The late season thread........
 

So who is hunting a second primitive weapons season this year? What state, and what is your plan? Do you change your equipment at all or go to a lower weight/shorter DL bow?

I am determined to fill a doe tag at least with a bow this year during late season, I have next weekend and then 11/26 to 1/1 in PA.

I just got done throwing together a Bengal from the shop and tomorrow night I will get it sighted in and tuned up. Hopefully I can let it sing, I have a doe tag in both NY and PA, as well as a ML/Archery either sex tag in NY. There are more big ones left out there at both of my main patches.

RE: The late season thread........
 

We have till Jan 15 here in MO...hunting is quite a bit tougher now that firearm season is over. I could have filled a couple more doe tags, but in my old age I must be getting soft and have let them all walk. I'm still in search of that first archery buck!

I shoot my same set up but I focus more on food sources and bedding areas...At least, that's the plan. [&:]

RE: The late season thread........
 

Does anyone notice that they bed sooooooo much closer to food sources now?

They are still hitting the turnips hard now and even during daylight. Problem is they are bedding 40-50 yards downwind of the plot. You can get into a blind within about 100 yards of them cross wind, but thats about it. Man they are sneaky this time of year..............

RE: The late season thread........
 

This is my second year bow hunting and I have yet to fill my archery tag thus far. My fall semester in college ends this week and since im layed off I plan to hunt almost every day that I am free in order to bag one, buck or doe, doesnt matter to me. Ive go a nice spot on some public land where there isnt TOO much pressure espcially during late season bow. So I hope to pull one out, good luck to yall!:)

RE: The late season thread........
 

Oh yes they are bedding within 20-25 yards of a corn field by me, I set up in between and hope to catch them coming for food or going to bed down. down!

RE: The late season thread........
 

I'll be back out most likely. As others have said I'll be in the thick stuff along travel routes to the recently picked corn. Trick is getting in and out without jumping them.

RE: The late season thread........
 

I was out tonight and plan on going out 1-2 times a week, weather permitting, through the end of bow season here in IL. I didn't see any deer from stand, but my dadhada group of does come into ourBiologic Green Patch Plus plot and start digging for greenfoliage. They really seem to be hittingour plots hard since it snowed.

And you're right, all the deer are bedding much closer to food now. If you have a good plot or secluded field you can pattern them fairly easily. I'm on doe patrol as I'm out of buck tags, but I won't personally shoot one unless I can get it on film. I also have two friends, one a rookie hunter and the other with a lot of bad luck, who I'm gonna help try to get a deer as well.

As for my equipment, I dont' change a thing. Wear some additional clothing and stock up on hardwarmers and that's about it.

Oh yeah - broke two of the fibers on my Copper John Dead Nuts sight tonight. Not a huge deal as I can replace them easily enough during the off season. Also not as big of a deal as I'll be in the market for a whole new setup come Feb/March. ;)

RE: The late season thread........
 

Good hunting! Hope you get a shot at and hit what your aiming at first.:D

RE: The late season thread........
 

I'll be back out the day before Christmas. Shotgun season runs thru next weekend.
I think I'm going to use my last day of vacation on the 27th.
I have until Jan 10th to fill 2 tags.

RE: The late season thread........
 

I'm giving it a go for this last week of late archery. I think I have a pretty good game plan of what I want to do anyway. I've been scouting a little area of my landfrom afar during the last week of gun season and have seen several deer hanging in an alfalfa field the last 10 minutes of light almost every night. Problem is they're not bedding too far away from there. I'm going to take my climber and try to sneak up a tree between the field and where they are bedding without jumping them [:-](i hope).
Plan B is to hunt a big patch of thick bedding area where i have a couple tripod stands set up. This place holds big bucks. It's only 30 acres, but it hasn't had a single human in it since September when I trimmed around the pods and cut some trails so I can get there nice and quiet. I leave it alone purely for late season archery. The way the neighboring hunters lands work out, they all get pushed over to my little sanctuary.[8D]

Besides that there's always praying I see a buck at this stage of the game.:D:eek:

RE: The late season thread........
 

Haven't been seeing much at my local stand inIl. They're still coming through but probably at night. Plan on going to Wi once or twice before the season ends.

RE: The late season thread........
 

The bad news here in Western PA is that the last week of archery and the first week of rifle season were both very poor weather for hunting: unseasonably warm weather, clear skies, lots of moonlight. As a result, the least amount of hunting pressure caused the deer to go nocturnal and relative few (at least, fewer than normal) were taken so far this year.

The good news is that there will likely be a large number of deer still available for the late archery season.

The area around Pittsburgh (2B) is problematic: unless you can find a small plot where no one would consider hunting with a gun, the huge number of available doe tags will insure that plenty of shotgunners (and a few high powered rifle shooters in the areas of 2B outside Allegheny County) will be in the woods looking to fill their freezers: not a great situation for an archer and downright dangerous if you don't wear orange (which is not technically required for an archer in 2B but should be).

However, the remainder of PA (except Pittsburgh and Philadelphia) will be flintlock muzzleloader/crossbow or archery only. Nobody around my property in Cambria Countyis interested in flintlock, crossbow, or bow, so I will have the area to myself. There is a lot of left-over cow corn to provide good deer grazing until the snow covers it, so if the deer are as numerous and relatively unscattered as I think, I should have a good chance at a doe.

I also have a tiny patch of woods near my parents house in 2B: too small to use any kind of firearms and very convenient including a ladder stand for a last minute hunt.

I have a buck in the freezer at present; I would like to add a doe before the year is over.

RE: The late season thread........
 

Im deffently hunting the late season. we can use gun but i will be using my ow untill i at least shoot one more doe.

And yes they are bedding close to food. Like in the morning there just coming in to the woods like 20 yds and layin down.
But there also herding up. The other night i saw over 40 deer in one group. Never seen that many at one time. Normally for the spot its 12 to 20 but not 40+

RE: The late season thread........
 

I've been using the same game plan all season long.......and it's helped me tag 5 deer with archery tackle. I simply follow the does. Right now....I know where they live. So....I catch them heading out for the evening....or coming home in the morning. It's worked for me all season. They vary their route OUT.....based on their needs.....but they're predictable once you've found out where they're exiting their bedding areas.

I've got another tag to fill if I want to......but I may go back out with only the camera.

Jeff

RE: The late season thread........
 

Our 2 week long firearms season just finished up on Sat and 2 weeks of MZ starts this coming Sat. I watched a herd of 14 does milling around in my front yard yesterday around sunset and I know where they're coming from. However, setting up a stand in there may be nearly impossible if they're bedding on the dge as they did last year in the late season. I was set up this morning at the back edge of my property and had a decent 8 or 10 point come in while it was a bit too dark and bed down 25 yards away from me. I glassed him and could see 4 points on the beam closest to me and part of that beam was hidden. He was young though so I hope he makes it another year or two. I'm planning on giving it a go this afternoon and might take a doe to give to one of the people on my list who want one.

RE: The late season thread........
 

I'm going to get out this weekend and try and get another one on the ground. I still have a buck tag and do tags, so hopefully I can close the deal with one or the other. I'm sticking with all the same gear though.

RE: The late season thread........
 

Tagged out.:D I know Jeff/Germ....I know.;)