HOW TO TAKE A BUCK ON THE LAST DAY OF DEER SEASON

EDITOR'S NOTE: Preston Pittman of Canton, Mississippi, has hunted his entire life for many different types of animals and still enjoys white-tailed deer.

QUESTION: Preston, let's pretend that the last day of hunting season has arrived, you haven't gotten a buck yet, and you have to take a buck. What are you going to do on the last day of deer season to bag that buck that you haven't been able to take all season?

ANSWER: Pray.

QUESTION: Well, after that, what will you do?

ANSWER: Hopefully by then, I'll have built up enough knowledge about what's going on. I'll always revert to a funnel because funnels have always been good for me. I'll look for a funnel going from a food source to a bedding area. It depends on the amount of pressure that has been put on the animals I'm hunting in that area. If the pressure has been relatively heavy, I'll be pushing a lot closer to the bedding area.

QUESTION: Why are you hunting so close to the bedding area?

ANSWER: If the buck already has experienced a fair amount of pressure, odds are he's already turned nocturnal or semi-nocturnal.

QUESTION: So the buck will be staying in thick cover?

ANSWER: Yes, because he's been chased, shot at and now is scared. He's run out in front of cars, he's seen hunters walking by, and he's had dogs running after him. That's why I've said that the odds are that he's nocturnal or partially nocturnal.

QUESTION: So, you're trying to catch him going to his bedding spot just before good light?

ANSWER: On the last day of the season I'll go to my stand earlier both in the morning and in the afternoon than I have the rest of the season. I'm going in a good hour before first light. I'll move into the woods much earlier too in the afternoon to give everything time to calm down. Then there will be no noise, and no rattling if my gun happens to hit the stand, or whatever may happen to make noise.

QUESTION: So, you'll concentrate your hunting close to the deer's bedding area?

ANSWER: Right, because the only times I will vary from that, and I know it sounds like I'm contradicting myself, are when I hunt deer in what are known as off periods, especially if the deer have been pressured. By 9:00 a.m., most hunters are gone from the woods in the late season. Come 3:00 p.m., hunters usually are going into the woods. But they will follow that pattern only sometimes. Remember that while we're trying to learn their patterns, the deer are trying to learn our patterns. That's true at any time of the year, but especially in the late season. Hunting those off times will pay off. You'll be sitting close to a bedding area from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., see a buck stand up and think, "Where did he come from?"

Check back each day this week for more from Preston Pittman...

Day 1 - Secrets To Taking Deer During The Pre-Rut And The Rut
Day 2 - What Kind Of Scrapes Make A Good Hunt
Day 3 - How To Hunt During The Full Rut
Day 4 - How To Hunt During The Post-Rut
Day 5 - How To Take A Buck On The Last Day Of Deer Season

John's Journal