Hey guys

Has anybody tried to design a tree stand where it's literally a twin size bed designed sort of like a casket where there's a top that pops open, and you can get up in there at 10 o'clock at night before the hunt and wake up well-rested and already in your stand? lolololol
 
Ok, I've read the advice given here, and I would like to follow up with some Qs.

Firstly, not that the advice given was not articulated well (it was), but it's all still very confusing to me. Trying to locate the best place to plant your food plot, to put your stand, buck bedding, doe bedding etc...

I've recently been binging deer hunting content on YouTube and one channel that pops up at the top is Whitetail Habitat Solutions with Jeff Sturgis. It was actually watching his content that prompted me to look into managing the deer on my property.

But everything he says is sort of confusing because I don't exactly know what he's talking about with some things. For example, cover. What constitutes proper cover? Should I look for natural cover in the woods (and what would that be?), or should I start by sewing my food plots and build the cover around that?

There are realistically only a couple of areas on my land that I could place food plots. Most of my open land is hay fields and they face a major highway. The bucks just don't really get out to them that I can tell. Further back on my property there are a couple of spots that I could sew some plots.

But what should I plant? When should I plant? Should I locate the buck bedding before hand, and plan the location of my plot around that? Or should I try to influence where the does and bucks bed?

That Jeff Sturgis guy says does will bed near food sources. Bucks will bed back up in the woods a little further away.

I'll leave it at that for now. But I'm also interested if there are any definitive books that you guys would recommend?

Edit: I've also heard that summer food plots are a no no because they are doe magnets. At least that's what this Jeff Sturgis guy says??
 
I don’t read Sturgis, so I don’t know what he means by that, but my summer plots are there for nutritional purposes. Why would you not want to feed your does ? Does need good nutrition in order to produce healthy fawns, of which half are your future bucks. And where they feed the fawns will imprint, that’s how they learn, from their mama. The bucks will also feed there all summer, and at least some of them will check those plots all during the hunting season to see if any of those does are there.

I would suggest running some game cameras on your property in order to see how your deer move. Of course this is gonna change a little throughout the year as different food sources come into play, but you can leave your cameras in one set of locations for a month or so, then move them around for another period. I’d also suggest running them on video as much as possible. In the spring, if legal in your state, put out a few trace mineral blocks from your local feed store, put a camera on it (video), and you can inventory your deer, as well as see your fawn crop. If you study the deer well, you can sometimes even tell one doe from another and of course the bucks will all be a little different.

As to what to plant, grains can’t be beat for an annual fall crop IMO. Wheat, oats, rye, or a combination of any of them. In the spring/summer, soybeans and cow peas if you can plant enough acreage, or if your deer density is not great. These are “ice cream” plots for deer and they will stay in them until the vines are all that are left. That doesn’t bother me as I know that for six weeks or so I have provided them with a high protein diet that’s as good as it gets. Clovers are a very good perineal crop if you have the soils for it. Sandy land is not too good for clover in my experience, something that holds moisture a little better is desirable. For any crop getting your ph in line is almost a must. A ph between 6 and 7 allows the crop to better utilize the fertilizer as well as the natural nutrients in the soil. Grains will grow about anywhere.

Ok, where to plant ? This one is a little harder because we’re not on the ground there. Some places are no brainers, some are not. Clover, at least in my neck of the woods, grows better in low places, but I found out the hard way that low places are tough to hunt unless you’re doing it from up the hill with a rifle. The winds swirl too much, but if it’s just a nutrition plot then you’re good to go. I like plots with good ingress and egress because if you can’t get in and out without bumping deer, your odds go down. To do that you must take into consideration which wind is the most common during hunting season. If possible, you need options for different winds on the same plot. Also to be considered is where a mature buck feels comfortable, and to me that says a plot longer than it is wide and possibly shaped like an L or a chevron. If a buck can’t see the whole plot from one spot, he has to move around more and you’re more likely to see him. Of course most mature bucks will just go downwind and use their noses to tell them what’s there. The bucks I’m talking about are the ones that come by when those does are feeding in that plot. He’s more likely to check them out if he can’t see them. So now we’re back to the original question. Why would you not want to feed your does ?

BTW, there are lots of guys here that know much more than me, those are just my experiences.
 
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BTW, there are lots of guys here that know much more than me, those are just my experiences.
No you did a good job. I've heard some contradictory stuff to what you said, but who knows what is actually true? I think you're probably close in most of what you said. Might be different depending on region??
 
Holy crap! I literally just tried to quote your post and respond to multiple parts of it, and I had written a wall of text replying to the first part, and when I quoted the second part it just deleted the whole f*cking first wall of text I wrote! :(
 
The most important thing I can think of is getting your macro improvements figured out first, this is much more important than deciding what seed to plant.

Improvements I consider macro:
•bedding locations
•food plot locations
•access

If you put any those in the wrong place it can be hard to fix, maybe impossible if you’re clearing timber to do it.

If you already have a good understanding of how deer use your property during deer season you should be prepared to place your macro improvements. If not then you should wait.

Think like a predator. Your goal should be accessing hunting locations and effectively hunting deer that don’t know you’re hunting them. Obviously this is not 100% achievable all the time but it should be your goal.


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The more time wasted listening to Jeff Sturgis the less time you have to listen to Dr Craig Harper, or read your tree identification book learning up on your trees, or read your soil survey, or flick your Bic.

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G
 
Has anybody tried to design a tree stand where it's literally a twin size bed designed sort of like a casket where there's a top that pops open, and you can get up in there at 10 o'clock at night before the hunt and wake up well-rested and already in your stand? lolololol

Well I did read an article once that the author would sleep in his stand to keep from disturbing deer on the morning trek.
So you aren’t too far fetched. I prefer my bed and the warm body beside me tho even if it cost me a deer!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Has anybody tried to design a tree stand where it's literally a twin size bed designed sort of like a casket where there's a top that pops open, and you can get up in there at 10 o'clock at night before the hunt and wake up well-rested and already in your stand? lolololol
Buy a 7' hunting blind and put a folding cot into it. I know guys that do this from time to time, but it has it's drawbacks, which you will figure out once you try it a time or two. Getting up at 4 am, having a bathroom with running water to get ready, then sneaking out to the stand seems more practical.
Holy crap! I literally just tried to quote your post and respond to multiple parts of it, and I had written a wall of text replying to the first part, and when I quoted the second part it just deleted the whole f*cking first wall of text I wrote! :(
Not impressed by the language here....
Ok, I've read the advice given here, and I would like to follow up with some Qs.

Firstly, not that the advice given was not articulated well (it was), but it's all still very confusing to me. Trying to locate the best place to plant your food plot, to put your stand, buck bedding, doe bedding etc...

I've recently been binging deer hunting content on YouTube and one channel that pops up at the top is Whitetail Habitat Solutions with Jeff Sturgis. It was actually watching his content that prompted me to look into managing the deer on my property.

But everything he says is sort of confusing because I don't exactly know what he's talking about with some things. For example, cover. What constitutes proper cover? Should I look for natural cover in the woods (and what would that be?), or should I start by sewing my food plots and build the cover around that?

There are realistically only a couple of areas on my land that I could place food plots. Most of my open land is hay fields and they face a major highway. The bucks just don't really get out to them that I can tell. Further back on my property there are a couple of spots that I could sew some plots.

But what should I plant? When should I plant? Should I locate the buck bedding before hand, and plan the location of my plot around that? Or should I try to influence where the does and bucks bed?

That Jeff Sturgis guy says does will bed near food sources. Bucks will bed back up in the woods a little further away.

I'll leave it at that for now. But I'm also interested if there are any definitive books that you guys would recommend?

Edit: I've also heard that summer food plots are a no no because they are doe magnets. At least that's what this Jeff Sturgis guy says??
I have set up new properties dozens of times, and I know it seems confusing with all the info out there, but here is exactly what I do 99% of the time;
The very first thing to do is to plan the location of the food plot, because it's the hardest thing to fit in. It needs to be relatively level ground, it needs access for equipment, it should have downwind access for hunting, and it should have a downwind edge that works for a shooting house. In a new location I find a level spot for the food plot first, because most woods don't have many level areas with topsoil and limited rocks, then I plan the stand location (which sometimes gets moved once or twice) prevailing wind direction is very, very key here. Clear the land, lime what you can afford and fertilize 10-10-10 with no soil test (that comes later) and immediately plant 1 crop of buckwheat to condition the soil, and throw ladino clover seed out when the buckwheat is planted.
What you plant in the plot isn't as important as how long it can feed the deer, year round food is the goal. Clover seems to fit this bill nicely, with winter wheat or rye added in the fall for an over winter food source.
Once you have the plot the deer can tell you where the bedding area is if you can't figure it out on your own, then you thicken it if possible, and totally stay out of it unless working on the habitat. All the other stuff like mineral sites, planting trees etc comes later.
 
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