June 3, 2008
Finding Early Season Deer
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In my Free-Deer-Hunting-Tips.com Newsletter and blog posts I write about one of the most favorable spots to set up your deer hunting tree stand during early season overlooking food plots or well-used deer trails. These spots can indeed be good, but don’t over look other great feeding areas.
During early deer season you may want to find a good stand of white oak trees. White oaks, unlike red oak and black oak, drop acorns more readily. White oak acorn nuts are not as bitter as those from red and black oaks.
When white oaks have good acorn crop, target these areas. They will draw deer. Deer will use these heavy acorn producing trees year after year.
Make sure you do plenty of pre-season scouting to help you locate if and where your deer hunting woods holds white oak trees.
When scouting for white oak also look for areas with lush grasses, vines, wild grapes and wild fruit trees such as apples and plums.
You may have an old homesteaded or abandoned farm on your deer hunting land. Watch this location carefully.
The folks who homesteaded these now abandoned locations may have planted fruit trees to harvest for their pantries. If these trees are now abandoned, they become great hangouts for deer to find early autumn food sources.
Once you locate an abandoned homestead, look for well-used deer trails leading to food sources, water and cover. Study deer movement surrounding the old buildings and orchards on the property.
When you have patterned deer movements to and from the food sources choose your deer stand locations wisely. Make sure your deer hunting tree stand is set up downwind from food sources you plan to hunt.
You might get a shot at the big buck nobody else has seen yet.
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Good Luck and Great Hunting!
Deer Hunting Expert at http://www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com
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Posted by Marty Prokop | Questions and Comments (0)
May 7, 2008
Deer Food Plots...What Food Plot Seed Should You Plant?
Below is a comment and question I received from Free Deer Hunting Tips Community member Pat.
Pat asks...Thanks for all your good information. We want to plant a food lot on our 20 acres. What is the best kind of seed to plant?
Here is my reply:
Thanks for your email.
To answer your question, I need to ask you a few.
Are you planting the whole 20 acres?
Have you had a soil sample conducted yet?
What type of soil do you have? (ie: loamy sand, clay, etc)
How much annual rainfall do you get each growing season?
What area is your deer hunting land located? North, South, etc.
Are you going to use a herbicide to help clear the land of unwanted weeds and vegetation before you plant? Or, are you going to try to use more organic methods to control weeds?
All of the above factors and several more will play a crucial role in deciding what seed to plant.
For example, if your soil test reveals your soil to be acidic, you will have to add lime to neutralize it.
The 60/40 Rule
Here is some food for thought…I suggest you plant your food plots with 60% perennials and 40% annuals.
In other words, plant 60 percent of your total food plots with something you need plant only once and will continue to grow year after year. Then plant the remaining 40% with a food source that needs to be planted each year.
Annuals grow much quicker and will provide a good food source for deer while the perennials are establishing their root systems. Planting annuals will help keep deer from over browsing the perennial crops while they are growing.
Some annual seed choices would include: Corn, soybeans, cow peas, sunflowers, rye grass, oats, etc
Perennial seeds could include: alfalfa(buy deer specific seed), chicory
I have used The Whitetail Institute products with great success as well as Biologic seed blends.
Before you buy any seed make sure to get a soil test if you have not already done so. A soil test will tell you the type of soil you have, the pH of the soil, lime requirements and fertilizer requirements for your soil. Without soil test information, you could spends hundreds of dollars on seed and have poor results.
Soil tests usually run between 10 and 30 dollars and is money well spent.
If you would like, I would be glad to look at your soil test results and then make a more targeted suggestion for seed choice for you.
I look forward to hearing more from you.
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Good Luck and Great Hunting!
Deer Hunting Expert at http://www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com
****************************
Find Deer Games, Pictures and Hunting Fun at: http://www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com
=========================
*** More Free Stuff ***
Get Your Own Free Audio Deer Hunting Tips, listen to the Deer Hunting Podcast, subscribe to our RSS Feed, see Big Buck Pictures and read the Deer Hunting Secrets Blog at: http://www.marty-prokop.com
=========================
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If you want to keep up on new deer hunting secrets subscribe to the weekly Free-Deer-Hunting-Tips.com Newsletter or get blog posts delivered to you by subscribing to our RSS feed by clicking on one of the RSS feed buttons in the right hand column of this blog.
=========================
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Posted by Marty Prokop | Questions and Comments (0)
November 25, 2007
How to Save Your Deer Hunting Season When There’s No Sign of Deer
In late deer hunting season, food sources can dry up or be overgrazed. Tender green leaves vanish. Grains left in the fields from harvest are gone. Apples fallen from trees have been devoured.
The signs you see appear old. The droppings are dried up. Tracks are faint. Rubs are inactive or turning grey with age.
The deer have left the area searching for new food sources. It might be winter crops just starting to come up. It could be a timber area just logged with leaves and tree tops on the ground. Deer have been known to move to active logging areas, even with the noises, to eat the tender tree greens.
Focus a half to full day on scouting for what has pulled the whitetail away when deer and fresh signs of deer disappear.
Check areas of your deer hunting land you haven’t been in lately. Look for active trails in and out of your deer hunting land.
You can hop in your vehicle and check adjacent properties from the road. Travel back roads looking for signs or possible active food plots. Remember trespassing is not allowed, but you can often see a great deal from the road.
Scout until you discover the situation and location attracting deer away from their usual patterns.
Then next hunting day be downwind waiting. Make sure it is your own deer hunting land or you have received permission to hunt another’s land. You may want to very quietly walk through the area giving special attention to food sources.
Good Luck and Great Hunting!
Marty Prokop
www.Free-Deer-Hunting-Tips.com
Posted by Marty Prokop | Questions and Comments (0)
November 15, 2007
How to Attract Big Bucks
Here is a nice picture of a big buck I recently attracted onto my deer hunting land.
Here is an email I just received from a www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com reader asking how to do the same with his deer hunting land.
Marty Prokop,
I am getting so frustrated. I enjoy your tips each week and don't know if you respond to e-mail or not, especially on November 13th!
I usually consider Nov. 6 - 14 the peak of rut in Ohio, but I haven't seen the big bucks or the chasing this year. I am open to some tips on how to get deer under my stand.
I hunt in a small yard which borders thousands of acres in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreational Park. I see many deer in the woods, and many come under my stands, but I can't get the big ones off of their trails, 50-75 yards into the park. I have bow hunted here for 6 previous and have taken 13 deer and passed on multiple deer a year.
I have harvested 2 bucks, one a 7 - pointer scoring in the 100 - 115 inch range. I have seen the 120 to 150 class bucks, but can't get them to cross onto my legal shooting area. The park rangers know me and are very nice and always allow me to track the deer all over the park after shooting them.
I just purchased a Matthews Switchback and can group arrows better than ever, golf ball from 20, softball from 30 and football from 40, which I could never do with my Browning Mantis. Just after purchasing the bow last January, I shot a doe from 40 yards right at dark through the heart, so my confidence level is high if I can just get those bucks my way.
I grunt, wheeze, rattle, and use Tinks™ 69 over mock scrapes. I haven't invested in a motion camera, but I did stoop to buying some stuff called C'mere Deer a week ago and watched a spike eat it at 15 yards.
Help, I really want a Pope and Young, Ohio Big Buck, or a B & C deer-120, 140, or 150.
Thanks,
Desperate Don
Don,
Thanks for your comment and questions.
I feel your frustration. Last deer season was similar for me. I needed to get those big bucks onto my deer hunting land, then do what it took to hold them there.
Do you own the land you are hunting on? Or, do you hunt land with permission from a landowner?
The reason I ask is this, to get big bucks to want to leave the safety of the park, you need to attract more does to your side of the fence. During the rut big bucks will spend their days and nights chasing does. If you can hold a few more does on your deer hunting land, odds are you will attract bucks.
I planted food plots to get more does onto my deer hunting land. The deer food plots are strategically placed near water and bedding areas. On any given day I see fifteen to twenty does grazing. When the rut is on, I see four to five nice bucks tending the does.
A good food source that attracted more does was key for me seeing and holding more bucks. Since you are facing winter in your location, food plots will be an answer for you next year.
For the remainder of your deer hunting season try the following suggestions.
First, start using dominant buck urine along with a doe in estrus deer scent. Buck Bomb™ is a great choice for filling an area with deer scent without spreading too much human odor. Once you activate the Buck Bomb™ climb into your deer hunting treestand and the wind will spread the deer scent for you.
Try using two deer decoys, one buck and one doe. Place dominant buck urine on and around the buck decoy and doe in estrus deer scent on and around the doe decoy. This will make it seem a buck has moved in on a hot doe in another buck's territory.
With your deer decoys in place, call and rattle to entice a buck to come in to investigate. A deer call to try is The Can by Primos. This call imitates doe bleats made by a doe in estrus. When combined with the grunt and rattle calls, the scenario of two bucks fighting over a hot doe becomes more effective.
Before placing a decoys be sure to check your local deer hunting regulations for legality.
Good Luck and Great Hunting!
Marty Prokop
Posted by Marty Prokop | Questions and Comments (0)
October 25, 2007
Using a Trail Camera to Pattern Big Bucks
Trail cameras are one of the newest and more technical pieces of deer hunting equipment. Trail cameras help you discover deer movement, which enhances your chances of being in the right place at the right time.
Make sure when you are checking them, you do so at a time when the deer are most likely not in the area. At first, you will have to take your best guess. As you begin to see the pictures, which contain date and time, you will be able to better pattern deer movement.
The night-vision infrared cameras do not flash during dark hours. This better conceals your outdoor photo studio from the watchful eyes of wildlife.
By using trail cameras you may discover that a mature buck has changed his pattern from early morning feeding — when more hunters are usually in the field — to midday feeding, actually following the hunters out of the field to the food plot.
During the pressure of deer season, deer may conserve energy and try to avoid hunters by feeding midday. This may require you to be in the woods during workdays. So consider planning a few vacation days or reworking your daily schedule to be out in the field.
Good Luck and Great Hunting!
Marty Prokop
www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com
Posted by Marty Prokop | Questions and Comments (0)
October 10, 2007
Deer Hunting Food Sources
During deer hunting season, hunting food sources can be a good technique for harvesting whitetail deer.
In farmland, deer like to work over fields looking for grains spilled during the harvest. They also look for new green shoots from winter cover crops such as winter wheat, which can be growing through or under snow cover.
Winter food is available but the deer need to work harder and move around more often. Look for a food source the deer are using that is not depleted yet.
Set up your tree stand or your deer hunting ground blind nearby.
During the later part of the deer hunting season, the deer move from food source to food source at all times of the day. So plan your deer hunt so you are in your deer hunting tree stand or ground blind all day.
Being prepared to sit all day could put in front of a big late season buck.
Good Luck and Great Hunting!
Marty Prokop
www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com
Posted by Marty Prokop | Questions and Comments (0)
October 5, 2007
Conserving Body Heat While Deer Hunting
Conserving body heat is a high priority during whitetail deer hunting.
Hunting locations that face south are good for finding deer at this time of the year because they get the most sun and gather heat for deer. South-facing hillsides, ravine slopes and other areas with a southern exposure are deer magnets during cold weather.
Dawn and dusk are always good times to hunt for whitetail deer, but for December deer hunting midday hunts can be just as good. And during midday a great place to hunt is south-facing slopes.
Deer are attracted to these areas in midday when the sun is it’s warmest to eat on twigs, leaves and acorns.
If you can find thickets and food sources on south slopes, you may just have found a deer hunting hot spot.
Dawn and dusk are always good times to hunt for whitetail deer, but for December deer hunting midday deer hunts can be just as good. And during midday a great place to hunt is south-facing slopes.
Deer are attracted to these areas in midday when the sun is it’s warmest to eat on twigs, leaves and acorns.
If you can find thickets and food sources on south slopes, you may just have found a deer hunting hot spot.
Good Luck and Great Hunting!
Marty Prokop
www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com
Posted by Marty Prokop | Questions and Comments (2)
April 29, 2007
How To Attract Deer Using Food Plots
Marty,
Can you tell me how to get the deer to cross the brook at my place?
The brook is 200 feet from the house, there are deer tracks and deer droppings everywhere, but they don’t want to cross the brook.
The brook is, in some places, 20 feet wide and the water is only 12 inches deep.
I don’t want to hunt them; I just want them around the house.
One of my brothers lives six houses from me and across the road.
He also has a brook. Another brother lives across the road from me.
They both have deer on their land. They each own 2 acres. The brother who lives six houses from me has deer eating right by his door steps.
Last week I went to buy a salt lick, oat seed, alfalfa seed and beef mash Atlantic deer food.
I walked across the brook and laid little piles of beef mash food in a little trail back on my land. Then put about one gallon of beef mash in one pile on my side of the brook.
So far the deer have not crossed the brook.
I have to wait for warmer weather to seed the oats and alfalfa.
For two weeks I called three to four times a day with a lost fawn deer call trying to entice the deer to come in. The deer still do not come in.
What am I doing wrong?
We did not have any snow on the ground for two weeks. The weather was actually nice.
Two days ago we had six-inches of fresh snow.
Last night I went for a walk across the brook for about a half mile and did not see a single deer track. What is up with that?
Thanks.
Marcel
Marcel,
Getting deer to do something they normally would not do can be difficult.
I think you are on the right track using corn to attract them. Also, putting in small food plots on your side of the brook may help the deer decide to cross the brook.
Food plots will work exceptionally well when the deer’s normal food sources are low. For example, a drought period causing the normal grasses and forage deer usually eat to dry and not grow, will force deer to seek out different food sources.
In the summer and early fall, deer prefer to eat green vegetation as it is usually high in protein and other nutrients deer need. This is where your food plot comes to play.
If your area experiences drought, make sure you water the food plot regularly. This will keep the oats and alfalfa green and lush. Seeing the green vegetation, deer may decide to cross onto your side of the brook.
With any food plot, it is also important to keep the protein level as high as possible by regularly mowing the food plot.
Every six to eight weeks mow the food plot to a height of four inches. This is especially important with alfalfa and clovers. Mowing keeps the stems smaller and promotes thicker growth of the plants.
Deer generally do not eat the stems of oat plants. The exception to this is when the oats are still very young and range in size from 1 inch shoots to six inch tall plants. If the oats are allowed to grow to full maturity, the plants will dry and brown. Deer love the dried oats and will clean the oats off the stems.
Food Plot Secret
Here is what I would do in your situation. It is a secret to help steer deer to a specific location using a food plot.
Plant a food plot in the shape of a funnel. The food plot edge that is closest to the brook will become the narrow end of the funnel, or point. As you move back closer to your house, the funnel shape will widen.
Once deer cross and begin feeding at the point end of your funnel they will, in most cases, follow the funnel back and feed in the wider section.
Deer Patterns Change with the Seasons
One possible reason you are not seeing deer tracks now is that the deer in your area may be moving into their spring/summer patterns.
I have watched deer on my deer hunting land. They have different areas for each season.
In the spring of the year, deer on my deer hunting land seek the thick undergrowth near swamps.
As summer heat increases, deer will search for the coolest part of the forest to escape the heat. This area is usually near a good water source.
In the early fall I see deer frequenting the wood edges and more open terrain. Their bedding areas are closer to good food sources this time of the year.
In winter months deer seek yarding areas. A yarding area is a place where many deer congregate at one time.
Yarding areas are usually found in very dense forest or areas offering deer protection from winter winds. Often times, yarding areas are close to good winter food sources.
Although deer patterns change with the seasons, the areas deer occupy year long may overlap. The main difference is that the areas deer bed and spend the majority of their time will be different with each season.
Calling Deer
Calling deer too much or with calls which are “out of season” may confuse the deer.
You’ve called in early spring with a lost fawn call. In early spring, does are pregnant and her fawns from last spring are nearly grown.
As does become closer to having their new fawns, usually end of May to mid-June, they seek thickets or heathers to deliver. As delivery time grows closer, does will also chase their year old fawns away.
It could be does are not responding to the lost fawn call because they are actually kicking their last year fawns away to give birth shortly.
I think you are moving in the right direction to get the deer to cross your brook. Using corn and food plots is a great idea. For now while does are delivering, put your deer calls away.
After you start seeing newborn fawns, try to use the lost fawn bleat again. You may get a more positive reaction from the deer in your area.
Good Luck and Great Hunting!
Marty Prokop
www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com
Posted by Marty Prokop | Questions and Comments (2)
March 8, 2007
Attract More Deer to Your Hunting Land
Thanks Marty. I enjoy your letters and web site.I have a question about seeding trails for deer. I live in east central Minnesota and have 40 acres with mixed hard wood trees on 16 acres and the rest is hay fields. All around me are fields of corn, beans and some times alfalfa fields that the deer use a lot. My hay fields are mostly grass, and I have some trails through the woods. I would like to know if it would pay to seed the trails with something this spring to get more deer to come in and stay. And if so what should I plant?
Thanks for any help Jeff
Jeff,
Thanks for the great question concerning food plots.
Being surrounded by corn, soy bean and alfalfa fields may cause deer to travel off your land in search of food. Corn and soy beans are like candy to deer, and if given the choice of plain grasses or alfalfa, deer will generally go the extra distance to eat the higher protein alfalfa.
“How to Grow Quality Deer Food Plots” was the topic of a recent Free Deer Hunting Tips newsletter. In the newsletter, I cover choosing a food plot location, picking the best seed for your area, the importance of soil testing and much, much more.
To view the full newsletter click this link http://free-deer-hunting-tips.com/articles/quality_deer_food_plots.htm
If you are not receiving your Free Deer Hunting Tips Newsletter and would like to, you can go to http://www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com to sign up today.
To help attract and hold more deer on your hunting land, and since you have a fair amount of grass hay fields, I would do the following:
Attract More Deer
Since you have grass hay fields bordering your woods, plant several smaller food plots along the edges of your wooded acreage. I have spoken to a seed company representative and food plot expert who said small strips planted along the wood edge will help keep the deer from wanting to travel to neighboring farm fields to graze.
These strips need only be about ten feet wide. You can either plant a food plot border along the entire wood edge, or you can make several smaller food plots of varying lengths along the wood edge.
In regards to planting the trails you have into your woods, by all means plant them. In order for the food plot on the trails to grow, I recommend the trail be at least six foot wide.
I have created walking paths in my woods, and the deer use these regularly. The key is the walking paths must be sheltered or in locations where the deer feel safe. Having your walking trails double as a food source for deer should help keep a few more deer on your land.
The more food you have available to deer on your land, the less likely deer will be to move into neighboring fields in search of food.
Choosing the Best Seed
Choosing the correct seed is important to your food plot’s success. There are several factors that go into choosing what is best to plant in your area. I covered choosing the right seed and creating the best food plot in a recent newsletter called, “How to Grow Quality Deer Food Plots.”
To view “How to Grow Quality Food Plots” in its entirety, click this link http://free-deer-hunting-tips.com/articles/quality_deer_food_plots.htm
Soon I may be offering food plot seed developed to grow very well in the northern part of the United States and seed that grows well throughout the United States and Canada. I will let you know as soon as this becomes available through www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com .
Good Luck and Great Hunting!
Marty Prokop
www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com
Posted by Marty Prokop | Questions and Comments (3)
