It’s a question that has been discussed time and time again. It keeps us up all night and lost in thought all day. How can we as small land owners attract and hold big bucks. Well, you’ve come to the right place to learn how. Although, short of high fencing your property, there is no guaranteed way to do so. We can implement techniques as land owners and habitat managers to make our property attractive to mature bucks. Below there are a few steps we can take to do just that.
Defining 'Small Property' and 'Big Buck'
The term “big buck” can have a varying definition depending on a few factors. It’s important that we start by defining what the term means to us. This can depend on your location in the country, immediate neighborhood and habitat quality. Understanding that there are many factors in creating larger antlered deer will determine what our local area is capable of producing and will ultimately set the bar for our property.
I like to shoot for the top buck in my immediate area. This does not mean trying to go after the state record or even county record. I need to understand what my neighborhood is capable of producing. Therefore I focus on a maximum of 5 square miles surrounding my property. This will give us an achievable objective to shoot for. If you wish to go further than this and set the bar higher, I would highly recommended talking to your neighbors and get everyone on board with the same objective. As this is the only true way to kill large bucks on small acreage.
The first rule of killing big bucks is have a big buck to kill. Next we must understand what the term small acreage means. I deal with many clients throughout the northeast. Property sizes range from well over a thousand acres all the way down to 5 acres. But the average property size that I deal with and my definition of a small property is 100 acres. This is a very common size and achievable for most people to acquire and manage.
Location, Location, Location
Once you have went ahead and found a property in a productive neighborhood. We then can start to dig deeper into the individual property and find key locations that mature bucks might call home. When looking for these locations I like to factor in a couple key features.
Number one and perhaps the most important factor you should focus on is visual advantage. I have found that although mature bucks like thick security cover, they more often choose a location that offers a great view. In an ideal world we can pair high quality security cover adjacent to a location that offers a great view. This will give that mature buck a great place to lay on the edge of cover without impeding on his visual advantage.
Number two would be seclusion. Most importantly seclusion from human presence as well as other deer. Often times these older bucks are found off on their own, especially come fall when testosterone levels start to rise and the breeding season ramps up. However, all deer are different and can portray different personalities. Although, I would argue in highly pressured areas you would find the majority of older bucks portraying an introverted personality. Other bucks with opposite personalities most likely would have been harvested at an earlier age class because of their rambunctious social behavior enticing them to move across paths with hunters.
It’s important to understand that our first factor of having a visual advantage can often trump this second characteristic. What I mean is in many cases mature bucks will bed in locations where they can watch hunter access, whether its a road or a walking trail, they often spend their time in locations where they know they will be able to see predators such as hunters approaching. As long as we don’t physically walk toward their location and bump them several times they may keep using that area.
Don't Over Do It
The next step in creating areas on your property to hold mature bucks is finding a balance of high quality forage. As I have discussed in previous articles, doe are responsible for the next generation. They are responsible for the health of the fawn, and for this reason many times they will take over the highest quality habitat on your property. Therefore I try to do my best on small acreage to pack as much high quality forage on one half of the property, and leave the other half for smaller more concentrated pockets of cover for bucks.
Let's try to illustrate this. Let's say we have a 100 acre property. On the front half it has an open field that is approximately 10 acres. The rest of the property is a mixed woodlot with hardwoods and softwoods. As you get toward the back you find an increase in elevation with hips and benches that offer a fairly good view down the hill toward the field. I would plant high quality supplemental food plots in that open field and most likely turn some of it into early successional growth. Adjacent to that field I would start cutting in doe bedding areas. I like my doe bedding areas to be large. Anywhere from 5-15 acres. I want to cut them in a way that can offer ample hunting opportunities, which for me would be several pinch points for archery setups.
I would construct a few of these bedding areas on the front half of the property. On the back half I would utilize the terrain features to house mature bucks. I like to cut small 1/4 acre pockets of cover on top of the hips and benches that do not impede on a bucks potential view. If done correctly you should find his beds on the edge of the bench with the pocket of cover behind him. This ensures he has the visual advantage as well as escape cover in case he gets spooked. Now we can connect these features with transition security cover that directs his movement by our stand locations.
Hunting Pressure is Key
The last key point to attracting mature bucks on your property is managing hunting pressure. Time and time again research has shown how hunting pressure can negatively impact deer movement, especially that of a mature buck. In order to hold mature deer we must not spook them from these bedding locations. That being said, I do feel that it is important to get aggressive under the correct conditions. Too many times I have held back from going after a mature buck that was on our property, just to have him move off during the rut and get shot by the neighbor. Understand when the time is right and take action.
Great hunters often take great risk to harvest these older bucks. But doing this too many times will leave your property absent of mature bucks and taken over by younger bucks and does and fawns. If you have your property set up correctly and you use your intel to your advantage you will be successful more times than not.
Conclusion
So what have we learned? Although in a free range setting there is no way to guarantee mature bucks will use your property consistently, there is certain criteria and techniques we can use to find and develop locations that will persuade their presence. We must always consider their need to have a visual advantage. We must also consider their personalities and their desire to be off to the side away from other deer. Find these locations and develop them accordingly. Lastly, we must hunt smart, even if that means being aggressive under certain circumstances.
Be meticulous and go to each sit with intent and understand why you are choosing that specific location under these circumstances. Put this all together and you will increase your chances greatly at having a big buck on your property this fall and for many to come.
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