Food Plot & Property Flow where there is no ag/destination fields

[bigboreblr]

a bit of this habitat thing is being happy with what you got. Internet has ruined people. See monster bucks on here, amazing properties. Some places using serious equipment ot make, stuff we dont mention like huge graders, 350hp stump grinders.

cheryl crow said It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got We try to make our places better, but sometimes you just cant make it into something its not. Enjoying your property and not stressing about what around it is quite helpful. Neighbors not following rules, neighbors stressing deer movement,

Saturday, one neighbor had a brush fire. Sunday the next neighbor over burned 3 acrs of their property about 200 yards from my home. Im glad to have a so-so 6 pointer there. Think I was glad I wasn't home sunday.

Gis, How do you use the property. How often are you there. Not all of us know your states hunting season. they vary alot around the US. Bedding is what you place lacks. But, to make bedding you gotta whack some oaks. Whack some mature oaks, the teenager ones really pick up the pace with the extra sun they get. You know what oaks you own on that parcel? Pick up a few cans of tree marking paint and ID what you got in the summer. Pretty sure you can ID oaks white from red atleast in the winter. White oaks are preffered forage over red ones. MAny say they need to rot a year before deer will eat the red oaks.

NYSDEC just started their spring seedling sale. Even if ideal bedding is not opened up on your property yet. Having a few spots with a seed bank so the birds can do their work. Maybe some willows in the stream, a corner of the foodplot for red dogwood bunch.

MY meager 2 hands and an ATV is going to make another little dent in a 600 acre spot. Need to learn what shrubs I can add in zone 3 sandy soil. Besides deer n rabbits, I got beavers who want an opinion on what to eat there too.

I might be the only one mentioning this, but you need a little corner for you. Want to camp out for the weekend, have a bonfire. Make a tiny corner with some seclusion for you. Can be so-so orchard grass n clover 1/10 acre field or something. Just don't like seeing people avoiding their land so they can enjoy it later.

 

[Telemark]

Something to consider is other deer activity besides food and bedding.

Consider placing minerals, water holes, and mock scrapes where deer might travel, in order to increase predictable movement.

 

[gjs4]

I genuinely did not start this thread to chat about my place. I believe this is common problem to be solved on the east coast and hill country regions.

 

[Telemark]

I genuinely did not start this thread to chat about my place. I believe this is common problem to be solved on the east coast and hill country regions.

It's a problem all over the place. I hunt an area that has little ag, and when the fields are fallow, there's zero ag. I hunt another place that has no ag on the entire island. And there is a metropark I want to start hunting that has only a few small fields on it, but once they are gone, there's nothing but neighborhoods and forested metroparks. There are parts of most states, even states known for ag, like Ohio, that have certain areas that are wilderness or suburban where deer don't have ag to relate to. Suburban areas actually seem relatively easy to figure out, and I'm pretty excited to start hunting there.

I have been into scent lures for a while, but I have been experimenting and really stepping up my game this year. From now on, every stand I hunt on every property I hunt will be a rut stand until the rut is over. I'm not going to put down any bait from September until the end of the rut in mid November or whenever it is, and the bait I do put down will relate to post rut activity.

This was the first year I was able to consistently get deer on camera in daytime by using that strategy. I was really pleased. I have been using whatever scent lures were on sale, but now that I feel I have a good strategy that works, I'm going to start spending a bit more. I really like Black Widow scents, and that is probably what I will buy from now on. It might run me $75 every year or two, but I think the quality is peerless in the industry, and I'm reasonably confident that my system will work.

I think scent lures are a misunderstood and honestly underrated tool in the hunter's toolbox. They just can't be used willy-nilly. I see one-star comments like "This product is garbage. I used it for two months straight, and I never saw a buck", and I think to myself that while the product may be garbage, he is clearly using it wrong.

 

[omicron1792]

Tell me more about how you are using scents and why you aren’t using corn

 

[Telemark]

Tell me more about how you are using scents and why you aren’t using corn

I am using corn in Ohio, but not until the rut is over. And when I put it out, I'm trying to do it in a way that more or less forces deer to go past an area with scrapes to get to it, so that I can still use scent lures to influence their movement and get the bucks there more often and in daylight.

I'm using scents according to the progression of the rut, and in more calculated ways. I'm using existing scrapes, and I'm only putting mock scrapes where it makes sense for deer, rather than just making a mock scrape at any old stand I want to hunt. I'm also starting to use a variety of scents rather than just estrus doe urine. I'm trying to use different scents at different times to basically tell a story, but tell a story that makes sense to mature bucks. I'm trying to get him to believe that there is a hot doe in the area and a young buck following the hot doe around, and that mature buck better get in there and do something about it, or he's going to lose that hot doe to that young buck. I want to send him into a frenzied panic where he feels the need to be there in daylight to intercept this phantom pair before the unspeakable happens.

I also use Code Blue bedding scent to encourage does to bed in a particular spot. I originally did this by accident, but now I am doing it intentionally. I also put a drop of estrus urine in some of the fresh beds. I think a bunch of actual does bedding in a certain area is a huge draw for a rutting buck.

I used to just make a mock scrape and hang a scent wick with estrus wherever I was hunting. It worked once, and that one time was in a place that I came to find out was a place where such things could be reasonably expected at that time of year. In fact, I found out that the deer are still using that spot for rutting behavior. There were two rub lines, four scrapes, and a doe bedding area within 100 yards of my ladder stand.

 

[omicron1792]

Interesting. I use scents but much less well thought out than you.

Food seems to still rule the day for me. Even during rut the does still go to food and bucks follow. Or a tired buck will come to food during daylight. That said I hunt near bedding all except during peak rut.

 

[Telemark]

Interesting. I use scents but much less well thought out than you.

Food seems to still rule the day for me. Even during rut the does still go to food and bucks follow. Or a tired buck will come to food during daylight. That said I hunt near bedding all except during peak rut.

This plan is new this year. It's the culmination of years of experience and reading articles, watching YouTube videos, and listening to podcasts. I then went and really tried to find successful hunters who use scents and pick apart their methods. I haven't tried this new plan yet, but if I bag a nice buck next year, I won't be shy about letting everyone know.

 

[omicron1792]

I think it’s cool. Thanks for sharing.

Side note. I use a Blaser rifle and love it. Do you see a lot of straight pull rifles over there?

 

[Telemark]

I think it’s cool. Thanks for sharing.

Side note. I use a Blaser rifle and love it. Do you see a lot of straight pull rifles over there?

Yes, they're especially popular with Germans. But Blaster is a bit expensive for most Norwegians.

 

[gjs4]

Telemark- would you mind starting a thread on your scent tactics? Ive never heard someone say that their scent program is significant enough to be a leader in their hunting layout. Super neat