Buck recruitment... Is there such thing as a “wow factor”?

Chipdasqrrl

Chipdasqrrl

Active Member
As we all know, there are countless factors that bucks consider when choosing a home. I frequently catch a random buck visiting my property on camera, but then they disappear. I’m brainstorming on how to recruit them to stay.
When a buck visits a property, do you think there’s ever a wow factor to them? Like a first impression, where they discover your large food plot and think “wow, this is nice.”
I would guess that if there’s a wow factor, it’s the presence of something not available in the surrounding area. For example, they discover Native’s NWSG planting and think “wow.. this place feels safe.. I’ve never been somewhere with so much cover.”
What do you think? Is there a wow factor to deer?
 
I've often thought the same thing. I know for me summer plots are huge. We do live in a rather large agricultural area (mostly peanuts and cotton). When summer sets in there isn't much to browse in the piney woods of Mississippi. Our summer plots bring in deer from all over. Couple that with year round supplement feeding I do believe deer do realize that this property has more to offer than others. I try to make my place a 24/7 all you can eat buffet.
 
PineSapJunky said:
I've often thought the same thing. I know for me summer plots are huge. We do live in a rather large agricultural area (mostly peanuts and cotton). When summer sets in there isn't much to browse in the piney woods of Mississippi. Our summer plots bring in deer from all over. Couple that with year round supplement feeding I do believe deer do realize that this property has more to offer than others. I try to make my place a 24/7 all you can eat buffet.
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That does sound like a great situation for bringing deer in during the summer. Do you lose many in the Fall?


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Chipdasqrrl said:
That does sound like a great situation for bringing deer in during the summer. Do you lose many in the Fall?


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We really don't. If they do go missing they come back when it counts. One particular block of property that draws deer in from the south didn't have a summer plot due to it being flooded out after planting and it showed. What was the hotspot last season was cold the entire year. We had a couple pictures of some nice bucks cruising through during the summer but we had nothing other than protein feed to stop them. They never established a routine and ended up calling some other place home come fall. Summer plots are my go to weapon on my place. Our fall plots are nice but we also have a lot of fall/winter forage for all of the deer. A couple of the farmers are learning the benefits of a winter cover crop plus we have thousands of acres of winter wheat/rye/oats/clover mix or combination there of to support the weight gain calves that get turned out every winter.
 
I think you can have that "Wow" factor....but I think it only matters once the other minimal requirements are met. I think you first have to exceed the neighborhood standard for food and cover...and then maybe you can hold the buck on or near your place with that "wow" factor...but I also think many of those "wow" factors could easily be seasonal in nature.

I really think as much work as many of us do...we are our own worst enemy. How many of us have neighbors that don;t do any habitat work but still seem to hold mature bucks? Why? Because the neighbor isn't out stomping around every weekend or the like.
 
I think the wow factor is a property that has lots of does and undetected hunting pressure with surrounding properties having overt hunting pressures. I have several bucks on my property(or in the vicinity as its only 80 acres) during the summer but come about Oct. 12 I have exponential new buck increases with mature ones becoming frequent visitors according to my cameras. Give the does what they need and the bucks will find their way there.

I'm in an ag area but offer standing crops in fall and winter overseeded with rye. I also have early green up clover plots and supplemental feed for does(bucks can eat if they want but really don't go to the feed after March) prior to birth until mid July, then they are on their own until after seasons are over.

I don't think every property can have a wow factor as there are variables that one can't impact that will keep it from being a buck attractor.
 
j-bird said:
I really think as much work as many of us do...we are our own worst enemy. How many of us have neighbors that don;t do any habitat work but still seem to hold mature bucks? Why? Because the neighbor isn't out stomping around every weekend or the like.
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I think it’s undeniable that a lot of us hurt our hunting chances more than we help them. However... it’s way too much fun so we’re not gonna stop. My neighbors usually shoot my target bucks... oh well




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Chipdasqrrl said:
I think it’s undeniable that a lot of us hurt our hunting chances more than we help them. However... it’s way too much fun so we’re not gonna stop. My neighbors usually shoot my target bucks... oh well




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If we can't create the illusion of safety to the level to make a buck call our place home...the "wow factor" you seek will then be, either a hot food source OR does and they are certainly connected. My entire hunting and habitat program focuses on this very thing. I am way too active on my place and my place flat out lacks the cover to hold a mature buck. IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. However, because I realize this...I then focus on the things I can control. Limit pressure in the early hunting season to allow the does to remain happy (no point hunting for bucks that are not there yet - I tend to not hunt until Halloween). This includes trying to NOT kill a doe until far later in the season (the more "bait" the better). I focus on hunting season food (I don't care if the deer are eating at the neighbors in July). I also focus on foods that maybe they can't get elsewhere (in my case this will be chestnuts and fruit or late standing crops).

The basic foundation of my plan is simple. If I can't create the safety to hold that mature buck...I have to help him do something he will regret. Best way I know to see a male of a species do something they normally would not....typically ALWAYS involves a female!
 
willy said:
That is how I plan and act on my place. Keep the girls around and the bucks will get there if there are any around.
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This is what I try to do too. If good bucks are in the area, the family doe groups will bring them in.

I also think that once the leaves start dropping in the fall that the NWSGs become more desirable for buck bedding. The other cover gets less, but the NWSGs stay thick. Now that the temps are getting cooler, the sun coming into the NWSGs feels good to them too.

The buck I killed this year was a homebody, but the one my son killed moved into our place and started bedding in October. I was getting occasional pictures of him around the edges of the place before that, but suddenly he changed his range and started bedding in one of the NWSG fields.

Just a day or two before he was harvested I saw him stand up late in the morning at the end of one of the shooting lanes I had mowed a few weeks earlier before he moved in. Later I looked a little closer and found what I feel was his bed. He was bedding down just a few feet off the shooting lane in the tall NWSGs.
 
I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic recently as well. The mature bucks didn’t show up this year (at least on camera) until mid November. Daylight activity from the bucks picked up around 17 November which also happens to be our rifle opener. Then by mid December they are gone...dead or dispersed.

Forest regeneration from our recent logging provides excellent cover summer through early fall but by late November it starts lacking. I’m planning to add conifers in hopes to provide additional long term security cover.

Baiting is legal in NC and the day I left the property this year I dumped 300 pounds of whole corn. The idea was to provide a draw during rifle season hoping to keep deer on my property longer...most if not all of the neighbors bait. I was amazed at the daylight buck activity around the corn pile during rifle season.


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weekender21 said:
I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic recently as well. The mature bucks didn’t show up this year (at least on camera) until mid November. Daylight activity from the bucks picked up around 17 November which also happens to be our rifle opener. Then by mid December they are gone...dead or dispersed.

Forest regeneration from our recent logging provides excellent cover summer through early fall but by late November it starts lacking. I’m planning to add conifers in hopes to provide additional long term security cover.

Baiting is legal in NC and the day I left the property this year I dumped 300 pounds of whole corn. The idea was to provide a draw during rifle season hoping to keep deer on my property longer...most if not all of the neighbors bait. I was amazed at the daylight buck activity around the corn pile during rifle season.


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Your forest regeneration should produce some thick bedding cover for the first 3-10 years. And you can extend the 10 years another 10 by hinging saplings, which should bring you to your next logging date.
 
Mennoniteman said:
Your forest regeneration should produce some thick bedding cover for the first 3-10 years. And you can extend the 10 years another 10 by hinging saplings, which should bring you to your next logging date.
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Fortunately the logging on our place was not all done at the same time. We've pieced together 4 parcels. Some logged around 40-50 years ago, another area logged 15-20 years ago, some logged in 2013 and the rest logged 2015-2018. Most of the 1-5 year cuts provide decent cover although some of it is too thick.

We recently purchased a 13 acre hillside that was logged 15-20 years ago. I had plans to hinge some areas for bedding but it's almost entirely tulip poplar. I haven't tried hinging any myself but I've heard poplar doesn't hinge well.

I guess I forgot to add in my original post that, at least in certain areas, corn holds a fairly significant WOW factor. Much more than I would have assumed.
 
weekender21 said:
Fortunately the logging on our place was not all done at the same time. We've pieced together 4 parcels. Some logged around 40-50 years ago, another area logged 15-20 years ago, some logged in 2013 and the rest logged 2015-2018. Most of the 1-5 year cuts provide decent cover although some of it is too thick.

We recently purchased a 13 acre hillside that was logged 15-20 years ago. I had plans to hinge some areas for bedding but it's almost entirely tulip poplar. I haven't tried hinging any myself but I've heard poplar doesn't hinge well.

I guess I forgot to add in my original post that, at least in certain areas, corn holds a fairly significant WOW factor. Much more than I would have assumed.
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IMO there's nothing like too thick for deer cover, although there are patches that need deer trails cut through. You are correct, tulip poplar doesn't hinge well, but it's an excellent timber crop, very little for deer though, once the leaves are out of reach. You could thin it to encourage browse growth without hurting your timber production, poplar thins itself anyway. Poplar saplings often die when cut.
 
Mennoniteman said:
IMO there's nothing like too thick for deer cover, although there are patches that need deer trails cut through. You are correct, tulip poplar doesn't hinge well, but it's an excellent timber crop, very little for deer though, once the leaves are out of reach. You could thin it to encourage browse growth without hurting your timber production, poplar thins itself anyway. Poplar saplings often die when cut.
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You reminded me of another WOW factor on our property. The stump sprouts, specifically tulip poplar, get hammered during the growing season.
 
weekender21 said:
You reminded me of another WOW factor on our property. The stump sprouts, specifically tulip poplar, get hammered during the growing season.
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You could get in there with a chainsaw and thin the poplar stand, aiming for a tree spacing where the trees will have touching crowns once fully grown. It would be a win win for everything but your back. The poplar trees remaing would double their growth rate, almost doubling your timber rate of return per acre, the sunlight reaching the ground would sprout all kinds of stuff for deer food and the following timber crop, plus stump sprouts.
 
Depends on how you might define WOW! If there is something, it's likely something in abundance on your hunting area in short supply elsewhere. Food, cover, water...and the girls. To figure out what it is for you, not only must you inventory and, somehow quantify (I'm big into quantification), what's available in/on your hunting area, but you most also intimately understand what's available in the area a deer/buck/doe is likely to travel 90% of the time. It's not so much finding the WOW factor as it is trying to add a couple of percentage points to your odds of success by balancing an imbalance. Food, cover, water, girls - and, to open a can of worms, your behavior as well.
 
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