Why no deer?

Hello anyone have an answer to my dilemma? I have 50 acres of mixed fields and bush, with a few plots and clover growing every where but no deer. It seems like soon as summer comes they vacate. I help them by giving them feed and cutting trees down thru the harsh winter and there's tons around then. It's been happening ever since I've been observing, 4yrs. They come back every fall but why do you think they abandon my area for the summer?



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Better food nearby? Are there crops in the area? Beans for instance?

I guess I'd rather have them around in the fall than summer

 

I guess "prefered" is more accurate than "better"...

 

Food or shelter.

 

There is alfalfa fields close by. I guess maybe I should plant that. Do you think they might prefer what they find in the bush like leaves. There is a 100 acre fresh cut over next door.


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Who needs deer in the summer? Last year I had 7 different shooters on film and the first did not show until july 28. I keep an eye on stuff all summer for fun, but it really doesn't matter.

 

How much water do you have?? Deer wont venture too far from a watering hole during the summer months for obvious reasons...but as frenchbritt said...as long as they are there during the hunting season thats what matters.

 

I have a pond and a creek flows right thru my property. Lol. Everything is perfect. In the fall and winter they flock to my place. Just seems weird that they don't come around in the summer.


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are the bugs bad? I have a similar situation, deer move in late July and stay through April. Only a odd handful here now, all my bucks are summering up on a big grass field. about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile away. I know the one is a 5 year old, he shows up and stays here every fall. the only thing I can think is that they like the grass better than the swamp in the summer. I think for myself it has to be the bugs. not sure on your situation, but its a thought.

 

What do you have planted?
Deer cycle through their preferences.

in my area in south central wisconsin they go from
clovers to giant rag weed to swiss chard and higher sugar brassicas to buckwheat to soybeans to clovers to brassicas...

since there is so few alfalfa fields around anymore, anyone who has an alfalfa field is golden.

 

I've planted soybeans, corn, peas, carrots, radish,turnips,beets,kale. There's clover everywhere here and they leave as soon as it comes up. Lol. Having dogs probably doesn't help but all fall and winter they don't mind. I'm not real worried it's just that I put all this effort in and they still don't stick around. This year I put fields of brassicas so when they do come back I the fall they'll have that.


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Do you have a lot of predators? If the water, food, and shelter is good, what about minerals/salt blocks - another property nearby might have something that they want?

 

It's hard to tell, sometimes there just isn't any clear reason why they do that. Here, they just scatter out over the country because there's just food everywhere and sparse population so they can just roam about freely and browse anywhere they go. The vegetation is so dense everywhere that they feel safe (because they are) so there really is no limiting factors here.

Come fall and crops start disappearing, they start to migrate back to core ranges and my plots of food that are consistent from fall through spring. My guess is from your descriptions, that you may have a similar situation.

 

Honestly I wouldn't be concerned about not getting summer pics..... I would rather get zero summer pics and then when the food source changes have them piled on my property. Prime example.... I've got 5 acres of food plots and the deer aren't hitting them at all right now. Worried..... NOPE!!! Allows my food to grow lush and then when all Ag is cut and food is scarce I will have deer from miles away, just like last year!

 

Ya, I think I'm going to change my plot strategy and grow more fall to late fall plots instead of wasting time and money on trying to keep em around all year. It would be nice but really I only need them around in the fall.


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Sounds like to me there moving on to better food during the summer and then coming back to your plots as a last resort

 

How big is your property?

 

if the pressure is limited in summer months i would be putting in RR soybeans! they will mature and provide lots of good quality forage for them in pods and beans in the fall and winter! soys are one of the most attractive deer plots out there, they eat them when they are green and then go after them hard again once they dry down. only time they are un attractive to deer is in the time when leaves turn and are brown.

 

50 acres


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Your situation is one of the frequent asked questions at shows i do. There is a gap between people's clover plots and when the weather gets cooler in the fall, for when the deer will hit brassicas. This is where my energy and experiments have been this year. I came up with a higher sugar spring greens blend that the deer did hit about a month ago. I also came up with a 4 bean mix, that the deer are hitting now, that also help get deer infront of trail cams and keep them on the property.

Deer love alfalfa for good reason. Many people with clover plots do not clip/mow often enough and so they aren't palatable, nor do they have the quality. The reason for the alfalfa fields is the farmers are harvesting multiple crops and the nutrition and palatability is there.