Make Your Own Willowpine Marsh Boat

Last year I was sitting with my boat in flooded cattails. The water was only about waist deep, and sitting in the boat wasn't necessary. The boat was mainly used just to haul my decoys and gear in and out of the marsh. Much easier than carrying everything, and I can hop in the boat to get over deep spots. One of the places that I hunt has one big pool, and each side along the levees are cattail patches.  The shallow water weaving in and out of the cattails allows for great cover and hunting.  However by December the ducks have become smart, and they avoid flying within gun range along the cattails. To the other side of the pool it's nearly 200 yards (if not more,) and unreachable with shotgun loads.  In the middle of the pool there are thick mats of smart weed. However the middle is well over my head in water depth, so it's impossible to hunt by foot. As I hunted I watched hundreds of ducks dump into the middle, I kept thinking that I have to get out there. Not many hunters around here have layout boats, and I sure don't have $1,200 for one either. I asked myself how can I get the affect of a layout boat without spending so much money? The answer was sitting next to me holding all my gear.

Build Your Own Willowpine Marsh Boat
Article By: Joey W. Buttram
Instructions By: Joey W. Buttram & Dan New

Ready to tackle the task of making your own marsh boat?  Here are all the tools and materials I used in converting my boat. 

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Now that you've assembled your tools and materials.... Lets get started!

Picture 1 & 2 are of the boat in its original form.  First thing you want to do is clean the boat really well. Use the Shop Vac to clean out the inside and outside of the boat. I took mine to the self-serve car wash, and power washed the entire boat leaving nothing untouched.
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Picture 3,4,& 5 are of the floor of the boat.  I didn't get a picture of the carpet in the boat because I took it out before I planned to do this rebuild.  When I put the carpet in I used quite a bit of carpet adhesive.  This adhesive became my arch-enemy during this project.  For best results you'll have to remove all carpet remnants and adhesive. 

I used the Oscillating Multi-Tool with Scraper Attachment to get the big chucks of carpet.  This worked pretty well, but I couldn't get it all. Once I had removed all the big chunks I had to get down and dirty.  I used the Power drill with Sanding Wheel and Rust & Paint Remover Wheel attachments, which removed most of the adhesive on the floor. This is relentless work, so you'll have to really dig into the job.  I had to use the Scrapers to get some of the corners and hard spots. Once all the big chunks were removed, I used the Power Sander to get the rest of the little stuff, which cleared up the floor to bright silver aluminum. I found that putting some Goo Gone and WD40 on the adhesive chunks helped break it up a little quicker and more smoothly. 
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In image 6,7,8,9 you'll notice that all the carpet and adhesive is removed. Use Power Sander to sand down the floor before applying paint. This will help the paint grab to the aluminum a little better. Before you grab your spray paint, you got to knock the existing paint off the inside walls and seats. You'll use the same process as getting the paint off the floor, but you'll be spending more time sanding rather than scraping. For removing the sidewall paint I used the Paint and Rust Remover Wheel the most. The wheel attaches to your drill like any other drill bit. I recommend a power drill over a portable battery operated drill for the paint removal. You'll be charging your battery many times before getting the paint off with a cordless. 

As you'll see in image 10 & 11 you'll see that all the old paint is removed.  The inside of your boat is ready for new paint.  I didn't do the middle seat as at the time I was planning to remove the seat entirely. If you're planning to keep all the bench seats, then you'll do the seats same as the sides and floor. 

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For this step we're going to replace the wooden handle base. You'll start by using your wrenches to remove the old hardware, wood handle base, and the handle itself. Next you'll measure the old wooden handle base, and with those measurements, cut your new plywood to match the size and shape of the old board. Then drill holes for your hardware in the new wooden base. If your old hardware is heavily worn or rusty, then you can replace them for only a couple bucks with new hardware. Once your handle is remounted to the new wooden base, hold of on remounting to the boat. We'll paint the new board and handle off the boat. This will allow you to clean, sand, and paint the area behind the handle and wooden base on the boat.

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When I started plugging holes in my boat I only knew of two holes that needed patched. I found a third, and decided I better check the entire boat. So I turned the boat over, turned on a flashlight under the boat, and found where light was coming through.  With this I found 3 holes that I previously didn't know about.  Follow the instructions that comes on the JB Weld package, and apply to both sides of the boat. I used the scraper to apply.  Let sit overnight, and return to the boat the next day. 
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Luckily just a couple years ago I sanded down and repainted the outside of my boat.  If your boat has chipping paint, rust, or debris, then I recommend sanding down  to remove the paint on the outside like you did on the inside. Before applying paint use the Shop Vac and do a really good job of getting all the debris out of and off the boat. In addition to vacuuming the boat, I took mine to the self-serve car wash for a second time. You'll want a clean and clear surface for painting.  

The base layer of paint will be strips of light and dark green. The strips can be 6''-8'' wide depending on your preference.  Since this is your base layer, you'll want to put on several coats of paint. You'll run this pattern on the inside and outside of the boat.  

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Use the Tree Bark Stencil and cover the entire boat inside and out.  I started with a dark brown paint for the tree bark, but soon decided that I wanted it darker.  Therefore I switched to black paint.

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Use the Shadow Grass Stencil and cover the entire boat inside and out.  This stencil is a little tricky due to its definition.  You may benefit from making this stencil out of cardboard.  I used an old filing folder. 

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Once your handle is painted, go ahead and remount it back on the boat. I recommend a washer on both the outside and inside. Use your Marine Silicone Caulk and apply around the wooden gap as in picture 26. On both the inside and outside of the boat apply the silicone to your nut, bolt, and washer. This will prevent water from getting through the gaps created by the handle bolts. 

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Once your handle is mounted, and the entire boat is painted, then you finished with all the sanding, scraping, and countless scrubbing of paint off your fingers! Congrats you should have a good looking, duck killing, parking lot conversation machine!

There is a 4th stencil which I didn't use, but you may like to use it. It's just of free falling leaves. If you choose to use the 4th stencil apply it last with the color you prefer.  Lets get the blind frame put together cause teal season is right around the corner!!

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Measure your boat and follow the above pictures. You'll have to cut your 2''x 2'' lumber to match the length and width of your boat. You'll want to make sure the frame will sit down in the boat, and not on top of the sides. Make sure to drill pilot holes before putting in the wood screws, and I put two screws in each place I drilled. The straps can be made out of any piece of aluminum you have laying around. They're simply extra protecting from your frame twisting and breaking. We used an extra piece of the Angle Aluminum used in a step coming up. We put the straps on the 2 front and 2 back corners of the frame. 

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Use wire cutters to cut the Fencing in one big rectangle that covers the entire frame. Then go through and cut out the fencing to match the outside of your wood frame. Once it is the correct size, use the U-Nails to nail the fencing in place. Make sure to hammer in the sharp points of the fence that you made from your cuts. Take a pair of pliers to make a slight twists in each cross section of the fencing. This will tighten up the wire.

Once the frame is secure, no sharp edges are present, and all is well.... Then it's time to once again get out your paint cans.  Paint the frame the same as you painted the boat.
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This step is the most important as it will be the item that holds the frame on the boat. If you removed your middle seat, you'll need a brace to go across the boat.  This will keep the boat from twisting and breaking. Cut a 2''x 2'' piece of wood and attach to the boat with either a Strap or L-Bracket. In picture 37 you'll notice the piece of wood going across the boat in the same spot the middle seat was located.

The Angle Aluminum I found was actually for a door step in your home. It's what holds the carpet down on a step. I mention this in case you're having trouble finding this part. You'll want to cut your Angle Aluminum the same width as the bench seat top. Once cut you'll use the drill and drill bits to make your rivet pilots. Then use the Rivet Gun and Rivets to attach to the boat. You'll need 6 total pieces of angle aluminum.  As you see in picture 36 I had to add a small extension due to me pushing the sides of the boat when I get out.  When I pushed out on the side the frame would fall into the boat, so it was easy to just add a slight extension.  Bend the corners of the aluminum to again fight off cut waders.  Once installed paint the aluminum parts. If your rivet holes are in a place where they may take on water, use the marine silicone to fill the holes.
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You're truly almost done, and your very own Willowpine Marsh Boat is almost complete! 

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The Cabelas Northern Flight Marsh Grass comes in 4' x 4' mats.  There were 5 total mats in the box we received. This should cover two boats no problem, so find a buddy to split it with. The mats laid perfectly on the frame, and we tied it down with the Zip Ties. Cut the excess piece of the zip tie with your wire cutters, and your marsh boat now has a blind. Over the course of the season we found that we used the frames as ground blinds also, we didn't expect that they'd be multi-purpose. 

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The final step is to make your seat, and add all your personalized accessories. For the seat you'll need a plywood base that keeps you off the bottom of the boat. We cut the Plywood into a 18'' Wide x 24'' Long piece. We then cut 2 pieces of 2''x 2'' lumber at 18'' wide.  We put the 2 pieces of  the 2''x 2'' lumber on the floor of the boat, and then screwed the plywood on top of them.  This gets you up a little and out of the water that you may have in the bottom of the boat from getting in and out.  If you have a boat seat, then just attach the boat seat to the plywood. Some boats have a metal brace that runs along the floor between each seat, you can eliminate one of the 2''x 2'' lumber pieces and just use a self-tapping screw into that metal brace.  On one boat we built we used the excess plywood as a back rest as seen in picture 44. Screw in any other accessories, and you're ready to hunt!  

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I hope you have as good of a time as we did building our Willowpine Marsh Boats. They've come in quite handy in the 2012-13 season, and I can see myself having a small boat like this forever.  We even took the boats on days we didn't plan to hunt out of them. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email us at willowpineoutdoors@gmail.com. We'll be sure to answer and help you along the way if needed. Check back for updates we make to designs, and eventually for the Willowpine Marsh Boat Double Decker Trailer Build coming up this summer. 

Below are the stencil downloads.  We received permission to post these stencils via OutdoorWriter.net. We made a few slight changes to the stencils that made for cutting out of the patterns, but the patters are all still theirs. If you build your own marsh boat, then please send us a picture!

Oak Bark Stencil - Click Here

Shadow Grass Stencil - Click Here

Oak Leaf Stencil - Click Here

Mossy Oak Launches New Duck Camo

At the 2013 Shot Show in Las Vegas, Mossy Oak Brand Camo introduced their new line of camouflage for waterfowlers.  The new camo is called Mossy Oak Shadow Grass Blades.  This pattern, like Mossy Oak Break Up Infinity, has been created with almost 3D-like images.  With MO Break Up Infinity, Mossy Oak launched their new way of making camo; by adding layers upon layers of images. This gives the pattern a look of piled up grasses and cover. The new MO Shadow Grass Blades was created by researchers who took sample grasses from up and down the Mississippi flyway. The images were then added together to become this new camo.  

Years ago, MO launched their counterpart to Realtree Max-4 with the introduction of Mossy Oak Duck Blind.  The idea of MO Duck Blind was to provide a lighter version of waterfowling camo, as well as provide a pattern that worked in all areas of the country. Many hunters complained that the RT Max-4 was too dark, and from the sky they looked like big dark spots when in light-colored cover.  I too had experienced this, and in turn made a switch to MO Duck Blind.  Now that they've released the new MO Shadow Grass Blades, I may have to make a switch again. With MO now launching two new patterns to the one that Realtree has, I'm interested to see what Realtree will come out with to compare. 

Many other companies have great camo for waterfowlers, and a lot of it comes down personal preference and where you're hunting. Some days, I think the dark RT Max-4 camo would be better than the MO Duck Blind. Sometimes in cattails or cornfields, I think Avery's Killer Weed would be the better choice.  It is all relevant to location, timing, and what you're trying to achieve.

To us here at Willowpine Outdoors, Mossy Oak has proven to be the leader in industry camouflage  and I can't wait to see what they come out with next.  Below are some other examples of waterfowling camo available on the market today. 

Cabelas Industry Inside put out this video about the Mossy Oak Shadowgrass Blade Camo.  Check it out.... 

February Nuisance Goose Season in Indiana

The DNR sent out an email assuring Indiana waterfowl hunters of the 2013 late Indiana nuisance goose season.  The season lasts for 15 days starting on February 1st, and closing on February 15th. The season is only for the following Indiana counties.  Hendricks, Marion, Parke, Vigo, Clay, Morgan, Johnson, Hancock, Boone, Hamilton, Steuben, LaGrange, Elkhart, St. Joseph, La Porte, Starke, Marshall, Kosciusko, Noble, DeKalb, Allen, Whitley, Huntington, Wells, Adams, Madison, Shelby, Vermillion, Sullivan and Greene. 

The late nuisance goose season was granted to Indiana as a 3-Year experiment by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The USF&W requirement was that 80% of the birds killed during the late season needed to be giant Canada geese. The late nuisance goose season goal was to help control the population and breeding of giant Canada geese in urban areas. Homeowners and neighborhood residents with HOA ponds know all too well that the Canada geese can be quite a nuisance.  Among other nuisance activities, the male Canada geese are quite aggressive when eggs are on the nest, which can become quite the problem with kids. Many residents are also tired of spraying off the soles of their shoes after walking through goose excrement in their yards. Since 2008 Indiana has offered this late nuisance season in hopes of reducing the total amount of local geese.

According to the IDNR E-Newsletter, Last years nuisance late goose season was a success with 8,076 Canada geese being harvested during the late season. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service stated that 2012 had almost 1,600 more harvests than 2011. In the total 5 years that Indiana has offered the late season it is estimated that around 33,500 geese have been harvested.  In 2012 Indiana DNR permitted 4,362 hunters to head out during the late season. They're expecting similar numbers this year.

In years past you had to require a special permit to be able to participate in this season.  However, this year they've changed it to where hunters are only required to have their normal Indiana hunting license, Indiana Waterfowl Stamp, HIP (Harvest Information Program) and a signed Federal Duck Stamp.  Again no special permit is required. As well Indiana hunters are NO LONGER required to check in the geese they've harvested during the late seasons. 

This special late season may be closed in the future if the population of Canada geese is well reduced and under control. When the 2014 season comes around, we'll let you know if there is going to be another late nuisance goose season.  -Joey W. Buttram (Willowpine Outdoors)


Information and statistics gathered from the IDNR Wild Bulletin E-Newsletter. 

IDNR February Goose Season Article (Click Here)

Indiana Midwest Archery & Whitetail Deer Expo

On January 11, 12, & 13 C Bar Expo Center in Cloverdale is set to host the Indiana Midwest Archery & Whitetail Deer Expo.  The event is $10.00, but you can recieve $5.00 off by printing the below flyer. Right click, Save As, and print the flyer.  Willowpine Outdoors will be providing full on coverage of the event, and we're even planning to have a booth set up at the event. If you can make it out, then please stop in and say hello. 

Midwest 3D Archery Website with Map (Click Here)

Waterfowl Harvests 2012

Share your waterfowl hunting pictures with us by sending them to willowpineoutdoors@gmail.com.  We'd love to put them up on the site. 

Willowpine November/December Newswire

November and December are always the craziest time of the year for all of us here at Willowpine Outdoors. Weather changes, firearm season, orange hats, hot weather, pushed ducks, breaking ice, and the whitetail rut. Some of our Prostaffers including myself have put venison in the freezer. I decided to harvest a young buck, so now I can focus on duck season. For y'all that haven't harvested a deer, it's getting down to the wire, but it's not quite over yet. This season was a season of firsts for me, and my recent harvest was the first deer I've ever shot by myself. It was the first deer I've shot from the ground, first deer I've shot at my new Avon property, and first deer I've harvested with my new 44mag H&R HandiRifle. With a pintail or any banded duck on the mind, hopefully this season will continue to be a season of firsts.

November / December Newswire Contents
1. Proposed Rule Changes to Indiana Hunting
2. Duck Season Review
3. Illinois Has Been Good to Me -By Mark Fink
4. Late Season Whitetails
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IDNR OFFICIAL PROPOSED RULE CHANGES WEBPAGE (CLICK HERE)

VOICE YOUR OPINION (CLICK HERE)

WHAT OTHER IN HUNTERS ARE SAYING (CLICK HERE)

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In hopes that my regular season duck hunts would yield the same results as a successful teal season, I had high hopes for the 2012 duck season.  Unfortunately, I've only got 2 more weeks + a week in January to have another good duck hunt.  This season is shaping up to be an almost exact repeat of the 2011 season. With temps reaching 70 degrees in December, there is no reason for ducks to be pushed here to Indiana. That has left my colleagues and I hunting stale ducks all month long. These educated birds are not as easy to trick into the decoys, and we've been hunting for the chance at pulling the trigger just once.  In years past, we hunted with the chance of limiting out. We've still got a couple weeks left, and like mentioned that week in January.  The season can quick change with a steady push of new ducks, but that's all left in the hands of Mother Nature.

Opening Day - November 3 & 4, 2012

Opening weekend, we had a reserve draw at IN's Goose Pond FWA.  We were guaranteed the 6th pick for the Saturday morning draw. That pick would also get us the same spot for Sunday. At 2:30am on Saturday my alarm sounded, and I was up and ready to for the 2 hour drive south.  We were excited for this weekend, even though it was all I could do to pull away from the whitetail rut. We were met with a packed house of easily over 100 hunters trying to get a spot that morning.  The group with the 3rd reserve picked the same pool that we acquired.  Since they had picked before us, we knew that they'd be headed right where we wanted to be. No biggie since it's a good size pool anyways.

The morning was cold with heavy rain, hail, thunder, and lightning. Nonetheless we made it across the waves and into a set of cattails. We were set up in plenty of time.  We knew we were hunting mainly teals, gadwalls, woodies, mallards, pintails, and wigeons; and not a whole lot of them. With this in mind we put out only about twenty decoys.  We had a mixed spread of Final Approach mallards, Green Head Gear greenwing teals, and GHG wigeons. Also since it was early season and a daybreak hunt, we set a mojo decoy. With the wind pretty decent, we didn't really need any motorized decoys, but since we had it we put out a paddling wonder duck and quiver butt feeder.

The sky had changed from black to dark blue, and on the horizon we could see the mix of greys and whites as the overcast day began to show itself. At a half hour before sunrise we began hearing shots on the main pools. It was officially duck season. It wasn't soon after that we had a speedy pair of wood ducks buzz our decoys. My buddy pulled up and dropped the hen as she was the one to provide a shot. We waited for a half hour working ducks, and none coming in. As ducks were landing near the far bank, we realized that the wind had changed directions. Our friends that hunted the same pool were at the far end and exact opposite of us, and they had been shooting since dawn. We had to move otherwise we'd be shooting ducks in the back, which is quite the feat. Not to get too close to the other group we moved about a hundred yards away from where we started, and set up in the smart weeds. There we had more shots, and harvested a couple gadwalls. It turned real slow around 9am, and we were hoping the other group would limit soon so we could move to their end of the pool. We looked down towards the other group and could see a huge pile of ducks on the water. Since daybreak we'd seen ducks on that end of the pool. It wasn't 45 minutes later that we saw them picking up gear. We moved to that end of the pool, but set up on the opposite side of where they were. We didn't want to spoil their hunt for Sunday. That's when it turned on. After the move we started with no mojo, and didn't quite get the response we wanted. Putting it back out was the trick, and birds were decoying after that. We ended up with mallards, more gadwalls, couple shovelers, and the wood duck from early. Satisfied and soaked from the AM rains we decided to head for the hotel in Linton. We harvested a total of 12 ducks on Saturday.

Sunday was a much different hunt. We had clear skies, little winds, and we knew where to set up at daybreak. We didn't get into the far end of the pool because we knew the other guys would be back. We set up about half way between them and where we started on Saturday.  The morning daybreak was beautiful and shooting started immediately. Again we put out the mojo and a few less decoys than the day before. At shooting time my partner dropped a drake greenwing teal, and not long after a hen GW teal. The other guy with us connected with a hen shoveler, and shortly after a gorgeous drake gadwall.  "There's your mountable gadwall" I told him as I picked up his duck for him.  I found a hen mallard, and hoped to find her drake. Similar to the day before it shut off around 9am, and we waited for more ducks. We had some high fliers, but nothing that really wanted to work.  By 11am we decided to pick up and head home.  We had a total of 6 ducks on Sunday, which made our grand total of 18 for the weekend.  Not a bad way to start the 2012 season.

Here are some pics from Willowpine Friends and Staffers from their 2012 duck season!

Share your duck and goose hunting pictures with us by posting them on our Facebook page at Willowpine Facebook Page (Click Here)

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Its been a long couple of seasons learning the lay of the land, and hunting a new farm in Illinois. But this year all the hard work seems to be paying off! As some will recall, I filled my archery tag in IL on my very first sit, Saturday October 13th, two hours after climbing in the stand. After the excitement of that kill settled, I was left with the reality that I was tagged out until firearms season. I could’ve taken it easy and just waited for the IL firearm opener but I decided that I would continue to put my time in over there every chance I got, running cams and trying to stay on top of where the big boys were hanging out so that maybe I could connect on a good one come gun season.

On the weekend of October 20th, I placed 3 cams out and hunted. It was nice to just watch the critters and have no concern about shot opportunities. The following Saturday I returned to the farm but due to work commitments, I could not get there till mid-morning. When I arrived I went to my cam I had placed very near my stand I call the Pipeline, pulled the card and checked it. Among all the various deer pics were two somewhat blurry photos of what appeared to be a very nice buck. He had passed through a half-hour after daylight at 20 yards from my Pipeline stand. “I hope he makes it through till gun season,” I thought to myself. That night I sat in the Pipeline stand till legal light ran out and climbed down. While rolling up my pull-up rope I heard a deer approaching. I quickly stashed the rope and readied my binos. The deer stopped at about 12 yards from me giving me a few seconds to locate him in the darkness with my binos and OH MY, this was a good one. I couldn’t tell how many points but I could see lots of bone and good mass. I suspected it was the same buck that had come through that AM.

Fast forward to Wednesday November 14th, two days before the gun opener. Dad had gone over the previous day to archery hunt and this morning he was sitting in a stand we dubbed The Island. I had a trail cam located about 200 yards SW of this stand viewing the edge of a large CRP field, where a couple of well used trails connected the CRP and adjacent block of timber. I was on my way over that day at mid–morning when I got a call from Dad and he proceeded to tell me about how he misjudged the distance on a very large buck and sent his crossbow bolt sailing cleanly over his back. He said the buck didn’t spook but after a couple of minutes it casually walked off. He also said this buck had a slight limp in one of his hind legs.

The next day I went in 60 yards north of the CRP cam and 200 yards west of the Island stand and placed my last hang-on stand. I named it Old No. 25 due to it being located next to a 1960’s era oil rig that had been painted with No.25 to identify it. On the way out I pulled the CRP cam card so I could view it later at camp with everyone. That night as we were going through the photos, this photo popped up and everyone at the same time went WOW!

If you look closely you can see a dark spot on his right rear hindquarter, what I believe to be an injury. This combined with the date/time stamp convinced me without a doubt that this was the buck Dad had missed the day before.

Opening morning found me in the Old No. 25 stand. Just after daylight I had a 130 class ten pointer come cruising by not once but twice within 30 yards, just tempting me to shoot him but I kept telling myself not to, that there are bigger bucks running around here.

Two hours into the morning I hear some deer coming from my left, I grab my muzzleloader and get ready only to see four does making their way to the CRP field. The front Nanny was on high alert, cautiously picking her way through and looking off to the East towards the Island stand, obviously she had busted someone there in the recent past, luckily I was in a new stand location. Just as I was starting to relax I noticed a large set of antlers floating up from the bottoms, a big buck following his girls to the CRP field. I normally get pretty excited when I see a good deer and have to calm myself but for some reason this time I was as cool as a cucumber and autopilot. My biggest concern was the lead Nanny, I just knew at any second she was going to bust me and blow the whole deal! I managed to get into shooting position and at 60 yards I touched off the ML and sent a Barnes TEZ cruising thru his boiler room. He ran about 40 yards and piled up.  
-Written by Mark Fink

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The 2012 deer season is well past the halfway point, and is now headed towards being over.  The rut has settled down, and now the deer are focusing on building fat for the harshest part of the cold Indiana winter. If you haven't harvested the deer you want, then no reason to worry, the late season can be a fun one.

Buck I Harvested on Last Day of Firearm Season

The last few years I haven't spent much time in the woods during muzzleloader or late archery season. The majority for my late December and early January hunting is spent in a duck blind. This year as the Indiana firearm season was headed towards being over, I began to check my muzzleloader supplies thinking I'd be hunting the late season. I didn't necessarily want to hunt the late season, but circumstances and meat supply displayed that I might have to. It didn't matter all too much since the odd and warm Indiana Autumn was proving to be a dud for duck hunting. Luckily on the very last day of Firearm season I decided to harvest a young buck.  This filled my freezer for the winter, but my deer season is far from over.  I'm still on the hunt for a doe, and I'd like to get my wife on a nice late season whitetail buck.  To me there are two major factors to pursuing these late season deer. The first being food, and the second being young does. Here is how I'll be setting up for the late Indiana whitetail season.

The weather is sure to get much colder as we head into Christmas. The deer know this, and they began feeding nearly most of the day. The bucks have run themselves ragged during the rut, and they too have to began feeding heavily to replace the calories they've worked off in the rut.  I once read that some bucks come very close to dying by the end of the rut. Some bucks even do die if conditions make it hard for them to get food. Focusing on feeding areas will produce the best results during the winter months.  Does will began to herd up, and it won’t be uncommon to see 10 or more deer feeding together. If you're still after a buck, then go ahead and let those does feed while you wait. A lot of times bucks will hang in the underbrush as the does work the feeding area over. They're basically letting the doe act as the point man of the herd. The buck will wait for awhile watching the does feed, and waiting to see if the feeding area is safe. When they move in with the doe, that's your time to harvest. Obviously you know the best places on your property for feeding areas.  In case you're unsure, I'd say the best bet is a cut cornfield. I put two stands up on my most active cornfield, and that allows me to play the wind no matter the direction it blows. Same as in archery and gun season, you MUST play the wind. The deer are even wearier of human scent since so many hunters have been in and out of the woods since Oct.1st.  This year with the warm autumn we've had, I've found that my cut bean fields are producing small sprouts of clover and other vegetation.  If it continues to be warm and produce this vegetation, then the bean fields can be killer too. Not often do we get fresh vegetation to hunt over in December. Oak trees are usually picked over by this time of year, but it won’t be uncommon to find a deer checking for lost or buried acorns. If you have an accessible food plot, this too will produce whitetail activity. Don't forget that with every meal we eat, we usually have a drink with us. Deer will do this too.  If ponds, creeks, lakes, etc are frozen over, then look for a place that has some open water. This could become a hot spot until it snows.  In review the 3 major factors to this part of late season hunting is food, water, and wind.

New Rub I Found on 12/02/2012

The second part of late season whitetail hunting is that the yearling does will be began to come into heat. This becomes what many call the 2nd rut. It's also said that the does that didn't get bred in the first rut, also often come back into heat for a second chance. To be completely honest I've not had a whole lot of 2nd rut activity on my properties, which makes my knowledge and experience limited. However after doing some research and from what other hunters have explained, they swear by that this rut is a great time to be in the woods.  When I asked them questions about the 2nd rut they said they hunt it exactly the same as the first rut, but they put more of an emphasis on feeding areas.  I have noticed (this year especially) an increase of pre-second-rut activity as far as buck sign goes.  I've found new rubs, updated scrapes, and even saw a buck chasing a doe. Therefore I'm a believer, and I hope that on my property we can find a buck with 2nd rut on the mind.  

If you are still out in the woods chasing whitetails, then hopefully you'll find the one you're looking for.  In 2003 I harvested 5 deer total. 4 of those 5 deer were with a muzzleloader in the late season.  It can be a great season if you stick to feeding areas, and keep an eye out for rutting young does. The pressure from other hunters is WAY down, and some say it takes a fool to be in a tree stand when it is 10 degrees.  I've found that the only fools are the ones who think deer season is over when the rut is over.  Food, food, and more food will be the key to filling your tags before the season is out. Happy Hunting and Good luck!

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We appreciate your taking the time to read Willowpine Outdoors' November/December Newswire. We also very much appreciate your support in WPO. As mentioned above, we're always looking for people interested in contributing their writing, taking pictures, adding videos, etc. If you think you might like to do this, then please shoot us an email at willowpineoutdoors@gmail.com.  If you haven't already, please take a moment to add us as a friend on Facebook. If you like what we're doing, and want to support us, the best way is to tell a friend! Always remember that Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we can control our appetite. Merry Christmas & Happy New Years!  - Joey W. Buttram, Willowpine Outdoors

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2012 Deer Harvests

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