Keeping deer on my land!

I have not read all the other posts here but food and security cover have a lot to do with holding deer. The more security cover you have the more food you will need to plant because more deer will stay in the area. Foods like clover feed deer all year and have little maintenance once established. Mowing a couple times a summer will do just fine with frost seeding in Spring where there are bare patches. Water is also a big thing to deer. I use back yard garden ponds to hold my water. I fill them with water from a Creek down the road. Deer will use water during the rut more then anything.

You can plant brassicas, wheat, rye, oats, corn and beans for fall but just remember these are foods that will only hold deer for a limited amount of time.

What you need to do, depending on how big your property is, is make a clear cut that you will stay out of or only hunt the edges of. This will give the deer a place to go. Plant a couple food plots in areas the deer will use yet stay concealed. Then hunt the areas between the food plot and security cover.

I don't own much land but have planted 3 different types of food plots for the past 10 years. The deer do not go far and even bed on my property now. My woods is a nightmare to walk thru with only a 4x4 trail cutting through it. G L

 

dbl lung is spot on. Food is not what holds deer. You want to hold deer provide them a very secure feeling as much as you can. This can include food plots, but with a security mindset always at the forefront. Too many guys think food food food, when they should think security security security. If you do some food plots a long winded response of advice from me would be a replication of this write up I did for Tom: Create the Ultimate Kill Plot

 

He said his pasture is grown up from lack of grazing this year, if it's like the grass here this year...cover shouldn't be a big problem. If the surrounding lands pasture is grazed down, he'll have the only cover and food around, even if the deer don't live on his property, they are going to be spending considerably more time there.

Doing much brush cutting this late in the year and close to season could screw up his deer patterns negatively but it's a good idea after this season.

 

Tall grasses unless switch fall with colder temps and first frost. Also some deer love bedding in grass others prefer some head cover or shade; grass can get incredibly hot due to no sun blocking. No one would ever recommend doing any true habitat work this close to season, but once the season's ending bell tolls that is the instant cover needs to be top priority and just like food diversity is important.

 

I didn't think it was clearly pointed out to him that the brush clearing was a "to be done later" project and didn't figure he'd know off hand the consequences of doing it now.

True on the grass cover but he'd already said he was going to look at planting some annual screen and it's too late to do the brush clearing...all he has left is his current grass which will be better than anything else in his circumstances (nothing else around). There really aren't any other options at present for him this year and he said his parents won't go for tearing up any more pasture so...He's left with what he already had...food plot plans with screens and options for brush clearings post season.

Good point on the water as well, BTW. I assume they have good water sources already since it's been pastured for years and they probably have a creek on the property from the looks of the overhead. I have made potholes and lined them with plastic for this purpose though, put them at the end of a watershed and rain pretty much keeps them full. Black plastic is cheap.

That's a great blog article BTW.

 

Yeah water holes are huge!

 

This year I have 5 plots throughout the land. Maybe three acres all together.

 

Yea I have some Clover from Whitetail Institute that I plan on planting. Being new to the food plot game, I purchased the sample pack from WI to have a variety to see what turned out the best, and what they seemed to prefer. Also looking into planting oats. But I am up for any suggestions! I might look into the apple trees for next year.

 

Gotcha, I will probably need to plant a food plot where I have my camera(on the pic), as well as another acre. I guess I need to go get another 50 pd bag of clover. The cover is good and thick here, and to my knowledge there is very little pressure in this area. Also, I have a lake that I can access as well. It is about 1 1/2 miles from my camera. I have constantly racked my brain to see what would be the best overall, ha.

 

Yea, no way I am going in there this late. I don't want to jinx myself but the cover is pretty good. I know I could do a few things to help, but that will be a February thread.

Also, We just cut the pasture about 2 weeks ago. Good news is, There deer are practically no where to be seen by the human eye when they come into the fields(if that matters).

 

We have a pond towards the front of the land, closer to the house and road. Also, have the creek which I showed on the pic and the lake that connects to the land. Plenty of water for the deer here. Just hope it tastes a little colder next to my stand....

 

That is great to hear DC! That's what I hope I can get to if not this year, possibly next. My dad isnt the hunting type, but If I can put a good deer down it might just give him a little bit of the fever. I make sure to show him any good pics I get.

 

Haha, that's good. I had instant visions of you going in the brush like next week and cutting out a couple plots and then wondering later why the deer moved out and didn't come back this season.

I learne da long time ago to be very careful how I present advice to folks, you just never know how the simplest assumption is going to cause someone to come back at you with a, "Hey you dummy..that didn't work" and then look at you with a blank stare when you say, "well I thought you'd be smart enough to realize I meant so and so"...

"Cut it two weeks ago".....ouch, lol. Well it has time to grow back some if you don't happen to clip it again. I think the kind of cover we've had in mind was such that they'd also be hard to see while in the field so tha tthey feel comfortable venturing out there to your plot in daylight.

 

Ha, no. I dread having to go put the stand up this weekend.
I really think I need to plant some of that Sun Hemp for cover if that is the case. We won't cut it again this year though.

 

What is the grass in there now, fescue? It'll be hard pressed to do much this late. Sun hemp or Egyptian wheat or even sorghum Sudan will outgrow fescue. Plus fescue...meh, I hate it, lol.

 

Yea, believe so. I am really seriously thinking about planting the sun hemp or wheat one. Between that , clover, and the WI that should be pretty good I feel. Oh, What type of clover do you all recommend? I was looking at the crimson today.

 

I'm a big fan of the crimson but remember it's just an annual, it'll die out next year after going to seed...though it can reseed itself. If you want a semi-permanent clover go with ladino (white) clover. I think deer find it more palatable. Imperial has a blend of white clovers (2) that works well but any old ladino will suffice. Some varieties are Jumbo and seem to get a little more attention.

Any of the clovers aren't bad though. Not a bad idea to plant more than one type as they'll cycle at different times. Crimson will green up along with the rye and give a higher protien content to your deer during spring green up. Most other clovers are later greening up.

 

Not to switch gears too much, but I spoke to a coworker today that used to be over the ag department and hunts quite a bit. I was talking to him and he said that he picked up a bag of mixture seeds from Walmart for about $20+ that covered 1/2 acre. He couldn't remember the name of it. I know Walmart sells Harvest brand, so maybe it was their brand. Anyways, do any of you all buy the seeding for plots at Walmart? How were your results? Tomorrow seeds will go in the ground if nothing don't happen, and I just want to see all possibilities until then. Thanks.

 

standing corn brings deer in easy. neighbor field next to where i hunted last year helped me get a deer opening morning. he was following a doe scent and I dropped him with a shotgun

 

Over the years I have bought several bags through Walmart and never had a problem. I got into buying in bulk and mixing my own mixtures for different plots and just don't need small bags anymore. But I plant acres and acres so small plots shouldn't be a problem.