Treelee8181
Banned
Hunting a small 100 acre property, 6th season now. worked years hard to improve the property and make it attractive to wildlife. Right now it’s best it’s ever been and deer (doe) numbers are highest I’ve ever seen.
I have five, lush, green plots. Each has a few does every evening. On 5 cell cams, I’m getting blown up with hundreds of pictures of these does each day/night.
I have two or three spikes and two four pointers pretty much ever day and night come through.
I have one camera on a big white oak that’s dropping acorns and one camera on an active scrape. Just seeing same does and small bucks.
I don’t usually walk around through the woods and thickets much this time of year to keep pressure down but last weekend I had to go look around to try and find something to get excited about.
I found rubs down on the creek as expected but only a couple scrapes.
There’s a couple things different this season than years past. They are…
1. I used to run three corn feeders, this year, only one and it doesn’t throw out much corn at all.
2. I increased size of plots this year and they are all very green right now.
I also built a pond this year in middle of property but construction ended in May and it’s been quite on the place since then.
I know the neighbors and surrounding properties well, they are not heavily pressured lands either. I don’t have trespassers.
So after hunting this land for 6 seasons now I’ve learned that bucks don’t spend much time on property from Feb-Sept.
but every year, late Sept early Oct, more and more bucks show up and always have at least a couple mature (3yr+) bucks come around.
I’ve killed 6 mature bucks in five seasons. I’ve let my kids shoot a few small bucks as well.
We’ve gone easy on does and maybe that needs to change??
I just know that we are about a week or two from peek of Rut and I don’t feel like I have much to get excited about.
So, I know some will say ignore cameras and just hunt, the big bucks are around. But I just don’t believe with these does in front of cameras, cameras on scrapes, etc that I wouldn’t have caught a picture of him, if there was a big boy around.
I know some will say the bucks will show. But it’s Oct 20th now and I’m starting to worry.
Outside dumping corn and sitting in woods with my fingers crossed, anything else I should be doing?
I know if I don’t have any mature bucks in another week, I’ll be hitting some public land in hopes of getting lucky.
Last question, should I be killing more does each year? I just seem to be getting more and more does and even though I have 6 acres of clover/cereal grains, the does are still keeping plots mowed lip high.
I have five, lush, green plots. Each has a few does every evening. On 5 cell cams, I’m getting blown up with hundreds of pictures of these does each day/night.
I have two or three spikes and two four pointers pretty much ever day and night come through.
I have one camera on a big white oak that’s dropping acorns and one camera on an active scrape. Just seeing same does and small bucks.
I don’t usually walk around through the woods and thickets much this time of year to keep pressure down but last weekend I had to go look around to try and find something to get excited about.
I found rubs down on the creek as expected but only a couple scrapes.
There’s a couple things different this season than years past. They are…
1. I used to run three corn feeders, this year, only one and it doesn’t throw out much corn at all.
2. I increased size of plots this year and they are all very green right now.
I also built a pond this year in middle of property but construction ended in May and it’s been quite on the place since then.
I know the neighbors and surrounding properties well, they are not heavily pressured lands either. I don’t have trespassers.
So after hunting this land for 6 seasons now I’ve learned that bucks don’t spend much time on property from Feb-Sept.
but every year, late Sept early Oct, more and more bucks show up and always have at least a couple mature (3yr+) bucks come around.
I’ve killed 6 mature bucks in five seasons. I’ve let my kids shoot a few small bucks as well.
We’ve gone easy on does and maybe that needs to change??
I just know that we are about a week or two from peek of Rut and I don’t feel like I have much to get excited about.
So, I know some will say ignore cameras and just hunt, the big bucks are around. But I just don’t believe with these does in front of cameras, cameras on scrapes, etc that I wouldn’t have caught a picture of him, if there was a big boy around.
I know some will say the bucks will show. But it’s Oct 20th now and I’m starting to worry.
Outside dumping corn and sitting in woods with my fingers crossed, anything else I should be doing?
I know if I don’t have any mature bucks in another week, I’ll be hitting some public land in hopes of getting lucky.
Last question, should I be killing more does each year? I just seem to be getting more and more does and even though I have 6 acres of clover/cereal grains, the does are still keeping plots mowed lip high.