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Sunday at sundown will be the close of the 2023-2024 general whitetail deer hunting season.

There are still options for taking home some venison after Sunday, but not with a rifle. Technically a rifle can be used but it must be a muzzleloader unless of course you are a youth hunter.

Youth Late Season and Muzzleloader will begin Monday, Jan. 8 and will run through Jan. 21, 2024. One way to look at it is “after Sunday, only youth hunters and muzzleloader harvests will be legal.”

If all of the explanations have you confused, plan on hunting every day you can, including Sunday.

Typically by the time January arrives, East Texas deer have seen or smelled just about every hunter and trick known to the woods. Food sources may or may not be readily available which will increase deer movement. The rut is not a major factor as nearly all breeding has been completed but there may still be a few does in estrus.

Except for these rare “doe in heat” scenarios, the adult and trophy class bucks are most likely completely nocturnal. Catching one of these guys making a mistake is next to impossible. There are a few tricks the late season rifle hunter can use to close the deal before sundown Sunday.

Game cameras are key in learning what deer in a given area are doing. Many hunters have cameras at their food plots or corn feeders. The camera traffic around a food source/feeder can let a hunter know average times certain deer are visiting.

If you have a shooter buck on camera but he only shows up after dark, that is a good start. If possible determine from which direction the bucks arrives. Normally there will be active trails in and out of a food plot or feeder and most likely the hunter will know where and how deer approach.

A likely bedding area such as a cedar thicket or new pine plantation is usually involved. Get mobile and hunt the likely route for the deer to travel to the food source from the bedding area. The older buck will likely travel to the plot/feeder area and wait downwind until darkness. A couple hundred yards away from the food source, a climbing tree stand near a trail and a little time could be the only way to get a look or shot at one of these veteran bucks. The portable tree climber can be packed in and set up to hunt in just a few minutes.

It can also get the elevation needed to get above the paranoid trophy buck’s nose and wind direction becomes less of a concern.

The only other advice would be to get in the stand and stay there, all day if possible but that still doesn’t guarantee results. Fact is, its tough to catch a trophy buck slipping, even during the rut but late season trophies can still happen.

Get in the tree and stay in the tree. Good luck!