Hoytteen

I get to lease a 40 chunck acre of land next year and 10 acres of it is clear-cut(about 6 years old), 20 is oaks, and the other 10 is pine trees.I am wondering if i should plant food plots by oaks, or what else cani do to have more deer come into the clear cut.I scouted there this pastsummer and it seems all the deer are moving in the oaks at night, then in the morning, some come out of the popples into the clear cut and move into the neighbors property. what should i do?

also, some new pine tree's are getting grown up( about 4 feet now). what should i do about them? let them grow or chop em?

Tigerfan

Do you own it or are you leasing it. This will be a big part of the decision. If you own it or have control on what to do I would do something like what I did this last summer. I had a guy come in with a bush hawg and cut out about 2-4 acres of this one 40 that I hunt. I had him leave a few trees through it, I think about 5 or 6. They are spread so that don't get in the way but they provide a sort of security for the deer. I then planted 2.5 acres of it with buck forage oats. I hunted it the first week of the season and I had deer in it constantly. This is an area that has a pine thicket on one side and a hard wook bottom on three sides. I tripled the amount of deer seen from last year and people that hunt around me saw less. I am going to plant the entire thing in corn and beans this spring. Before this year I never found any scrapes in this are but plenty of rubs. I counted 7 scrapes in this food plot this year. I decided that I would not shoot anything but a trophy off of it and I would hunt the edges to harvest my doe quota's. The does find comfort in there and I thnink next year it will be a lot better.

My suggestion would be to cut out no less than 3 acres but no more than 5, plant it heavy and have a couple stands around it so you can hunt it under any wind condition.

Here are some pictures of what it looked like the day we planted. The pictures of the brush behind the trailer is where I have my stand.

http://picasaweb.google.com/JJ.Futch/SPHC

The Rifleman

If you don't own it, I would ask the landowner before making any decisions like that.

But it is my experience that deer do not like the open, but does like thick brushy places.

Cutting shooting lanes will only make them run through them never giving you a good opportunity at a clear shot.

Planting food plots is also a good idea.

But you have to remember that deer feed mainly at night, not during the day time. When the weather changes - they will feed as much as possible.

A good water source is also helpful in keeping deer on your property.

But you have to remember that the only thing that is going to keep them there is a doe in heat or a high fence.

Hunting is not getting - is what my daddy says.

Sometimes you have to hunt for a week or a month or 10 years before a buck of a lifetime walks out in front of you. It isn't something where you can just walk in the pen and shoot one.

Salt / minreal licks also helps. Along with a Moultree Feeder full of corn or grain. I just didn't know if they were legal where you hunt.

USFWC

Leave the pines, especially since they're not yours to chop. They will provide some good cover for them. Can you get a tractor in there to till up the ground?