I personally own, have access to, and have several friends who have smaller plots in the 100-200 acre range. We have been doing standard bean/wheat/clover/peas etc Fall food plots for years and have added some chufa here and there. What are some ideas that you guys would suggest for pulling more deer numbers to smaller plot sizes? Considerations or ideas pertaining to the new baiting rules? Any input would be greatly appreciated.



Cheers,
Bryant

Spring plots keep them there in the summer and are destinations for deer that are staying off your property. If they are already use to coming it helps in the fall to me.

Less pressure is always a good answer�..but to increase the amount of deer on a small property you will need to increase the social carrying capacity of the land. The amount of deer on your land is relative to the amount of prime bedding and prime food. Deer compete with one another for resources. Old does are the fiercest competitors for these resources. You might get one doe group using a � acre plot and if the lead doe is an old matriarch doe�she will flog other does and young bucks that come in to try and use it. Prime bedding and fawning cover is just the same. Old does will lay claim to these areas and only tolerate other deer if there are ample resources to share.

I�d look to increase the amount of food and bedding and make sure they are in equal proportion. Larger food plots as well as more food plots with each one having its own associated bedding close by. Also plant the same thing in all plots so that you don�t create a �current hot food source�. This will reduce social conflict between doe groups and keep each one confined to a smaller area. Targeting 4-5+ year old does with your doe harvests will also help increase social carrying capacity. Younger deer are more tolerant of competition for resources. If you can create large enough food sources to be able to grow summer plots�.more summer food usually equals more does.

Thick habitat where deer feel safe with a large food plot or plots (5ac) in it. Access must be planned for approach that would take advantage of typical prevailing winds. Lastly, confine hunting days to the best possible days such as cold temps and/or during the rut in order to see more deer.

I don't care how good your habitat is, overhunt it and you can expect to see fewer and fewer deer.

Here�s something of a sidenote to add to the conversation. Bucks with a little age on them, like 3 year olds and older�..seem to be different creatures when it comes to what they want in terms of resources. Cover and lack of pressure seem to trump food with these bucks. Where as a doe wants to bed right next to a preferred food source if possible�.a buck with some age is willing travel a good distance during darkness to feed on that food source and then return to an isolated bedding area before sunrise or early in the AM.

I tracked on a small property last season (100 acres) that didn�t have squat on it for food�yet the hunter reported that he saw a good many deer and they were nearly all bucks. This isn�t the first case where I�ve seen this happen either. When I first bought my own property, I didn�t see a ton of deer at first but I saw more bucks than I did does�and older ones too. As I added more and more food�.the ratio changed to a higher percentage of does and less bucks. I see a lot more deer now but they tend to be all does until the rut comes in. It�s just something to think about. I still tend to prefer having more food, seeing more deer, and deal with keeping older does thinned.

Brassicas

Plant foodplots that produces a lot of tonnage. Don't shoot does. Stay on the property a lot starting in September and through the season. The deer will get use to your presence.

I would recommend not put to many food plots om
A 200 acres at most 3 foodots is plenty.mainly hunt between your food plots and you should do good.look at it this way if you have 7 or 8 greenfeilds.your deer dont hVe to move very far.makeing them harder to hunt.

I agree with the 3 or so food plots on 200 acres, maybe just 2 depending on the accesses available. Keep the does happy and in the rut the bucks will be there. If you are going to feed grain make sure you have feeders big enough to hold 400 or so pounds of feed, don't go camera crazy and run in there every week just to pull the card. Stay out of there unless you have to go in the hunting area. Hunt the wind.

Yea, you created a doe sink, thats what BSK used to call it. I've done the same thing. I have the best habitat and plots around and so i have more doe's, that doesn't always mean more bucks come fall.

I see a friendly debate brewing here���.

If you are wanting more deer on your property, then I completely disagree with this idea that you only want a couple food plots. The only way I�d have two food plots is if they were huge, like 15-25 acres each or something. On 200 acres, I�d ideally like to see 40 ish acres in open plantable fields. Pressure on a small parcel is what makes deer harder to hunt�.not having 7 or 8 food plots. Doe groups do not move around across large areas. They find a food source and bed right next to it, moving back and forth a short distance from bedding to feeding. The way to create more deer on smaller acreages is to create more food sources that each have their own associated bedding area with them. Each bedding area will then fill up with its own doe group or groups, working back and forth between the bedding and food. The more of these situations you can create�.the more you will increase the carry capacity for doe groups. As long as the doe groups aren�t heavily pressured then they will readily show themselves in the fields. Then you hunt the bucks that are traveling from one doe group to another checking for hot does.. If the doe groups aren�t pressured and move freely during the daylight�.then they will tow that buck right out into the open come rut.

Only having a couple small food plots will limit late season food and create competition�.limiting the amount of doe groups that your property will hold.

I personally believe that it is better on small properties to have one large food source, than a bunch of little ones, if your planning on hunting them. Crimson, i completely agree that you can stack different doe groups on a piece of property, but when you start jumping around all over that piece of property, the pressure you add will cost in the long run. I'm talking mature bucks. Try and have an observation point far enough away from the large plot that is centrally located on your property, so that you access it easily without spooking deer, but also being able to see it and also hunt travel corridors leading to it. You have to use low impact hunting, or you'll run your mature bucks off your property, as well as your older doe's.

Another thing to consider on small parcels is what the neighbors have. If your neighbors have agricultural fields, then you want to have bedding cover. If your neighbors have thick clear cut, you may want more open areas to create browse. Do whatever is necessary to make sure all their needs are met, primarily food and cover. Since a deer's home range is bigger than 100-200 acres, you need to consider what the neighbors have and try to give your property whatever the neighbors are missing.

Someone on this forum recommended Dr. Sheppard's book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. He has some fascinating thoughts on the subject.

I've been blessed to own 160 acres for many years now. I am surrounded by a large tract hunting club and one small acre neighbor to the south. The one thing I would be really clear about is that you cannot control the herd. No matter what I do, the age structure of deer will likely be determined by my neighbors.

For the last seven years I have been concentrating on improving the habitat. I have planted fruit trees, red and white oaks. I increased the tillable land percentage and have begun planting summer plots. I've also begun regular prescribed burning on about 1/3 of the land. Over time, both the number and size of the deer we see have improved. We try to hunt it smart, and avoid too much pressure, but again that is largely determined by the club next door.

Basically I try to make my property the most attractive around. Year round food, water, hard mast soft mast, new growth from burns and a sanctuary in the middle.
I've been pleased with what I've seen. It also helps to let go a little. The deer move. Someone else will shoot one. Accept that and you'll be much happier.

We have seven small plots on our 250 acre lease. We have a lot more deer on this lease than on our previous 900 acre lease. Its all about habitat and location. We have 4 cameras out and its odd how rarely we see the same deer on multiple cameras. We also see a lot more bucks than does. I will say that we know the deer are there per the cams, but they know we are there too, so hunting can be a challenge.

When I had my 100 acre tract, I had 3 plots. One was about 1/4 acre, one was about 2.5 acres, and the other field was about 4 acres. That place could hunt 4 people with ease but we never had more than 2 stands used at one time. I had plenty of bedding areas and rarely hunted it more than once/week. At most, twice.

We killed good deer every year. It was also good turkey place good for a bird or two each year.

Pressure is the key. Bucks wise up quick on a small tract that's hunted frequently.

Dr. B

A Lot of good info here.