The Guide to Late-Season Whitetail Hunting

Hunters should not let the word "late" make them feel pressured or lure them into predicting how their season or seasons might end. Hunting in cold weather for bucks offers plenty of potential, namely for whitetails.

How should you approach a late-season hunt? Keep reading for our go-to tactics if you want to put meat in the freezer or antlers on the wall.

Bring Your Focus Back to Food

In the late season, if you can identify the food source deer visit the most, you'll have a great shot at filling your freezer.

During the rut, bucks may lose up to a quarter of their body weight. Therefore, bucks are in full "recharge" mode as they try to pack on weight before the harsh winter months. 

Through December and beyond, deer aim to conserve energy by using the path of least resistance. So, set up on main trails leading to and from food sources while keying in on high-carb foods near bedding areas. Focus on highly palatable food sources such as corn, soybeans, acorns, brassicas, and cereal grains.

The trick is to find quality forage where deer feel secure. Whether on public or private lands, remote food and cover options that give the illusion of being unpressured by hunters all season long can create a golden opportunity for hunting. 

Find Solar and Thermal Bedding Areas

Deer stick closer to their bedding areas as winter approaches because they are trying to conserve energy.

Different types of bedding cover are essential for deer. During the winter, patterns shift.

On clear days, to detect bedding areas for deer without spooking them, search for south-facing slopes or any areas facing south, otherwise known as solar bedding areas. These slopes appeal to deer as they warm up faster by catching the sun's rays for longer periods and blocking cold northern winds during winter. 

Thermal cover, such as dense woods, thickets, and cedar patches, can also appeal to white-tailed deer during cold weather. During rain, snow, and overcast, deer will tuck into thick cover to escape cold winds and weather.

Does tend to prefer these types of bedding areas in the wintertime, and where there are does, there are typically bucks.

Recognize the Importance of Tree Cover

A significant area of concern while winter hunting is tree selection. With the lack of foliage at this time of year, many early or mid-season trees are now less than optimal because the cover in the woods is gone.

When looking for trees to clear out for winter hunting, finding ones with background cover is very important. This kind of cover can take the form of other trees behind you or branches on the tree you're in, just as long as you don't have an open sky behind you, leaving your silhouette easy to pick out.

Good sources of background cover included large crotches, conifers, and oaks that have held onto their leaves.

Take Advantage of Afternoon Sits

In the North, where snow and cold conditions are the norm, early morning deer sightings can take a lot of work to come by. Like the early season, focus on afternoon food source movement opportunities.

With the confidence that HuntCast will deliver the best days to be in the woods, take advantage of hungry whitetails in search of food sources to replace the energy reservist needed to survive the harsh winter months.

Quality, unpressured whitetail habitats are not very common for this time of the season. So, you can bet that if you locate the perfect combination of food and cover, you will have found the deer-hunting version of whitetail gold!

Remember to Scout

Late season is the perfect time to hit the whitetail woods to scout.

At this time, hunting season signs are still clearly evident and critically important. Winter signs often reveal patterns that do not relate to hunting season signs.

At the start of the late season, whitetail stick to fall hunting season deer movements and eventually return to predictable patterns before the rut. However, as winter intensifies, patterns shift. If you wait too long in the late season to scout, confusing winter deer patterns with important fall hunting season deer movements is easy.  

Wear the Proper Gear and Dress Warm

A late-season whitetail hunt is a good time to layer your clothes. However, wait to put on the outer layer until you are in the stand.

By the time November and December roll around, you can count on it being cold, snowy, and downright miserable at times, but achieving success favors those with tenacity in the woods. Quality late-season hunting outerwear is designed to retain body heat, so it typically incorporates some form of insulation between its interior liner and exterior shell.

Our friend Jeff Sturgis shares more about the best late-season deer hunting gear in this video below.

Use These Strategies and HuntWise for Late-Season Whitetail Hunting Success

The late deer season can be a rewarding challenge if you can brave the cold weather and snow while sticking to the basics of afternoon food source movements. There are several strategies for hunting late-season whitetails, and the same tactics apply whether you are bowhunting or using a firearm.

When December rolls around, there is still a lot of deer hunting to take place. Just because the rut is over doesn't mean you can't find some fantastic hunting late in the season. So get off the couch, get out there, and punch that tag!

Remember: if you need to upgrade your winter gear – or any gear – or you don't yet have the right stuff to keep you warm when hunting during the winter, HuntWise subscribers can save hundreds on gear from our partners. It's the gear we use and love in the field with exclusive discounts for our subscribers!

So, make sure you have the app to help you plan your hunt and mark deer behavior patterns that differ depending on the season. Then, use your discount to collect the gear you need for a warm sit in your stand or blind as you wait to tag that blizzard buck!

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Content updated June 17, 2024.