When the whitetail mating season has come and gone, how do you hunt? Especially when the deer have been lied to by hunters in every way we could imagine - such as rattling, grunting and fake scent trails and lures.

It's time to sit quietly, and hunt the food sources. The white-tailed deer are very single minded during the rut, and after the rut, they are just as single minded. Only then, their focus has shifted to food, replacing the body weight they lost as they chased or were chased.There are two main reasons deer move - to breed, and to feed. First, concentrate on the deer's need to feed. Then consider the factors that determine how they move to feed, such as weather, moon phase and hunting pressure.In their book Whitetail Advantage, Dr. Dave Samuel and Robert Zaiglin discuss those factors and how they affect deer movement. Their findings may change the way you hunt. And hey, you may be more successful if you get out later than usual."When it's really cold, movements will change. They (the deer) will get out of the wind, spend time on sunny hillsides (especially those out of the wind), and become more active during the warmest parts of the day," the authors say in the chapter called Understand Why Deer Move."Although the peak rut has ended, does which weren't bred by bucks during that period are back in season. You can use rut tactics during the second week of rifle season, but after a week of an influx of hunters in the woods, deer are extra jittery. Now is not the time for the dramatic clash of antlers and loud bleating.Target thick cover near bedding areas. Move into the wind, set up in various spots, and always wait at least twenty minutes before starting to call by using a doe bleat. Follow that by rattling, more bleating and buck grunting calls, but don't be too aggressive.Later in the same chapter, Samuel and Zaiglin discuss the effect of human hunting pressure. Think about it - since the beginning of October, deer have been targeted by archery and firearm hunters. They also may have been bumped from their beds and feeding areas by small game hunters. Where have they gone?"For years we've heard that human hunting pressure causes deer to become more nocturnal, and there is no question that this is true," Samuel and Zaiglin say. But, although hunters aren't seeing any deer at dawn and dusk, that doesn't mean the deer aren't moving during daylight hours.Several studies have look at deer movements before, during and after the gun season. Researchers have discovered that peak movement for both bucks and does happened right after dark. They also found that in response to hunting pressure, deer moved to 'refuge' areas of thick cover, where they can easily access forage during the day.So how can we be successful when hunting during the late seasons? First, find places that are between thick cover and feeding areas. Once you've found that place, mix up your hunting times. Face it - most of us stick to the same general hunting schedule.We get in our stands before daylight and hunt until 9 or 10 a.m. We get back in our stands around two p.m. and hunt until dark. Guess what? Studies show - especially a study from Maine on bucks that weigh more than 200 pounds - that the majority of big bucks are taken between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.That's proof that as much as we try to pattern deer, they pattern us. After months of hunting pressure, the deer have learned our schedule. Now is the time to change our tactics.