yeoman

I've taken over the farming of my 7 acre field for the first time in 5 years. I left three long sections of volunteer weed growth, the biggest about 1.5 acres, all chest high and it appears to have made ALL the difference. I saw 8-10 bucks in three hours Saturday morning run does all through those patches. At 8AM there were 5 bucks and three does wihtin 50 yds. including a 140 inch (gross)8 pointer and a 150 (gross)10 point. The 8 was an old hugh bodied animal, fully in charge. Quite a spectical. With all the effort devoted to food plots, nothing in my book is more important than cover!

rgarza

I agree. Cover is very important for fawn survival, and deer comfort. In South Texas, mesquite trees are crucial to provide cover from the brutal summer heat. Studies have shown that deer will utilize areas with more dense canopy cover vs. less cover.

A 140" 8 pointer is a trophy by the way and a shooter in my book. The 10 pointer is a trophy too, but he may best serve as your breeder given your acreage.

Since you didn't shoot the bucks you saw at close range, what are your shooting criteria?

yeoman

Rgarza, we meet again...

Each year, I make an attempt to evaluate the animals using my area, and kill the "best" buck available and at least one doe. The best buck has always been at least 2 1/2 years of age, usually 3 1/2. At times, the best buck to kill may not be the deer with the highest gross or net score, but rather a deer doing more than his share of the breeding while possessing inferior genes for antler growth. Such is the case with the scenario above. There are now 3 bucks on my hit list. The two described above and a 3 1/2 year old 9 pointer (gross 145), which I suspect will be the buck I kill, if I kill one at all. If I could order one of them to appear, it would be the monster 8 pointer. I'm guessing this deer is 6 1/2 years old which is ancient where I live and he has done more than his share of the breeding. Like you, I would prefer the 10 pointer took over those duties, though he is not genetically perfect, he's the best I've seen in that regard. The 9 pointer however has adopted my property for his core area, though one of the other two, I'm not sure which, is frequenting an unhunted spot 1/4 mile away.

On the morning above, I stood still as a statue for 45 minutes, Robertson recurve in hand, arrow knocked, and refused the shots offered. Two reasons why.

#1) I have not been shooting nearly as much as prior years because of time spent on the farming and warm weather extending some excellent fishing. I felt no shot was better than a bad one. I wish now I'd taken my camera!

2) With both bucks on top of me, a shot would have virtually assured I would never see either of them again this season, if ever, from this location.

When you hunt a small, unfenced,but very special parcel of land, deer management is more an act of consience than anything else. The good management decisionsyou make will probablynever return to you. Or maybe they will. I've been a believer in QDM since the late 80's. In 2001 I had the good fortune of killing the then and now state record non-typical with black powder. I passed up a shot at that buck the year before. Not a management decision but an ethical one. My butt was so freezing cold and the wind blowing so stinkin hard I just didn't think taking the shot was the right thing to do.

Here's hoping I've made the same "mistake" again.

rgarza

Sounds like a nice plan and a nice place. I got goosebumps just picturing those big bucks.

I would also take the 6.5 year old 8 pointer. He's done all he's going to do as far as antlers. I personally love a "Big 8"; they look more impressive than a small 10.

You know, I read over and over the excuse that "If I don't shoot him someone else will". That may be true, but if you don't practice the good sense you are describing, you assure yourself that you'll never see older deer.

I don't really shoot deer anymore, with a gun that is. I take pictures and video, and I let my leasing hunters and younger family members take the bucks we've designated for harvest. I'm happy just to see the deer interact and learn more about their behavior. You know, you learn so much more just watching the deer than firing at anything brown.

yeoman

I've certainly done my share of watching over the years. Bowhunters get to learn a lot more about deer and combined with passing on ots of animals in practicing QDM, seems 99% of my time in the woods I just sit and watch. Lucky me.

Dan O.

I agree with you about cover. Just keep some shooting lanes open. My wetland area is so dense with 6-8' cattails and bullrushes that it's unhuntable. My neighbour got lost in it this summer and he complained that he couldn't see his dog that was with him on a 6 ' leash

Dan O.

tschaef

Sorry for lurking here guys but I have to state how jealous I am!
I live in the biggest city in Canada and own no land, I'm lucky enough to have permision for a farm 1.5hrs away, and am welcome for a week of gun in the bush 2.5hrs away, but the scenarios you guys are painting sound simply awsome!
You guys have taught me how to bring apple trees back to life, that the above mentioned cover is all important, and that you don't need a big tractor to create good habitat, I just wish the guys at gun camp would listen to your wisdom (if its brown its down).
I'd give anything for a couple hundred acres that I could call my own.

hoosierdady

yeoman

After reading your second post. You are one of the few people on this forum that know what the sport is all about. Its not just about this season, its about the next 15 seasons.

Yeo da man