Deer manipulation thoughts and theories... small properties

[oldrank]

Here are a few more pics on my property behind my house and some thoughts and theories I'm working on.

I trimmed up under these pines a couple years ago to see if deer would use it as bedding. Seems to be working. I did it under 2 trees and both are getting used. Lots of deer crap under both of em.

I have cleaned out most of the larger trees and bushes that looked "beddy" to me. Basically using the marsh tree theory but in a thicket instead. I have bedding activity under most of them now.



I also trimmed most of my deer trails somewhat clean and wide. I heard Dan say years ago that a big buck doesn't like getting his antlers tangled. I figured if one came through he would feel invited to walk my well groomed deer trails.



I have been shifting this sumac thicket to the south to build a wall on my east border. I trim a few down and shift my mowing line. This stimulates new suckers which grow quick. I have spread them a good 20 yards in the last 5 years or so.

Bucks also love to rub them which I like seeing the activity because it keeps me motivated.



I think having a good understanding of how I can manipulate deer on small properties translates to deer behavior on public land. I also think understanding deer movement on larger tracts of public teaches me on what patterns I can expect on private.

Anyhow... pics and thoughts from a little walk after work today.

[Ryan549]

I’ve seen people “make” buck beds…. Big log to lay against and whatever else they may do.
They are surprised when bucks (or any deer for that matter) don’t use them.
You are 100% right with creating these areas where deer and especially bucks WANT to bed. I think your methods have exponentially more potential then someone just plopping manufactured deer beds all over the place at random and expecting them to be used by every mature buck within 5 miles.

Thanks for including the pictures to help me gain more insight into your project. Good luck

[Ack]

Looks good OR. When needed, I clean out old beds that I find on public and keep note of it as something to watch going forward. I will also clean up under pines and such to increase winter bedding likelihood, which goes hand in hand with finding sheds in the spring. Here is a short thread from several years ago about cleaning/making beds on public, which I suppose could also apply to private if you know where the bucks want to bed......

https://thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.p ... 5&p=573039

[oldrank]

Looks good OR. When needed, I clean out old beds that I find on public and keep note of it as something to watch going forward. I will also clean up under pines and such to increase winter bedding likelihood, which goes hand in hand with finding sheds in the spring. Here is a short thread from several years ago about cleaning/making beds on public, which I suppose could also apply to private if you know where the bucks want to bed......

https://thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.p ... 5&p=573039

Interesting read. Thanks for sharing. How has activity been on the beds you have cleaned or made?

In my instance I am not so focused on bucks using them but any deer. The does will bring the bucks. One thing I have noticed over the years is cruising bucks will bed just about anywhere. The same with lockdown bucks. This in my mind creates a rut pit stop or a small area for a buck to segregate a doe and breed her. Again... just a theory in my mind.

[Ack]

I have seen some that eventually get used, but have also seen them go cold all together. To me that's just the natural rotation of bucks living in a public area. I'm not really monitoring the exact bed every year either though.....I'm paying more attention to the sign that shows up around those areas. As Dan said in the other thread bucks are going to bed where THEY want to bed....which is not always the spot we want or expect them to. You'll definitely see some action though if you are specifically trying to keep the does there.

[Hawthorne]

Something that works good is spraying the trails with a good dose of round up. You need a 4 gallon back sprayer. It kills the vegetation down to the bare dirt. Showing tracks and bucks like walking in mud it will create. May or June is the best time to do it. Create your own deer trails or do existing ones

[oldrank]

Something that works good is spraying the trails with a good dose of round up. You need a 4 gallon back sprayer. It kills the vegetation down to the bare dirt. Showing tracks and bucks like walking in mud it will create. May or June is the best time to do it. Create your own deer trails or do existing ones

Huh, that is something new. Do you see higher amounts of buck movements on sprayed trails? Why do you think they like walking down them? Noise or maybe comfort? Maybe the dark contrast of the dirt?

[Boogieman1]

When I think of the word manipulation I think of them doing exactly what I want. On small woodlot properties I have lone permission to hunt I cut the crap and get right to the point. I either log jam the width of the property up leaving a small archer friendly gap. Or I diagonally build a fence a (tight tall one) out of trotline, rope, or anything available. Again I leave a gap in a hunter friendly spot. By golly if they decide to move I want em to pass through in bow range. I sleep well….,

[Hawthorne]

Something that works good is spraying the trails with a good dose of round up. You need a 4 gallon back sprayer. It kills the vegetation down to the bare dirt. Showing tracks and bucks like walking in mud it will create. May or June is the best time to do it. Create your own deer trails or do existing ones

Huh, that is something new. Do you see higher amounts of buck movements on sprayed trails? Why do you think they like walking down them? Noise or maybe comfort? Maybe the dark contrast of the dirt?

I think it’s the path of least resistance and I liked I could see big buck tracks on them in areas they are hard to make out. Had a big 8 point I got onto because of his tracks on the sprayed trails. I don’t have much data on them because I only did it a couple years on my private. They seemed to work really well. That’s an interesting thought about the noise, comfort, and contrast. IDK, like mentioned in the thread ACK posted they like to lay on bare dirt maybe they might prefer to walk down them to

[dan]

Good job, and good post... I wanted to add something about the 1st pic you showed... I think that pine bedding can be even better if only the east side was cleared out under that pine. So the buck had that "cover to back" and wind to back feature they crave. Another thing is a whole under a pine like that with thick grass or brush enclosing it...

[oldrank]

Good job, and good post... I wanted to add something about the 1st pic you showed... I think that pine bedding can be even better if only the east side was cleared out under that pine. So the buck had that "cover to back" and wind to back feature they crave. Another thing is a whole under a pine like that with thick grass or brush enclosing it...

Good point Dan. I have switch grass seed I plan on trying to fill some gaps with this spring. I will try that. I also purchased 20 more spruce trees so I will keep that in mind in the future as they grow.

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

Something that works good is spraying the trails with a good dose of round up. You need a 4 gallon back sprayer. It kills the vegetation down to the bare dirt. Showing tracks and bucks like walking in mud it will create. May or June is the best time to do it. Create your own deer trails or do existing ones

Huh, that is something new. Do you see higher amounts of buck movements on sprayed trails? Why do you think they like walking down them? Noise or maybe comfort? Maybe the dark contrast of the dirt?

I think it’s the path of least resistance and I liked I could see big buck tracks on them in areas they are hard to make out. Had a big 8 point I got onto because of his tracks on the sprayed trails. I don’t have much data on them because I only did it a couple years on my private. They seemed to work really well. That’s an interesting thought about the noise, comfort, and contrast. IDK, like mentioned in the thread ACK posted they like to lay on bare dirt maybe they might prefer to walk down them to

I think the roundup trail is great if it’s dirt but I can tell you. If it’s a swamp or bog it may do more harm than good. I did an experiment and had an area where once all the vegetation died it was just too soupy without that root structure.

Though I have seen areas they trudge through the muck, they did not however near my place.

[oldrank]

Clover is starting to come in nicely. This is in my kill plot. It is about 5 years old and seems to get better every year. I hit it with grass killer yesterday. I also seen some of the stuff I frost seeded into new areas is sprouting.



I bought this little battery powered tiller and have been working up some small areas to test various brands of clover. I am also testing till vs spray to see what works best. I am also putting in what I call browsing plots. Very small plots in various areas next to trails or areas they move through. I think it might help to break up my soil a bit for a better turnip crop this fall also. This is a unhunted plot where I test seeding and mowing patterns. It didn't fare well without the love last year and grass has overtaken alot of it. I sprayed it yesterday. Will nurture better this year.



I put in 4 more apple trees. 1 honeygold, 2 dolgo crabs and 1 whitney crab. The other 2 went to my cousins property. Another whitney crab and a fireside apple.



Bought 20 spruce, 10 whites and 10 norways. Split them between mine and my cousins. The whites went to him. He has more sandy soil. I have good dark fertile soil. Norway went to my property to screen some open areas and block neighbors.

Lots more to do this spring. Waiting for warmer weather to plant sorghum sudangrass on both properties. We will be screening and creating funnel areas. I keep doing a little here n there. Fun. Can't wait for deer season!!

[mobymikeguide]

Not sure if these situations will apply, but a couple things we've done that worked on buddys small property in an urban area.

If your property line has fences.....make em cross where you want. Make a new crossing, just lower the top 2 wires and deer will naturally want to cross there, and vice versa got a place you don't want them cross, make sure the fence is good in that spot.

trails - dropping trees to discourage taking certain routes and direct to the trails you want them on, works in conjunction with the above.

creek crossings - if you got any kind of bank, just simply shoveling the bank edge to 45 degrees on both sides of the creek and deer will go out of there way to cross there

[Hookslinger]

I have dabbled in this a little bit this year on private pieces I can hunt. There is one corridor that creates a natural funnel between two really good bedding areas, but deer weren't using it so I investigated and found a few dead trees had fallen and it had became overgrown with brush. I took the time to clear out the old deer path, move the trees, and hacked brush so it's now a nice clear path for deer travel, but still plenty of security cover. I made sure a big racked animal could navigate through it. I have a nice tree in this location with bullet proof access.

I also started to manipulate deer travel around my kill tree locations so that deer won't likely come up around my tree or use my access paths and smell that I was there. More so using brush, dead fall, and barriers to make it harder for the deer to go where I don't want them to go.

Also using these methods to pinch down travel in areas where I plan to have cameras so bucks are less likely to skirt my cameras.

All these little things add up!