any advise
 

i have a very small peice of property in mid michigan, a total of 26 acres that i hunt on during bow/gun season thats covered in oak trees and hilly terrain. my question is what can i do throughout the year(if anything) to increase deer activity on my property? planting a small food plot? use of mineral blocks through out the year? i have two beddign areas and a total of 5 scrapes, ive got pics of a spike,4 pointer, and a 6 pointer. and a few does. none of teh bucks are shooters but would love to keep them around at least until next year if no one else takes them.

RE: any advise
 

I recently saw a show "Get in the Game" on the Outdoor Channel that discussed selective clearing of trees. Sorry don't know which show #, but they were using a herbicide called "arsenal". What they were doing was cutting into the tree witha hatchet and spraying the herbicide into the cut. Basically killing unwanted trees to open the understory to allow light to reach the forest floor to let the more desirable trees to grow and also allowing natural vegitation to grow. Claims that it makes the property more desirable to deer. The recommended trying it on like 5% of property total. Also what kind of land is around your property? Similar? Open fields? What are your neighbors doing? Are they interested in deer management? If they have food plots then planting the same may not make yours more desirable to deer. Just a thought.

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Since it's a small amount of acreage, I would focus on quick and easy tactics to draw in bucks from the surrounding properties. Establishing a few salt licks in sheltered areas would probably be helpful.

I don't really see clearing trees as being helpful if your getting a good mast crop during the year. If your not getting a decent mast crop then very selective harvest would help and you (or the landowner)could potentially profit from harvesting a few oaks.

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the surrounding areas are wooded just like mine, my area is a little more thinned out considering i had some trees removed about 3 yrs ago. i'll do the salt licks nvr tried them before. not sure what teh neighbors are doing but i think there doing corn feeders. do you think like planting a small area with like clovers might help? or would it be a waste of time. i was also going to get some corn feeders that run off of timers. but i don't know. with all the acorns in the area i don't know if anything else could would intise them.

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Yeah that was what I was talking about. If you have a good mast (acorn) crop, using food plots or feeders probably won't have much impact.

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this past weekend i experimented and through out a bag of sugar beets and over a 2 week period the the deer ate them up. there were jsut a few left, there are tons of acorns though but every one has got themso i'mtrying to give my property a lil advantage, i feelthat considering i'm not there 3/4 of the year helps tremedously with the deer not feeling pressured, maybe like that a safe zone for them, buti guess that could backfire to because then when i do go up there maybe they get spooked because there not used to the traffic. i'll do some salt blocks early next year and see what happens.

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Put your trail cams up at the licks and post up some pictures.

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should i put the licks out now or wait until next year, i thought they huit them during the summer.

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Actually, they will hit them all the time. Thesooner they figure out where the licks are hte more likely they will be in the area and habitually visiting them.

The extra minerals also are a boon to the females before and after they fawn.

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alright then i'll get them out there as soon as possible is there a particular kind i should get or maybe some thing to add to it or pour over it?

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I'd just get the blocks, they last the longest. Just figure out a way to keep them inone spot as they tend to push them around alot and will roll them down hills etc.

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ok thanks BA

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Buy your mineral and salt blocks from your local farm or livestock supply store. You can get a fifty pound block for five bucks. If you buy from cabelas you get a five pounder for nine bucks then you pay shipping, deer dont eat buy name brands at least on blocks. And also put them on some boards, Damp ground and snow will break them down real fast. A mineral block will do wonders for a bucks rack. Good luck!

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Most folks I know who put out blocks for the deer usually bury them flush to the ground and let the deer find them .

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If you put the blocks in the center of an old stump the minerals soak into the wood and they'll consume the stump after they finish the block.

Dan O.

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Well anywhere you put the blockswill be that way. They'll paw a huge hole and visit the spot for a long time, possibly years to come.

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thanks for the info guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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hey how fast to bucks rack grow? like say a spike how long would it take for it to start to branch out?

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Ummm it depends on alot of factors but generally by their 2nd to 3rd year they wil be at least a fork if not more on one side.

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Watch out what advise you get and take....listen and ask a lot of questions and be ready to use some sweat!

Selective thinning is a good process and will help. But, if you see on TV someone using arsenal herbicide, realize that 1) its a restricted use pesticide, 2) It is designed to kill trees in pine plantations primarily...it kills hardwoods and deciduous trees. You should NEVER use it in a northern hardwood situatioin. Recognioze that many of the TV shows have a decidedly southern bias.

You can thin in your situation with a chainsaw and treat the stumps with Tordon RTU (non restricted use), or you can do a basal bark treatment where you spray Remedy and Diesel...1 part Remedy/3 parts diesel on the bottom 15-20 inches of the tree any time of the year and that will kill that tree.


Develop areas of comfort....food/water/bedding areas and your deer will begin to see your place as home.

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You may not have to wait that long:

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/antlers.asp

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Well the lack of correlation between age and points has been known in wildlife circles for quite some time. However, what is possible and what is common in the wild are two entirely different things. I think my answer was the cautious one. While there COULD be some 2nd year deer with three on a side (i've shot several) it's most likely that they will be forked or 2 points with a small 3rd (~1"). But like I said there are a plethora of factors that influence antler growth and it's impossible to model.

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If you've got the right genetics and nutrients Boone & Crockett antlers are a possibility after 2 years. It looks like some people have a good handle on it in the attached article:

http://www.outdoorscentral.com/artman/publish/article_86.shtml

Of course you will be changing the natural environment with these supplements.

Dan O.

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I disagree, the mast crop will only be there a short time and NOTHING food plots or corn feeders will keep the deer off the acorns but what is going to happen the other 11 months of the year. I would plant spring and fall food plots and feed corn with timed feeders. Use anything and everything the deer might want to give every reason possible to come to your property. If you have any cover don't bushhog it for the food plot constructionthe deer won't do anything but visit if they don't have the securtiy of cover

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Georgia Hard Hunter " Use anything and everything the deer might want to give every reason possible to come to your property. If you have any cover don't bushhog it for the food plot constructionthe deer won't do anything but visit if they don't have the securtiy of cover "

I agree, when I had my timber thinned the deer that had been coming through very often quit using the area, atleast durring day light hours anyway.
After 2 years and the understory has thickened back up the deer can now be seen durring day light/shooting hours.

I even noticedafter my property thickened back up and the deer started using it more, the neighbors had their trees removed and the deer slowed way down in how much they moved around on my property durring day light hours. As the neighbors land has started getting grown up in weeds and such the deer have started moving more durring day light.

Leaving plenty of cover is about as important as anything you do.

Thanks
Mr-Pirk