Holiday Hunting Double Dose to Finish 2016

Running 8-Point Buck from 12/17/2016

The to do list heading into Christmas week means last minute shopping for Christmas gifts for almost everyone, but for deer hunters it also signals a last chance to harvest some venison for the freezer. With both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve falling on the last two Saturday’s of the calendar year, it’s like getting two extra special chances at tagging a buck or a doe. Other seasonal pursuits can easily be mixed in such as a holiday dove hunt, watching bird dogs work for quail, and don’t forget the Christmas goose.

            

Most holiday hunting is enjoyable due to cooler temperatures and the arrival of winter, but the 15-day forecast through Christmas and New Year’s Day looks to be unusually warm. With only one hard freeze so far in December, there is a chance that we don’t see more frost until 2017. Deer hunters will have to make the most of it though since the clock on the final season without buck limits is ticking down to a conclusion at the end of the day on January 1.

A lack of cold weather could translate into a lack of deer movement, and less need to feed heavy at corn piles and food plots. A buck with an 8-point rack likely knows that it’s a waiting game now until the hunting pressure drops off like a stone falling into a wishing well on January 2. But it’s never too late to take down a quality buck, and my personal best late harvest came on December 29 of 2011 when an 8-pointer stepped out, after a season of paying dues.

To view the entire feature article in the newspaper click Colletonian.

To view past Big Buck Harvests click on Hurricane Matthew Buck - 2012 Bear Island Droptine Buck - 2011 Youth Hunter - 2013 Cooper Buck -  2012 Cedar Knoll Ten-Point - 2012 Twelve-Point Buck - 2012 Draw Hunt Buck - 2012 Halloween Buck - 2013 Donnelly WMA buck - 2014 Gnarly Buck - 2009 Dog Pen Buck - 2011 Rosser Buck - 2012 Crandall Buck - 2011 Man Drive Buck - 2011 Birthday Buck - 2010 Bricketto Buck - 2010 McCarty Buck - 2009 Blogger Buck - 2011 Bowen Buck - 2011 Thanksgiving Buck - 2011 Savannah River Site Bucks - 2011 Santee Delta Man Drive - 2009 ACE Basin Driven Hunt - 2009 Thanksgiving Buck