December deer advice

This is the first time I will be hunting deer late. I will be hunting 5 days. Two of which will be bow and 3 of which will be controlled shotgun. Bow will be antlered while the controlled hunt is for both. I will be hunting solo.

Location:81a
Setup: 75acres mostly soy crop which has been cut. Property runs N/S with three small fields running E/W each is split by a very small hedgerow. Around all the fields is forest, mostly hardwood some low lying vegetation. Two stand locations. One is north east corner and one is on the west side 1/2way down, which overlooks the middle field.

Available "things":
- Small food block put out a week before
- buck jam etc
- bleat can
- antlers
- buck decoy


This is the first time hunting my sisters farm and my first time hunting this late into the year. Just hoping for some helpful hints and what tactics I should try.

Thanks!

I wouldn't use any calls or attractants for the first day or two. They can work for you and against you. Play the wind and try to reduce your scent by sitting downwind of their bedding area or travel route. Less is more when you're trying to figure the farm out for the first few days. I'd have a set of binos for sure!

i hope they winter up for you in your area. i think food is a main priority in december. from what i`ve seen in december, it`s not so much about the calling and more about hitting them on their travel routes. i havent been able to actually take a deer, but i`ve been able to get near quite a few, so take my crappy hunting skills with a grain of salt ;)
hope to see a picture of you with your deer!

If it's possible try and sit out a few nights before you hunt to see if they have a pattern.Watch from along distance away so you don't spook them.It's all about the food source in december.

I agree, food will be a big factor.... With a December hunt there is a good chance of snow on the ground and that should help with feeding routes/patterns.... Find the sign and hunt downwind of it...
Best of luck

I love December. I see the most deer movement late season. Including bucks mot seen in nov. Good luck. The wind is everything

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Originally Posted by fuel80guy

If it's possible try and sit out a few nights before you hunt to see if they have a pattern.Watch from along distance away so you don't spook them.It's all about the food source in december.

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If you can do this its your best advice imho and note wind and weather directions. It takes a couple years to pattern your deer but never discount the power of good old luck, positive attitude and some mental imaging of seeing that deer walk out in front of you.

Keep things quiet until the hunt but immediately following the week scout the area thoroughly for beds and follow tracks.... that will be the key to unlocking success in future hunts. Food sources change throughout the deer season and December is easily the most predictably.

Lots of food, that's what they need right now.

Thanks all!!! I might have one evening to scope things out before hand.

Sounds like binos and luck are what is needed most this first year!

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Originally Posted by bird blaster

Thanks all!!! I might have one evening to scope things out before hand.

Sounds like binos and luck are what is needed most this first year!

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You need bait more than luck, corn, carrots, sweet molasses lick and so on...

Saw the most deer last year in Dec. and took a nice doe Dec 21st.

This year the rut is still going .are hunt starts a week tomorrow. We do not get snow very often the first week of December in are controlled hunt.we hunt swamps hardwoods and crop land .and find deer in all these areas. The deer have not started to head to winter yards and are still on feed patterns. So find feed find deer ..number one way to shoot a deer is to find deer .scout find deer set up and shoot deer. Scouting is the number one way and the most important part of all deer hunting. Dutch

Calling and decoys ( feeding are the best ) are good for December,but you need to find out what their eating and where their bedding. Long range scouting to find travel patterns is a must. I love December, the does and bucks are very social and the young fawns are going into estrus and pairs of bucks will be following or pushing her , to wear her out.A nice social call will bring her right over and the bucks will follow. Nice time to spend in the woods.

get some corn if you can... whole not cracked..

they'll be hungry in dec.

There is so much corn on the ground were we are it's pointless to pay for corn to put out for deer this time of year .apple pumpkin pears carrots will work in front of a camera. Dutch

Deer eat a lot less corn than most hunters believe. Many years ago I share cropped my land and talked the farmer into planting corn. Well,we had a hot summer and the corn only got about 4 feet tall with little cobs. The 50 acres was yellow with cobs. I never saw a deer in day light after it was harvest and the crows ate it all by the spring. Lol,I lost a lot of money too. Standing corn makes a great bedding area because their double planted. The trails are easy to find.

2nd rut kicks in in December. If you are looking to shoot a buck, find out where the does are bedded and you might find a hot doe thats gone back into estrus.

Pray for some snow and if you see some urine with red in it, youve got ur hot doe and the bucks will be hot on her trail.

Or if youre just lookin to fill your tag for some meat, like the boys said...food is the key. The deer, and especially the bucks are trying to bulk up after the rut which can wear them down.

Good luck, have fun.

Again thanks all!

My sister and brother-in-law went out this past weekend and there is a lot of deer activity by one of the stands. They did setup a small foodpile for me north of the west sided stand. They have around 8cm of snow on the ground so that should be very helpful!

I am thinking of sitting tight in the stand for the first two days of bow to get an idea what is happening. For the controlled season if I don't have much action I will take to a few rattles and during the day get out and do some slow slow talking of the large bush area to the West and NW of the fields.

Should I use a buck decoy?

Getting excited to head out shortly for this!

First few days will be focused on a buck...the middle of the hunt will turn to meat and hopefully I don't eat tag soup.

Pick up some feed with molasses in it, you can thank me later LOL!!

Corn is king. Just sayin


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Thanks for all of the advice!

First day of hunting was with bow and a big 8 point and a good size doe walked out 5 mins before legal ended. Couldn't get the buck closer than 74yards. Doe came to 51 yards. Both too far for an ethical shot. Second day I saw nothing at all. Third day was a success in the AM a 4 point came out and was very curious of the decoy started to trot away but I grunted him back. 20 gauge accutip did the rest.

I ended up using deer protein blocks, "apple crush" pellets and molasses. Not a lot of acticity on the bait until I put the apples out.

Had a great time at my sisters farm. Already dreaming of that big buck for next year!

Awesome, that's what it's all about.


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Congrats! Sounds like you had a pretty exciting hunt overall.