Hello Guys, I am new to this forum and I am from Eastern Kentucky and we do not have much flat land to hunt around me but last year I had multiple does coming into my property then rut hit and I had 3-4 decent bucks coming into the property eating the corn I had out but then right after rut I started to see a lot more of the bear population I had been told about in my area after the bears started to come around i have not seen anymore deer in the area but i have not seen anymore of the bear population either but i have put corn out multiple times over the past 2 months and have not seen anything at all and i was just curious what i should do to get my deer population back up before season. Thanks guys any tips help.
Food plot, habitat and if you are going to feed do it all the time you have to be consistent if want consistent results. Do you live on the property you hunt? Long range glassing is very helpful. When I am home I am out side at sunset with my binos, you will learn where the deer come from and where they go if you do low impact watching from a distance. Are there crops or food sources that would make your land just a seasonal habitat? Do the deer bed on your property? Walk the deer trails look for poo. What kind of mast crop do you have?
How many acres? Do you have crops? Field remnants? Just mature trees with no regen? Water on the property? If they were there they will come back you just have to figure out what is drawing the deer when they do show.
Find the does draw the does and you can not just dump corn any old place and expect them to be drawn like it is pile of oxy. You need cover you need to have areas where you could not shoot 40 yards (cover) and topography is a big part of travel routes.
Cover+food+water=deer. During the rut water may be your biggest asset. But on both sides of the rut cover and food are needed to hold deer on or near the property.
You sure all the does you are seeing aren't just bucks that've shed their antlers? They lose them every year about this time and grow new ones over the summer.
My first question would be what is the predominant habitat present on your place and the general area surrounding? If mature timber, I'll tell you right now a WORLD of difference can and WILL occur with gas, a chainsaw and sweat equity.
