Hunt trails leading to and from food plots for late season success.

Learning the whitetails feeding habits can help you figure out where to set up to get a shot at one of the big bucks after the rut is over and food becomes critical for the deer to survive the harsh winter.

I like to look for trails leading to and from food plots or crops and set up down wind of these trails. I like to get close to what I believe is the bedding area, but not too close that I let the deer know that I am there. That is why it is important to make sure the wind is in your favor and be as quiet as possible to avoid being busted by the whitetails.

Yesterday was the last day of rifle season here in Kansas. But I still plan on doing some serious deer hunting.

Locate food sources for great late season deer hunting.

I haven’t been able to harvest a whitetail this deer season but I’m not giving up just yet. I plan on setting up on the trails that I have found leading to the corn fields where I am deer hunting. If you have food plots on your property just find the trails leading to and from them and get close to the bedding area in the transition area. The big bucks can lose up to 30 percent of their body weight during the rut. So once the rut is over they start feeding like crazy to replace the fat they lost to get ready for the tough winter months ahead. If your property doesn’t have food plots or crops look for acorns or grasses, if the frost has taken it’s toll on the grasses and the acorns are gone the whitetails turn to browsing on maple, red and white oak, cedar, sumac, basswood, apple.

It may be late deer season, but that doesn’t mean it is over yet. If you are having a tough time harvesting a big deer like me, don’t give up just yet.

It only takes one hunt to make a great season, if things haven’t worked out for you this year the way you had hoped, don’t let it get you down. The main thing is to keep trying and be persistent. Persistence pays off, hard work pays off. I have a friend that harvested the biggest buck of his life many years ago on the last evening on the last day of the season. It was New Years day and I had already given up on getting a trophy whitetail that year but he hadn’t, he was in his stand right before dark on the last day of the season and just before dark he shot the biggest whitetail of his 55 years of hunting. So even if the rut is over and my chances don’t look too good I’m not giving up just yet. I look at it like each time I go and don’t see anything the better my chances get at harvesting that buck of a lifetime. And food sources are going to be the way I plan on getting that monster.

Deer Hunting Big Bucks

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I am hunting a very nice area with crops, water, cover, and lots of deer sign such as scrapes, rubs, tracks, etc… I know I am hunting a huge buck because the rubs that I have found are huge. I have been hunting a little to close to the crops and have decided to change my hunting strategy. I did a little stealth scouting on my last hunt and have decided to hunt closer to what I believe is the bedding area, a really thick hardwood ridge with a huge grown up CRP field on one side and a huge cornfield on the other. I just haven’t had time to scout this piece of property so this past Sunday I decided to sacrifice some time hunting in the stand to scout and find a better place to hunt. The Kansas rifle season opens this week and hopefully my scouting will pay off. It is somewhat different here than in Georgia in that the Kansas rifle season opens this week and the rut is pretty much over. I believe the full rut in Kansas where I hunt was from Halloween this year to about the 6th or 7th of November, the very time I was bowhunting in Illinois. Oh well one of these days I am going to time the rut just right and get one of these Kansas big bucks. I haven’t given up just yet even though I’d say it is about the bottom of the seventh inning if you know what I mean.

Ronnie harvested this buck deer hunting in Georgia in Lincoln county.

I received some more pictures from my buddies in Georgia with a couple of nice bucks they took back in my home state. Ronnie killed this great buck in Lincoln county in Georgia.

And DHBB Pro-Staff member Troy took another fine Putnam county buck. Congratulations on your bucks guys, I sure miss hunting in Georgia.

Deer Hunting Big Bucks Pro-Staff member Troy with another fine Georgia buck.

Deer Hunting Big Bucks

• June 13, 2010 -- Trail Camera At The Top Of My Deer Hunting Checklist (0)
• May 9, 2010 -- Favorite Deer Hunting Big Bucks Video (4)
• April 25, 2010 -- Things That Will Improve Your Deer Hunting Property For Big Bucks (4)
• April 4, 2010 -- Time To Prepare Your Deer Hunting Food Plots For Big Bucks (0)
• March 20, 2010 -- Shed Hunting Producing Some Nice Whitetail Sheds (1)
• March 13, 2010 -- Headed To Deer Hunting Property To Look For Big Bucks Sheds (1)
• January 9, 2010 -- Sun Goes Down On Another Year Deer Hunting In Kansas (1)
• December 20, 2009 -- Big Whitetail Bucks Hit By Cars Every Year And My Last Chance Deer Hunting This Season (6)
• December 7, 2009 -- Deer Hunting And Some Coyote Hunting In My Sunday Best (2)
• November 22, 2009 -- Deer Hunting Heats Up In November Big Bucks Down In Georgia (1)

By watching food sources during the summer you can figure out the deer feeding patterns.

Big bucks increase their body weight quite a bit during the summer months into October. You can use binoculars or a spotting scope during the summer months to watch deer feeding. It is important not to disturb the deer so using a spotting scope is a great way to monitor the deer feeding without them ever knowing you are there. By monitoring the food sources during the summer you will be prepared to pick a great spot to get that trophy whitetail once it is time to go deer hunting.

Figuring out deer feeding patterns during the summer months will help you find great locations for deer hunting.

In my opinion the deer prefer acorns over any other food source. I know there are people who disagree with me but that is my opinion. So around late July or early August it is a good idea to start looking for acorns and if you have acorns dropping in a funnel area that should be a hot spot for whitetail activity.

If you have corn on your property the whitetail activity probably won’t be heavy in the corn until it starts to mature in late September or early October.

Glassing fields can reveal great places to hunt once bow season rolls around. You want to locates fields where there is lush food sources available ( such as clover and alfalfa) and field edges with thick cover nearby are a great place to look.

Another great place to scout is where there are fruit trees or an orchard. Whitetails just love the sweet taste of apples, pears, persimmons, etc. You want to look for trails leading to the trees and setup on the downwind side. If hunting an orchard it is best to setup near the trees bearing the most fruit or even better on the trails leading to it. Look for trees with the most fruit on the ground with the most droppings.

By focusing on areas that have food water and cover and glassing these areas during the summer you will be able to choose great stand locations and increase your odds of harvesting a trophy a trophy whitetail this upcoming season.

Deer Hunting Big Bucks

• July 14, 2010 -- Sweet! Deer Hunting Behind The House (4)
• June 13, 2010 -- Trail Camera At The Top Of My Deer Hunting Checklist (0)
• May 25, 2010 -- Diversify Your Deer Hunting Property For Trophy Whitetails (0)
• May 9, 2010 -- Favorite Deer Hunting Big Bucks Video (4)
• April 25, 2010 -- Things That Will Improve Your Deer Hunting Property For Big Bucks (4)
• April 14, 2010 -- The John Breen Buck And Shed Hunting (1)
• April 4, 2010 -- Time To Prepare Your Deer Hunting Food Plots For Big Bucks (0)
• March 20, 2010 -- Shed Hunting Producing Some Nice Whitetail Sheds (1)
• March 13, 2010 -- Headed To Deer Hunting Property To Look For Big Bucks Sheds (1)
• January 18, 2010 -- 15 Year Old Takes Giant Missouri Buck Deer Hunting With Bow (6)

When deer hunting especially during the rut "hunt where the does are".

Last year was my first time deer hunting in Illinois and it was a trip that I will never forget. I look back on it and at first glance it all seemed so easy, but the more I think about it it was a tough week of deer hunting. The last day of  the hunt the four of us had not harvested a mature buck and we were all mentally and physically exhausted. Deer hunting and scouting hard all week in unseasonably warm temperatures had worn us down. But to all of our credit we hunted hard all week. I remember thinking about each spot I had scouted and trying to figure out the best place to score on a trophy buck. And something my buddy kept telling me kept popping into my head, he said “hunt where the does are”. I knew this, but kept hunting the fresh rubs and scrapes which are great places to hunt, but there was a place on a trail that I used to walk back into the hardwoods to a spot where there were some big fresh rubs and scrapes were where I was hunting, but at this one place each time I was walking through there I saw 1 or more does. So on the last hunt of our trip I’m walking back down the same trail at about 5:30 am with my red lens on my flashlight and once again right in the same spot where I had seen does every time, I walked up on two mature does, they didn’t appear to be spooked at all they just slowly walked off. So I start down the trail to the spot deeper in the woods where the fresh rubs and scrapes I had been hunting were and the light bulb in my head went off, my buddy kept telling me “hunt where the does are”. So I made a u-turn and went right back where I had seen the does every time I had walked through there, and immediately shined my light looking for a tree to get up in my portable and the very first tree I shined my light on right on the trail was perfect. So I put my portable on the tree and up I went. Now it was hard to decide not to hunt the fresh scrapes and rubs but I decided to do like my buddy had said and “hunt where the does are”. I got settled in and watched the sun slowly rise. A cold front had moved in the night before and it was about 32 degrees  and the big bucks had to be near going into full rut. I was pumped, and about 6:50 I decided to do a little rattling and grunted and bleated a few times, then I waited a few minutes and repeated the calling. Then I sat back and anxiously waited. Then I saw horns coming towards me about 75 yards away and I did a grunt and it was like he was on a string. The trophy buck came in to about 30 yards and I was able to put a great double lung shot on the brute and watched him walk about 15 yards and lay down and expire. I had just harvested my first big buck with a bow. And I did just like my buddy Mac had said “hunt where the does are”. It was hard to not hunt where all the big fresh buck sign was but by hunting where the does were I was able to get a big trophy whitetail bow hunting in Illinois.

So when deer season rolls around and you can’t decide where to hunt, especially during the rut just “hunt where the does are”. You will increase your odds of harvesting that once in a lifetime trophy buck.

Deer Hunting Big Bucks

• July 14, 2010 -- Sweet! Deer Hunting Behind The House (4)
• June 13, 2010 -- Trail Camera At The Top Of My Deer Hunting Checklist (0)
• May 25, 2010 -- Diversify Your Deer Hunting Property For Trophy Whitetails (0)
• May 9, 2010 -- Favorite Deer Hunting Big Bucks Video (4)
• April 25, 2010 -- Things That Will Improve Your Deer Hunting Property For Big Bucks (4)
• April 14, 2010 -- The John Breen Buck And Shed Hunting (1)
• April 4, 2010 -- Time To Prepare Your Deer Hunting Food Plots For Big Bucks (0)
• March 20, 2010 -- Shed Hunting Producing Some Nice Whitetail Sheds (1)
• March 13, 2010 -- Headed To Deer Hunting Property To Look For Big Bucks Sheds (1)
• January 18, 2010 -- 15 Year Old Takes Giant Missouri Buck Deer Hunting With Bow (6)

A hunting map can be an invaluable scouting tool to help pinpoint the best places to look for big bucks.

I don’t know if hunting map is an official term but that is what I call the maps I use for deer hunting.

There are three different ones that really come in handy, topographical maps(topo), aerial photos, and plat maps. My favorite hunting map is the aerial. A hunting map can give you information that can help you figure out the best places to ambush big bucks.

Each type of map gives a little piece of the big puzzle to pinpointing the best location to locate the most dense deer sign and interpret the sign and pick out the best place to get that trophy buck.

Here are some of the advantages of each type of map.

• Topographical (topo) map- The different lines on it allow you to locate valley’s, ridges, and benches on the side of a ridge, also streams, roads, and sometimes buildings. Also a topo outlines in light green where the woods are located.
• Plat map -  Show Rivers, streams, roads, buildings, and the always important property boundaries.

• Aerial photos – Allow you to evaluate not only the deer hunting property where you hunt but the surrounding areas as well. They can help you locate food sources, bedding areas, funnels, travel corridors, fields, wood lots, streams, ravines, and roads.

By using all three of these maps you can pinpoint places that you want to focus on scouting when you actually get out in the field. By studying these maps and using the information you gather from each one you can really cut your scouting time in the field quite a bit because you can locate places that are likely to have dense deer sign before you ever step foot on the property. Of course there are some places that you might overlook on the maps that you might not find without getting out and walking the deer hunting property.

A hunting map of your deer hunting property can help you figure out that trophy whitetail.

The closer it gets to deer season the less walking you want to do on the property. The less human activity there is on your deer hunting property the more sense of security the deer will have. Those big bucks didn’t get big by being stupid they get real smart when human pressure increases.

One of the places I have bought maps from is mytopo.com they offer great maps and are have good prices. I have been very satisfied with their products and services. You can visit their site here.

Another great place you can visit is Google Earth it is really neat. So stop by and check it out sometime. You can check it out here.

The earlier you start scouting the better your chances of getting that trophy whitetail of a lifetime. Maps are a great scouting tool that can help you be successful this upcoming deer season.

Deer Hunting Big Bucks

• July 6, 2009 -- Using A Trail Camera On Your Deer Hunting Property (2)

Scent Control is very important when deer hunting.

Although I know hunters who smoke and don’t pay any attention to the wind or scent control and they have taken several nice big deer. But you know how the saying goes, a blind squirrel gets a nut every once and a while or something of that nature. I just believe if you are serious about deer hunting and harvesting mature trophy bucks on a consistent basis you must pay attention to wind direction and scent control.

There are many good products on the market to help you with scent control.

There is one noise that makes a hunter cringe when in the woods (other than a nearby gun shot) a deer blowing at you is a bad feeling. Although no matter how hard you try to control your scent sometimes it is damn near impossible to keep deer from smelling you when deer hunting. Especially if the wind direction is shifting. Even if it is shifting I feel much more confident if I take a few steps to control my scent. I wanted to list a few things that I do to keep my scent at a minimum.

1. The first thing I do is wash my hunting clothes in some type of liquid clothing wash for hunters. I like the way the  autumn blend smells.
2. Store your clothes and boots in scent proof bags and maybe throw in a few pine needles or scent wafers or some plain old baking soda.
3. Take a shower before going hunting using a scent eliminator soap
4. Use a scent away anti-perspirant deodorant. I like the Hunters Specialties brand.
5. Keep your boots in a scent bag until you arrive at your hunting property and are fixing to go hunting. Don’t ever pump gas in your hunting boots.
6. Use scent eliminator spray and cover scents
7. Pay attention to wind direction and use it to your advantage
8. Don’t smoke or dip while hunting. This one is a hard one for me, I do dip in the woods even though I know I should not.
9. Wear light clothing when walking to your stand to avoid sweating and put on more layers once you are at your stand or in your stand.
10. If the wind shifts and is not to your advantage you will be better off to change stand locations. This is a tough one it can be a tough call to get up and leave a location once you are in the stand but if you are serious about harvesting mature trophy bucks you must pay attention to wind direction.

By paying attention to wind direction and doing your best to control your scent you can put the odds in your favor for a mature trophy buck.

Deer Hunting Big Bucks

• July 14, 2010 -- Sweet! Deer Hunting Behind The House (4)
• June 13, 2010 -- Trail Camera At The Top Of My Deer Hunting Checklist (0)
• May 25, 2010 -- Diversify Your Deer Hunting Property For Trophy Whitetails (0)
• May 9, 2010 -- Favorite Deer Hunting Big Bucks Video (4)
• April 25, 2010 -- Things That Will Improve Your Deer Hunting Property For Big Bucks (4)
• April 14, 2010 -- The John Breen Buck And Shed Hunting (1)
• April 4, 2010 -- Time To Prepare Your Deer Hunting Food Plots For Big Bucks (0)
• March 20, 2010 -- Shed Hunting Producing Some Nice Whitetail Sheds (1)
• March 13, 2010 -- Headed To Deer Hunting Property To Look For Big Bucks Sheds (1)
• January 18, 2010 -- 15 Year Old Takes Giant Missouri Buck Deer Hunting With Bow (6)

Deer Hunting Big Bucks

• March 25, 2009 -- The Second American Revolution (0)

When shed hunting a great place to start looking is around food plots and feeders.

I haven’t been able to go shed hunting this year but I would really like to soon. The big bucks should have dropped their antlers already. These are some before and after trail camera pictures I wanted to share with you, of one of the big bucks we have on our deer hunting property.

Trail cameras are a great way to know when the big bucks have shed their antlers on your deer hunting property.

Do you use a trail camera to help you figure out the big bucks on your deer hunting property? When you go shed hunting on your property where do you start out? I like to start in food plots and on trails, and near feeders and trails leading to and from them. Looking for that trophy whitetails rack is another fun part of deer hunting.

It will soon be time to plant those spring and summer food plots. Have you gotten your soil samples yet? Getting soil samples before you plant your spring and summer food plots and applying lime accordingly can improve your spring and summer food plots tremendously. I have seen plots that barely produced at all, but when soil samples were done and the correct amount of lime put out they showed great improvement and were lush and green! Get out and get those soil samples if you want to be sitting over a nice green plot come deer season.

Now that spring is here the does will be giving birth soon. After a gestation period of about 202 days. Some will give birth to twins usually one buck and one doe. During the summer bucks and does will be busy eating alot of their favorite foods in their region. Sometimes eating 10 to 12 pounds of food a day. During the summer they eat a lot of grasses, clover, alfalfa, and berries. As the days become longer the incresed daylight will cause a change in the bucks growth hormones causing his antlers to grow. I can’t wait to see the big bucks start growing their antlers.

Deer Hunting Big Bucks

• April 14, 2010 -- The John Breen Buck And Shed Hunting (1)
• March 20, 2010 -- Shed Hunting Producing Some Nice Whitetail Sheds (1)
• July 14, 2010 -- Sweet! Deer Hunting Behind The House (4)
• June 13, 2010 -- Trail Camera At The Top Of My Deer Hunting Checklist (0)
• May 25, 2010 -- Diversify Your Deer Hunting Property For Trophy Whitetails (0)
• May 9, 2010 -- Favorite Deer Hunting Big Bucks Video (4)
• April 25, 2010 -- Things That Will Improve Your Deer Hunting Property For Big Bucks (4)
• April 4, 2010 -- Time To Prepare Your Deer Hunting Food Plots For Big Bucks (0)
• March 13, 2010 -- Headed To Deer Hunting Property To Look For Big Bucks Sheds (1)
• January 18, 2010 -- 15 Year Old Takes Giant Missouri Buck Deer Hunting With Bow (6)

I am currently searching for all the help I can find to help me figure out the best last minute strategies hunting for deer. Or should I just admit that my last minutehunting for deer don’t seem to be working? Not just hunting for deer, but a trophy whitetail on our property that is on one of our trail cameras quite often, we have a couple of big bucks on camera, but the biggest one is a brute. But guess what? He comes at night. If I could harvest him he would score bigger (by far) than any buck that I have ever harvested in my 28 years of hunting. And I am loosing sleep at night trying to figure out where this big boy is hanging out during the daylight hours. He is very smart and very nocturnal. strategies

So I have been doing some studying and I have decided to find the thickest area on our property. I am studying aerial photos and topo maps. Whitetails like to bed just over the edge of a ridge where they can look downwind for some distance and smell any danger approaching them from behind. I am trying to imagine that I am one of those big bucks and start thinking like him. The thing is once you find the thickest stuff now you look at it in relation to the food source he is using. The whitetail rut is all but over, and food and water are his number one priority now. By studying the trails leading to and from the bedding area, if most of the tracks on a trail are going to the bedding area I will hunt that in the morning, and if they are leading away from the bedding area I will hunt that trail in the evening. I will try to get as close to the bedding area in the thickest stuff possible. The big bucks love the thick stuff when the pressure is on and it’s late in the season. Now I have to admit that I don’t enjoy hunting where there is a limited sight distance, but by doing so this time of year I will definitely increase my odds of harvesting a mature trophy whitetail.

There are 13 days left in our season here in Georgia, time is definitely of the essence, but I haven’t given up just yet.

Deer Hunting Big Bucks

• January 11, 2009 -- Hunting For Deer Leases (3)

What about where you hunt? Are the deer still rutting? It is interesting to get feedback on the rutting activity in other hunters properties.

When we were in Illinois I was amazed that we weren’t seeing much big buck sign(scrapes and rubs). We knew there were big bucks in the area but I was expecting there to be big rubs and scrapes everywhere. Maybe the hot weather we encountered when we arrived had a lot to do with it. The big ten pointer I harvested was huge. He was definitely the biggest buck I have ever taken. He was well over two hundred pounds and had an unbelievable amount of fat on him. Maybe that’s why they just don’t move when its hot. When the weather changed and got colder you could definitely tell, we started seeing more bucks immediately. The first morning it was nice and cold is when I rattled in the ten pointer.  I think we were there right at the beginning of the rut and while we were there the bucks were in full rut at my club in Georgia. Then when I came home the rut was winding down. The does that were not bred or didn’t get pregnant will come back into heat in about twenty eight days. Although by then the bucks urge to breed has decreased, studies have shown that sperm production in bucks is almost half of what it was in mid November, in December. Not that they won’t breed they will, but survival becomes critical and rest and food are their main concern. They need to gain some of  the weight back that they have lost from the rut, in order to survive the winter. Therefore, I will be concentrating on hunting trails to and from the bedding area to the feeding areas.

Deer Hunting Big Bucks

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Deer Hunting Big Bucks

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