Adjust your tactics when hunting heavily pressured whitetails in January. A well-timed move or two might just put you in position to drop a winter wall-hanger.
Daniel Dilley was still-hunting along a creek, deep in the swamps of central Mississippi, when he heard something crashing and making a commotion in the thicket nearby. Instead of continuing on to his stand, he stopped and got serious.
“I heard what I thought was a buck scraping a tree and making a rub,” said Dilley, who is from Forest. “I quickly pulled out my Primos grunt call, so I got to grunting, and directly, he pops out on the creek coming straight to me.”
“Tic-Boom!” Dilley’s .300 Magnum roared, and the buck collapsed in a heap, the victim of a seasoned hunter who read the signs and listened to the sounds and used it to his advantage almost immediately.
Dilley had used the buck’s natural mating urge against him by grunting, and the wise, old trophy buck, which weighed more than 200 pounds, sported long tines and 23-inch main beams, succumbed.
“Last January, I was hunting that swamp bottom when I came across a creek run along the edge of a swamp and a thicket,” Dilley said. “As I walked along the creekbed, I noticed the deer had been traveling up and down the creek, on both sides. As I hunted and scouted, I found a lot of fresh rubs along the creek, so I made plans to hunt the area later.”
As it turned out, Dilley didn’t have to wait long; the first time he hunted the area, he heard the buck and called him up the first time he hunted him. His kill was relatively quick, and the time of death was noted at 4:30 p.m. A word of caution to hunters is in order; if you come up on hot buck sign, don’t ignore the proof that he’s working the area, start hunting him right then.
Hunting the January rut
“The rut is still going on in January where I hunt near Forest, and by then, the bucks have had a lot of hunting pressure, so they’re going to get away from most of the hunters if they can,” Dilley said. “I try to find food sources around thick areas where the deer are focusing and do my hunting right there. I find places like that along swamp bottoms bordering the edge of briar thickets, pine thickets and bedding areas.”
Since the deer have been hammered hard by January, Dilley tries to think outside the box when determining where the deer were when they vanished.
“I like to go as deep into a swamp as I can go to get away from the other hunters, and I like to pinpoint any food sources close to their bedding areas and get as close to that as I can without spooking the deer,” he said “Depending on whether you’re hunting morning or afternoon, you can intercept bucks going to or from their bedding areas.”
Dilley likes to hunt all day if it’s possible, but he’ll hunt any time he can given the chance.
Look for scrapes, fresh sign
Early in the fall, deer can be easily patterned, but those patterns change as the weather cools and food becomes scarce. Dilley knows deer are constantly on the move and changing patterns due to food availability, hunter pressure and their natural rutting activity.
“If I find active scrapes, I’ll hunt them no matter when I find them, but most of the time, I try to get as close to where they’ll be hiding,” Dilley said. “The last few years, I’ve hunted more off the ground with my bow and rifle so I can scout for deer and find sign, too. I’ll work my way through the woods while using my binoculars to spot deer as I’m moving forward really slow.”
On some of his reconnaissance hunts, he’ll spot deer moving through the woods before they can spot him, a direct result of his stealth and keen eyes. While he’s hunting along the edges of thickets and transition areas, Dilley is always doing long-range scouting.
“I like to hunt a beaver run that the deer are crossing, and I might be able to see 100 to 125 yards in a place like that,” he said. “If the weather turns really cold and frigid, the deer will be on their feet more to find food and stay warm, and your chances are better at spotting a good buck, especially during the late season. There will still be some rutting activity, with some does coming into estrous late in the month.”
It’s not uncommon for hunters to see multiple bucks trailing a doe in January, as most does have already been bred and the ones coming into heat will put out a powerful scent bucks just can’t resist — no matter how many suitors they may have. It’s survival of the fittest, and if he makes one wrong move, a buck may pay for it with his life. The older ones are the hardest to find, but they are susceptible to making mistakes during the late rut as well. Hunters like Dilley will make them pay if they slip up and give them a glimpse.
A January afternoon cruise
Although he prefers colder weather, Dilley’s going to be in the woods every chance he gets, because there will always be some deer on the move.
“Most of the bucks I kill during the late season are cruising and looking for does,”he said. “I’ve seen a few chasing does in late season, but they’re kind of hard to kill when they’re chasing and running does, but I have been successful sometimes.”
Dilley’s son, Aidan, was hunting with him last January when he took a stand in a travel corridor that had a deer trail crossing through it.
“Aidan watched some does come through, and a little while later, a nice 8-point buck came trailing the does through like a dog trailing a deer,” Dilley said. “Aidan put the crosshairs on him and made a killing shot on the 51/2-year-old buck.”
If you see a doe or two come past your stand, be on full alert, because just when you least expect it, that old buck may come trailing behind, sniffing their scent trails. They don’t always chase wide open, but they sometimes follow does for miles until they tire or come into estrous and are ready for the buck.
Warren County water buck
“Around the first week in January, a friend of mine called and said the time was right and to come on over to hunt,” Dilley said. “It was really hot, and I almost didn’t go, but I drove over there early one morning and got up in a stand. The property I was hunting was a 400-acre block that was surrounded by deer clubs and also had a beaver pond in the middle of it, so I took a stand right there. It didn’t take long before the deer started moving through the area, and I saw five or small bucks crossing in ankle-deep water. There were a couple of dry humps coming up out of the water, and they were crossing near them.”
Dilley hunted from daylight to noon, got down and went back to his truck to take a break and eat some lunch. Since the action was pretty hot, Dilley didn’t tarry long, getting back to his stand about 1 o’clock.
“I saw several bucks and does crossing the water, and things were really getting good,” Dilley said. “About 2, I heard the water splashing and some kind of commotion and looked up, and a couple of does were splashing through the slough. The sun was shining bright by then, and I could see a big rack shining bright as a buck was running the does. When he got to the big humps I hollered, and he stopped, and I shot him at 120 yards. He fell on one of the humps.”
The buck was the 13th Dilley saw that day; it was quite an impressive buck and a trophy anywhere in Mississippi. The massive 9-pointer weighed 240 pounds and sported long tines to go with an 18-inch spread and nearly 24-inch main beams.
If you’ve got a beaver slough or flooded bottom, you might want to put a stand where you can watch where the deer cross, because they don’t pay any attention to water. They’re not usually bothered by hunters when they cross flooded bottoms, sloughs or creeks, so that’s in your favor if you have an area where they can cross undisturbed.
If you’re looking to fill that late-season tag then you might want to take a few tips from Dilley’s playbook and try them for yourself; you just might harvest the buck of your lifetime.
Daniel Dilley’s late-season tips
- Get as far away from the crowds as possible and hunt near the deer.
- Hunt creek crossings, beaver sloughs and flooded bottoms.
- Hunt near bedding areas and intercept bucks coming to and from their beds.
- Find late-season food sources and hunt near them.
- Hunt the edge of thickets.
- Make sure you’re hunting a stand with the wind in your favor.
- Stay in the woods as often as possible and never give up.
- Learn to use a grunt tube properly.
- Scout throughout the year and look for fresh trails, rubs and buck activity.
- Hunt areas that have deer trails frequented by does. Find the does favorite haunts and you’ll likely get a shot at a nice buck.
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