Harvest Goals of Neighbors
Filed under: Ask Grant, Deer Management
Grant, How many acres is The Proving Grounds? I lease 1,000 acres. We try to manage our deer by selecting which deer we harvest. We only shoot 8 points or better. We have tried food plots but we never have a lot of success. We kill one or two good bucks each year (125” to 140”). I’m just not sure what our surrounding clubs are doing. Do you have surrounding properties that also shoot only mature deer? Jared
Jared,
The Proving Grounds is roughly 1,500 acres. I am surrounded by many, many (34 to be exact) small properties, nearly all of which do not follow our management principles. This can make it very difficult to grow mature deer. However, I’m able to produce mature deer every year by striving to provide everything a mature buck requires throughout the year – ample food, cover, and water. This, in addition to large sanctuaries and limited disturbance allows bucks to spend most of their time on The Proving Grounds and less time on neighboring land. One way to monitor the success of this strategy is that I’ve identified 20 bucks to put on our hit list this year! Providing ample quality food, cover, and water can make a huge difference in the size of a mature buck’s home range.
Growing Deer together,
Grant
