Unless you are deer hunting on a MLD property, there are only a few weeks left in the season.

Traditionally, most hunters are in the woods from opening weekend until Thanksgiving weekend.  After this, many shift their attention to duck hunting or family activities during the holidays.

However, if you still have a buck tag left, the late season can be a very productive time of year to hunt. By December whitetail bucks are sometimes a bit tricky to hunt, but with the right tactics you can put the odds in your favor.

Through the years, I have been fortunate enough to tag a few late season trophies, and here are some of the strategies I found useful.

Whitetail bucks don’t get too big by being stupid. By the time December rolls around, you can bet that they have learned how to pattern hunters.  Most hunters are fairly lazy like myself and they drive their ATVs to and from the stand. It seems as if the deer know when they are being hunted.

A good strategy is to have someone drop you off at your stand so the deer hear the ATV keep going.  It sounds simple, but I have seen this work many times. Many times I have seen deer appear 30 or 40minutes after the driver leaves the area.

Hunting in the middle of the day can also be a very effective late season tactic.  Most of the hunter activity is focused around dawn and dusk and deer seem to notice. Sometimes a mid day sit is all that it takes to find a big bruiser with his guard down.

Hunt thick cover.  With the season wrapping up, it’s now or never.  This is a good time of year to slip in the dense areas where the big boys hide.   Be sure to keep the wind in your favor and move closer to bedding areas. It’s a good idea to get to these stands well before daylight in order to catch a big one coming home after a night of roaming.

Pay attention to food sources.  As the season nears an end and the weather grows colder, a good food source can be the perfect spot to ambush a trophy. Many wise bucks will avoid feeders but seem to go crazy over hand corn.  Slipping in to hand corn a spot once a week with a plan of hunting it the last few days of the year is not a bad idea. If you run a trail camera in the area, you might be surprised how much daytime activity you see. By late December bucks are worn out from the rut and need to replenish their energy, so they are never far from something to eat.

Finally, by all means, hunt the rainy days. At the end of a long season, it doesn’t take much for me to turn off the alarm and sleep in instead of hunting.  However, a cold, rainy day, as miserable as it may be, is a great time to kill a big buck.  I don’t always see deer during the rain, but when it stops for a while the activity usually picks up.

In conclusion, the more time you spend in the woods, the luckier you will get. Often times hunters feel that all of the trophies have already been shot.  Remember next year’s trophy is alive and well today.  I hope these tips help and your season ends with a BANG!

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Brian Johnson, originally from Port Neches, is pastor of the Outdoorsman’s Church in Winnie, owner of DuckDogTrainer.com and the outdoors writer for The News.