Better to intrude only when the buck you are after is less likely to be present. Early-morning stands therefore make sense. Ideally, you want to be on stand at least an hour before daylight -- two hours is even better.

A mature whitetail buck, especially one that's pressured, behaves like a vampire. He almost always leaves his nocturnal feeding location to return to his lair at first light. Therefore, it's paramount to be set up and ready well before he arrives.

Once you decide to hunt within a mature buck's comfort zone, make preparations to sit all day. Depending on the size of the core bedding area you are hunting, it may be some time until the buck you're after makes his way into your sights.

I recall one buck I bowhunted four years ago: I first spotted him at 50 yards. But because of the thick cover, I was limited to 20-yard shots. Five times the buck bedded down, followed by repeated short sessions of him standing up to stretch.

He took almost four hours to move 30 yards until finally he stepped into a shooting lane.

WEATHER
Monitor your local weather forecast and make your move under the right conditions. Watch for a steady wind blowing from a known nocturnal feeding location to the core bedding area. Approach your stand early in the morning through the "back door," well away from the nocturnal feeding location and downwind of the core bedding area.

Rainy days are ideal for covering your back-trail scent, but wind direction may not be as reliable as on the day or two after a frontal system rolls through. A steady wind is critical. If the wind changes direction only once during the hunt, your chances of tagging a mature buck are diminished.

You can monitor wind direction often throughout the hunt with a wind checker. If the direction changes for the worse, climb down and leave the area discreetly, no matter how discouraging it is to do so.

Hunting a Central Florida late-season, nocturnal buck effectively is not easy. But with patience and smart planning, it is possible.