bigbuckstats

food plots


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hunt on bout 120 acres in southern mo we got more than enough does and young bucks but it seems that once the bucks have reached bout 2 1\2 years they move out of the area does any body got any ideas bout how to keep them in the area or what kind of food source we can plant

thanks

slobbyrobby33

Start Killing some does out. It seems to me like that when they get to that first breeding year the does are pushing them out.

timbercruiser

I wouldn't doubt the bucks are going nocturnal. Put out some cameras on corn piles in different locations for a couple of weeks and I would bet the old ones will be grinning at about 2:00 A.M.

Dan O.

I'd be betting that one of two things is happening. As Timbercruiser said they may be going nocturnal. The other thing that may be happening is that are becoming dominant in the area and spreading their range. The older the bucks get, the smarter they are and the less you will see them.

Dan O.

Talondale

Don't forget he's had 2 1/2 years to pattern YOU! It may be that he knows your patterns better than you know his. Also, a small sanctuary area in your property where no one hunts or enters EVER will help attract and hold smart old bucks. Hunt on trails leading into and out of the sanctuary but don't try hunting in it. Just a small thick 1/2 acre, in the middle of your property preferably, will do.

farm hunter

This topic actually centers more on Buck dispersment - than food plots -

Actually - once a 2-1/2 year old buck establishes residence - 90% of them will stay there until they die - only approx 10% will re-locate - and its suggested that doe/fawn dominance of an area is the most likely cause (as it is with the 80% 1.5yr old buck dispersal).

As others have suggested - Food plots will help feed your deer - but the best way to keep them is to remove a large chunk of the doe population.

It took us 4 years to flip/flop from a mostly doe family group population - to a majority buck population. Were are now trying to learn how to keep it there.