Up until this year we were allowed to, they found a couple cases of cwd so now DNR are bringing down hell on the deer.
Cayden I have to ask you if you think you might be putting too much human pressure on your property. For a property so small you mention an awful lot of trails and roads. I wonder if maybe you’d hold some bigger deer if you’d treat most of the property more like a sanctuary. Sure do the work you’re talking about to make targeted improvements but one of the best things you can do the other 99% of the time is to stay the hell out of there. If you are physically on the property all the time you are doing two things. You are conditioning the deer to be harder to hunt and you are greatly reducing the likelihood of a mature whitetail buck spending time there at all. I may be assuming too much but it is something you need to consider. A great deer hunting property has what the deer want not what the hunter wants.
I have always wondered if this was my issue, and have wondered how much is to much. I try to avoid as much time on the property as possible. Up until this year when I purchased the property it might see 2 or 3 weeks if not longer without any human traffic at a time and when I did go out there it was a quick ride around the property on the three wheeler to check on everything. I would say maybe 2-4 hours a month gets spent out on the property at most up until deer season...BUT I am a landlocked on 3 sides 2 of which are public land. My thoughts have always been mostly likely that land is has high hunting pressure so if I could stay off the property as much as possible the deer would feel more secure and stick around on my 40....I think I have alot of variables working against me lol...I truly appreciate all your guys help and keep the suggestions coming. Maybe between all the of us I can figure out how to hunt this land.
These pictures here are how I have my stands hung and the creek, pond, and food plots, I do not enter the south west corner of the property at all except to add more hinge cuts...
Lol so your sayin it's just me? Might be...I'm by far no professional hunter, but I read every article I can, watch every informational video I can find, and ask as many questions as I can and try and learn from my experiences...I have shot probably 50+ deer in my 16 years of hunting but only 5 bucks each one bigger than the last. So if it is me, at least hopefully I can figure out what I am doing wrong and learn from it.
Both of these deer look young, you might want to pass them and let them grow if you are dead set on killing bigger deer.
Those pics were from last year assuming they were 3.5 at that time last year, in my area if you can put a tag on a 4+ year old your doing pretty good.
Yeah I have a few more pictures of both of them I'd say the one looks like he might make p&y the other one is right behind him, excited to see them this year, they usually don't start showing up until the game starts...end of october
Do you have anywhere else to hunt? I ask because if you do I would advise you only hunt yours during sit and when the wind is perfect. Kill your doe elsewhere and run the $hit outta your cams and get a idea of exactly what happens there
Yup I do, I've been thinking alot about that lately, my question is on such a small piece of land, land locked by high pressure public land will my movement or lack of make a difference when people are constantly on the surrounding land with no scent control or shooting guns or small game hunting...at first my thouhts were if I could stay out as much as possible they would feel safe on my property and stick around especially if I give them food, water, good cover...so I put in plots, did a bunch of hinge cutting, had a select cut timber harvester come in and take out alot of the unwanted timber and open up the ground level, and even had the Michigan DNR forester department come out and try and give me suggestions....but I still cannot pattern these deer...we have a fair amount of deer in this area but at the moment I know of a bachelor group of 5 small yearlings a lone doe a mamma and twin fawns...they are regulars but that's it. I'm not to concerned with this because I don't tend to start seeing older bucks until they start getting curious.
Your are doing and asking the right things. Trust your brain. 40acres can hold a big boy if everything goes right. Make it thick and nasty. And only check cams when it's raining and at lunch and go in at rut. IMHO
Appreciate the advice man, I will try to do exactly what your saying, I know one day all this will pay off but it's been litterally on my mind non stop driving me crazy, I don't know why anyone needs drugs, just need to bowhunt.
