Little update for y’all. Finally got out to sit about a week ago. Great sit, saw about 10 deer. Had a crab claw buck directly below me at one point. Had shots on a doe also. My buddy shot a 2&1/2 year old 7 point. His first buck ever, was pretty excited for him. Although he passed on a broken up wide 10 point 3&1/2 year old buck a few weeks prior. I was really surprised he didn’t shoot the 3&1/2 year old buck. Lucky for me I know where a few of his beds are and if he makes it til next season he’s gonna be a stud. Got out Monday for an all day sit. Saw a buck chasing a doe about 90 yards away. Grunted a few times but couldn’t get him to come off her. He stopped and thought about it for half a minute. But he chased her on down the trail. Switched spots around lunch time to a good wooded pinch between two fields. It was super windy and didn’t see anything. Heard a doe bleating along with some grunts behind me, but didn’t see them. Getting a little nervous about the rest of the season. My plan was to hunt October pretty hard and try to tag out while the doe’s we’re still in the area. Work unfortunately prevented that. Now the acorns are thin, no crops around me and the deer are in lockdown mode. Haven’t really ever hunted late season before. Anyone have any tips?
Happy thanksgiving guys! I recently took vacation and hunted my lease this week did not go according to plan. I hunted Sunday- Wednesday and ended up leaving early on Wednesday just for being burned out. I did not see a deer the entire time and have not seen one since the first weekend of November. I've only seen 5 deer in total this year which is extremely depressing. The acorns are still dropping here in Tx which is absolutely crazy for this time of year. The last two years, we had an extreme amount of rainfall to help the acorn crop. Every where I look, there are acorns all over the ground and big ones at that. I've even tried to hunt over these areas and still haven't seen any movement. Hell, I even resulted to gun hunting an afternoon and morning just to pop a doe before our doe season ends this weekend on some of our best gun stands and did not even see anything move. With that being said the deer do not have to travel very far to get food and I think due to that, most of the movement is at night on cameras. The guys on the lease have said "they have never seen it like this before, and this is the hardest hunting conditions they have ever seen". I'm taking some time off to regroup, I'm hoping to come back in December and have better results, just frustrating that my season has not gone according to plan. I've never gone through November without seeing DOE!!! That is crazy to even say that..... I'll try to still pop a buck in December for us and a spike to get some points!! I've tried my ass off this year guys, can't say it's from lack of effort. Good luck to all those that are in the stand.
Don’t get too frustrated, regroup and think a little on how to get on them. I’m in the same boat right now except they seem to have moved off my hunting ground for food. If you are primarily hunting the fringes and field edges I’d switch it up and push in on their known bedding. Probably wouldn’t have to push too far, if they have a staging area you can sneak into I’d try that for a few sits. I’m sure you’ll get on them!!! If you can’t pattern their food, go after their bedding.
Yeah, thats something we are still trying to figure out. I don't really have field edges like you guys up north and what not. Where I hunt in East Tx, everything is a lot of dense thick trees all kinds of for the most part. Maybe I am biased, but I'd probably say some of the hardest hunting around because of all the forage available for deer and thickness for them to hide in constantly. Because everything is always so thick to begin with, we are still trying to figure out where these deer bed. It's literally a crap shoot for any part of the lease. We are getting better at finding deer more consistently in some areas and looking at topo maps that have helped out a lot as well. I think we have gathered a lot of info just this season alone. I'm going to stick with it and keep compiling some info. Eventually, time will be on my side and I will be in the right spot at the right time when these deer that we have on camera are coming through. I'll gladly take some advice from you guys if you hunt some extremely thick property, any help or advice would be appreciated.
I posted pictures of my doe on the Scorecard thread. Sorry I didn't shoot a buck this year. I was being a little pickier this year. Biggest buck I had in front of me was a 4 point (Eastern Count). I did have a lot of fun.
Is your season done? When does everyone else's season end? I have until January 6th here in Texas. I've got a company Christmas party in Boston this weekend and I'll be in Oklahoma for work the following weekend. I hope to be back at it the last 3 weekends I can until my season finishes. Our doe season just closed, so if I am going to get a bonus deer it will have to be a spike.
My season here in Utah ended in September. I have family in Kansas that we spend Thanksgiving week with. I hunt for White Tail that week
I can still hunt in my WMU until Dec 8th, then our late season is Dec 26th-Jan 26th. I ain't done yet!
well they can't say we weren't trying. I know both of us along with most of the team have put in countless hours! Guess that's why they call it hunting...
I have been continuing to hunt. Last weekend on the farm after Thanksgiving. Deer movement was really slow. Hunted yesterday morning, 20 degrees with a 10 mph wind and it was cold but a lot of deer movement. Saw probably 20 deer with 6-7 different bucks just not what I was looking for though. Buck were 3 years old or less. Plenty of does. I normally shoot my does after the second rut so normally from the 15th of December on. Have 2 does that I can take, 1 in WV and 1 in KY. WV season ends Dec. 31 and the KY season continues until the 3rd week of January if I am not mistaken, have to check that. The does will not be a problem as there is an abundance of them.
I’ve been getting out a little over the last week and a half. Had doe and small bucks within range multiple times, haven’t seen any mature bucks on the hoof yet. Pretty sure I watched some smaller bucks getting pushed out of a good bedding spot by a mature buck this morning. They were a good 160 yards in the timber at the top of a draw. Finished my hunt and decided to try and stalk in on them. Had the wind in my face with fresh powder on the ground. Made it 100 yards or so in about 40 minutes. As soon as I hit the center of that draw the wind swirled and hit me from behind. About a minute later a couple deer, one was a spike got up and started to leave. I heard one move off about 60 yards away from where I was trying to get to. I think that it was the dominant buck getting out of his bed and moving off. Didn’t hear any wheezes so I just backed out, don’t want to burn a good spot. It’s rifle season now and a nice 170” buck was harvested off the farm right where I’ve been hunting. 28 more days to go, starting to get exciting! Good luck y’all, hope you guys are having some good luck.
Thanks for keeping us updated. I'm in Oklahoma working right now so won't be back at it until next weekend.
I'm counting down until Saturday when I can be back in the stand fellas! Got three weeks left to finish up strong!
There are still members that I need a score from. I messaged the ones that killed a deer earlier in the season. If you killed it with a bow, please give me the measurements and or multiple pics so I can post in the scorecard thread.
I'll be hitting the woods today to check my trail cam. It's been sitting for 2 weeks now, can't wait to see what made it through the gauntlet. I'll post anything of interest. Late season opens the day after Christmas and runs until Jan 26th!
