Land Consulting & Habitat Design
Found several rubs on a recent client trip.
When designing a habitat management plan its important to not over complicate the process. Deer need several things within a area to be able to relate to that area. Most times we cant “hold” deer. The goal is to hold deer for longer periods of time!
In order for deer to relate to a certain property they need several things.
They need high quality food sources they can relate to
They need a area they feel safe without human intrusion
They need high quality cover. Cover they can hide in when under pressure and cover they can use that relates to food.
guess what? that’s it!!!!!
People come up with so many tactics so they can get the glory of coming up with the idea. There is so many ideas out there that it confuses guys and they don’t know which way to go. Deer need food, water and cover. Water would be last on my list!
you have to evaluate the land. Can you stand at ground level and see straight through the woods 100,200,300 yards? if that’s the case you have zero cover and no food. Why would a deer mainly a buck spend anytime there? If he can see 200 yards he wont feel safe and he can see there is no does when the rut is happening.
If that is the case you most likely need a select cut and some timber work. You need structure on the ground and you need more sun hitting the forest floor to get regeneration of woody browse. This will thicken up the area so deer can not see as far and create so much extra tonnage of food per acre.
We can call it all kinds of special names and make it over complicated but that’s as easy as it is! More food more deer! Most times we cant control 100 percent of a deer’s movement but who cares. The goal is to get that deer to spend more time on your land. More time on your land equals more chances of you getting a shot off.
Once you have the cover established you will get more natural browse regenerating. This is main priority! Deer eat 4-8 pounds of food per day. This is what they love on and what they will always live on. Think about this. What did deer live on before we started planting food plots? Think about that…
When designing a habitat management plan food plots need to be implemented and high quality ones that is. When I say high quality ones It means limed, fertilized and not wide open! I see to many people creating these giant food plots that you can see across 200-400 yards. In this case it would be more of a destination plot that deer can relate to at dark. Smaller food plots that have structure will attract more deer during the daylight hours.
Once the food is established deer find there home. Deer will bed accordingly and find a place that can relate to that food source. I have found food plots are more of a evening food source you can capitalize on. deer will hit those food plots before dark as long as they are not pressured. The food plots need to be in areas that you can access without spooking deer. They also need to have structure. Deer need to be able to travel from one section of the property to another without open areas.
They need different habitat settings, different age structure of timber because as you know deer are creatures of edge.
As you can see there is certain things deer need but its not complicated. There is no magic weapon. its about balance. Having cover throughout the property so deer can feel safe as they travel around. With minimal hunting pressure and stands set up on easy to access routes you can have a amazing deer hunting property.
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