Does anybody else have one heck of a time seeing any bigger bucks moving after rifle season? I have been treating all my stands as I would during the prime bow season, and haven’t made any sudden changes except for my bait. I have yet to see any of the deer I saw prior to rifle season return to the normal feeding habits they were in before the woods got hammered by hunters. (Northern WI)
I am seeing does, and nothing but..... I have 3 different cameras & feeding areas all within a 2 mile radius. I know these deer are around, because I have seen them driving to work early mornings. Just for whatever reason they are not coming into feed. I just am starting to wonder what I am doing wrong. I am very careful about my scent control when I swap SD cards & put food out.
Seasons change and movement changes. Bucks this time of the year tend to be trying to pack on the pounds so I'd watch your food plots/feeding stations.
My dad shot our number 1 buck this weekend on a food source we havent had a picture of this deer at before december 1st. This buck is a 4.5 year old that weighed 147 dressed out he was tore up from the rut. So much so as they dragged him out he shed his right antler. He was in the food plot 3 times a day trying to pack on pounds he lost. Id say your bucks might be doing the same. Find the food, find the bucks Sent from my SM-N920P using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Food sources ... hunt the food sources. Forget the timber. Set up on the edge of food, whether that is plots or picked corn fields or if you are one of the very lucky ... standing soy beans (that is money in the bank for late season deer hunting). All deer want to do right now is eat as much as they can and then go lay down close by to conserve that energy.
The question is how many other corn piles are in the area. Like around me, the biggest corn pile wins. Wardens can’t be everywhere so many people stretch the pile size a bit. Throw some powder molasses in your bait to get an aroma going. Deer can’t resist molasses normally.
We had a couple guys hunting flintlock/ second season archery on some brassica plots. All the early season shooters we have seen cannot be found. all they were seeing is young bucks and does. We don't have any cameras out but from past experience they really turn nocturnal in late season. Then the neighboring property puts out truck loads of corn every year.
When ever hunting baited area or properties I tend to shy away from the baited areas. When I hunted Price Co, our neighbors were religious baiters. We killed bucks consistently by hunting close to bedding areas and patterning deer instead of trying to get them to come in with bait. This property is 3 hours from my house and it’s only 40 acres. Killed a 4.5 yr old 10 pt and a 2.5 yr old 8pt in three years hunting there. The deer regularly arrived at the neighbors bait sites right at dark while we enjoyed seeing deer more in mid day. Maybe it was the property? Maybe it was the baiting by our neighbors?
