You need to pick a spot on your land ,that the deer can go without preasure.
A spot that no one even walks on.
And put up No Hunting signs, in that spot.
A safe place for the deer to go to.
Then you can get some older bucks to stay on your land.

JMHO

Yes, that is what I mean by cover. I will all but guarantee that the cover you speak of, if it is like no other around, and the pressure is on, the mature buck know about it and will use it. A mature buck, once it uses an escape route successfully, will NEVER forget it. Same with safe haven cover. The more of it, the better. As I said earlier, create a safe haven sanctuary, and they'll find it.

bye bye buck hunting
 

I went ahead asking the neighbor if he would let more of smaller bucks go by this year. He informed me that two of his crew were out of work this year(six hunt the 5oo acres) so they would be shooting alot more deer this year so as to get more meat on the table for these two guys. He said would have about 14 tags to fill and wasn't going to be picky. Buck, doe or fawn would do for it. I have a feeling that this year is going to slim pickings indeed. Has anyone else run into this?

crokit is right on the money dont worry about the food, convert as much of your property to sanctuary as you can and then never enter it except maybe once or twice in the winter or if you have to track a wounded deer thru them etc.
But I think one of the most important things you should be doing on your property if you want to see more P&Y class bucks etc. is to not harvest any buck unless it is a P&Y class buck. Pike

Well it sounds like you have a terrible choice to make... Either shoot something that will make you happy, before the neighbor does or work on your deer management. Good luck!

this is normal for most area's here in va. most hunters are meat hunters first,trophy hunters second. still the big bucks manage to survive,do your homework and be there when the big bucks move. i find spending lots of time in the stand pays off.

the thing that helps us here is we are on the shenandoah national park boundry, its a big buck factory . some of those bucks always wonder on to the nearby farms.

Same problems in PA. Many guys purposefully get laid off for the deer season. We have antler restrictions of 4 pts to one side, but it doesn't help too much because almost every 1 1/2 year old is legal. I have tried to pass on both 1 1/2 year old and 2 1/2 year old bucks in archery season each fall, only to have them wacked in rifle season. I can't even keep the rifle hunter's off of my in-laws 150 acres of posted property. VERY frustrating. I am looking elsewhere for managed property. I have hunted IL and OH for the past 3 years, and PA much less. I am going to Iowa this fall. Try to stay Zen about it. A good 115" 2 year old is a trophy in many areas of PA. That being said, P&Y and B&C class are taken every year in PA.