Bugeaters

i am going to attempt to pull deer from one side of my property to the other. (away from the neighbors). there is cover, water, oak trees and this year an oat field to pull them to the east. my question is after the oats are harvested will planting a food plot help to keep them away from the far side of the property, or will i just be wasting my money? (reason i am thinking about doing this is because the neighbors line up five guys on their side of the fence and basically hunt the 10 yard strip of timber they which is attached to the 100 yard strip we own.)any help is appreciated

Russ otten

It depends on what you mean "wasting your money". A food plot primarily is to provide food for the deer, and also add as an attractant. If it was my field, I would put some Buck Forage Oats with some type of clover mixed with it. This would be a fall attractant, especially after the Oats field is gone. BFO will last longer in the late fall and provide a cover crop for the clover. If you want to keep the deer from their side, Don;t allow any type of food grow along that fence where they set up. But, remember, deer are a wild animal and they will go where they darn please. The only thing you can do is make it not profitable for them to go to that side.

Russ

Roseaukaine

Agreed. I will add that preventing understory adjacent to their property line will prevent deer from using that area due to lack of cover.I'm assuming that there are mature hardwoods along the line - keep those going to shade out new understory and to keep it from growing thick. Keep the thick areas far removed from their property. Fertilization of natural browse/thickets will be the way to go - in your area. As Russ has said - they will go where they please. During the daylight hours - they prefer not to be seen.