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Well-placed food plots and stand sites can by highly effective hunting
locations during the fall and winter. |
By Steve Bartylla
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Well-placed food plots and stand sites can by highly effective hunting
locations during the fall and winter. |
It was an outfitter’s bad dream. The 550-acre farm seemed to have everything. Its rolling timber and a nice balance of mature hardwoods and brush choked draws contained hidden pockets of farm crops. Settled in the heart of Illinois’ trophy buck country, it was simply made for putting bruisers on the ground. Yet, Performance Outdoors’ clients that hunted the Sanctuary Farm only harvested one buck during the 2003 archery season. Worse yet, after the first couple weeks of hunting, buck sightings had dried up to nothing. This was simply unacceptable for an outfitter that routinely sets the torrid pace of a 50 percent success rate for its bowhunting clients.
That is where I entered the picture. Having scouted and hunted the land that year myself, I was confident that the property had the potential to be a buck-producing factory. Furthermore, my findings from analyzing the property’s food production and discussions with the guide provided me with insights as to why it didn’t produce. After formulating a general plan for getting the most from the farm, I presented Jake and Justin Roach, the owners, with a consulting proposal. At the time of this writing, there is still a full month left of Illinois’ bow hunting season left, but we were able to already raise the buck harvest by 400 percent in less than one year’s time. It is safe to say that the percentage could realistically be 500 or 600 percent by the conclusion of archery season.
Identifying Habitat Deficiencies
To get the most production from a property, one must first understand what deer require to come as close as possible to reaching their full genetic potential. In a nutshell, they require top-quality nutrition and time to grow up. Of course, other factors play into a whitetail’s desire to spend time on a property, such as the availability of protective cover, a feeling of safety and an ample water supply. When all of these requirements and desires are met, the resident deer will be significantly superior in body size, antler growth and reproductive success than if forced to live with shortcomings. Furthermore, if a property provides these features in a way that makes them better than they can find elsewhere, more deer will be attracted to and spend a disproportionate amount of time on the targeted property. This is true even if we are talking about as little as 40 acres of land.
To achieve these goals, the first step towards improving the Sanctuary Farm was identifying its shortcomings. Simply put, though the farm was rich in fall and winter food sources, it was poor in supplying protein during the spring and summer months. That shortage could be seen firsthand in the one buck harvested in 2003. Frankly, his rack didn’t meet the potential his age and the area’s genetics could achieve. Spring and summer protein sources had to be introduced.
Furthermore, there were too many acres of the same fall food sources. Though this may appear to be a benefit, it served to make patterning the animals more difficult. For example, with five soybean fields and four cornfields either on or bordering the property, an individual trophy buck could choose any of them as his food source on a given evening. Even when the proper food source was selected for hunting, due to the size of the fields, it was still highly likely that the buck would feed well outside of bow range. A concentration effect had to be created to increase shot opportunities.
Switching gears, a general lack of low impact access and departure routes for the stands had resulted in hunters walking all over the woods, as well as through the existing food sources. Though not indicative of the quality of guides working for the outfit, the one employed to run the farm in 2003 simply didn’t have the experience level to setup or guide the hunters effectively in this challenging setting. The resident deer knew full well that they were being hunted and reacted accordingly. The illusion of safety was gone. Somehow, that had to be recreated.
Finally, the stand sites were based solely on the quantity of deer sign present. To some readers, at first glance this may not seem to be an issue. However, for the best success rates, one must place a premium on the quality of sign, targeting the best locations for each distinct phase of season and the impact that hunters entering and exiting their stands would have on the resident deer.
Trophy bucks are a different breed of deer. Outside the rut, they tend to cling to different patterns than the family groups of does, fawns and young bucks. Because of the increased importance they place on personal safety, they most often have their own bedding areas and utilize different trail systems than the family groups. They can even go so far as using their own secluded food sources. Because of that, outside the rut, the best stand sites are rarely where the most deer sign is found. Instead, they are locations that possess buck sign and are where he is more likely to pass during legal shooting hours. A new stand placement strategy, geared more heavily towards harvesting trophy bucks, had to be implemented.
Solving Food Issues
After fall, winter and spring scouting trips, as well as numerous hours spent analyzing maps of plotted deer sign and aerial photos, it was time to begin fixing the problems. Because of the tremendous benefits deer derive from high-protein diets, that was a top priority to be addressed. Furthermore, I wanted to do so in a manner that increased shot opportunities to the greatest extent.
The first step in accomplishing that was targeting locations where these plots would not only thrive, but also be best suited for the deer and hunters. As stated earlier, deer cherish the illusion of safety. As it applies to food plots, the safer they feel in an area the more feeding can potentially occur there, and the more likely it is that a trophy buck may enter the plot during legal shooting hours.
There is an obvious benefit from the deer’s illusion of safety for hunting. However, the deer also reap a reward. Luckily for deer, our plantings of Imperial Whitetail Clover and Alfa-Rack are not only highly desirable food choices, but also offer an extremely high-protein diet. The illusion of safety would lead the deer to reap increased health benefits by consuming more of these highly nutritious food sources.
To further increase the benefits for hunting, three separate plot locations were selected, ranging in size from 1.5 to 3 acres. These relatively small plots were surrounded by protective cover but also positioned relative to bedding areas as to provide the hunters with multiple low-impact stand sites.
All of this resulted in an introduction of 8 acres of protein-rich, year-round nutrition. Furthermore, because of its appeal, limited availability, and well-planned placement, it served to concentrate the feeding activities in areas that were easily hunted.
The final step was providing an ample volume of winter forage. As good as protein is for building muscles and racks, foods high in fats and carbohydrates are good for building fat reserves. When deer are preparing for and enduring winter, fat reserves can be critical, particularly in the upper Midwest and points further north. It’s also equally important for southern deer that must endure drought-induced food shortages.
Though not as critical as high-protein diets, fats and carbs also indirectly play a role in antler development. When a buck comes into spring, the first thing that’s addressed is building their bodies back up from the toll that both the rut and winter took on them. The more worn down their bodies are the less nutrients they can focus towards developing their antlers. Because diets high in fats and carbs help build and maintain fat, they create potential energy reserves for when deer must endure a negative energy balance.
With the abundance of corn and beans already planted on the property, it was a simple matter of purchasing some from the farmer. These 5-acre blocks of standing corn and beans were positioned in areas also providing the illusion of safety and low-impact hunting. This served to concentrate feeding in these areas after snow accumulations had made the clover and alfalfa plots difficult options. When combined with the Imperial Clover and Alfa-Rack plots, the year-round nutrition required to reach genetic potential was now placed to the best of our ability. The only missing ingredient was mineral and vitamin supplements. Unfortunately, state feeding laws prohibited them. We had done all we could to address nutrition.
Taking Hunting to the Next Level
The last component to transforming the property was to work closely with the outfit’s newly hired guide to revamp the hunting strategies. Mike Conway’s hiring alone would make the farm better. Being more representative of the hard work ethic, as well as possessing a skill and experience level that their other guides had, I knew the clients would be in good hands.
Mike and I began by setting aside four areas as off-limits to humans. These 10- to 40- acre sections all had two things in common. They were used heavily as bedding areas and could not be hunted without kicking deer. Having these mini-sanctuaries was a huge step towards keeping the deer less stressed, allowing the farm to remain fresh and maintaining a high number of trophy buck encounters through the entire season.
Next, we focused on pinpointing stand sites that were best suited for each phase of the season. Seldom are stands good from opening day to the season’s close. For one, many food sources change throughout seasons, altering deer patterns as they do. Our food plots helped minimize this, but acorn crops still must be accounted for. Furthermore, weather, testosterone levels, breeding activities and hunting pressure all combine to cause alterations in a buck’s behaviors and patterns
Based on these factors, the season can be divided into seven distinctly different phases, each with its own stand placement strategies:
• Early Season: The first few weeks of deer season are primed for hunting the hottest food sources and water holes. With our plots of Imperial Clover and Alfa-Rack, it was easy to determine where the deer would be feeding. Still, pre-season long-range surveillance activities were helpful for indicating what trails mature bucks used.
• The Lull Period: When daylight sightings of mature bucks shut down, it’s time to set up next to their bedrooms. The trick is getting as close as possible, but still being able to go undetected in the stand, as well as get in and out undetected. Stands placed along the edge of our sanctuaries were good choices.
• Peak Scraping: When scraping heats up, setting up on primary scrapes, located near family-group bedding areas and other scraping locations where bucks feel safe can produce good results. Setting stands 20 yards downwind of family group bedding areas allows the hunter to cover the scrape, along with bucks scent-checking it from as far as 50 yards downwind. Because of the size and seclusion of our food plots, they were also great locations to intercept daylight scraping. However, large, open food sources are rarely good locations for trophy bucks during this phase.
• The Chase Phase: To avoid the bucks’ relentlessly harassing, does often seek refuge in the thickest bedding cover the area holds. Because these areas can produce solid, all-day action, they are great locations to harvest chasing bucks. Thick bedding areas outside of our sanctuaries were targeted for this phase.
• The Rut: With bucks putting on miles looking for receptive does, funnels separating doe concentrations are good choices. The downwind sides of family-group bedding areas can also produce. Finally, stands set 15-20 yards in from the inside corners of food plots and crop fields can intercept the bucks scent-checking recently-feeding does and those cutting the corners while traveling. Because of the safety factor, stands on the food plots were also still good.
• Post and Second Rut: In either case, prime food sources are good choices. Here, we can intercept the feeding activities of bucks. As of writing this article, there is still a month of the 2004 season left. The plan is to hit the food plots hard. Now is also the time we will begin hunting the standing corn and beans more earnestly. This is when having food positioned for low impact hunting pays off the most.
With stands in place, we then devised a plan for access and departure routes. Because low impact routes didn’t exist, we decided to create four points of entry and exit, with access to the stands splintering off the main routes. Furthermore, we grouped the hunters as much as practical to walk in and out together. This resulted in limited individual trips through the property, and minimized the areas walked through.
The final step in keeping the farm fresh was dividing it into a north and south section. By alternating each group of hunters between the sections, each side was hunted for no more than six days in a row, with a minimum of the next eight days off. When all of this was combined, the results were less stressed deer being hunted from fresh stands targeted for each phase of season.
Conclusion
To truly get the most from a property, one must first provide deer with the nutrition they require to achieve their genetic potential. Then, giving them everything else they desire at a superior level than they can get elsewhere, draws and holds them on a property. With this increased ability to protect bucks until maturity, all that is left is to hunting them intelligently. If done correctly, maybe you can experience a 400 percent or more increase in trophy buck harvests on your land. Better still, you will have something to look forward to. The second, third, forth and fifth years that a property is in a management plan typically produce even better results than they did the previous year.