guys, im getting very frustrated. ive hunted multiple areas in my life, but my family property really confuses me. its 250 acres split in half by a road. we have a few grass patches on each side that hold deer pretty well. we also have plenty of various types of oaks. we'll set out cameras every once in a while, not often though. the neighbors have sticky fingers. about 6000 dollars worth of stuff has disappeared. anyway, when we set them out we always get pictures of really good deer. some even scoring over 150 which is a brute in eastern mississippi. the problem is, i never seem them during the day. in pictures, or in the stand. its very very frustrating. this past year, an oil company came straight through us with a 50 yard wide pipeline so i expect this to help a bit. other than that, is there anything i can be doing to stir these deer a little? its depressing to know that these deer we are catching on camera are dying of old age instead of by arrow. any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
PLANT A FOOD PLOT on that new pipeline area! Deer need food and shelter to stay on your land during the day. Also, do you have a water source for the deer? I would plant that pipeline in clover and chicory, and mow it twice during the summer to keep the weeds down. Between that and the acorns, you have some food. You probably could use some woody brose, so maybe do some logging so get some new growth will help as well. Without pictures and maps of your land, it's really hard to accurately gauge what the exact issue is.
Such a broad question to give specifics...but Sota is correct and you have a surplus of ground (contrary to what some think) to accomplish it. You provide them security cover/bedding and food and you are golden. (within both there are countless approaches, styles and designs but boiled down that is what you need).
If your place has had a history of neighbors stealing things then it sure sounds like they visit you property often. That to me is the big thing, pressure. That pipeline can be good and bad. Sure grasses will grow but it's also an avenue for trespassers to get on and through your place.
Food shelter/sanctuary. Hunting area's only with the correct wind and keeping pressure to or as low as possible is key. Buy having neighbor's stealing is a problem. They could be your problem as well. I'd first set to catch them trespassing and make a statement that you will not put up with it. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
man...I had grown up hunting .....hunted over 20 years now the last 2 or 3 years have been the most productive for me because I started really and truly scouting.... my dad has taught me to hunt my whole life but has not done much on scouting...he is one of those that has a horseshoe up his rear and has killed many big bucks by doin the ..."this place looks good" method....I caint do that lol I have found that if I do a lot of scouting...determining bedding and feeding areas....then finding heavy trails between the 2 and lightly used trails bout 10 - 20 yards off of the heavy trails....looking up and down the trails for buck rubs (not just one here and there but multiple rubs within yards of each other) buck scrapes and nice decent sized tracks....and setting a trail cam on them to see what I got. find a buck I like....and set up on him......I try to get within 20 yards of them now since I use a bow. always always ALWAYS!! hunt the wind.....if you set up with bedding to your east and feeding to your west....if you are set up on the north side of the trail....if you hunt the evenings.....you would want a N to SWW wind.....nothing else!! this is because in the evenings you would expect your deer to be coming from bedding to feeding (from E to W) this would blow your scent away from his nostrils...lol. this is just my opinion and how I hunt and the past few years it has worked great for me!!!! just this year I set up on 2 known nice bucks like this and I killed the biggest deer of my life and it happened to be my first deer with a bow (it was one I had not seen before...not one of the 2 nice known bucks) hope it helps at least a little!!!
okay guys, forgive me for my terrible paint job. this google image is not updated, so i had to draw a bit. thanks for all the help. pink-property lines blue-creek yellow-grass patches purple-gates tan-heavy oaks red-current pipeline
the way i uploaded the photo might cause you guys to have to zoom in. sorry about that. computer illiterate over here. bear with me. note* property lines drawn are very estimated and roundabout locations.
Last thing you want to do is "stir them up." You do it enough they are bound to simply leave the area they are being bothered. Learn more about your property, those deer are not bedding all day every day I guarantee it. Use your cameras to key in on wehre those mature buck are bedding and where they are feeding and youll find your new stand location.
