Having a late-season Eastern Plains deer tag is pure torture!

Chris Madden shows the kind of whitetail bucks that inhabit the Eastern Plains. Photo by Ralph Zimmerman.

Last summer, December seemed like light years away. And to make matters worse, your hunting buddies keep inundating you with their trophy tales. Snapshots of monster bucks downed in previous months pour into the local sporting-goods store. It's all but impossible to turn on the television without seeing a wide rack.

But December, as well as it hid itself, has finally rolled around. Now it's your turn to attach that tag to a heavy-horned brute.

To help stack the odds in your favor, it's important to be savvy to the habits of both the whitetails and the mule deer that call the Plains home.

WHITETAILS
"Change" is the word that best sums up what hunters must do to capitalize on a late-season whitetail trophy.

Those days of wide-eyed wallhangers chasing hot does around the clock have come and gone. Rut-worn warriors are now running on a depleted fat supply and will be hitting the groceries hard. During the hours when they're not feeding, they'll take up residence in thick, nasty cover close to their food source. That gives you several options to explore.

Option 1: Field-Hunting
For rifle hunters, this very well may be the very best way to punch a tag on a December buck.

Deer quickly establish a feeding routine and, if left undisturbed, will continue in this pattern.

Your job is to pinpoint where deer are entering to find food, play the wind correctly, and set up a blind or tree stand within 150 yards.

When I'm field-hunting, I typically stick to evening ventures. Deer feed throughout the night. Embarking on a morning hunt greatly increases the risk of bumping deer, and that could change their pattern. (Continued)

Ralph Zimmerman has been chasing Eastern Plains deer for two decades and has 10 Pope and Young deer to his credit. He said that using a ground blind along a field edge -- if you do it properly -- is a great way to bag a late-season buck.

"The biggest mistake I see people make is popping up a blind and not taking the time to properly brush it in," said Zimmerman.

"You're hunting at eye level, and this changes things drastically. Plains deer are keen to any change."

Option 2: Trails, Transitions
During midday, pull on some rubber boots, spray yourself down with scent killer and follow a couple of trails off field edges, back into the timber. Look for areas where multiple trails intersect one another. Periodically throughout the day and night, deer will amble though them.

Many times, the buck that pops into the field just as shooting light fades is the same one you could have killed 20 minutes earlier, back in the woods.

When you're hunting in deep, a trail cam can be your best friend.

Zimmerman said that after the rut, the real monsters will slip right back into their nocturnal mode.

Option 3: Hit The Hay
If you hunt the bedding area, slip in under stealth mode and get into your stand under the cover of darkness. Now it's time to settle in and keep excess movements and noise to a minimum.

You have rolled the dice and entered the deer's domain. You will be hunting in tight quarters, and visibility will be limited, but he'll have no problem picking you out -- bedroom bucks miss nothing!

It may take hours for a big buck to meander from the field to his bed. Every fifteen minutes, let out a series of estrus bleats and buck grunts.

In most cases, the buck will appear suddenly, like a ghost. Stay focused and ready to capitalize on any split-second opportunity.