Question about deer on nearby properties

[mheichelbech]

One of the properties I hunt (probably 50 acres), I am the only hunter, it has everything deer would want, thick bedding cover, hills, natural food like oaks, persimmons, other browse, neighbor's garden but no agriculture such as corn or beans. Between 3/4 of a mile and a mile away there are fairly large swaths of corn and beans and all the other stuff the deer like, thickets, etc. My neighbor who hunts the properties with the corn/beans just killed an 18 pointer and has reported many, many other big buck sightings. The area he hunts seems to get a lot of pressure from him, his hunting partners, etc. He also reports seeing a lot of big buck sign in scrapes, big rubs, etc. On the other hand, the property I hunt which is not pressured at all ( I hunt it once a week at best due to having other properties), doesn't have much buck sign at all. I have seen some nice bucks here and there, primarily during the chase phase but certainly not to the extent that he has and definitely not the sign like he has. I do have a lot of does around the property I hunt...I don't think I have pressured this property much...at least not compared to what he would have done to the property he hunts. I am careful with entry/exits, scent control and playing the wind, etc. He thinks the same deer on the property he hunts would travel the property I hunt but I think that with the agriculture around his property that this is overriding the pressure they are putting on it and keeping the big bucks over there. He killed the 18 pointer on a corn field last weekend.

Is it reasonable to think the mature bucks would spend much time on the property I hunt or would they more than likely stay near the agriculture which has the easy pickings food wise despite the pressure. My belief is the occasional big one will find its way over to me, during the rut most likely, but for the most part they are spending the vast majority of their time near the agriculture. I say this because of the lack of sign and the lack of any mature bucks on the trail cameras I've had up. I had a plot watcher type cam up most of the summer and never saw one mature buck on it.

Any thoughts or experience with a situation like this?

Thanks.

[Bucky]

If you have prime bedding = high ridge with bedding points... deer easily travel 0.75 miles bed to food. Or if you have the thickest/upressured timber/section of the marsh you would likely have buck bedding....

If not......

Do you have water? If not, adding a water hole and mineral lick in March/April/May/June/July would be an easy way to increase activity on the piece you hunt. In your case, you need to make your property a destination instead of travel through.

FYI - mineral licks often act like a huge scrape during the rut even though deer have not visited them much since July... bucks know where they are and will check them during the rut. So don't place them randomly

Food keeps does yr round.... if you have does bucks will show eventually.

[mheichelbech]

I do have a spot where I keep salt, trophy rock, deer cocaine and drop corn throughout the year...mainly to get pictures. There is also definitely good bedding there....marshy like tall grass, weeds, thickets in the bottom, hills with thick saplings and 2 or 3 ponds. The area around this property gets pressure but by and large the property I hunt (backs up to mine) does not. I just don't understand why there aren't more mature bucks showing up with any regularity....I have did a ton of walking around the property last Spring and even a tour this Fall and no signficant mature buck sign. This property is, in my view better than the property a mile away except for the lack of corn/beans. I really would have thought they would have pressured the bucks off that property over to where I hunt but I hadn't seen evidence of it yet. One would think it would have happened in past years....but there has never been any significant buck sign on this property. Lots of does and like I said, did see a couple nice bucks chasing does. I think I found not more than 10 scrapes scattered around the whole property. There is a wildlife sanctuary between this property and the ag property....I have walked that a few times and again...no significant sign....don't get me wrong...there is some but you never see anything that says....wow....I have to hunt this spot right now! I have found these type spots before and killed a beauty off of one (long ago!) but nothing on these or at least not like what is on the ag properties.

[Southern Man]

3/4 mile to a mile is not a far distance at all when talkin how far deer travel. Also, 50 acres is not large either compared to deer travel patterns. How big is the farm those other guys are hunting? Do they have more available ground to hunt? Those big bucks could be using a portion of your 50 acres that you're not aware of.

[nater]

Do you run any trail cameras on that property? It seems to me they have to be in there somewhere.

[Bucky]

How often are you in the woods June-Sept? How often are the landowners in the woods?

[Stanley]

Small parcels are always tough to hunt. You didn't say, but sounds like you are in an end parcel. End parcels are almost always not as good as middle parcels. The shape of the parcel can be a factor. Rectangular pieces are easier to hunt but can be buggered easier. Lots of variables to consider before any accurate answer could be given. I hunt a lot of small parcels and they can be tough to figure out.

[mheichelbech]

Thanks for all the responses....it is basically an end parcel to the other properties. They are larger but mostly crop fields. I have walked the entire property numerous times throughout the year. Not so much as to pressure deer out but certainly enough to find sign if it is existed. I mean, there is some sign but there isn't a rubline of 15 or 20 trees, or a big series of scrapes. My best guess is that the bucks may migrate over to the property I hunt at different times, the rut or whatever but, due to better food availability spend most of their time around the crops. They really don't have a great reason for moving except for pressure (I'd have thought this would have helped me but not seen abundant evidence of it) or estrous does.

And yes, I have had 2 trail cams, one over the minerals and one a plot watcher over the bottom field.

Btw, the one thing I hadn't done yet...is checking all of it out "Beast Style"...looking for buck beds. It is entirely possible that one could be living on an area of the property I don't hunt. I just think if there were, I'd see more abundant buck sign such as rub lines, scrape lines, etc.

[JoeRE]

Bunch of good replies, food for thought.

I would add that if you have a very consistent hunting strategy, mature bucks probably have you patterned pretty well and you won't see as much as if you try something new every year. Also like Stanley said you have to look how it ties into the surrounding terrain. The big picture is critical.

[dan]

In some of the swamps I hunt the biggest bucks arte killed in some of the most remote areas, somtimes a mile or more from the crops... You hear a lot of people harp on crops, but really thats just a small part of a deers diet. They eat browse more than anything. And its nothing for them to walk a mile or more to a food source. All things equal, they will bed where the best food is, be it acorns, corn, or a certain browse, but put heavy pressure on and they are heading for secure bedding.
Crop type foods do make a difference at this time of year though, at least in the northern states. Snow and cold put them closer to large amounts of food.

[mheichelbech]

Thanks all....for sure great replies. On this particular property, it is entirely possible they are using it but just not posting a lot of sign. Do you always verify a buck bed by seeing rubs nearby? That seemed to be one of the big points I took from the Hill Country Bucks video...and I guess that is my main thing about all this is that not seeing the rubs or very many rubs is what leads me to think there are not mature bucks utilizing the property on a regular basis.

[Stanley]

Thanks for all the responses....it is basically an end parcel to the other properties. They are larger but mostly crop fields. I have walked the entire property numerous times throughout the year. Not so much as to pressure deer out but certainly enough to find sign if it is existed. I mean, there is some sign but there isn't a rubline of 15 or 20 trees, or a big series of scrapes. My best guess is that the bucks may migrate over to the property I hunt at different times, the rut or whatever but, due to better food availability spend most of their time around the crops. They really don't have a great reason for moving except for pressure (I'd have thought this would have helped me but not seen abundant evidence of it) or estrous does.

And yes, I have had 2 trail cams, one over the minerals and one a plot watcher over the bottom field.

Btw, the one thing I hadn't done yet...is checking all of it out "Beast Style"...looking for buck beds. It is entirely possible that one could be living on an area of the property I don't hunt. I just think if there were, I'd see more abundant buck sign such as rub lines, scrape lines, etc.

My advise would be to hang stands on the leeward sides of the property and watch/hunt from there. Move in closer when you see a reason to. My illustration shows three stand and wind directions. This is how I would start hunting this property. I wouldn't check the trail cameras until after the season is over. In other words stay out during hunting season except to hunt. I would set the cameras up in late August and check them when you are done hunting. This will give you a much better idea of what is going on. If you have does living there you will have bucks visiting during the rut.

Small end parcels are tough and any human presence will keep them on the down low until dark. You must limit your human exposure during season. Do your scouting during off season. My methods are low impact and will give you a few more potentially productive hunts. Sometimes it takes a few years to figure out what is going on. The key here; figuring out what is going on. Once you figure out what is going on, you'll be knocking down good bucks.

[dan]

Thanks all....for sure great replies. On this particular property, it is entirely possible they are using it but just not posting a lot of sign. Do you always verify a buck bed by seeing rubs nearby? That seemed to be one of the big points I took from the Hill Country Bucks video...and I guess that is my main thing about all this is that not seeing the rubs or very many rubs is what leads me to think there are not mature bucks utilizing the property on a regular basis.

Actually, I am seeing a lot of big buck bedding that don't have much sign as in rubs and scrapes nearby... Some do, some don't, and to me it seems to have a lot to do with the number of bucks in an area... A large buck population seems to cause compitition for bedding areas which has bucks making beds / bedding areas... We used to have a large population of bucks here, and the best bedding areas almost always had a buck in them, back in those days the bedding areas were covered in rubs, now not so much... The biggest buck I ever shot I hunted for two seasons and watched him bed in the exact same bed very often over that two year stretch, and even saw a couple different bucks bed there. There was not a rub within 100 yards of that bed...

[mheichelbech]

Thanks for the assist and good to know about the potential lack of sign. When I watched the videos I got the impression that sign was necessary to confirm buck bedding. Obviously it helps having that but good to know not totally necessary.

[MOBIGBUCKS]

I bet you have a lot more big bucks using that property than you think..Scout it hard this offseason and keep in mind the bedding tendancies you hear about from this site. I bet they are there.

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