If I left the house to kill a mature buck tomorrow, or any other day, I wouldn't be sitting on a greenfield. Ods are way better elsewhere in my experience.
How much does the avg hunting club plant, 1% of the property? Deer like thick bedding areas and spend most of their daytime hrs in it. Chances are Fred is right...
If plots are left alone and lots of your deer are using them as a primary food source then that's where the bucks will come looking during rut. I've killed a couple in food plots, that's where the deer were at the time.
The key to deer hunting is hunting where the deer are, no matter how ugly or uncomfortable. Wanting them to come to you will leave you with a pocket full of tags.
Re: 120" or better
[Re: Smells]
#2013285 02/01/1703:38 PM02/01/1703:38 PM
I've seen a lot of posts on various threads this season lamenting the effects of the drought on food plots. I've seen the comment "no food, no deer, deer must have left to find food" or some version of that comment. I don't really understand that because I've seen food everywhere (on public land) all season long including during the drought. If the food plots didn't get planted or were late getting planted or got planted but didn't come up, I'm pretty sure there was other food available within 100 yds of every food plot in Alabama. I'm guessing 'cause I don't really know. So anyway I got to wondering how often mature bucks over 120" actually get taken from food plots?
So, for those of you who have killed these sorts of deer, where and how did you kill them? I don't know maybe I should be hunting food plots but it always just seemed so pointless to me because I see food everywhere I turn.
Do food plots draw "wall paper"?
Where you can kill mature bucks has a lot more to do with pressure on the property than anything else. On non pressured land, it's not that uncommon to see/ kill mature bucks on foodplots, especially pre-rut and rut. However if you hunt a club with normal club pressure you will be hard pressed to see mature bucks on foodplots, especially when the property does have other food sources.
Out of all the mature bucks (most of them 120+...all mature bucks don't hit 120) we've killed probably half of them in foodplots/ ag fields. BUT those were mostly during our 10 day +/- rut. early season bucks are mostly killed in the woods.
If our season opened in September before they shed their velvet I think I could kill a mature buck just about every year on one of our clover fields during bow season, but it doesn't, so I don't.
If a people would leave plots alone til the rut they would kill alot of their bucks there. My Dad is getting up in years and I fix him 3 or so plots a year and he'll get his 3 all mature about every year.
bingo
Re: 120" or better
[Re: Smells]
#2013303 02/01/1703:52 PM02/01/1703:52 PM
We all know and it is well documented that big bucks won't go in a food plot:
Well, on second thought, maybe I'm wrong.
one reason you got to video is b/c you didn't shoot ...and I assume that's not the first 3/4 year old "nice" buck you've let walk... Letting nice bucks walk= less bucks killed= seeing more mature bucks on fields= having a realistic chance of killing a "shooter" each year.
Last edited by truedouble; 02/01/1704:07 PM.
Re: 120" or better
[Re: Smells]
#2013344 02/01/1704:16 PM02/01/1704:16 PM
We all know and it is well documented that big bucks won't go in a food plot:
Well, on second thought, maybe I'm wrong.
one reason you got to video is b/c you didn't shoot ...and I assume that's not the first 3/4 year old "nice" buck you've let walk... Letting nice bucks walk= less bucks killed= seeing more mature bucks on fields= having a realistic chance of killing a "shooter" each year.
You're preaching on my soapbox now. Another reason I saw this buck was because he was not the first decent racked buck to come in the field that day. The exact lesson I'm trying to teach my son is that most people would never have seen this deer because they would have shot the other one and were loading it when this one approached the field. Hopefully, I'll see him next year when he is a year older. BTW, if anyone is wondering, this was on Lowndes WMA in the first handicap accessible food plot. You'll just have to be the first one there.
Lord, please help us get our nation straightened out.
Re: 120" or better
[Re: Smells]
#2013450 02/01/1705:12 PM02/01/1705:12 PM
We have killed most of ours on food plots. I hunt woods, thickets, cutovers, and all types of natural foods too, and I kill deer in all of them, but plenty of good bucks have been killed in food plots on our place. We may not hunt a plot but 2-3 times all season. Some of them get hunted 0. Several 140"+ deer have come from plots over the years. Lack of pressure gentlemen.
Re: 120" or better
[Re: Mbrock]
#2013460 02/01/1705:16 PM02/01/1705:16 PM
We have killed most of ours on food plots. I hunt woods, thickets, cutovers, and all types of natural foods too, and I kill deer in all of them, but plenty of good bucks have been killed in food plots on our place. We may not hunt a plot but 2-3 times all season. Some of them get hunted 0. Several 140"+ deer have come from plots over the years. Lack of pressure gentlemen.
Matt, it's good to hear from you. I always enjoy hearing what you have to say.
Re: 120" or better
[Re: Smells]
#2013483 02/01/1705:29 PM02/01/1705:29 PM
We have killed most of ours on food plots. I hunt woods, thickets, cutovers, and all types of natural foods too, and I kill deer in all of them, but plenty of good bucks have been killed in food plots on our place. We may not hunt a plot but 2-3 times all season. Some of them get hunted 0. Several 140"+ deer have come from plots over the years. Lack of pressure gentlemen.
Matt, it's good to hear from you. I always enjoy hearing what you have to say.
I second that. I've only spoken once or twice with Matt but in the couple of years I've been on here, I've learned that what Matt says carries some weight. Good to see you posting
Re: 120" or better
[Re: Smells]
#2013803 02/02/1704:35 AM02/02/1704:35 AM
If you're fortunate enough to have your own place, you can create food plots that bucks will almost have to use. We have nearly all ours bordering some type of creek, pasture, or other natural funnel. We kill most of ours "crossing" and not feeding, with few exceptions. If you're in a club, I'd find the closest natural border/funnel to each field and hunt like that. Just my 2 cents. I like clearcuts and funnels. The buck my son killed was the first hunt out of that stand though. So pressure matters!
We have killed 3 mature bucks at my place that were all 4.5 or older on plots in the last two years (on less than 100 acres). I have killed other mature bucks in the past on plots. But these have all been killed on plots where there was little to no pressure, and the few times they were hunted the wind condition was right for those plots. We don't go in and out weekly checking cameras, putting out corn, scouting etc. Pressure is definitely the key. This is a little hard to do in a club unless it's limited on members and they are all on the same page.
The great outdoors, where memories are made and God is praised!
