Late Season Bow Tactics

[The Silence]

The place I hunt is very spread out cattle country. The deer numbers really seem to be down this year so trying to pin point their movement can be a real guessing game. I really want to use any snow on the ground to try to figure out more specifics about their movement patterns. I'm also thinking about using trail cams more than I usually do to help in this process. The place normally doesn't get hammered too bad during shotgun season but there will be some on the neighboring properties I'm sure, at least to some degree.
(1) How long after shotgun season ends do you normally wait for the deer to settle back into some regular feeding patterns?
(2) Do many of you guys use snowfalls to look at travel patterns of deer at that time? And if you do, how many days after the snowfall do you normally wait before you go out to check things out?

 

[Daver]

Lost of variables here, hard to provide specific advice because of that. If deer are not pressured during the slug season they should be pretty close to normal following the close of the second season...then it comes down to weather. You want cold, cold, cold...then you find their food source and hunt the afternoons predominantly. A blind is a good idea if you can do that too.

 

[goatman]

Daver gave some very good advice. I will be out today to check for tracks with this snow.

 

[Trapshooter1]

I'd be out in the evening glassing areas(just before late bow opened back up). Late season I'd be using fresh snowfall to my advantage and watching for fresh track going in and out of sections. Like said above COLD COLD COLD, and food food food. I wouldnt be afraid of a hang and hunt situation at all.

 

[The Silence]

Thanks for your input guys. Really appreciate it. One thing I've been doing the last several seasons. I'll use natural ground cover and set up on the ground using a ghillie suit. Even when I have a tree stand in a location, I'll always carry in my ghillie suit and a bucket in case the winds have shifted from what I thought they'd be or I see there's been some shift in the deer movement for some reason. I've saved several hunts doing this.