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Improving Deer Herd
- Thread starter Billy1624
- Start date
bfriendly
Bigfoot friendly
Congrats! My advice is have fun and enjoy it. Make so entry can be restricted with locked gate. Then make sure you have food and water..........don’t kill all the ones you do have(find out what you do have). ENJOY!!
I`d plant trees that are native to the area, both soft and hard mast trees. Set aside sanctuary areas, and do controlled burns as needed, if you have pine uplands. Create edge habitat as well. If needed, consult a forester that you trust for advice.
NickDeer
Senior Member
Grant Woods from GrowingDeerTV has good strategies.
Throwback
Chief Big Taw
Buy this book and read it cover to cover. Then reread it and make notes
Deer & Turkey Management Beyond Food Plots https://www.amazon.com/dp/0615347142/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8TTCDbPMNAFMT
Deer & Turkey Management Beyond Food Plots https://www.amazon.com/dp/0615347142/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8TTCDbPMNAFMT
Jim Boyd
Senior Member
Awesome!!!!
Time, food, cover, low pressure, IMHO.
Time, food, cover, low pressure, IMHO.
Throwback
Chief Big Taw
This is another excellent reference
Quality Whitetails: The Why and How of Quality Deer Management https://www.amazon.com/dp/0811734358/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_J6TCDbQYP4MX9
Quality Whitetails: The Why and How of Quality Deer Management https://www.amazon.com/dp/0811734358/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_J6TCDbQYP4MX9
Throwback
Chief Big Taw
And for the record I have no affiliation with QDMA
Congrats on your new proppity
400 acres is enough to make a difference
Congrats on your new proppity
400 acres is enough to make a difference
bilgerat
Senior
dont kill any deer for 3 years then go in and see what ya got
thank you. I have decent deer now but nothing like a buddy of mine 10 miles away. I do have 2 creeks, hardwoods and pines.
I feel the problem was the property was never managed for anything and was really neglected. So I am hoping with time it will improve immensely.
Throwback
Chief Big Taw
That’s actually kind of a good thing because you should be able to see real results from your work
TerrellBuckman
Banned
Where at in sw ga ?
Early county. Near Blakely.
eshoremd
Member
First, congrats on the land purchase!!!
If youre into podcast there a lot of them you could learn from. Plus its free.
Heres a few if you care to check them out.
Land & Legacy
Droptine podcast
Deer University
I know not everyone is a QDMA but they do offer an online course called Deer Steward One. I learned a lot from it.
Good luck and again, congrats on the purchase.
If youre into podcast there a lot of them you could learn from. Plus its free.
Heres a few if you care to check them out.
Land & Legacy
Droptine podcast
Deer University
I know not everyone is a QDMA but they do offer an online course called Deer Steward One. I learned a lot from it.
Good luck and again, congrats on the purchase.
First thing I’d do is find out what your neighbors do. If they’re a brown it’s down then they will appreciate you feeding them. If they are the QDM type then you should see that on your land and reciprocate.
My son is friends with one of the guys hunting beside us. They were discussing what’s being seen and he told him a wide old 10 that definitely needs a bullet and a young tall beautiful 10 we all better pass on. My son showed him the pics of the very deer he was referring to that we both are getting on camera...1600 yards apart. Yeah, that’s over a mile away. Thankfully we share pics of what to take and what we’d like to see make it another year.
My son is friends with one of the guys hunting beside us. They were discussing what’s being seen and he told him a wide old 10 that definitely needs a bullet and a young tall beautiful 10 we all better pass on. My son showed him the pics of the very deer he was referring to that we both are getting on camera...1600 yards apart. Yeah, that’s over a mile away. Thankfully we share pics of what to take and what we’d like to see make it another year.
ddgarcia
Mr Non-Libertaw Got To Be Done My Way
From personal experience. I got access to and now own a little less than 400 in Greene Co that sounds a lot like what you are describing, mostly pine with some hardwood creek bottoms. Had hunted under a long term lease but not "managed" for many years. Before you do anything start walking. You may be surprised what you currently have. Find food sources. Oaks and persimmons and put out cameras. First year I had access to this property I put in a feeder and all I was getting was does and fawns and the occasional SMALL 1.5-2.5yr buck until that couple of magical weeks when things like this started showing up.
As I started walking I found the oaks and persimmons and put out more cameras and found things like this
These animals.were there all along but the previous hunters were to lazy to do what was necessary to find and kill them. The second one is now hanging on my wall and I am hunting another huge 10 this year I believe to be 5.5 this year that I KNOW is living there. The deer are likely already there you just have to find where they are.
Can you "improve" the herd, possibly. I'm certainly trying. I'm working with a Forester to burn, clear and replant the timber and put in food plots but those animals pictured and the one I'm hunting now we're there already on a non managed property, I just had to put in a bit of effort to find them.
Congratulations on you acquisition. May it bring you and your family years of enjoyment. I know I'm finding great joy in now owning my own property. Even though it was family property before I was not allowed to do as I wished but simply allowed to hunt it. I'm finding nearly as much enjoyment making it into what I envision to be the property I wish it to be as I did just hunting it.
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C.Killmaster
Georgia Deer Biologist
The WRD will be rolling out a new deer management assistance program this fall for private lands, PM for details about having a biologist develop a management plan for your property.
BassHunter25
Senior Member
First thing I would do if I bought land is plan to plant hard and soft mast trees like Nic said. Of course I would want to get a feel for the land and how the animals use it first. But that’s high on the list.
I have some farmer friends over there who own very large acreage, and they have done good things with their deer and turkeys. If you border or are close to them, part of your job is already done.
Thanks. I’ll tell you my turkey population is not good and it makes zero sense to me. I have over a mile of creek bottoms and they just are not there yet.
