This is it. When darkness rolls around on Saturday, the 2008-09 deer season will officially be over for Zone 1 in the state of Mississippi. Deer shot late Saturday afternoon will be cleaned and quartered in the post-season.
Don’t pass it up on the account that it’s only one day of hunting this weekend. There are plenty of bruiser bucks that survived and are waiting for your arrow or bullet to find them. After reflecting back, I have come to the conclusion that I have harvested six deer on Jan. 31.
I simply switch my tactics back to the early bow season. I hunt close to food sources, but closer to cover.
Pressure has gotten to the deer by now, along with the rigors of the rut. Even though Mississippi has mild winters, and Mother Nature really doesn’t stress our deer herd like she does in other parts of the country, the bucks are still stressed, and their body weights are down. Most does are eating for two now, also.
One approach I would try is hunting close to the public roads; particularly if you are hunting Noxubee, I would hunt near Highway 25. I know most hunters will tell you to get well off the beaten path if you want to be successful. In most cases, this is very true. But this late in the season, I’d go to the spots that have been consistently walked past.
I left Starkville on Highway 25 at 3:30 a.m. Sunday, driving toward the Jackson area. By the time I got to Louisville, I had seen close to 150 deer. Many were bucks, and several of those were good ones. With this information in hand, I would try to get between that highway and the closest cover, even if it means listening to cars go up and down the pavement.
This information also gives you a place to actually scout before Saturday morning. It may seem simple, but I would start driving the highway just before dark on Friday. I would come back again late in the evening, after midnight. I seriously doubt these deer are traveling two miles to eat the grass on the side of the highway. In other words, you can probably get a pretty good idea of where they are bedding by seeing where they are feeding at night.
Whichever method you choose, if any at all, will be the last for deer if you hunt north of Highway 84 and west of Highway 35. The folks lucky enough to hunt Zone 2 still have until Febr. 15. Don’t give up the last day of deer season to catch a party or attend some silly wedding or something. There is only one last day. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. TVs have recorders, people take pictures at parties, but you’ll get a ticket if you try to hunt Sunday!