The whitetails of winter
Haven’t tagged out? There’s still time if you embrace the cold and follow these expert pointers for hunting post-rut bucks
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#3 FOLLOW THE MIGRATION
Will some bucks stay in their fall home range for the winter? If the area offers ample shelter and food, then the answer could be yes. In many regions of Canada, however, the deer will migrate to their wintering yards once the snow is a foot deep, greatly reducing available browse.
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Whitetails are most likely to travel to wintering yards in regions with large tracts of forest. They’ll typically congregate in large numbers in a low-lying frozen swamp area rimmed with a substantial forest of white cedar, which offers shelter and easy-to-access browse.
If such a migration takes place where you hunt, you can be guaranteed the deer will use the same migration routes, or runways, year after year. Adjust your plan of attack and reposition your set-up to overlook these traditional game trails, which quickly become packed with hoofprints amid the snowy timber.