I don't really know how much I believe in global warming, the Greenhouse Effect or any of the other theories surrounding the fact that the world is getting warmer. I just know that when I was a kid it got colder during the winter months than it does today. One of my jobs on our family farm was to build fences, which in those days you did with posthole diggers and muscle. In November, the ground froze, and would stay frozen until February or March -- which meant that I didn't have to build fences for two or three months.

Late-season bowhunts can provide plenty of prospects for encountering trophy-grade bucks in recovery from the stress of the primary gun season and the rut. Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

I thought about that as I bowhunted last December in shirtsleeves, sometimes wearing only a light jacket even in the early mornings. I typically do my deepest thinking during late-season bowhunting -- usually about some old buck that gave me the slip somewhere, but occasionally about such meaningless things as the national debt, worldwide political chaos, old age or global warming.

During December 2007, I was fortunate to put in some serious hunting time. By my notes, I hunted 11 mornings and 10 afternoons, and even had two all-day hunts. During that same period, I saw 34 deer, including five bucks, one of them a nice one. Typical for the deep winter period, the deer were on food sources, a habit that makes them more visible, if not more killable.

I've always loved deep winter hunting. If I had to choose, the pre-rut "frenzy" that takes place during early November would be my favorite time to be afield. But for a variety of reasons, the time from just before Christmas until the middle of January runs a close second.

The first reason: fewer bugs. (I'm tempted to make that reasons number two, three and four also -- and I probably would if my wife hadn't given me a ThermaCell for my birthday last year.) Since I'm one of those who crave solitude when I hunt, my second reason is that the woods are just about empty during this time. Last year during that period I saw one other hunter, not counting the four I saw during the Christmas holiday modern gun hunt. Under the lighter pressure, the deer return to more "normal" movement patterns, which revolve around food sources.

Mother Nature plays a dirty trick on deer, especially the bucks, at this time. They've just come through the dual rigors of the hunting season and breeding period -- the two most traumatically stressful times of the entire year for the animals -- and are at their lowest physical point. To compound the problems, they're in need of sustenance in the dead of winter, when the availability of food is at its lowest.

This can certainly work in favor of the knowledgeable hunter. Generally, deer try to avoid traveling long distances to reach food sources at this time of year, owing to the crucial energy supplies expended during movement. So when you find preferred food sources, look for good bedding cover nearby. In the Arkansas mountains, where I hunt, deer will even lie up inside the same clearcuts they use for food sources, using the honeysuckle, greenbrier and other vines as both food and cover.

If you've read my other deer articles in Arkansas Sportsman, you have already heard about prime spots such as Holla Bend, Fort Chaffee, White River, Camp Robinson and dozens more. Truth is, those spots -- at least the ones still open -- are just as good in late season as they were earlier in the fall. But to keep from being redundant, this article will be a look at some of those spots that were overlooked earlier in the fall.