Hunting late season food sources is the key to finding does, which will draw mature bucks.

Hunting Late Season Food Sources

Seeing deer, and especially getting into shooting range, is one of the biggest challenges a hunter faces in December and January. During the late season, visibility is good because the foliage has dropped, meaning a lack of cover which makes deer feel exposed and skittish. They are also hungry when the temperatures are low and will be on their feet most of the daylight hours looking for sustenance. Hunting late season food sources is where you’ll find the deer that congregate around what remains.

Finding Food

Food gets scarce in the late season. Corn and soybean fields have long been picked clean by animals and machines though most farmers will no-till drill winter wheat. Depending on the number of deer in your area, these wheat fields can be high producers of big bucks trying to recover the body weight they lost during the rut. As a last resort, deer will consume the brushy vegetation along field edges when nothing else is available.

Mobile Hunting Blind

Open areas like winter wheat fields or what standing corn you can find are whitetail destinations during the late season. Hunting from a tree stand in these areas is often tough because there’s simply nowhere to hang one. This is where a Stump hunting blind gives you an opportunity in hunting late season food sources, and hunters will take any advantage they can get late in the season.

Easily use the natural surroundings to conceal a Banks Stump Blind.
Easily use the natural surroundings to conceal a Banks Stump Blind.

A one- or two-man hunting blind, like the Stump 2 SCOUT can be easily towed with a four wheeler or snowmobile. Cover the blind with the Ghillie Cover, and it will blend in with any landscape. It can look like a hay bale, standing corn or disappear in a CRP field. Mobile hunting blinds allow hunters to stay comfortable in cold weather and conceal their scent, movement and sound. It can also be a comfortable alternative to the hard ground or a lock-on stand that leaves you exposed to the elements.

The Stump Blind is a great tool to have for hunting late season food sources.
The Stump Blind is a great tool to have for hunting late season food sources.

During the late season, deer change their patterns when food sources deplete – make sure your tactics change with them. What made you successful before may not work the next year, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box. You never know when an unlikely attempt at a big buck might just pay off.

 

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