Don’t give up on trying to harvest a North Florida buck during the months of January and February. Although most quota hunt periods are long over, cold weather and diminished hunting pressure are two big reasons to take to the field.

Need more reasons than that?
Consider this: The whitetail rut does not occur until January for much of the northern Sunshine State -- and areas further to the west experience primary rutting activity during the middle part of February!

North Florida regions that experience a January rut often have a secondary rut in February as well. Does that were not bred in January come back into estrous about one month later.

So hunters who throw in the towel after Christmas may well be missing out on some of the best opportunities of the year.

Late-season hunting certainly does not come without its challenges, but this time of year still offers an excellent chance to get a last crack at a whitetail, whether it is a doe for the larder or a buck for the wall.

In this part of the state, even some public lands offer late-season opportunities. Here are some tips on how to hunt in the late season, along with some wildlife management areas where you might want to try out those tactics.

WHERE TO GO?
Most North Florida WMAs have closed to deer hunting by the end of December. However, others stay open through much of January.

A select few offer a 10-day archery and muzzleloading season that typically begins in February.

Joe Budd WMA is located in Gadsden County and offers an excellent late-season archery and muzzleloading option. The season runs from Jan. 12 to 28 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only.

Considering that the archery-only season for this area starts in December just prior to the late bonus season, whitetail bucks have experienced very little pressure by the time January rolls around.

Joe Budd WMA operates all hunts under a special quota permit requirement to limit the number of hunters. That means the events offer “quality” hunting experiences. If you weren’t lucky enough to draw a special quota hunt for Joe Budd WMA this year, you still have a chance to hunt this well-managed hunting ground.

A limited number of zone tags are issued to hunters by random drawing at the check station at 2 p.m. every Thursday prior to each three-day hunt period.

I have participated in the weekly drawing for a number of years. Historically, the odds of drawing a 3-day zone tag have been good.

At times when I didn’t draw a zone tag, I still managed to obtain one through sheer determination. I simply show up at the manned check station late on a Saturday morning and wait for hunters with tags to exit the area.

Invariably, some hunters turn in zone tags after a Saturday morning hunt, due to having other weekend commitments. Since zone tags are good until Sunday, those that get handed in early at the check station are provided to other hunters on a first-come, first-served basis.

Cory Morea is a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist who works the North Florida region. He pointed out that in this area, the whitetail rut occurs primarily between late-December and mid-January.

Since bucks are on the move looking for does, he suggested focusing on travel corridors between food plots, pinch points and saddles between ridges.

“Joe Budd WMA has a plethora of small hills and valleys,” Morea said, “and savvy hunters can take advantage of topographic features that force bucks to move through areas in predictable ways.

“Joe Budd also offers lots of planted food plots, but they are utilized mostly at night by deer. Hunting staging areas and travel corridors tend to produce better results than hunting the edges of food plots.”