Need help pattering deer

[burrows256]

I have a new 20acre lot in ny that has been hunted by my family has owned and hunted for year it's a awesome location has 3 fields, a swamp, pond, oak tree thicket along with the heavy under brush I know the deer are there but is there anything to do to bring them in and hold them this time of year. We plan on food ploting next year 2 of the 3 fields

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[JHettenb]

This time of year they are concentrated on food. Your on the right track with the food plot. Besides the food cover is super important so stay out of the thick stuff because if they feel safe they will stick around. In a few weeks if you have doe's around the bucks won't be far !

[Legacy]

Food, cover, water. If you have all three then you have deer year round. Food plots are great. I would concentrate on creating prime bedding and then allow it to be an untouched sanctuary

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[burrows256]

We have stand on the edge of the thick stuff and with the pond in the middle of 2 fields I figured it works as a big funnel and I know there are 2 five points and a bunch of doe but they come out 10mins to 7pm and they seem to elude cameras we have 2 out and no pics yet

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[Roughrider IV]

If you want pictures, post your camera over a scrape, along a thick edge, sun behind the camera. Don't access camera often, I check mine once every 2 weeks, preferable before a rain. Food plots that grow into late season are good for holding deer. I have small plots in woods clearing that get better as the season goes. Greens that grow late into fall hold deer around.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Roughrider IV

[burrows256]

Alright thanks i don't have any plots yet they will be in next season so really I'm going off of over grown fields so here is part of a field I wanna plant so you have a idea there is a pond upper left corner back in a funnel far

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[Thun]

I believe white oak leaf lobes are rounded where others are pointed. Don't they love white oak acorns?

[burrows256]

Yes they do this tree isn't in the oak thicket though this oak tree stands in the middle of a bunch of pine trees on the border of the land

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[Hookedup]

If you have food on neighboring property forget the plots, or just go with one. Your better off letting things grow as thick as you can get them. I go into sections on my property and just clear cut a patch and let the brush grow. Bedding areas are your best bet for killing a good buck. You won't get to many 3.5 year old or older bucks in a food plot in the daylight. But as soon as they start bumping does they will hit every bedding area they can find to get a doe on her feet.

I have seen guys take down grass/brush bedding areas to plant plots. All they do is feed the deer and send them to the neighbors to bed and get shot.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Hookedup

[TileMan Dan]

Might want to consider planting some apple and pear trees in lieu of food plots

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[143447]

If you have food on neighboring property forget the plots, or just go with one. Your better off letting things grow as thick as you can get them. I go into sections on my property and just clear cut a patch and let the brush grow. Bedding areas are your best bet for killing a good buck. You won't get to many 3.5 year old or older bucks in a food plot in the daylight. But as soon as they start bumping does they will hit every bedding area they can find to get a doe on her feet.

I have seen guys take down grass/brush bedding areas to plant plots. All they do is feed the deer and send them to the neighbors to bed and get shot.

!

!! Right on we have acreage in Almond. Keep a good section untouched let it overgrow and stay out except for the edges a couple trial cams. We started doing this 5 years ago huge difference in keeping older deer close by. They need a safe spot to hang out . Food is everywhere its about being in a killing tree when the first bunch of does go hot.

Good luck 20 acres is awesome!!

[burrows256]

The woods have been untouched for about 23yrs or longer and we would be the only one with food since there is a 100acre field across the road but they won't let anyone touch it and it's just growing up there is 0 food source there and I think that's the problem

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[Gill-T]

You will also want to plan entry and exit points to stay hidden.  On 20 acres if you are walking with the wind to your spot......you will find it empty come first light.  Apple trees are nice but make sure you snow fence them in or there will be nothing left but a stick.  You won't get much production til year 5 with produce.  If you own the property you can hinge-cut junk trees to make bedding areas.

[burrows256]

We have apple trees on it but they didn't produce this year like are trees did on are pa hunting property those trees were loaded so heavy they started breaking in half and we have plenty of trails in and out

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[justtracytrolling]

You will also want to plan entry and exit points to stay hidden.  On 20 acres if you are walking with the wind to your spot......you will find it empty come first light.  Apple trees are nice but make sure you snow fence them in or there will be nothing left but a stick.  You won't get much production til year 5 with produce.  If you own the property you can hinge-cut junk trees to make bedding areas.

Hinge cutting creates live brush piles fast!  I used to belong to a beagle club and we cut every year and even with a 6 foot fence the deer loved those piles.  If you vary the height which you make the hinge cuts you can create growth from ground level to 10 feet tall in 1 year.  Just be sure not to cut all the way thru as this creates brush but it's dead.   The deer will feed all winter on the live growth all winter.  Having the bedding/santuary area is key...i wouldnt worry as much about food if you want a mature buck.   If you want to meat hunt food works fine, but agree with sean, mature bucks wont feed in the daylight unless you have hundreds of acres and ZERO pressure,,,ie like what you see on tv in the midwest.  I have hundreds of acres of food and cover, but the neighbor has just as good bedding, no food, and ZERO pressure...the mature bucks are on us all night and him all day.   

[burrows256]

The way I see a buck is sure it's great to shoot a mature deer but I can't eat the horns so really it's pointless they are great to watch don't get me wrong but I rather have a full freezer than a trophy on the wall

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[King Slammin]

I hunt a 26 acre honey hole in WNY. It consists of mostly thick brush. A beech, hickory, and oak filled hardwoods is in the far left corner, surrounded on 3 sides by brush. Then corn field to the west, road to the east, and winter wheat north. The deer filter into the woods at last daylight and feed on the nuts before heading into the corn. I always hunt the wheat field side in the am on a SW wind during the rut and shot a bruiser this past yr scent checking the entire field edge. It's super important to hunt only the perimeter of the property, and never go into the bedding. Quick and quiet entry/exit trails. And stay in your stand until it's completely dark to avoid busting deer arriving late.

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[burrows256]

We have stands on the outside of the property which allows for quick entrance and exits but no one has anything planted anything anywhere around where I'm at so I think it could be lack of food I'm sure we have the bedding and we have the pond for a water source just no food. Also we have 2 bobcats could they be pushing the deer out

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[burrows256]

This is the property we have in ny from the road in you can see the fields and pond

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[Gill-T]

That little pine patch south of the pond looks like a good spot to intercept deer cutting the corner of the field. Entry would be downwind with any type of west wind. I would hunt somewhere else on an East wind.

Edited October 17, 2014 by Gill-T

[burrows256]

All are stands are on the edges we have 0 stand in the woods

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[Gill-T]

You are really limiting your hunting time when you can be in bow range of deer by only hunting the edges. When deer go nocturnal you may not see them at all without food plots around.

[burrows256]

Oh I no I wanna put a stand down in there bottom left corner of the property

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[burrows256]

Finally caught a deer on the camera he was cutting the edge of the property can't wait to see what's on the next card thanks for everyone's help

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[justtracytrolling]

Even if you are hunting edges id have a stand just 75-100 yds in and you pick up a lot more buck activity. Tough when you want to leave a bedding/sanctuary and hunt when you are limited in acres.

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