what do you guys thing is the number one thing a guy can do to hold mature bucks?

[scoot52]

just wanted guys opinions on the number one improvement a guy can make to hold mature bucks on his parcel. To me its having a sanctuary. I only own 40 acres and half of it I only access in the spring for trail and bedding maintenance. This is a pic of a great buck leaving a sanctuary and heading for a plot and water hole.

 

[Native Hunter]

I think it comes down to safety and comfort for them. Having a place where they are undisturbed and have most of what they need nearby.

It could also come down to what they become conditioned to early in life. I've noticed that bucks born near civilization are more tolerant of barking dogs and human noise in the distance.

The one factor about disturbance that you can't control is coyotes and wolves. They probably go right into the bedrooms at times. Most yard dogs will stay on trails and not venture in to thick vegetation. Some hounds will go right in, but I don't like to make anything easy for them. If I'm going to make a trail it will be one to lead predators away rather than into a sanctuary.

 

[Bill]

The following is strictly option, no scientific evidence (that I'm aware of) suggests it is correct. Guys smarter than me have written books to answer your question.

Personally, I believe any property can hold mature deer if it is in an area that deer are able to mature. The battle then becomes getting them on their feet during daylight hours. My game plan in the past 6 or 7 years has been "no pressure". I walked my entire farm this spring, and I can honestly say it's the first time I've seen 80% of it in years. (Fields excluded). Deer have personalities, predators enter the place, other mature bucks cruising enter it and cause stress to the resident mature buck(s). I can't control any of that, the only thing I can control is how human scent and sightings affect it. Lots of people would consider me nuts but I believe we are the scariest thing in a (mature) deers world. If he has walked across a kill plot for his entire life and never or rarely smelled or seen us it just makes sense that when its time to mate there will be no apprehension to walk across it on a November day when we are waiting for him. I think trail cameras are our best friend and worst enemy. We quit using them until I discovered buckeyecams RF cameras. We visit our cameras about twice a year. There expensive but the only scent free camera I know of.

From June until Halloween there is no need for anyone to enter any piece of timber. From antler hardening until Halloween there is no need for anyone to be in a field unless it's to spray, mow or plant something. These activities are noisy and any deer bedded close by are not suddenly surprised by human presence.

Every ritual has exceptions. I have 2.

The first is if camera Intel or personal sightings tell me Mr. Big has a happy go lucky personality and he is still in a summer pattern in mid sept. We will be on him the first week of Bow season wind conditions permitting. If not, there are no asses parked in a tree stand until Halloween.

The second is rifle season. Here in MO rifle season is during the rut, right smack in mid Nov. we play the wind but do get a bit sloppy as we will be in a stand somewhere everyday.

I could go on and on and continue to point how exactly how crazy I am :). But let's just say since I quit hunting just to hunt things have gotten much better around here.

 

[sandbur]

Make it as thick as you can and stay out until the rut.

 

[Boone]

I actually mainly try to attract the deer during the season. I like to enjoy our property by 4 wheeling, camping, etc. during the off season. My strategy is standing crops when all the surrounding crops are harvested. We also have 10 acres that we stay out of. Corn, beans, radishes, peas and oats will be the main attraction for us this yr.

 

[huntall]

I actually mainly try to attract the deer during the season. I like to enjoy our property by 4 wheeling, camping, etc. during the off season. My strategy is standing crops when all the surrounding crops are harvested. We also have 10 acres that we stay out of. Corn, beans, radishes, peas and oats will be the main attraction for us this yr.

That the same as myself. I enjoy my land year round, but I'm sure if I stayed out of my woods till September I'd surely kill or have the chance to kill better deer, but my experience on my place does not stop the day deer season ends. I'm always taking my boys and stowing them a type tree they didn't know or a different bird sound or just to look at God's creations right in front of us with nothing man made in sight.

I would say that if I didn't have as much human activities on my place during off season that it would be better. With only 90 acres I do try stay out of the back, but I accept my consequences and keep on and never look back. 3 boys and they love it year round . That don't mean I'm there every weekend, but we do go often. Probably every third weekend. Sometimes a little more often and other times not so often

 

[shawnv]

I know the easy answer is sanctuary but there are many places I know of that receive zero pressure in the fall and still do not hold a mature buck. With that said, I would say having a diverse property would be my #1 thing with everything else falling underneath that.

 

[bueller]

just wanted guys opinions on the number one improvement a guy can make to hold mature bucks on his parcel. To me its having a sanctuary. I only own 40 acres and half of it I only access in the spring for trail and bedding maintenance. This is a pic of a great buck leaving a sanctuary and heading for a plot and water hole.

Most of us will never "hold" a mature buck solely on our land so the goal is to get the buck to spend the most time possible on our parcels. For me, a year round food source is #1. When a buck knows that whenever he rolls through there will be something attractive for him to eat, whether it's rye in April, buckwheat in July, turnips in November, or woody browse in February, the "stops" will become more frequent and of longer duration. Combine that with quality bedding cover and low pressure and he may even lay his head there from time to time. As the rut starts to ramp up, this buck will have no problem finding doe on the food sources which he has been sharing with them for the previous months and even years. He should become more visible and therefore killable on the parcel during this time.

 

[Tree Spud]

First, holding a mature buck on your property does not mean you will ever have a chance to harvest it. Second, in my opinion, 40 acres is too small for an effective sanctuary on half of it unless it is a uniquely laid out piece of habitat. You then have your neighbors to contend with who can disrupt all of your efforts by fence sitting.

I think the more relevant question for you is how can you increase the number of opportunities for a mature buck to be on your property?

You may want to look more at your property as a transition piece relative to the other neighboring properties. Learn where the travel corridors are and what they are transitioning to and from (food, water, bedding, etc.) from the neighboring properties across yours. I would then try and improve the property to hold does. As Bueller commented, add food plot(s) strategically within the property. Add browse type shrubs along the travel areas. Create some bedding areas for does by adding pockets of spruces. Set your stands up so you can play the wind. Learn when your neighbors arrive or what activities may push deer onto your property.

If you get does frequenting your property, they are less susceptible t being bumped and they will be the key attractant for bucks during the rut when they are on the move scent checking.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I don't think 1 item will solve all problems. From 45 years of deer hunting - starting at age 12 - I've seen the BIG attraction of thick cover for mature bucks. This conclusion comes from hunting many pieces of ground in several states. That's why I'm such a fan of spruces, firs, and hemlocks. The big boys in my hunting area travel along lines of spruce and hemlocks in otherwise mostly hardwood forest. After leaf drop in the fall, this becomes even more pronounced. ( As Sandbur has said before ). Evergreens provide security and also - bedding sites for does. They're the main attraction during the rut.

And year-round food goes hand-in-hand with the cover. Good groceries year-round will keep does and fawns close by and thus keep bucks near or cruising thru. Bucks will gorge on high nutrition food to lard-up for rutting / winter. We get numbers of bucks feeding in our food plots all spring, summer, and fall. Adjoining camps all plant food plots too, so we try to have a variety that spans all year plus have the thickest cover. If we can keep numbers of does on our property, numerous bucks will be cruising during the pre-rut and the main event. During October and up to mid-November is when we see most of the bucks moving. Once the rifle season shooting starts - they go underground !! I think having a thick sanctuary area and keeping disturbance to an absolute minimum helps keep mature bucks around, but not everyone can keep the disturbance minimized for a variety of reasons.

 

[shawnv]

One thing I have observed is that I have increased the holding power for a variety of wildlife on my property by doing things that benefit them while doing things that have diminished the coyote frequency on my farm. When I used to have 15 acres of grassland/prairie on my farm, the coyotes would run the fields nightly looking for rodents and if they were not available then the other game species I care about. I have since reduced the overgrown field area from my garlic farming and from planting food plots and it appears that less is more. I still leave enough areas that allow for pheasant and turkey nesting and fawning in this area (not a spot I hunt) but it's been just enough that it has deterred the coyotes so now they only occasionally pass through.

This year I have the highest pheasant, turkey, rabbit and deer population since owning the farm. I also have had a fox return which hasn't been in the area for a number of years when the coyotes were thick (coyotes eat fox).