How to Tag a Buck on Public Land in December

In December, skittish bucks gravitate to timbered areas with browse and security cover and stay there. Photo by Jeffrey Wiles.

If you hunt public land, I don’t need to remind you how tough a gig it is. After all those long, hard, deer-less days and weeks, you might be on the verge of hanging it up for another year. But I urge you to persevere, because the potential reward is worth it. Killing a buck — any buck — on public land late in the season is never easy. But keep grinding and do it, and it will be a day you won’t soon forget.

FOOD AND COVER IN TIMBER

Right now, the last best scraps of mast and forbs for deer are too random and scattered to find and hunt efficiently on a large national forest or wildlife management area. You’re better off to take a more holistic approach and check aerial maps for clear-cuts, selectively thinned areas, log landings or maybe old burns. Every public area I’ve hunted from Alabama to Virginia to New York had multiple timbered spots with edge, browse and security cover that concentrates deer. In December, pressured and skittish does and bucks gravitate to these areas and stay there. Studies show that when deer find a security area where they are not disturbed, they often live out the season there in 100 to 200 acres.

Start out looking for a cutover or thinned woods younger than five years old, which will typically hold the most deer. A variety of young greenery and saplings provide browse, and the cover is good; head high to a buck. Cuts and thins 10 years and older are common on many national forests, and don’t overlook them. Although these areas appear overgrown and obviously have plenty of tangled cover, they still offer edge and browse for deer. Sometimes, there’s leftover mast that has fallen inside that cover, and deer will find it.

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KEEP CAMERAS ROLLING

Carry at least two trail cameras (five or six are better, especially on a huge clear-cut) and set them on trails that go in and out of cover, or along cutover edges with fresh tracks and old rubs. Use cellular cams if they are legal and have a signal in your area (attach them with cables and locks if you’re worried about cam pirates). You don’t have much time left to hunt, and you need to find the cover deer are using as soon as possible. If you get an image of a good buck moving in daylight, note the time, and be there the next day. A buck needs to eat and rebuild strength now, and he’s patternable.

HOPE FOR A LATE RUT

I never plan to hunt a second rut — too iffy — but if it happens, great. A study at Mississippi State found that in mid-December, you might get lucky and see a flurry of late rutting on a WMA or national forest where does far outnumber bucks (the case on most public areas). There aren’t enough bucks to breed all the adult does during the November estrus cycle. Some 28 days later, the “missed” does come back into heat, and they will attract bucks — maybe to the cutover you’re watching. The study found that bucks 2.5 years and older do most of the late breeding, so you might yet shoot a good deer.

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OUTWORK THE COMPETITION

Researchers at the University of Georgia Deer Lab tracked hunter behavior on two WMAs. They found that the average distance from hunters’ stands to the nearest road or parking area was only 250 yards. About 90% of hunter activity occurred on only 51% of the public land, with low or no pressure on the remaining areas.

See, you probably won’t have to hike in as far as you thought to get away from other hunters this time of the season. Check an aerial photo for a cutover or old burn a half-mile or so from the nearest road. Pack gear, trail cams and maybe a climbing stand on your back, and go for it, hunting as many days as you can till the bitter end. Your biggest worry might end up being how to get a buck back to your truck.