HUNTING ARTICLES Bed and Browse Bucks By Matt Adcock As the November sky fades into the sunset, you realize your chances of catching that monster buck trailing a doe are getting slimmer and slimmer. Do you continue to hunt for the does and the second rut, or go back to hunting feeding or bedding areas? Either way, it's time to hunker down and get serious if you want to kill that trophy of a lifetime. Hunting is similar to gambling, you have to play the odds. Early in hunting season, you often hunt for bucks in bachelor groups going from bedding to feeding areas. As the rut approaches, you often hunt does or doe groups hoping to find a buck following close behind. Now that the rut is over, you can continue to hunt the doe groups and the second estrus cycle, I just donot think the odds are in your favor for killing nice bucks on a consistent basis. I believe the best way to kill a good buck this time of the year is to go back to hunting the early-season pattern of bedding and feeding areas. However, along with changing where you hunt this time of year, be sure to think about changing how you hunt. Late season has frustrated more hunters than any other time of the year. Most deer have grown accustomed to our hunting schedules and have patterned us better than we'll ever pattern them. This is when it's time to shake up your hunting routine and keep those deer wondering what your next move will be. Change something about your hunting routine, whether it be the time you hunt, the direction you approach your stand? Try anything that is different. And stay in the woods. There's no way around it, if the deer are moving less during daylight hours, the only way to increase your odds of killing one is to stay longer in your stand. It was the second week of December last year when I was having a terrible time seeing deer. I had hunted five days that week and only seen a couple of deer, so I knew it was time to change some things. Instead of driving in to our Laurens County, Georgia, farm like I usually do, I opted to walk in. I walked down the property line and across a creek, taking the most non-intrusive route I could while still having a favorable wind. The half-mile, predawn walk to my stand certainly got my chest pounding, but at least it kept me from freezing. I was happy to see the two does as they slipped across the pines at 8 a.m., but that wasn't the highlight of the morning's hunt. I decided to climb down around 9:30 a.m., and instead of walking back out the way I had walked in, I took another route. I would quietly stalk down an old logging road that wound itos way through a thicket. I could look for fresh sign and quietly stalk my way back at the same time. I hadn't walked 100 yards when out of nowhere, a very large animal charged towards me through the thicket, making me retreat with fear. I was so startled that I took my gun off of safety in case I had to shoot in self defense. After a couple of seconds, I realized the animal had stopped its charge after about 10 yards, and there was only 10 yards of thicket left between us. It was only then that I figured out what I was dealing with, a very large and mature whitetail buck. He stomped his foot just like a bull, breaking and tearing bushes with every stomp. I could hear him snort with every breath. Having a perfect wind, the only thing I could think of was how to get a shot at this deer. After about 20 seconds of trying to provoke me, the large buck began to question if what he had heard was really another buck in his territory. He began to slowly walk towards my downwind side, and I slowly paralleled his movement. I almost cried when he turned and slowly walked away, leaving me with nothing but a racing heart. I was only 10 yards from this deer, and I still didn't have a shot. By varying my hunting routine, I was able to get close, I just couldn't seal the deal. Knowing you have a large deer bedded so close to your hunting area only increases your chances of success. Each encounter you have with a mature whitetail is a learning experience, and this time of year you're going to have to make use of everything you learn. Is there a second rut in Georgia? From what Iove seen in Laurens County, there is not a good second rut. A few does do come into estrus in December, and Iom sure there will be some pretty nice bucks killed following does this month, I just havenot seen enough buck intensity to classify it as "the second rut."I've seen mature bucks chasing does in January and February, but just because a buck is chasing a doe doesn't mean that it's "The Rut." To me, the rut is a time when mature bucks spend all of their time and energy to do one thing, breed does. After the primary rut is over, bucks are still eager to breed, they just don't spend every waking minute focused on breeding. Most mature bucks on our farm don't even shed their antlers until late March or early April, which makes me think that there is some late breeding going on. Most of us know that a mature buck will lose a lot of weight during the rut. This takes a staggering toll on the deer's body. Surviving the winter is now high on his priority list, and eating is the only way to regain that lost weight. Because bucks are now aware of hunting pressure, we must focus on feeding areas that are adjacent to bedding areas. This time of year, bucks will often bed in thick areas that can be browsed so that daylight travel can be avoided. This is why hunting clear-cuts and overgrown fields is often productive late in the season. What are the deer eating in December and early January? Here in southern Laurens County, most deer are browsing on Japanese honeysuckle and eating small grains like rye, wheat, and oats. Bucks prefer the honeysuckle because they can bed and browse in the same general area. If there are still any acorns available, they will certainly be eaten as well. White oak acorns would be great, but the deer on our farm have to settle for water-oak and post-oak acorns, preferring the post oaks over the water oaks. Soft mast like persimmons have usually all dropped by now, but deer will still walk by and check it, especially if a tree has dropped sporadically all year. If you've put in food plots, especially if you had the forethought to place them in or near thickets and bedding areas, then these can be great places to start relocating the bucks in December. That is if you haven't hunted the plot to death already. Not all small grains are created equal. Wrens abruzzi rye, stacey wheat, and oats are preferred by whitetails during the late winter months. But which is the best? Several years ago, I had the prettiest regal ladino clover plot in Georgia. It was beautiful, but the deer would walk through it to get to a small rye plot close by. That is when I learned the importance of fertilizer. I had put 300 pounds per acre of 0-20-20 on my clover early in the season. The rye, on the other hand, had just been treated again with liquid nitrogen. The deer preferred the plant that was growing the fastest. Whichever plot has the most fertilizer is the one the deer will prefer late in the season. A rule of thumb in my experience, if it's budding or growing, a deer will prefer it. Here's something else to keep in mind while hunting late-season bucks. The bucks that have survived this season know what areas are being frequented by humans and what areas are not. Itos time to find these areas that no one has hunted and focus your efforts here. Most of the time, these areas will look the same. They will be so thick with briers or so muddy and swampy that no one wants to even try to penetrate them. They offer limited visibility and just are not fun to hunt. This is where your buck will bed and browse. Every hunting club usually has one stand or area that no one hunts because "there aren't any deer in that area," or "no one's ever killed anything from that stand." Now is the time to hunt such an area. Remember, the first time you hunt an area is your best chance of killing a large buck. I can't emphasize enough the importance of rotating your stand locations. Bow hunter Tim Knight of Dublin, Georgia, has a similar approach to hunting the late season. Tim believes that the thicker the better for late-season hunting. "I like to hunt thickets that contain a lot of evergreen browse, like honeysuckle and greenbrier. I like them even better when they are located close to water like a grown-up beaver pond," Tim said. Tim believes that deer browse more in the late season because of depleted food sources and that the hunting in the afternoon is much more productive. This is why his main method of hunting the late season revolves around locating fresh sign near thickets and getting close to the deeros bedding area. He says, "Deer will get up and walk right before dark late in the season. You've got to be able to slip in as close as possible without getting detected." Light rattling and grunting are just a few of Tim's tricks that he uses while hunting the thickets late in the season. Bucks usually don't leave as much sign during the late season like they do earlier in the year. Scrapes go unworked, rubs fade with age. This is when you must interpret fresh sign like track width and droppings to locate your buck. Although most bucks don't work scrapes this time of year, I have learned from my trail-camera photos that they will work the licking branch over old scrapes. Large tracks associated with old scrapes can indicate that a big buck is still around. The most important part to hunting late-season whitetails is to simply stay with it. Don't get frustrated by the lack of deer sightings and give up. Just because the bucks donot seem to move as much doesn't mean you cannot kill them. Hunt the thickets, do your best not to be predictable, and you might just get yourself a bed-and-browse buck. Originally published in Georgias Outdoor News, December 2000. | |
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