Creating Cover
Filed under: Ask Grant, Food Plots
I just found your site and I love what I see! I am 21 years old and from central Wisconsin and am passionate (some think addicted!) to deer hunting and management. My family has three properties, two that are 40 acres and one that is 39 acres. I am currently working on the 39 acre property. Being that I am in college, I don’t have a lot of money. Therefore, I don’t have a tractor or any heavy equipment. My family does have a Polaris 500 H.O. which is how I haul my roto-tiller in and out of the woods to create my food plots. I have planted very successful small (1/4 acre) food plots for 3 years now and am confident in that aspect. I would like to create more bedding and cover on the 39 acre property to let the surrounding pressure from others work to my advantage. I plan to plant a couple hundred balsams this spring to create bedding and cover as well as hinge cut trees around oaks that are future acorn producers. I also will plant about ½ acre in food plots which will have corn, clover, chicory and turnips in them. There is a creek running through the south of the property and a pond on the north property line. The adjoining properties do not have much thermal cover and are not managed for whitetails. The crop fields rotate corn and soy beans. In the last few years, the deer population has dropped some. But I have pictures of, and have seen some, nice bucks (three of which were three year olds or better). I try to shoot 3.5 year old bucks. Knowing what I have to work with, I was wondering what your thoughts were on this small property I have? I primarily bow hunt but also gun hunt some. My overall goal is to hold more deer, and obviously more bucks, during daylight hours. I have a chainsaw, atv, tiller, and shovel. Not to mention I have a can do attitude! I would love to get some feedback from you on what you think I should change or modify (I realize a usual west wind is not ideal but this is the property I have to work with). The east (road) side has swampier bedding with consistent rub lines each year. The south (creek) side has low land with large white pines as well as grasses and moderately dense undergrowth. The west and central portion has younger red oak and maples. The north has high ground with older maples which I plan to thin to allow sunlight in. Thanks, Brad
Brad,
You have a neat project! It sounds as if the neighbors’ ag fields (corn and beans) will do a good job of providing quality nutrition. This creates a great opportunity for your property to provide cover habitat. Cover is where most of the action happens during daylight, so you have a great location! Remember that deer are very sensitive to disturbance in areas where they rest. Limiting disturbance in these areas will be critical to meeting your objectives. Combining cover with small plots where deer are comfortable eating during the day or just before they move to the large ag fields can be an excellent strategy. You are wise to consider the habitat on the neighboring property to insure your travel corridors, etc., fit into other portions of the local herd’s range. Also consider the predominate wind directions, thermals, etc., when designing travel corridors, plot locations, etc. It just as important to consider how the hunter can approach these habitat features without being detected as it is to know how deer will likely approach them.
Growing Deer together,
Grant
