Best Late-Season Tactics: An Interview with Two Whitetail Greats

According to Merriam-Webster, a mastermind is a person who provides direction and creative intelligence for a project. Though I'm not referring to the hunting and hopefully harvesting of a target buck as a project, it does require considerable creative intelligence. A western bowhunter addicted to the pursuit of white-tailed deer, I've chased mature bucks across the many landscapes of this majestic country. Does that make me a mastermind? No.

Michael Jordan is a mastermind. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are masterminds. Neither are deer hunters, but they were the very best in their sport; creative innovators who provided clear direction for their teammates. There are many masterminds in the whitetail world. Many of which we will never read about, watch on YouTube, or see in a flashy Instagram reel. Other whitetail masterminds stand firmly in the whitetail limelight — individuals who make their living studying and successfully hunting North America's favorite game animal. For me, two come to mind regularly; two hunters I follow with extreme interest and take their advice to heart.

Like the Jordan/LeBron GOAT debate, there are definitive whitetail GOATS. One could make many cases for who the whitetail GOAT is, but Mark Drury has to be in the conversation. Drury, AKA the Mad Scientist, lives, breathes, and sleeps all things whitetail. Drury and his team even created an app, DeerCast, that guides hunters through the various phases of the whitetail rut. The current phase, which runs through most of December, is dubbed Feedback.

Obviously, and it doesn't take a whitetail guru to know this, biologically expendable bucks will transition back to a food source after primary breeding. While a late-cycling doe or fawn is possible, bucks know that does will be at food sources, which gives them a two-for-one opportunity. Bucks can feed and sniff for a late-cycling female.

The trick is knowing which food sources bucks will target, and, according to Mark Drury, those sources revolve around weather.

"If Mother Nature brings in brutal post-rut temps, deer — bucks and does — will seek larger agricultural grain sources," Drury tells. "If temperatures are warm in your area, don't give up on food. Bucks still need to eat. Bucks can lose more than 20 percent of their body weight during the rut. No matter the weather, they will want to focus on food. If the weather is warm, green food sources will be a favorite. Bucks will transition from green to grain on a day-in, day-out basis depending on the weather."

Drury preached the importance of low-impact wintertime scouting. He noted that trail camera placement should shift to food sources, and that hunters — gun and bow — should revert to hands-on glassing during the mornings.

"You want to pay extra-close attention to where deer enter and exit a food source," Drury continued. "Chances are good they won't be traveling far from bed-to-food and vice versa, which makes morning hunting difficult. However, if you put your glass to work and pair hands-on recon with your camera studies, you can unravel a pattern and know when and where to strike."

If Drury is the GOAT, Hunsucker is the KING. Michael Hunsucker, host of Heartland Bowhunter, is one of the most brilliant whitetail minds I have ever spent time around. He is a late-season magician. Hunsucker hails from Missouri, and when I dialed him up to chew the fat concerning this article, he was taking a much-needed break.

"It's been a magnificent year," Hunsucker said. "I killed my biggest buck ever in Colorado in October, and things have rolled along well since. We get two tags in Missouri, and currently, I'm working hard to fill my second archery tag."

According to Hunsucker, the buck he's dueling has come out on the food source he's hunting five of the last six times he's hunted the buck.

"Clover is so powerful during the late season," Hunsucker said. "A lot of people will say the deer ignore it, but I've seen them dig in the snow to chew on clover. We love it as a year-round green source."

Hunsucker went on to tell me that though he's been bitten by Murphy's Law each time the buck has appeared on the green field, he will catch up with him sooner or later.

"They have to eat," Hunsucker said. "Post-rut bucks are slaves to their bellies, and whether green or grain, they are going to eat. They are looking to replenish their lost fat supply and pack on pounds for the brutal winter months ahead."

Like Mark Drury, Hunsucker prefers cold weather when hunting post-season bucks, but the wintertime whitetail warrior doesn't mind the first few days of a warmup.

"Cold weather is great," Hunsucker said. "However, too many bowhunters spend their entire winter waiting on a front. I really like the first few warm afternoons after cold weather passes through. It seems when a south wind blows and the air warms, bucks still want to get up and move around during December. Many bowhunters are in the fourth quarter of their whitetail season. If you don't have a cold front, you should still get out there and hunt."

Hunsucker, like myself, likes to roll the dice and go against established whitetail grains when possible. Hunsucker told me several times during our discussion that too many late-season hunters also count out mornings.

"I get it," Hunsucker said. "It's a bad, bad thing to let a buck, especially a late-season buck, know that you're hunting him. However, mornings can offer excellent late-season hunting. If you're doing your homework, paying attention to your trail cameras, and spending time behind your glass, you should have a good idea about where deer are feeding and bedding. It's not uncommon for late-season bucks to be tardy as they head back to bed. I've seen them linger in a field well after sunup. If you know where he's feeding and where he's bedding, and you can get in between without bumping him, a morning hunt will be one of your best chances to arrow the buck you're targeting."

Final Thoughts

While my whitetail season began like a ball of fire, killing mature bucks in Wyoming and Oklahoma, things cooled off in November. I had two encounters with my single target buck in Colorado. He winded me after I rattled him in. I knew it would be touch-and-go with the light, variable wind, but I rolled the dice, and he won. Then, on November 29, I watched the buck leave a grain field and head directly for his bedding area. I was in between.

As has been the story with my Colorado season, there was no wind to speak of, and when I made an almost whisper-quiet "mrrp" the buck turned inside out and dashed full speed away. Like many of you, I'm late in the fourth quarter, but if I keep getting out and follow the advice in this article, chances are good I'll be standing over a heavy set of antlers before the new year.

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