Does anyone else like hunting in December? Although I like the action of the deer woods in November, I actually enjoy hunting in December even more. For some reason hunting in colder weather,and with the woods becoming increasingly empty due to most hunters quitting, makes the hunts very enjoyable. The cold weather zaps me back to reality. It opens my eyes about hunting, and makes it all seem even more real due to the harsh weather conditions. As December closes, so does my season. I am resting up right now for another 5-7 days without bowhunting. I need to refuel and set the course to get a shot at a buck in December. I have never taken a decent buck in December. For all of you other December hunting freaks, good luck!
Me and late season don't see eye to eye when hunting for mature bucks!! Not sure If It's because the big guys go nocturnal after the huge hunting pressure of the gun season or If they head on out to other food sources that are no longer here In the 117 acres I hunt on. Or I just suck at late season hunting when It comes to mature bucks (probably this one).
Steve, it could be a lot of reasons why it is so tough. But man, that is what makes it fun! I contribute my late season buck failures to not hunting specific enough. I have hunted in a too generalized fashion, and not specifically for a buck....a buck that I need to see 10-20 minutes before or after sun-up/down in the daylight. I need to move in tighter to spots. LONG live December hunting and the cold!
i'll take late season hunting.........i prefer cold to hot so it's a no-brainer for me........of course i'll take ANY weather that might be 'good' for taking a deer..........VASHADOW,over here across the border we get to hunt until the end of january so we can get cold for a bit longer...lol
Graham, I may change my mind about late season hunting if I were talking about January. In reality, I love how quiet the woods are in the late season. And when the quiet is interrupted with the sounds of deer movement, I like it even more.
I like hunting in December, I like the cold, maybe a little snow, but we have a different situation here. With something like 1.2 million gun hunters hitting the woods the first 2 weeks of December, it's almost never quiet.
I love late season bowhunting in December. The deer usually starting moving pretty good during daylight hours again around mid December. I hope to take another doe or two before the season ends January 1st.
I like December hunting. I don't get the chance to have days off during the regular archery season, although I hunt nearly every evening and Saturday (111 hours in six weeks this year), and my work shuts down from Christmas eve's eve till the new year and I enjoy the solidarity of the white woods during this time. It makes a harvest all the more fulfulling. I have two days off in early December to host the orange army at camp and that's alot of fun too, but I look forward to the post Christmas hunts as well. Our second season runs from the day after Christmas until the second Saturday in January.
I too, like December hunting. The public land gets less and less pressure as the temps get lower and lower. Tho' sometimes, when I'm in the stand, in the wind and the cold... sniffling and shivering and seeing no deer.. I'm not such a big fan. I start thinking about warm spring nights and carp.
Amen to that. I generally dont hunt past December. I do love the conditions, though it doesnt start to truely get cold here in NJ until January. When its snowing, there is just something tranquil about the whole scene, deer or not. Good luck. I hope you break your December lull this season, with a monster !!
it is by far my favorite. i hunted in sub zero temperaturs last year, everything is magic in the cold and snow. I wouldnt trade it for anything favorite has to be 12-25" of fresh fluff. its so quiet, and peaceful
I absolutely love sitting in the evening in temps hovering around 0. The woods seem so sterile when 8" of fresh snow covers everything. Hunting from Christmas to the end of season is just as enjoyable as any other time out there. COME ON SNOW!!!!!!
I too enjoy late season hunting. However, it's two days until Dec. and it's 62 degrees here in central IL. Come on cold weather.
Many of you guys don't even know what cold is. If you want to know what cold feels like hunt the Northern half of MN in Dec. Where I live...the average low temp in Dec is around 0 degrees (which is what you would have getting into your stand in the morning)....average high is about 20 degrees. Too cold for me! The coldest weather I have ever killed a buck in was around 10 degrees...later in Nov a few years ago.
"Many of you guys don't even know what cold is. If you want to know what cold feels like hunt the Northern half of MN in Dec" "Cold" is all relative.
I know...Shadow....just giving some of you more Southernly located hunters a little crap... I wish it were warmer up here.
20-30 degrees to us is COLD. With the wind blowing 10-20 mph and it being 20 degrees or so...now that is cold to me. But when I am bundled up, I just laugh and enjoy it! I am sick.
I do enjoy it, and I'll relish a few late-season sits after I rest and regenerate some now... I've got some spots I can count on doe movement like clockwork. Somthing about the crispness of the air and being able to see your own breath, and know that you're one of an elite few that's up in a tree holding a bow at that time of year.
