"I look for the winter yards to locate good late-season hunting places. They might not be using these yards yet, but they won't be too far from them during the late-season hunts if the weather patterns are normal and winter is setting in," he says.

Of course, that only matters where the winters are severe enough that deer will yard up. In places just a little farther south, they don't need to yard up to survive winter, so none of this applies. Anytime you're within 200 miles or so south of the Canadian border or any place north of it, chances are good the deer use winter yarding areas to survive winter.

Late-season hunts are a double-edged sword. Buck activity has dropped off quite a bit, and it's harder to find a track. On the other hand, the bucks are not wandering as much, so they're easier to catch up with.

"I get a kick when I read these experts who say that a buck will live his entire life in a square-mile," Lanny said with a chuckle. "That expert sure doesn't know much about big-country bucks. They will often roam for miles, and their home is everywhere. They are going to roam wherever it takes them to find a doe in heat. That can lead to some long walks when you're tracking them during the regular season.

"After the rut, during the late-season hunts, bucks are resting and looking for food. They're trying to recover from the rut so they can survive the winter, and they're not traveling any more than they need to--just enough to find food and shelter. Finding a track is harder, and big-buck tracks crossing the road can become scarce. If you can find a track, usually it's a lot shorter walk to find the buck that made it than it is when the rut is cranking up."