Late season hunting
I either suck at It or the bucks are somewhere else catching up on what they didn't eat during the rut. Late season mature buck hunting In my woods has always been tough. In 15 years of serious mature buck hunting I haven't saw one mature buck In my woods from December 15th to the end of our season December 31st. We get snow most of the time so tracks would be there If they'd be there one would think. I've went through one end of the woods to the next In recent years after the season Is closed and hardly ever do I find a decent track of a good buck. Early season they are there, during the rut- sometimes, sometimes not (that's the rut for ya). Nothing much this year though during the rut. The doe's and fawns are still In my woods but the big bucks seem to move somewhere else late In the year. I know for a fact allot of them head west across the road from the woods I hunt (200 acre hay field and another 200 acres of river bottom). That hay field Is there every year and I believe that's my Achilles heel In the late season. After the deer season Is closed my brother has permission to trap this 400 acres for coyotes and on a couple different occasions I've went with him and we've bumped P&Y bucks when checking traps. We've seen as many as 6 P&Y bucks In a group of 20 deer. I don't think there's much I can do about It unless I would leave 50 acres of corn standing on our land. The guy who rents our ag land won't go for that I'm thinking.
Anyone else have a similar problem? What's a person do? Punt?[8D]