Yeah, I think those middle aged bucks are the hardest to age too. Most people can't do it unless you have history with the buck. That's where management decisions come from. But, I think most people can determine if a buck is fully mature or not. They just look different. My kids can do that. They also know what a 1.5 or 2.5 yo buck looks like on our property. From there, you can determine what the in between ages look like, and then narrow it down based on history.
Figure out EXACTLY when your deer are most susceptible to harm from the neighbors and transform your property to give them everything they need during that period.
Since everyone runs a feeder here, outbait thy neighbor. Cover is everywhere
I agree - there is no surefire way to keep a deer on your property - especially this time of year. My 350 acres has about 30 acres of open ground - not thick cover like the rest. I see bucks out there regularly - 200 yards away from the woods. You do everything you can, and hope some of it helps. Before we started baiting, we killed one of the bigger deer once every five or six years. Now we kill one every other year. On my home ground, we have never killed a big deer on bait. Even though the big deer will use our bait sites - mostly at night - I believe the combination of available bait and an abundance of does because of the relatively available bait, and using a more preferred bait than the neighbors - buys us an extra quality buck or two. Most of the bigger bucks we kill are running does around a food plot oneating in a food plot late season.
All my neighbors put out piles of corn. What is more preferred bait?
I can't answer for @SwampCat, but in the past I've used corn and rice bran side by side. They seemed to prefer the rice bran.
I lose some deer every year during the rut. I can only imagine how much worse it would be if guys were gun hunting at that time.
corn is less preferred at my place than many of the powders. And not all powders are created equal
I wish the baiting would be outlawed today. Problem is, a lot of guys are so dependent on it, would probably keep using illegal. Probably would have a deer population explosion if baiting were stopped here. Our state even allows baiting in cwd zones
I wasn't able to get to my property during rifle season this year. My farmer didn't get the alfalfa in like he wanted, so he put in corn again really late. I still have some standing. He picks it as he needs it. He asked if I wanted him to dump me some before rifle, so I said yes, knowing I wasn't going to get up there. I had no bait last year. On camera, I haven't seen a big difference in the number of deer on my place, and my target buck was killed down the road. So, in a bait rich environment, I don't know that it really helps much more than good habitat does.
If bucks were attracted that much to feeders here, we wouldnt have a buck left - not with six weeks of gun season with a two buck limit over rut. Dont hardly ever see a buck on a spin feeder. They will come to feed on the ground - but a lot of folks arent gonna go o that much trouble. Here, baiting is no sure thing you are going to save your bucks and no sure thing you are going to kill one - fortunately
This deer in Pa. would be dead. Hunters here aren't going to try to age a buck like this. Rack / points is the sole governing factor for most hunters here. Shame - but true.
