Question on how to manage?

[jard]

I hunt a 100 acre farm in Lewisburg near the duck river. Its mostly thick woods and scrub brush with 4 1 acre open fields that we planted last year and this year. Before we planted the fields, deer sighting were few and far between as the deer seemed to just wander all over. Last year when we planted, I saw deer every single time I hunted, maybe not in the fields but it gave them areas to focus on and we saw lots of them.

This farm is loaded with little deer. I killed 3 doe on it last year and not 1 of them weighed close to 90 lbs. We had a ton of small bucks, I saw at least 12 different spikes or 4 points. This year, from what I've seen and what my trail cams pick up, more of the same. There is 1 decent (basket rack 8 pt) and the rest are still 4 points and little does. I passed on so many small deer last year but in the last 4 seasons hunting, nothing has changed.

My question is, what should we kill to make this better. I will take as many small does as I need to or do I need to start shooting some of these little bucks? Just not sure what to do.

Blessings,
Justin

 

[rem270]

do I need to start shooting some of these little bucks? Just not sure what to do.

Blessings,
Justin

If you're looking for bigger bucks then the worse thing you can do is shoot the small bucks.

I would keep planting food plots and keep them in there. Soon enough them little bucks will grow and you will have decent deer. Don't over hunt it and play the wind game.

Good luck.

 

[catman529]

Sounds like you need time, but it could be a doe sink or place where fawns go when they get kicked out if that's possible. Is there any dense cover on the property where older deer could feel safe? I'd like to think the older deer would be somewhere nearby but maybe they don't feel safe on your place due to pressure or lack of cover? I don't know. But the duck river bottoms do produce some big deer.


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[jard]

there is a couple of real thick gnarly areas that I know are bedding areas and we do not push into to let them rest. the property is not hunted hard in comparison to others. I dont like shooting the little bucks and I guess will continue not to.

 

[csi-tech]

You need to consider the habitat. Thick brushy understory is what big bucks like. Big mature hardwoods with leaf litter where you can see for a mile, not so much. Make the area diverse. Select cut to allow more under growth, create transition areas between field edges and timber and consider what you are planting. My fields have grown over with natural crap and I am crawling with bucks of every age structure. Bedding, cover, browse, avenues of escape and ladies. Get the ladies in and November is a big party.

 

[stik]

we have the same thing every year. plenty of small bucks and an occasional good one. where did last year's bucks go to be replaced by this year's 1.5 year olds?

 

[Boll Weevil]

Might be a little tougher on 100ac but if there was one area that I think could help more than anything it's more and better food. Having productive food plots is great but don't overlook native foods to produce tons of beneficial food inexpensively.

 

[tree_ghost]

do I need to start shooting some of these little bucks? Just not sure what to do.

Blessings,
Justin

Don't over hunt it

Good luck.

This is one of the most difficult parts of hunting small pieces of property, not burning it up! It's only going to get harder when you know there's a good buck working the area, the average hunter wants to get as much time in the stand as possible to increase the odds of an encounter, so they think...in actuality your educating the deer more and more that there is high human activity in the area and they will move toward lower pressure blocks of timber ESPECIALLY when dealing with older deer. How often are you hunting the property? It could be a big factor in why your only seeing young deer...they seem to be more tolerant of human disturbance than mature deer are...good luck!

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[Crosshairy]

Here's my top secret strategy for smaller properties...

Don't hunt them for the first half of the season

I have a few pretty good public land spots, and before I joined a big lease, I would hunt the public land for the season openers and archery season. Then, when pressure rose and I started seeing other hunters (gun season), I would stop hunting there and go hunt the 85 acres I had permission to hunt that was a slightly farther drive away.

That strategy allowed me to see more deer of a better quality over the whole season. Plus, most of the public land I hunted had low standards, so I felt free to fill the freezer with any legal deer I wanted. I "enabled" myself to kill a deer while still preserving the higher quality hunting on private land.

Some folks will hunt the same small tract of land all year, and (especially if doing so during archery season) they drive the does off the property. When the rut comes, there isn't much action, and they don't see that many deer. I would never hunt a 100-acre property during archery unless I literally had nowhere else I could go.

Best of luck. By the description of your properties, it sounds like you might see some bigger deer during the rut if you give them a place to hang out.

You might consider putting a couple of trail cameras out and getting some encouragement about what sort of deer are using your property.