Backstory: The land I am consulting on is in south-central, KY-Mennonite country. It is 400-acres of fields, crp and timber. Superb deer habitat and slightly burgeoning deer population. Limit is one buck a year, several does. Baiting is legal.
Problem: My client and his wife are good hunters. But they have become somewhat lazy. He has feeders and cameras and shooting houses everywhere…Except where they need to be to kill a truly mature buck. Each year, they routinely kill a 135-150 class buck. Why not the 165-185’s that are there.
Discussion: What is they are doing to keep them from getting a shot at the big boys? Think about this. What is the immediate reaction of 6+-yr. old buck to a feeder, camera and shooting house? In my experience and to my thinking, it is this. “Visit only after dark. Sight and scent check from two or three locations before approaching.” And, that is exactly what the cameras showed.
Game Plan: Keep in mind, this is what I suggest for next season. Basic scouting: The first thing I did was spend three days doing nothing but scouting and taking notes. I was looking, specifically, for only three things. (1) Signpost rubs. (2) Rub lines or signpost rubs in thick cover. (3) Said rubs in connection to feeders etc.
Thinking: My thinking is this-those bucks, in the days prior to the peak of the rut, (Nov. 1-15), are looking. Where do they look? Where the does congregate-at feeder and on approach trails. Where then, can those bucks scent check both the does and the shooting house? That spot will almost always be marked by a signpost rub and a prominent one. That is what I was looking for.
I then began to select trees for hanging stands, most, no more than 12-feet off the ground, most just under a ridge line. All were picked as a bow stands but three. Our plan is to hang at least, 15-fixed position stands in the next couple weeks. They will safety checked once, in late summer and not hunted until the end of Oct. No stand will be hunted twice in 14-days. At present, I have 56-pages of notes and drawings. Most fun I have had since I got Donna in the back seat of my 59-Ford.
Disclaimer: I feel sure, someone will immediately post about all the huge bucks killed in Texas over feeders. Let me reiterate-this aint TX. And sure, big bucks are killed every year from shooting houses. But not on this property. This about a specific, piece of property. A specific problem and how I see the solution.
Sometimes, I feel like a nut.
Problem: My client and his wife are good hunters. But they have become somewhat lazy. He has feeders and cameras and shooting houses everywhere…Except where they need to be to kill a truly mature buck. Each year, they routinely kill a 135-150 class buck. Why not the 165-185’s that are there.
Discussion: What is they are doing to keep them from getting a shot at the big boys? Think about this. What is the immediate reaction of 6+-yr. old buck to a feeder, camera and shooting house? In my experience and to my thinking, it is this. “Visit only after dark. Sight and scent check from two or three locations before approaching.” And, that is exactly what the cameras showed.
Game Plan: Keep in mind, this is what I suggest for next season. Basic scouting: The first thing I did was spend three days doing nothing but scouting and taking notes. I was looking, specifically, for only three things. (1) Signpost rubs. (2) Rub lines or signpost rubs in thick cover. (3) Said rubs in connection to feeders etc.
Thinking: My thinking is this-those bucks, in the days prior to the peak of the rut, (Nov. 1-15), are looking. Where do they look? Where the does congregate-at feeder and on approach trails. Where then, can those bucks scent check both the does and the shooting house? That spot will almost always be marked by a signpost rub and a prominent one. That is what I was looking for.
I then began to select trees for hanging stands, most, no more than 12-feet off the ground, most just under a ridge line. All were picked as a bow stands but three. Our plan is to hang at least, 15-fixed position stands in the next couple weeks. They will safety checked once, in late summer and not hunted until the end of Oct. No stand will be hunted twice in 14-days. At present, I have 56-pages of notes and drawings. Most fun I have had since I got Donna in the back seat of my 59-Ford.
Disclaimer: I feel sure, someone will immediately post about all the huge bucks killed in Texas over feeders. Let me reiterate-this aint TX. And sure, big bucks are killed every year from shooting houses. But not on this property. This about a specific, piece of property. A specific problem and how I see the solution.
Sometimes, I feel like a nut.
But I misdoubt it would ever occur to me to aske them.
