Late season buck HELP PLZ!!!!

[Jlabelle92]

Hi everybody,

want to start off by saying thank you for any help in advance.

Ive been hunting for 4-5 years now and continuously run into the same issue… nocturnal bucks!!!

every year I have a decent amount of bucks coming to corn and apples which I keep stocked but it’s only ever after dark. 4-6. This year I have a 10 at one location and at the other I have a 8/9, a 6, a 4, a spike. The odd time I’ll get one on camera within like 10 minutes of the half hour shooting window… but I’m usually working obviously.

does are plentiful at both stands… up to 5 doe/fawn mix at a time on a single picture. I don’t know if it’s the same ones feeding at both stands. I’m not sure exactly total how many are feeding off my piles.

ive tried doing research on how to proceed with my situation but to no avail… other than tracks in the snow I can’t find much sign. Most of the videos on YouTube which I can find are American and I’m not sure what relates and what doesn’t.

so my main questions with the end of my hunting season being this coming Sunday evening would be…

- how should I proceed? Am I screwed and should just sit on the bait piles and hope one slips up this year?

EDIT: if anybody knows of a place I could find all the right information and how it relates to hunting in Ontario that would be helpful!! I’m in zone 55A. It could be information from early season, to run, to bedding, late season, off season. ANYTHING helps!!!

thank you.

[sabmgb]

have you tried different spots in the bush you hunt, to late for this season, unless you start bow hunting. I know in the bush I hunt it took me years to find a couple of spots where the deer traveled during the day. I now see deer pretty much any time of the daylight. I don't have my cameras turn on at night as I figure I can't shoot them anyway, so they come on for legal shooting or close to it. When I first started hunting this bush I never saw a deer, now I see them all the time in legal shooting times. So my only suggestion is to move your cameras to different spots and see if you can find where they are moving in legal times.

Oh and welcome. nice to see someone asking for advise not locations. Good luck someone on here will probably have much better information than I do

[Marker]

Mature bucks know the game, they have been shot at over bait piles before.

Try hunting 60 yards downwind of your bait, hunt high in the tree, practice good scent control, and most importantly: only hunt when the wind is in your favour.

[werner.reiche]

American info is useful. Deer in the US are the same we have up here.

Big bucks are smart, and the problem you are having isn't unique to you.

Some tips:
- figure out where the buck is coming from to your bait and hunt his staging area, not the bait pile
- double check that the your path to your stand has the wind in your favour (in 55A area, this means an approach from the south or east)
- never hunt your stand with a bad wind
- turn down the heat at your site - don't hunt it more than once a week
- if you have a cell cam, stay away until you see the buck show up in daylight hours

When you're getting near the end of the season - last couple of days - likely sit on the bait pile as as much as you can. Looks like you're going to have about +4 and rainy for the weekend, so not an ideal situation. The real time to be out is when a front moves through - like last Sunday/Monday - but I'm guessing you were at work then (me too).

BTW - No guarantees. I'm in 55B. I've done all of the above and only visit once a week to restock and the big buck I'm seeing still only shows up middle-of-the night.

[Gilroy]

Not much to add to this except to say the weather plays a lot in hunting sucess. Back 30 years ago by this time of year we could have feet of snow and very cold temperatures. Those elusive bucks would still be in to your bait piles as they need to put on weight after a rought rutting period. Bucks are so sneaky that they are probably moving around during the day hours, but it takes a lot of detective work to figure out where. Most of us who are not living on the land year round have much more challenges in relation to time to figure these things out.

[canthitathing]

Werner's reply is pretty much bang on if you had more time. However, with the end of your season at hand, I'd throw caution to the wind and pick up and follow one of his fresh tracks in the snow (based on camera proving the track is his and hopefully it's big enough compared to others to be able to keep on it when mixed with others). It might be an all day stroll (I'm assuming you are hunting crown land and can wander at will) but be ready for a snap shot especially when the tracks turn downwind. Ideally you can see the tracks far enough ahead so that if they do turn downwind, you can parallel them at a bit of a distance rather than be right on top of them.

If nothing else, it will give you the info you need as to where he goes that will help for next season,

[bellerivercrossbowhunter]

I haven't deer hunted in December in a very long time. I have been tagged out for the last 5 years by the first controlled hunt.

I did however party hunt with a family member that still had his buck tag over the Christmas break a few years ago.. Cold and miserable and zero deer to be seen...

[Jlabelle92]

I haven't deer hunted in December in a very long time. I have been tagged out for the last 5 years by the first controlled hunt.

I did however party hunt with a family member that still had his buck tag over the Christmas break a few years ago.. Cold and miserable and zero deer to be seen...

that was very helpful… thank you.

[Marker]

EDIT: if anybody knows of a place I could find all the right information and how it relates to hunting in Ontario that would be helpful!! I’m in zone 55A. It could be information from early season, to run, to bedding, late season, off season. ANYTHING helps!!!

thank you.

Pick up a book called 'Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails' By John Eberhart, he hunts Michigan which is close to Ontario in terms of deer habitat and hunting pressure. He has U-tube videos also but they are not connected together like chapters in the book, for someone just getting started his videos may seem like a pieces of a jigsaw puzzle where the watcher does not know what the whole picture looks like. The book puts it all together. He is over the top in his hunting strategies as he targets record book deer antlers, but if you do 50% of what he says you will be successful in putting meat on the table. For a nocturnal mature deer like you described showing up on the trail camera, you will need to put in the same effort as he does. For me, I fit into the 50% effort and I usually fill my tag.

Good luck in your hunting.

[werner.reiche]

Pick up a book called 'Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails' By John Eberhart, he hunts Michigan which is close to Ontario in terms of deer habitat and hunting pressure. He has U-tube videos also but they are not connected together like chapters in the book, for someone just getting started his videos may seem like a pieces of a jigsaw puzzle where the watcher does not know what the whole picture looks like. The book puts it all together. He is over the top in his hunting strategies as he targets record book deer antlers, but if you do 50% of what he says you will be successful in putting meat on the table. For a nocturnal mature deer like you described showing up on the trail camera, you will need to put in the same effort as he does. For me, I fit into the 50% effort and I usually fill my tag.

Good luck in your hunting.

That's a good reference book. Deer hunting info from Maine or Michigan (particularly the UP) has more in common with this part of Ontario (55A) than hunting info from farm country in southern Ontario would. But don't get too hung up on the specifics of Ontario deer. It's not like the Ontario deer are different.