By Travis Faulkner

The month of December marks a very special time of the year when thoughts of family gatherings, mistletoe, fruitcake and brilliantly decorated Christmas trees float through our minds.

On the other hand, phrases like "closeout prices," "blue-light specials" and "extended shopping hours" are continuously being broadcast over the airways. This is the time of year that some people enter a mesmerized trance, similar to a buck in full rut, that is completely fueled by a burning desire to shop.

However, I personally prefer seeing a quiet mountain sunrise on a frosty winter morning from the scenic heights of a tree stand. It beats the heck out of the pressured-filled atmosphere generated by crowded shopping malls, filled parking lots, long lines and heavy traffic.

I have also found that hitting the deer woods of East Tennessee during the month of December can potentially generate some phenomenal hunting opportunities. A combination of perseverance and having the right game plan in place is sometimes all it takes to fill a remaining deer tag and your freezer for the holidays.

Over the past few seasons, hunting during the late season has enabled me to harvest several quality deer. I have also noticed a significant decline in hunting pressure in areas that generally receive a great deal of attention throughout most of the earlier part of the deer season. In many cases, the deer enter a more relaxed state from the overall decline of hunting participation and can be significantly easier to pattern.

So, how exactly do you score during the remaining days of the late season?

East Tennessee encompasses various forms of terrain and whitetail habitat that range from river valley farmland to steep and rugged mountainous country. Terrain can dramatically influence the general habits and seasonal patterns of deer in the area that you are hunting. This is due to the variation of food sources and cover that are available in these contrasting areas. An integral step in filling a tag is the ability to customize your hunting techniques to meet the various challenges posed by the particular terrain you are hunting.

Last season, the author used extensive scouting of travel corridors to take these National Forest bucks in East Tennessee. Photo courtesy of Travis Faulkner

The first step involved in formulating a productive game plan during the post-rut in mountain country involves understanding where deer travel.

Steep mountain terrain dictates how whitetails move from point A to point B. In most cases, a straight line of travel from bedding areas to feeding areas is simply not available. Unfortunately, hanging a tree stand that overlooks a fenceline that leads from a field of winter wheat to a flat wood lot where the deer are bedding is not an option in the mountains of East Tennessee.

So exactly how can a hunter find travel routes and corridors on vast tracts of mountain country?

The short answer is that you simply use the steep terrain to your advantage. White-tailed deer generally choose the easiest route of travel. This rule is especially true during the winter months when deer make every attempt to conserve energy. Locating old logging roads, benches and ridgelines in the area that you are hunting will typically expose how the deer in the area are traveling. Now, you can piece together this sign to pinpoint the available late-season food source and preferred bedding areas.

This information is crucial when considering exactly where to place a stand for a December hunt. In my experience with hunting mountain country, I have noticed that these travel routes are used every season by the deer and have been for years. Hunters can exploit late-season bucks by taking advantage of travel habits and patterns such as these. The geographical features of the mountain terrain significantly controls how the deer will travel. Over the course of several seasons, it's not uncommon for a hunter to harvest multiple bucks from the same travel routes in these mountainous areas.

However, during some seasons it can be difficult to find acorns due to poor mast yields. In addition, competition among squirrels, growing numbers of turkeys and other woodland animals that feast on acorns can create a shortage toward the end of the season.

That is why it is extremely important to locate other winter food sources while hunting mountainous terrain. For example, smilax (such as greenbriers), rhododendron, honeysuckle and other plants that are still green are food sources that can be a magnet for deer during the cold winter months. The consumption of such foods becomes the single most important part of a whitetail's daily habits during the winter.

During the early segments of the season, a whitetail deer has an abundance of food, which can make figuring out where to hang a stand more difficult. However, diminishing late-season food sources place limits and restrictions on exactly where a deer can feed. This can be a huge advantage for the late-season hunter who pursues winter whitetails in areas that lack agricultural crops and other alternate food sources. With limited food options, whitetails must travel from bedding areas to the relatively few remaining sources of quality food, which in turn makes patterning deer on vast acres of mountain land less of a headache.

In fact, I have observed more overall deer activity while hunting before an approaching winter front than any other time of the season. Large groups of does and even mature bucks will often reveal themselves from secluded sanctuaries during the daylight hours to fill their stomachs under these unique circumstances. Some of my most enjoyable and memorable deer hunts have occurred on late December and early January days when a winter storm was on the way.

A winter storm that places a fresh coat of snow on the ground can also provide some excellent hunting opportunities for the late-season hunter. This is one of my favorite times to strap on my binoculars and hit the mountains of East Tennessee to stalk unsuspecting whitetails. The combination of white snow and the absence of foliage place deer in a very vulnerable situation. A brown-bodied deer stands out like a sore thumb in the snow and is now much easier to spot in wooded areas.

As a late-season hunter, you really need a light blanket of snow on the ground to create ideal stalking conditions in the mountain country. If the snow is too heavy and comes with severe cold temperatures, deer will be forced to take refuge in evergreen thickets and aged clearcuts that provide dense cover and browse. Such thick entanglements can be difficult to walk through without alerting the deer of your presence. In most cases, a whitetail's keen senses will allow it to slip out of the thicket unnoticed - providing you with no shot opportunity.

However, waiting to enter the woods a few days after a heavy snow can be very productive during these situations. I have found that deer, which have been held up in thick cover during adverse winter weather, will generally stage during the mid-day hours when the snow is beginning to melt. Rising temperatures and melting snow on a sunny afternoon can be magical during the winter months. There is still enough white on the ground to make the deer visible and stalking can be extremely effective.