John Flores: Winter is the time to hunt big bucks

Earlier this week while leaving for work in the morning the last words I said to my wife when I felt the cold chill in the air were, “This is a good deer day. I love hunting close to Christmas when the days are shorter, and the weather is cold.”
Meanwhile, on that same morning, Michael Skelton, a Berwick native now living in Luling, was already in his stand hunting in Yazoo County, Mississippi.
If the Skelton name rings a bell, he is the son of John and Darlene Skelton of Berwick, who taught a couple generations of Berwick High School students. John and Darlene’s careers at BHS covered 30 and 33 years respectively.
After seeing plenty of deer right at daylight with a number of small bucks running around moving away from him, at around 8 a.m. Skelton decided to get down from his stand and move. Some 450 yards through the woods directly east of him was another stand. Since the smaller bucks were pushing a doe in that direction, he thought maybe he stood a better chance of seeing something better.
While walking through the timber he blew his grunt call slowly every few minutes to try and simulate a buck.
Peak deer rut periods vary region to region across the southeast. Usually, in both Louisiana and Mississippi, there is either some sort of first or second rut happening during the month of December.
Skelton laughed, saying, “At this time of year it only takes one hot doe to get the attention of a big-boy. Just like us, where there are females, more than likely there are going to be guys chasing them. One of my tactics is to stay close or near areas that house lots of does.”
“Being in areas that hold does,” Skelton continued, “working a grunt call or estrus bleat call sequence every so often to try and simulate a buck doe interaction will drive a bigger mature buck to come in and take over the doe.”
About 20 minutes after leaving his first stand, Skelton climbed up into his new position, and racked a shell into his .270 Winchester. No sooner had he settled in and grabbed his binoculars, when he looked up, “there he was,” Skelton says, walking down the shooting lane away from him some 300 yards away.
That’s when he began blowing on his grunt call aggressively hoping to get the deer’s attention. Suddenly, the big buck turned broadside.
During the course of every deer hunter’s lifetime, moments like this occur that rest on the verge of panic and self-control. Milliseconds feel like minutes and minutes hours. Time sort of suspends in an ethereal moment.
“I honestly didn’t have time to think about it, which probably was a good thing,” Skelton said. “He turned broadside and I let him have it. He ran about 10 to 15 yards and spilled over. I hit heart and I am as proud of the shot as I am the deer.”
The buck turned out to be a big 8-point with an inside spread of 18 inches and 23-1/2 inch long main beams; Skelton’s personal best deer so far.
One of the keys to Skelton’s successful shot was confidence in his rifle and the way it’s sighted in, he says.
“I have my gun sighted in 2-1/2 inches high at 100 yards. From shooting and ballistic charts, I knew I was about 5 inches low at 300 yards.
"I just got steady as I could and aimed for the center of the body mass and let it fly,” Skelton said.
Both Skelton’s wife Meagan and daughter Sawyer were excited for him. Today’s technology allowed him to FaceTime after the kill so his daughter could see, “Daddy’s deer!”
The winter portion of Deer Season can be an excellent time of year to hunt. Deer expend a lot more energy during the winter with shorter, colder days. Therefore, they tend to get up regularly to feed.
In St. Mary Parish, there are divergent ruts. Portions of the parish are made up of Area 7 and Area 9. One of the largest deer I have harvested was a nine-point that I killed while it chased a doe one week prior to Christmas in the marsh below Centerville.
Between holiday hugs, meals, and family time there is usually some time off. Like Skelton, if you’re lucky enough to squeeze a couple days in the deer stand, winter is one of the best times to sit.
From my house to yours, Merry Christmas, everyone.