craig

I'm to far north to offer good advice on what to plant in food plots, so I'll leave that to others. I will say that whatever you plant, do soil tests to get the ph & fertilizer levels right. Many, many hunters error in establishing plots by putting out more seed than is needed & skimp on fertilizer & lime (ph).

I would suggest that in addition to planting a few plots of what ever works in your area you do a couple things that pretty much work anywhere.

1. Locate your bedding areas. Thicken them up by doing some hinge cuts of saplings. Mature bucks seek out good thick bedding areas & you can provide them in this way.

2. Predator control, shoot and trap some yotes. This will increase recruitment in your yearly fawn crop, which will just plain help the overall heard health & balance.

3. As you say your property is crawling with deer, but almost no bucks, shoot does. Shoot all the doe you are allowed to for at least the first 2-3 seasons.

4. Establish at least 3 mineral sites on the property. NOT cattle blocks of salt or trace mineral, but properly formulated minerals for deer. I'll also suggest use of granulated mineral mix instead of block form. After all we want our antlered friends to get plenty as easy as possible. This can and will help all the deer. Does will have healthier fawns, and larger average fawn size as well. Bucks will grow better racks, both in mass & in how early they reach their max tine count based on the individual's genetics. I would suggest keeping these mineral site at least 150-200 yds from property lines & close to a plot, or good stand of oaks if present on the property. (A old & good practice with mineral sites is to place the mineral on a stump. You can also cut a pie shaped wedge out of a large downed tree limb, or trunk of a downed tree. Instead of mineral being soaked into the ground, it's instead absorbed into the wood. Reduces your mineral costs a bit & helps hold the mineral concentrated.

If you wish go ahead and shoot that cull 6 pt. as well. I'd not shoot that one 8pt. you have or other good buck you may find you have, until he's at least a 5 yr. old & maybe not then, you need them to breed all those doe more than you do on the wall.

All the very best to you sir! A prime hunting estate is real work to get going in the beginning, but in just a few years you'll reap the rewards of it!