If you’re like us, one of the things you’ll spend time doing while sitting stand this season is notice all the changes you’d like to make to your deer hunting property. These don’t have to be major changes, but minor improvements that might make your chance of holding and harvesting more deer better. You could be testing a food plot where you planted half in winter wheat and the other half in turnips - two very different grasses - and notice just now that the deer haven’t touched the turnips once. That’s a simple solution for next season.
Planting More Food Plots
Overlooking a largish sage field, you see a consistent number of deer crossing in the early morning and late evening. Around daylight they’re heading to a known bedding area and in the evening they steadily make their way to a large cornfield on the neighbor’s property. Luckily, the neighbor isn’t a hunter nor would he know that you’re going to cut those deer off by turning a couple acres of the sage field into a food plot. First, plant a summer food plot then really establish it as a food source with a good combination winter mix.
The Sanctuary
Recently, we talked about the importance of creating sanctuaries for deer on the property’s interior. When there is not a terrible amount of commotion, especially during the bow season before the rifle cracks fill the air, you’ll notice a pattern among the herd. Depending on the size of your place, you shouldn’t have too hard a time finding what areas deer use to bed. Creating sanctuaries will take a few years, but once you discover a spot that would absolutely make deer feel safe, designate it as a sanctuary.
Planted Trees
If you spent the fall planting trees throughout your property, you might just now be noticing that some of them are wrongly placed. From a tree stand perspective you observe that some are only getting minimal light whereas at eye level they seem to be receiving the right amount of sun. It’s okay to transplant trees when they go dormant, so think about doing this as soon as the season closes.
Too Many Does
This is a problem you’ll have to take care of during the season. Suppose you had an extraordinary amount of photos of does on your summer trail cameras, it’s time to shoot a few. If you’re noticing the numbers late in the season and don’t want to shoot one for fear that she may have already been bred, then start during the following bow season. Plus, you won’t make as much noise in doing so with stick and string.
Start making a list as you notice improvements around the property. Far too often we make a mental note that disappears the next day. If you can get everything down in writing, come spring it won’t be much trouble simply going down the list and checking off completed tasks.
