Most deer I have seen at one time on this property...

[DocHolladay]

This is the most deer I have ever gotten a picture of at one time on this property. It is 40 acres and I have my stand on the edge of a 14 acre field. I planted 2-2.5 acres of it this fall(over a month ago) and it is finally starting to come up after we got 1\2" of rain. I have a mineral site here that the deer are coming to, but they are usually in singles or doe and fawns. Makes me proud to see this many at once. I am also posting a picture of a doe that acts like a buck, because I only see her in night time photos. If she will come out during the day, I will shoot her. Been after her for a couple of years now.

 

[dogdoc]

Always rewarding to see your hard work payoff.

 

[Podad]

That is a big old Nanny

 

[Chainsaw]

Fourteen acres is a large field and theoretically it should hold a large amount of deer. Seeing six deer out together in daylight in one group is a nice treat always; Congratulations on making it happen. I wonder what the effect of breaking the field into many smaller fields through screening hedgerows of corn, downed trees dragged in, Gigantus Micantus or whatever type screening might show in the amount of deer at one time. For us it increased the amount of deer that would come out at the same time.

 

[DocHolladay]

Fourteen acres is a large field and theoretically it should hold a large amount of deer. Seeing six deer out together in daylight in one group is a nice treat always; Congratulations on making it happen. I wonder what the effect of breaking the field into many smaller fields through screening hedgerows of corn, downed trees dragged in, Gigantus Micantus or whatever type screening might show in the amount of deer at one time. For us it increased the amount of deer that would come out at the same time.

I have a large amount of woods and smaller fields behind me(that I can't hunt), that the deer prefer. I am in a pass through to somewhere else with a stop and eat and take a nap property. The land owner was going to put this field back into native grasses, but held off because of cost this year. The field has a lot of little blue stem and partridge pea, but it has more blackberry briars and small trees than anything. His goat pasture has more NWSG than this field does. Whenever I cut it after season is over, I try and up root several trees and remove the rocks I come across to help him. I managed to get about 10 trees last year and there are plenty more. It just takes time to get under the tap root and break it off far enough that it doesn't want to grow back(about 20min per tree). I picked about 8 giant rocks this fall and will get more after season and I cut it. I know the deer bed in and around the field, but one bad thing is, his quail population is shrinking yearly because of plant species changes. He likes quail and rabbits and I like turkey, deer, and rabbits. He has given me permission to plant as much as I want, but I only choose to do 2-2.5 acres and use the rest as cover and native browse. Last year I put in a mix of wheat, peas, and oats and I saw more deer eating native browse in the field, than were eating what I planted. They still ate it, but seemed to prefer wild plants. The peas were waist high by May and most of it had seeds and was/had dried out by the time I cut it in mid June. Then the turkeys turned on the eating after burners. I'm rambling.... The land owner lets me hunt and plant, and I try and help him out and not over step any boundaries with planting or doing something he doesn't want done.