food plot edge cover ?
- Thread starter Grouch55
- Start date
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
My opinion is that an old buck sees more with his nose than his eyes. On my place, heavy cover that a buck can make one jump and disappear into is preferred.
Chainsaw
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the posting side of the forum Grouch. Your opening post brings up a very good question. In my literally hundreds of hours following what I thought to be buck tracks in snows here over the last more years than I can even recollect the one thing that is undeniable is that they walk 99. something percent where they can not be seen and thus can not themselves see.Their eyesight is not so good so visibility in their travels is likely not very important to them. Their nose is definitely their life line.
Tap
Well-Known Member
I will add that plots are best laid-out so a buck cannot make just one quick sweep downwind and completely monitor your herd.
Plots broken up with screens into smaller plots will break up the doe herd into more groups. More groups means the buck must spend more effort to scent check the individual groups. 6 half-acre plots are better than one three-acre plot.
I like plots to be odd shaped with segments in different directions through cover. Make them complex. That type of lay-out will keep a buck more involved and busy on your property. One large, open plot is checked quickly by bucks.
Plots broken up with screens into smaller plots will break up the doe herd into more groups. More groups means the buck must spend more effort to scent check the individual groups. 6 half-acre plots are better than one three-acre plot.
I like plots to be odd shaped with segments in different directions through cover. Make them complex. That type of lay-out will keep a buck more involved and busy on your property. One large, open plot is checked quickly by bucks.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Thick edges do prevent the buck from visually inspecting the plot from the safety of the cover. However I also agree that a buck is more likely to try to scent check from a distance well before he barges out into the open. If he doesn't smell anything...he is going to keep walking. Some folks even set up "sneak trails" around the outside edges of their plots trying to capitalize on this. These are faint trails back off the plot with the entire purpose of a buck using it to scent check the plot all while you are in a tree waiting to take advantage. This works real well if you have some sort of pinch point to work with as well.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
If there is any habitat question pertaining to whitetail deer more cover rather than less is almost always the answer. Some exceptions would be hunting areas where you need shooting lanes, or areas where the cover is that thick the deer are avoiding going into it, or feeding areas with nut and fruit trees. I say thicker edges around your fields are the best.
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
I had a deer lease in Central Texas for 18 years. I probably learned more about deer behavior there than in all the rest of my hunting "career" because the low brush and thin mesquite trees were very favorable to seeing deer up to 600/800 yd. away. No food plots exept the rancher's 75 acre field of oats that he planted most years. This is corn feeder country if you want to funnel deer. There were a few places on the 1,400 ac. ranch that you could count on deer traveling, but the feeders were the primary "mover".
To Native's point: Many times I saw bucks get 100 yards or so, sometimes closer, and walk on the downwind side of the feeders, nose in the air, only to ease off into the brush and continue on. If there was a doe close to estrus, or actually ready, you can bet he was gonna check a little closer.
Keep that in mind as you hunt the woods where you can't see this activity. That's one reason I like long, skinny plots with my stand positioned downwind (prevailing wind) and back in the woods, and that ain't foolproof either !
maddog3355
Member
Bucks in my country prefer thick edge cover.
