Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
The time to get out and look for rubs from your target buck is after you kill him. That way you don't run him off....
Working at the Farm - Took a few I-Phone Pics
- Thread starter Native Hunter
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Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Hey G, good to hear from you. Yes, it was the beautiful boy that the neighbor got and a real bummer on losing the best prospect we have ever had. But, that's deer hunting in most places these days.
I was really happy to get the old 8 point. My scales are broken so didn't get to weigh him, and was in a hurry to get him to a processor since dad was at home sick. But, I can tell you that old boy was a heavyweight for sure.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
It's been a long time since I have updated this thread. I've been doing some work at the farm off and on as the weather permits. We've only had one snow so far this year that has amounted to anything. However, it was gone quickly - that's how I like my snow - beautiful and gone fast.
I had never paid much attention to how well deer like to rub Hazel Alder. I found a little patch of them in a swampy place and there was probably 20 rubbed bushed within 50 yards of each other.
This is what I call my "Vanishing Point" food plot - long and narrow. It is eaten down pretty well because it is so close to bedding.
My dad helped me set 20 more sawtooth oaks and 20 more chestnut trees. I will be getting about 8 more pear / apple trees soon.
Trapper Caught one nice cat and 3 or 4 yotes. Glad to get them out before fawning season. Now I'm only getting one coyote on cameras and he just passes through occasionally.
The beautiful 3 year old we passed during season got killed on a neighboring farm. However, I'm happy that some more decent prospects have moved in. I hope they stick around until fall.
That's about it guys. I will say that the deer action in my food plots have been crazy good lately. Bucks are still holding antler and even still fighting a lot. I guess it's just practice for next season or maybe to see who is going to be the boss monkey.
I had never paid much attention to how well deer like to rub Hazel Alder. I found a little patch of them in a swampy place and there was probably 20 rubbed bushed within 50 yards of each other.
This is what I call my "Vanishing Point" food plot - long and narrow. It is eaten down pretty well because it is so close to bedding.
My dad helped me set 20 more sawtooth oaks and 20 more chestnut trees. I will be getting about 8 more pear / apple trees soon.
Trapper Caught one nice cat and 3 or 4 yotes. Glad to get them out before fawning season. Now I'm only getting one coyote on cameras and he just passes through occasionally.
The beautiful 3 year old we passed during season got killed on a neighboring farm. However, I'm happy that some more decent prospects have moved in. I hope they stick around until fall.
That's about it guys. I will say that the deer action in my food plots have been crazy good lately. Bucks are still holding antler and even still fighting a lot. I guess it's just practice for next season or maybe to see who is going to be the boss monkey.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Those antlers are amazing. Our antlers are long gone, some were already dropping off in the second week of December.It's been a long time since I have updated this thread. I've been doing some work at the farm off and on as the weather permits. We've only had one snow so far this year that has amounted to anything. However, it was gone quickly - that's how I like my snow - beautiful and gone fast.
I had never paid much attention to how well deer like to rub Hazel Alder. I found a little patch of them in a swampy place and there was probably 20 rubbed bushed within 50 yards of each other.
This is what I call my "Vanishing Point" food plot - long and narrow. It is eaten down pretty well because it is so close to bedding.
My dad helped me set 20 more sawtooth oaks and 20 more chestnut trees. I will be getting about 8 more pear / apple trees soon.
Trapper Caught one nice cat and 3 or 4 yotes. Glad to get them out before fawning season. Now I'm only getting one coyote on cameras and he just passes through occasionally.
The beautiful 3 year old we passed during season got killed on a neighboring farm. However, I'm happy that some more decent prospects have moved in. I hope they stick around until fall.
That's about it guys. I will say that the deer action in my food plots have been crazy good lately. Bucks are still holding antler and even still fighting a lot. I guess it's just practice for next season or maybe to see who is going to be the boss monkey.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
The way they have been fighting in the food plots I thought some would have been banged off by now. I even found a fresh rub by one of the plots. They think it is October instead of February.
All but one of those deer are new and have moved in since the end of the rut. This is the time of the year I generally gain the most new deer and I think the wheat being there is a big part of that.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
I saw that nice stand of grain, I was wondering what it was. Anything green that can be grown right now is a good winter attractant. We're always hoping to add a few new bucks this time of year, but it's impossible to grow winter wheat that nice in zone 6, although we're having a mild winter with only 6" of snow total, and it didn't stay here long. Gaining new bucks in offseason is a multifaceted and interesting topic when you think about it. First, there needs to be bucks on the neighbouring vicinity that survived the season. Second, you need to have better habitat than where they came from or something that attracts them to your place. And, last but not least, you want to avoid losing your own nicest bucks to somewhere else. Beyond the obvious habitat basics do you know any other little things that can make a difference in tilting the scales in your favor?
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Liked the snow pics. Since there was some discussion on forum of rye and wheat I planted them separate instead of a mix this year. Def the WW weathered the winter better but I still like rye beat thru the spring. My bucks either lost their antler n Dec or still wearing them. Maybe it’s genetics. Some of us lose our hair early I’ve heard.
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Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
I'm always searching for those little things that make a difference on tilting the scales, but haven't found any magic bullets yet. I do think that having doe groups bedding on your place is a big plus for multiple reasons. First, deer check out where other deer are traveling, and deer from the outside can be led in to a place by resident does. Second, I think bucks make mental notes of doe bedding areas outside their core areas. Even if a buck doesn't decide to change his core area, he will add a doe bedding area to his places to visit in the next rut. So, I feel that resident doe groups are a big plus. Also, if a 3 year old buck wanders in at this time of year and finds everything his heart desires, he may just decide to stay for good.
We can argue the effectiveness of mineral licks, but there is no argument about how they attract deer in late winter and early spring. I should have posted some pictures of my stump treated with minerals. So, perhaps that might also be something that would tempt a deer to stay around.
With that said, the feeling of safety probably outweighs everything for a mature buck, and that's where good cover really comes into play. So.....just maybe the secret is a balanced approach to all of the proven tactics that we already know!
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Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Now that you have planted them separately one time, will you continue to do that every year?
PS: Yes I loved that snow - and loved it just as much when it was gone in two days!!!
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Thanks, I was sure that you would come through with something for us! Doe bedding areas didn't really come to mind as a tool to attract nonresident bucks during the annual midwinter dispersal, so you've given us something that we can work on.
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
That’s my working theory too Native. I cut just about all of the pine timber on my 80 acre home place three years ago to hopefully provide more cover. I’m thinking if I can provide food, water, bedding and fawning cover then I’ve covered most of the bases for what a doe needs. If does hang around, the bucks will cruise through. It’s paid off the last two years for me.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
A few years ago in December I started getting pictures of a very promising buck that appeared to be a 3 year old. After a few weeks he disappeared and I didn't see him again until the following December. He had grown quite a bit and appeared at about the same time as before except a year later. He never appeared on camera except for a two or three week period in those two Decembers.
The following year (when the deer was five), my son and I were hunting during November from out blind and saw a doe with a buck following come through the food plot about daybreak one morning. It was too early to shoot, so we just waited. A few minutes later after it was good shooting light those two deer emerged again from the native grasses about 200 yards from where we first saw them. He shot the buck, and it was the December buck - about a month earlier than his normal routine.
The resident doe had led him right in. That deer was a 5 year old that scored 157. When I checked cameras later, I didn't have a single picture of him, which leads me to believe that the doe made the difference that day. I also think that buck lived several miles away. My neighbor never had a picture of him, and I never had any pictures except during those December times I mentioned. I think if that deer had been living even as close as a mile away that we would have got an occasional picture of him at other times.
I could be wrong, but I think in December he was out in the second rut making mental notes on doe bedding areas just in case his own core area didn't work out for him. Of course, I can't prove that, but will always be convinced of it.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
One of the most exciting things while hunting is to see a new buck that you've never seen before. Even more exciting is when your son manages to get him. It's times like that keep us going back for more.
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
My tale isn’t as fun as yours, because I was the guy who had loads of pics of a very nice buck, day and night, only to see him disappear right before gun season and not return until spring. Two years in a row he’s done that and he hasn’t showed this spring yet. I’m hoping, but he’s probably dead. Guy on the property next door said a fellow three miles away had him on camera during season. 
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
He's a beauty Drycreek. I'm predicting if he is still alive that you may put him on the wall this fall. Keep us posted.
PS: I had the same thing to happen once with a big boy that lived on my place. Came back two weeks after season was over. The next year he was mine.
dogghr
Well-Known Member
I doubt it. Anymore I usually just throw it all in the spreader and go for it. Just not that much diff in WR and WW to separate. Usually grain, PTT, clover, GFR, AWP, kale, and maybe something else the feed store has cheap planted mid-late summer. The perennials just get either a fall overseed of clover grain and brassica, or overseed clover in late winter. As you know, no tillage simplifies planting method and timing. If I do another alfalfa plot, I might shallow till as Its easier to do.
