Okay guys, need some pointers or ideas. This winter I want to begin to improve my land for deer. My main focus is to hold bucks on the property and be the prime ground that deer want to call home. The picture below is a picture of the property and a rough estimate of the property lines. The red circles are areas that are all pine. I was thinking of thinning out the pines to allow new growth and thicker cover. The pink circle is an area that must've been clear cut or a field at some point. It has small trees and is very thick which makes it one of the better bedding areas. The blue circles are possible bedding areas. The one off the property has not been confirmed but there's one in that area. Just looking for some advice on where to start and what you would do to improve the land.
One thing is they need a a safeplace which means cover cover and more cover. Close mineral site that needs to be maintained from jan-jul at a min. also a water source near the mineral so get a large tub find a low point a get a mud puddle going. With that in account you need to find easy ways to stands most likely through the pine as it will be quite. Good food sources near the middle of the porperty will tend to keep deer more on your land then others.
I already have minerals out through that time frame. Im trying to reduce the amount of plots that we need by giving them more native foods. I feel the best way is to open up some areas and hinge cutting to allow new growth, making the woods a lot thicker as well.
The best you can do is improve your habitat to provide the most you can for them such as bedding, food, minerals, and water. Obviously deer typically start and end each "day" or traveling period in a bedding area. I like to put mineral licks close to bedding areas to ensure they are visiting them. Then, I like water be within 50-100 yards of the mineral lick because often times deer will want a drink after all the salt. Once they get a drink they move onto the food. If you are already providing this then you will have does, and therefore you will have bucks too. What food plots do you currently have? During the rut, bucks will be where the does are. Is there something that makes you believe you do not have deer visiting your property? It looks like you have a good variety of what they need, perhaps you need to move your stand so you can see more deer? Just thinking outside the box, you may not end up needing to do anything other than moving your stand.
Radishes planted in the Western field, clover planted in the Eastern field, and there was corn in 1/3 of the big Northern field. Plots are great Im just trying rely less on them. I still want to have plots but nothing too big. Im having deer but Id like to hold them more on my property to get a better age class of bucks. A small six point or small 8 wouldnt stand a chance if he stepped off the property. Also, Im not sure what good all those pine trees do for the deer. Just seems like a wasteland with them blocking out light, preventing smaller growth.
To be honest, once the rut kicks in, you'll have a heck of a time keeping any deer "contained". At the same time, you will be getting visits from your neighbor's bucks too!
could you post a topo map to. entry and exit should be number one priority! you want big deer to live on your place! then they need the comfort of thinking you are not there even when you are. few questions 1. is that a drainage ditch / creek behind that big stand of pines in middle? 2. what does it look like under the pines? open like a park? 3. what kind of equipment do you have access to. 4. how many hunters / how often is it hunted?
try to establish a sanctuary as close to the middle of the property as you can and never go in there except to retrieve a deer. this will increase the amount of deer staying on your property pretty quickly. this area should be thick and have everything a deer needs to survive. you would rather have a deer staying on your property during the day than traveling to your property to feed during the night.
1. Theres a drainage ditch running southwest from the big group of pines. No creek running though it though 2. It would look like a park, few fallen trees but the ground doesn't have much growth, if any. 3. Tractor with bucket, chainsaw, rotor tiller or disk, and any other small tools. 4. Bow season-Mostly just me, sometimes a friend. Rifle- My brother, me and maybe one more. This is only place I hunt right now but try not to use same stand back to back. Will be hunting more public next year along with this land. We hunt squirrels, crows, turkeys and predators as well. As for having a sanctuary in middle of property. That most likely won't happen due to the layout of the land and how the property is used. It would have to be in the thick stuff or area around that.
I would go cut over and leave some of those pines, pines are great cover for deer but once they canopy nothing grows under them and it gets wide open. my recommendation would be to go spread switchgrass seed this winter in an area the size of a few acres and cut a bunch down in a circle, maybe like 100 yards in diameter. if you did every other tree, it would be pretty nasty and thick. I realize this would be a loss of potential income from the tree's so it may not be feasible to you. But it would work. The switch grass should come up through the down trees and create incredible ground cover for the deer. I would do that in the middle section of pines. In the pink area, I would half saw lots of tree's to make it even thicker and nastier. then you would have two sure bedding areas. look to place a stand in between the two, make nice trail between the two, (this way a buck in the seeking phase will take the trail to look for doe's.) If you set up to hunt the down wind side of the trail you have just created the perfect kill spot. Bucks in the rut will be cruising all day from bedding cover to bedding cover looking for receptive doe's, you would be on the path of least resistance. for bedding cover think native grasses. the thing that made me turn the corner in habitat solution was this statement by Dr. Grant Woods "deer live in and prefer cover from 0-3 ft." I began to observe my deer herd, where ever there was grassy spots in the woods deer were bedding. Why? they could lay there without being seen and observe all there surroundings! I can't tell you how many times I have watched deer stand up out of small grass patches over the last few years. there is a few ideas I have many more but its late! good luck, you will find it the most rewarding thing you could do!
