I was wondering if anybody knows of a GREAT website, magazine, or book that goes into EXTREME detail on ALL the points of TROPHY management for whitetailed deer. I have property here in southwestern Pennsylvania and it has a good number of big bucks. Alt is starting to manage the herd so that it will be healtier and so that we will have bigger bucks. I want to try and help out the herd on my land even more. I want to try and use the philosophy of trophy management on my property.

Here is what I do already.

1. My friends, family, and I try to harvest as many does as we can legally do during early archery season.
2. We try to pass on smaller deer. My standards as of right now are a high 120-low 130 class buck.

Here is what I plan on doing this year.

1. Planting a 3 acre ALL YEAR food plot.
2. Raising standards on bucks.
3. Try to harvest even more does.
4. Imporve habitat.

What else can I do to get TRULY MAGNIFICENT bucks on the land. The largest non-typical that I have ever seen probablly was a 180 class 17 pointer. The largest typical I have ever seen on the land was a 16 point that probablly would have been close to 200". The next biggest deer I have seen to these is a 153" nontypical twelve point. A few 130 class 10 points. A 130 class 8 point, and lots of 110" 7 and 8 points.

Good Luck This Season: Buck Magnet
"Hunting is not a sport, it is a passion, it is a WAY OF LIFE"

Buck Magnet try going to www.antlerking.com they have feeding programs that might help.plus you can cotact them with further questions. hope this helps.

Hey BM,
Did you think you could get away from me coming over here?!

The QDMA has a QDM bible, it's called Quality Whitetails-probably more than you want to know. Next, they have their magazine that comes out I believe 6 times a year-another great source.

In all you do on your property think strategically. It's better to have 3, 1 acre plots, than 1, 3 acre plot. By doing this the deer will use your plots more often. The location of the plots is an important issue as well. You already have great food sources around you, so you are just offering another piece of the pie, not the entire dinner. You might want to look at your food plots as harvest plots, situated away from hunter/human travel, and stretegically placed to allow for quite entrance and exit routes, use of already occuring natural funnels or travel corridors, and secluded daytime feeding opportunities. Food plots also work best when irregular in shape, with uneven edges and narrow points to allow for undisturbed feedings.

Increasing daytime feedings on strategically located food plots may improve the overall health of your herd, but it sounds like you already have a very healthy herd. Have you tried mineral stations? Usually 1 per every 40 acres is recommended. Go with a good brand, produced specificaly for deer, not cattle. I use Prince, it comes in a 5 gallon bucket, but I'm sure Imperial Whitetail 30-06 is great, as well as some of the other well known deer brands.

If you are very serious, get professional help. The QDMA associaton can give you some contacts for some whitetail management experts. I had Mark Thomas, a QDMA board member, come to my property last summer. He was great! He is a forester and biologist-a rare combination, and is an expert in native vegitation management, herbacide control, herbacide development, camera sensus population counts, forest manipulation, habitat improvement, and strategic food plot placement. There are others as well-Dr. Grant Woods, and even Dr. James Kroll-maybe a bit pricey though! Once you have a basic long range plan in place, those guys can help you fine tune your plan into reality, and minimize long-term mistakes, such as native plant destruction, food plot location mistakes, and poor timber practices.

Food plots are a different science all together. Liming, fertalization, planting, tilling, cutting, maintenance, soil tests, and deciding what and where to plant, can't be learned overnight.

Develop a long range plan, don't expect huge changes overnight, and try to get some expert advice along the way to help fine tune your efforts.

Jeff...U.P. of Michigan.

Thanks Jeff

That was alot of information. I will check out QDMA's website. I have tried mineral stations. I used Mossy Oaks Deer Dynomite. It didn't get used at all. The odd thing is that I set up some salt licks in areas around my woods during the spring and they got hit. I might try the 30-06 this year though. I will read up on all that stuff and try to make a good decision, of course I will lay my plans out on here so I can get some constructive critacism. Thanks for all the help.

Good Luck This Season: Buck Magnet
"Hunting is not a sport, it is a passion, it is a WAY OF LIFE"

BM,

A lot of that granular mix has around 20% Calcium, and 10% phosphorus-or percentages close, with 30 to 50% salt. I don't know if that dynamite stuff is in that same catagory, maybe just a powder/attractant type stuff, but I've never used it. I've had good success notching out a 1-2' stump with a chain saw, and pouring the mineral mix on the stump. With rain, it eventually coats the stump and the deer not only eat the bark, stump, roots, but the surrounding dirt and debris as well. I have sandy soil, so I did this to try and keep the mix from disappearing into the ground.

Jeff...U.P. of Michigan

Jeff,

Mossy Oaks BioLogic Deer Dynamite was a powder. I had a 5 lb bag, and I mixed it with 5 gallons of water, then I went into my woods, cleared a spot about 3 feet by 3 feet. The spot was about 10 feet from a well used trail. I slowly poured the mix into the soil. It never REALLY dried up like the bag said it would. It was always a little damp, a little muddy. I did everything right. The bag, commercials, and web site have pictures of bucks eating these mineral licks. They have holes 3 feet in the dirt with their heads in them just eating. They said that it will help with antler growth. Tommorow I will look them up and try to get the ingredients so I can tell you what they are.

Good Luck This Season: Buck Magnet
"Hunting is not a sport, it is a passion, it is a WAY OF LIFE"

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Try putting out a few salt/Di-Cal licks. The Di-Cal is supppose to enhance antler development.

[Deleted by Admins]

There are two patches of woods that have a road and couple houses between them. My land is about 27 acres, but, there is about another 40 acres of woods that border it that gets very little hunting pressure. Across the road from my land and my house is another patch of woods. My family and I are the only people that hunt it. It is probablly 200 acres. It is surrounded by probablly 600 acres of corn fields/alfalfa fields, and small patches of thick woods.

Good Luck This Season: Buck Magnet
"Hunting is not a sport, it is a passion, it is a WAY OF LIFE"