Percentage of times mature bucks have been spotted

Clearly one of the best times to hunt is between 9am and lunch when most people are coming out of the woods. Looking at these numbers, I can almost guarantee that a hunter can take a great buck every season if he or she hunts through lunchtime. When the moon is full, 10 am seems like it is the magic hour for big mature bucks.

After hunting season ends each year, our work begins. In April, we plow our fall food plots and prepare them for spring planting. We have nearly 50 food plots on our properties, so this is quite a chore! Once again this year, we had one heck of a drought to deal with. Many farmers lost entire corn crops around here. Luckily, we planted all our corn late with the rain, so ours survived. This year, we planted mainly soybeans, cowpeas, sunflowers, corn, and lab lab. We planted several acres of tropical corn at the beginning of July, and it is doing very well. Tropical corn can be planted later in the year which just happens to be when we get the majority of our summer rain fall.

The summer plots that have been most effective on my lease are made up of peas, soybeans, lab lab, sorghum and sunflowers. The deer eat the top leaves off the soybeans and peas, and leave the stems sticking up for more leaves to grow. It is as if the deer have learned through experience that if they don't eat the entire plant, it will re-grow. I have experimented with a new type of forage soybean called the Tyrone forage soybean. It is capable of growing up to 8' tall, but around here, the deer will only let it get about 3 or 4 feet deep. They are keeping the tops mowed out of it. It is best to plant a support crop such as sorghum or corn so that the soybeans and lab lab will have a stalk to climb.

In the fall, our planting choices change a little bit. We will disk up some of the corn and other crops we planted during the spring to make way for fall seeds. We usually plant different brassicas, clovers, chicory, rye, oats. Deer seem to love brassicas such as rape and turnips, however, they seem to flock to it in only after a hard freeze. This causes a change in the sugar content of the leaves, and makes the plant more palatable. Because of this, we have to plant other varieties of seed along with it because of the different seed maturity rates. In spots where we have an excellent standing corn and soybean crop, we will broadcast the seed over the corn just before a rain. The corn and soybeans act as a cover crop while the oats and clovers can grow. Soybeans and peas cannot be beat when it comes to an early-season bow hunting plot. They will grow up until about the second frost of the year. Because of our wide variety of planting choices, the deer always have plenty food to eat in the plots both early and late in the season. If there is an abundance of high-quality food, then you will have an abundance of high-quality deer.

In addition to fall and spring planting, we also set out feeders, mineral blocks, salt blocks, and we create mineral licks. I put out all these things right after hunting season ends, and I collect them all before the next season begins. This along with our year-round planting ensures our bucks get the proper protein and nutrition that is crucial to antler development. The does will also take advantage of the nutrition we provide, and in return, they give us healthier fawns. Normally, we keep several trail cameras running at all times. This helps us keep a good idea of peak movement times. I have experimented using the new Trophy Rocks this year, and the deer seem to love it. To the right is a picture of what is left of a trophy rock after I placed it  on the edge of a food plot. It is now only half of its original size. In addition, unlike conventional mineral blocks, a trophy rock is not considered bait because it is a naturally mined rock. Other than trophy rocks, the only mineral blocks that are legal to hunt over in Alabama are pure white salt blocks. Any brown mineral block or flavored block is considered bait and illegal to hunt over.

When we set out our feeders, we usually include both corn and soybeans in the mixture of feed. The corn puts the fat on the deer while the soybeans provide much needed protein during antler development. Protein is crucial in antler development. A deer's body consumes a certain amount of protein in order to survive, and whatever is leftover goes towards the development of antlers. By increasing the amount of protein the deer receive, their bodies can dedicate more towards the buck's antlers. Each feeder is set with four feeding times--usually 6am, 10am, 1pm, and 6pm. We also set up game cameras on the trails going to and from our feeders so that we can get an approximate count of the deer in the area. This helps me determine an approximate deer population. From that information, I develop a set of harvest goals for each season. On an average year, over 20 does and 10 bucks are harvested from my lease. Each year in the spring, I go looking for antlers that the bucks have shed. Usually, the sheds are found in the thickest areas of the property, so we are not able to find a majority of them. However, we have found some very large ones! To the right is a picture of 3 sheds I have found on our property along with some of the antlers of a few of the deer that I have taken off our lands.