitting that food plot might pay off. Even hunters on heavily pressured private or public lands shouldn’t write food sources off either. Sure, they’re obvious places on the map that tend to draw the most hunters. However, the decrease in competition coupled with late-season conditions can make these food plots a viable option. If you’re going to hunt one on public, save those spots for a weekday rather than the weekend. If you can time that with inclement weather, even better.

While buck activity around food plots peaks during the late season, it’s worth noting that a lot of that activity didn’t occur directly in the food plot but on the edges or in the timber adjacent to it. For folks in high-pressure situations, try ambushing a buck in a staging area rather than in the food plot itself. You’ll have to conquer this mental hurdle, especially if you regularly watch five, ten, or fifteen does pour into the green patch. However, bucks, especially mature ones, will try to j-hook into the plot or skirt the downwind side of it until dark.

If you’re sitting right on the edge, you might never see that buck. Instead, hunt in the timber where you think a buck might try to get the wind in his favor. Look for trails that emerge downwind of the plot or natural browse where a buck might stage.

Desperation Mode

Sure, you might be desperate to fill your freezer or a buck tag, but you’re not the only desperate critter in the woods. Whether they’re refueling from the rut or packing on the pounds for brutal weather, bucks need to find food. If you hunt in the Midwest or Northeast where the cold plays a huge role in a buck’s caloric needs, you should absolutely hunt (safely) when you know deer have to eat for survival. These cold temps force them to find food, and you can take advantage of this.

For southern hunters, not only are deer searching for food this time of year, but bucks are still looking for any remaining hot does through the end of January. This makes the late season an exciting time to hit the woods. Sure, the woods can be unforgiving this time of year, but if you can grind it out, your persistence might just reward you.