The late season....who's ready?
(https://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h227/rnorris/47388884_2347803945261124_2890103847328415744_o_zps5irmetpd.jpg) (https://s65.photobucket.com/user/rnorris/media/47388884_2347803945261124_2890103847328415744_o_zps5irmetpd.jpg.html)
About half of the deer that I have shot on public lands are late season. The week before Christmas until January 10. sometimes the deer are grouped up where you cannot hunt them, but the woods are mostly vacant of other hunters, if it is cold enough. the inline muzzle boys mostly just ride around, get away from the roads and they will not ruin your hunt.
Some if my favorite days to hunt are the very last few days of season. It's always sad walking out of the woods after dark on the last night, but I really enjoy cold, snowy late season sits when I'm usually the only guy in the woods around here.
I am unusually pumped for late season deer hunting, and all I have left is doe tags :bigsmyl:
Some of my greatest memories are from hunting the late season. I truly love it.
Roger, your wool pull over just blends in perfectly. Those soft plaids are hard to beat. Those pics show that wonderfully.
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One of my late season stands. I'm excited too for late season and I have a Teresa Asbell Pathfinder in Timber Ghost patern on the way that'll be perfect in a tree or snowy ground blinds. Got the broad heads on my late season arrows all shaving sharp so we're ready to make it happen.
The asterisk marks the spot where I told Roger I was going to shoot a doe ((I'm also tagged out for a buck)
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my Asbell wool choice for late season ordered today and already shipped!
I love my pathfinder! Wear it all the time. Just layer underneath as needed.
The orange army packed it in Sunday here. Got the woods all to myself now. :shaka:
My favorite time of year to be in the woods I always save a few tags just for the month of december
Much planning, strategizing and implementation is expended each year for most productive late season hunting.
Many true biggins are starting to move again and have seen four different candidates as of late.
My confidence has been substantiated as I have seen many special bucks in December and January.
Would estimate that I will get in at least another twenty-five plus hunts.
Quote from: Trenton G. on December 03, 2018, 05:55:26 PM
Some if my favorite days to hunt are the very last few days of season. It's always sad walking out of the woods after dark on the last night, but I really enjoy cold, snowy late season sits when I'm usually the only guy in the woods around here.
Not many hunters around here either. I love it and the state land gets little to no pressure basically just a few of us but your right that last evening is a lonley odd feeling walking out for the last time of the year
Ray
I think you're on to something there. Looks like a great view
Gator, this is in a brushy funnel where four fingers of cover come together. That timber ghost pattern will keep me from looking like a blob in the tree
Quote from: Ray Lyon on December 03, 2018, 10:28:14 PM
Gator, this is in a brushy funnel where four fingers of cover come together. That timber ghost pattern will keep me from looking like a blob in the tree
Dang Ray you'll be dressed for success. I gotta ask what are your winter arrow brosdhead set up??
Been pretty quiet up here. Unusual for gun season. Just starting to get pics again. Kinda nice, usually takes a couple weeks before anything moves. Got me pretty excited. Good luck to everyone, it is my favorite time of the year.
Dennis
Gator, I'm using a 50# Northern Mist Ramer (reverse handle,string follow, Hill style longbow) tapered cedar shaft and Grizzly 155 grain heads. I'm very careful with noise both from bow and clothes in winter hunts. With cold temps, lack of foliage and some dead calm sits, it can mean disaster with jumpy whitetails fresh out of gun season. I find cedar arrows and Hill style longbows to be about the quietest setup out there. Asbell wool is also super quiet and a hand warmers tossed into the pouch on the front keeps my shooting glove hand toasty. I also keep my bow in my bow hand, so one of the wool gloves with the flip over mitten finger covers has a hand warmer tucked in the backside. There's no luxury of getting away with extra movement so everything is well thought out. Only lone wolf stands for me at this time of year too and If I'm in a tree it's lone wolf. Typically we have full snow cover iatter part of December so everything is white and tracking is easy. This picture was taken during a little mist of rain warmup and it got rid of most of snow but a day later and were back to full ground coverage.
As commented above, this is a great time to be in the woods and next to the rut, one of my favorites.
I usually have to wait until the last days of our season to ever get a chance to hunt with snow on the ground. And it's usually crappy, hard, ice covered snow that crunches with every step. So crimson stained snow, tracking a buck to his bed, or other such late winter wonders are almost foreign to me. I'm fact, there supposed to be a wintery mix come my days off this weekend.
I'm getting ready. I'll get to hunt a bit between the 15th and Christmas Day. With any luck those 10 days won't be rainy. It has been a very rainy fall here so far, and I have had to sit at home too many days.
I won't hunt in the rain or with rain on the way in. A washed-away blood trail is not a good experience. Snow, on the other hand...now that's nice.
Hey Roger. Just curious. Are you using a GFA shoulder/side quiver. I've never been a bow quiver guy and thought his quiver is a great alternative.
Vestry,
Roger uses Fred's quiver. I use something real similar that Ron LaClair has made for him by Art Vincent at Cedar Ridge Leatherwork and this style of quiver is fantastic. I don't like a quiver on my longbows (but don't mind on recurves). The Asbell quiver is really a quality piece of equipment.
Quote from: Vesty on December 04, 2018, 03:05:41 PM
Hey Roger. Just curious. Are you using a GFA shoulder/side quiver. I've never been a bow quiver guy and thought his quiver is a great alternative.
Yessir, I have used a GFA quiver since he brought them out. I have 2 or 3, but I still use the original one as my main quiver. Very durable.
Looking forward to getting out. Haven't seen much in a while. Lots of pressure. And the deer may be pretty spooked on the public ground I'm on post firearm season. Thinking I'll be doing some stillhinting and see what comes of it.
I haven't missed a late season in years...I love how quiet the woods are in late December and I have the place to myself mostly.
I'm in. Turkeys this morning and a antlerless tag starts Saturday.
It's Asbell's wool over wool for me in the late season
(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/winter-wool.jpg)
Patient and scrutinizing scouting today revealed the identification of two areas which appear significantly hotter than any of the multitude of ground sets currently in place.
Credit the fortuitous findings to going back to patterning deer primarily based on terrain.
The season is about to begin
Had a fresh snow Sunday night. I found where a bunch of turkeys were feeding in a standing corn food plot so I set my ground blind up. Tuesday morning I was waiting. 6 birds fed in the corn but stayed about 40 yds away. This morning I was there again. About a dozen hens and poults and 3 longbeards in easy shotgun range, still in the corn. I moved the blind into the corn. If they come tomorrow and don't get spooked I'll have them at 5-10 yds. When I got home I got out a chair and practiced a little bit. I'll be there in the morning and keep you posted. I'm not waiting for a Tom. I never shot a turkey with the bow so the first one there is in danger.
So ready.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181206/f87eae3b773a5e81573a96b9adc7b64d.jpg)
My Asbell Full Zip hooded jacket is strapped to my pack. It goes on when I get to my spot. Wool layered over wool. I was closer to hot, quite a ways from cold yesterday.
A Timber Ghost Pathfinder is on my Kzoo shopping list.
Deer moved late. Cam in just at last legal light, but they stuck out like sore thumbs. Watched their silhouettes and heard them crunch on acorns at 10yards for 45min til they finally meandered off to the next oak.
Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk
Where I live [AZ] the late season really gets started in Jan. That is when the Coues rut starts, the muley rut is starting to taper off. The best weather to hunt in. We get some rain. Rain=quiet walking The Javi season starts then as well. Its not often we get a double season anymore. My favorite time to hunt. Good luck to you all.
MAP
I was there this morning. 6 birds showed up but I think they were a little leery of the blind. They stayed about 20 yds away on the edge of the the corn. Dang! I left the blind there so they can get used to it. It's gonna get really cold for a few days so I won't be back til the big chill is done, but it's not over yet!
Yimbow
Stay with it sir. Turkey with a bow is never easy. Been at it for 20+ year's. With that said, something is making them Leary. It's not the blind. Movement in the blind, a reflection, light behind you. Something to think about. I personally have never seen a turkey even acknowledge the blind was Eve there. I set them in the dark, middle of a field. Watch them fly down into the decoys. 10 yds from the blind.
I would look at the details. Hopefully this helps. Thanks
Dennis