Whitetail Strategies

The deer above are my three best. 202, 212 and 210. It took 18 years of living in the Midwest and three moves to find an area I really liked. There’s a few things each of these deer have in common. They all were in heavily hunted areas, people knew about them and they had small daylight cores. I knew of several people that had pics of each buck. But all failed to narrow down his core for different reasons.

I tend to hunt on the aggressive side and scout more than I hunt. For each of these bucks. I consistently moved cameras throughout the summer into the fall trying to narrow down movements. If a camera didn’t produce a picture of them in a week or two. It would get pulled and moved again. The ones that would get pictures would stay. I always start close to food and back track in towards cover or isolated, overlooked areas. I like to cover all the trails leaving thick areas. Each of these bucks had a very specific routine and would only use two to three trails on a regular basis. It took multiple trips moving cameras to figure out these trails. That’s where a lot of people fail. They won’t go the extra steps to really narrow down a bucks core or they fear of pushing in too far. With smart scouting and thinking about access while scouting and setting cameras. You can get aggressive by being smart about your ins and outs of the woods.

Each of these deer had a daylight core of no more than 30 acres. The rest of my pictures were nighttime outside of that core. They knew these areas I found were safe, hard to access and everyone around overlooked these spots. Most big deer find locations like this and that’s why they age. Most hunters don’t get aggressive or push in to find deer in fear of bumping them. I’ve seen guys with hundreds of acres and only hunt the edges and never push in and wonder why they never killed the target bucks. Or guys satisfied with a trail cam pic every now and then and think they will just wait him out.

I want the odds in my favor. I keep scouting until I have that deer every few days, daylight and have his bedroom narrowed down. I’ll look at all my access points and go a mile around to access a stand just to slip in the back side of a bedding area or trail he uses every 3rd day.

The amount of time I scouted and searched for these bucks core areas was weeks upon months, leading up to the days I harvested them. The amount of time in the stand for each buck was less than a week for each buck. I’d rather scout more and find high odd spots than grinding it out hoping he slips up outside of his core.

So as the summer goes on don’t get complacent with your same spots. Keep scouting, searching and moving cameras as you find the bucks you want to target. And start looking at places most guys miss.

Here’s an update on the small pond water holes post I made awhile back. They have both since filled up and are holding water to the top. The bentonite clay I added really seems to be doing its job. The ponds have became a major attraction and addition to the property. I’ve been getting non stop pictures at each location. Daylight as well. It’s not too late to get one added to your property for this year. When placed closed to bedding it can be a game changer. Again I made these about 35 feet by 40 feet and 8 to 9 feet deep.

Another great opening day ! Logan is becoming a hunter of his own at 5. He walked with us numerous miles and several long sits waiting patiently. We closed the deal at 1215. In his own words, this was way cooler than school..Stay tuned as I start making posts on another whitetail season.

For those thinking about adding a water source to your property. Now’s the time to do it. I’ve added two myself this past month. For those wanting to save money and do it yourself, here’s what I had into mine. I rented a small 30 hp skid steer I pulled with my half ton truck for $269 for the full day. I see a lot of people going shallow when they make water holes and that will create a lot of mudd as ponds dry up. This could harbor EHD. I went steep on 3 sides and a decent slope down the middle. I dug mine about 7 feet at the lowest point. I then came back with Bentonite clay and lined the sides and bottom to hold the water better. I had about $250 into the clay. The ponds already holding water after one rain. Something to think about if your place lack’s water. Always make sure to place these closer to bedding to get the full effect of a good water source.

Another round of cuts today. New property same goal. The plan is simple. We’re cutting south facing slopes heavy. Opening the canopy and building side cover. We cut the flat ridge tops, benches, and bowls anywhere a deer can bed where it’s not too steep we cut. We cut lightly on the north facing slopes just enough to open some canopy and gain a little side cover. FYI many don’t know but we will travel to Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Missouri to cut timber creating bedding areas. This is very dangerous work if not done right. So if anyone is interested in future timber improvements feel free to message.

This spot is part of the post I made earlier on the wide open ridge top. There were no beds on this ridge before I started. Last week I was in here and cut this ridge all the way down until I ran out of flat areas. Today I’m in here tweaking some cuts and here’s the SIGN !! Beds already in our hinge cuts where there wasn’t before. This was cut 3 days ago !!

Does your timber look like this ? Can you see over 80 to 100 yards through it ? This is a property I worked last week before we started working on it. I came in and hinged cut these ridges tops, screened ridges and access off. These ridge tops are some of the best bedding areas you can have. But when you have open timber and can see across to other areas, that’s not good in terms of holding deer. Deer need privacy, bucks need seclusion. By limiting the deers sight with cuts and fallen tree tops. You will hold more deer in these areas. In the below picture if a buck bedded where I was standing. He could see over 100 yards in every direction. This makes him tough to hunt as well as less room for other deer. He will lay there and run other bucks off as he watches them bed in the other areas. Now you come in and drop trees and hinge cut trees your limiting his sight. You give him privacy and a bedroom. Yes he knows other deer are there but he can’t see them, he feels comfortable and in return you will increase your holding power of your property by giving each deer its own bedroom. I’ve done this for years and if you knew the amount of bucks and mature bucks I hold on my properties because of this. Most of you wouldnt believe it. Take a walk and check your woods. If the below picture fits your area well maybe it’s time to do some cutting this winter.

Todays Job Hinge Cutting. I’m a firm believer in this method for several reasons. It provides instant cover, it puts browse on the ground. Opening up the canopy will allow the under brush to start growing, making some of the best bedding you can have. A hinge cut will live for years when done right.

So rather then cut your trees down like a clear cut and wait years for the under growth to take over. Why not hinge cut the open timber and create immediate bedding for the deer now and then it will get complimented with the undergrowth in year two and three.

I walk my hinge cuts every spring to touch up and shed hunt. There’s not one area that hasn’t turned into a major bedding area.

Points to remember..
Open timber is bad in terms of bedding so these areas can benefit from hinge cutting.

Cut your trees belt line high so the trunk provides more cover along the ground. If you cut too high, deer can walk under these, defeating the purpose of the cut.

Cut 3/4 the way through once the tree starts to fall forward stop and let the last remaining bit stay connected to the tree. This is what allows the tree to survive years to come. Producing more browse.

When cutting smaller trees you’ll want to cut several in one area to insure good bedding cover. Larger trees you can cut a few together to get the same results.

Don’t box deer in, always drop a few trees and move over 30 to 40 feet and cut another section. Deer need an in and out they won’t use these if you make a tangled mess you can’t even walk through.

After your cuts always check the canopy make sure you have sunlight from 9 to 3 to allow the cuts to live and this allows the sunlight to hit the forest floor to generate new growth. If you have big canopy trees blocking your cut areas, take them down.

Below are some pics that show the cuts and open skyline of my recent bedding area I created. Hope this helps good luck.

Today’s project. Cutting edges around a switch grass field for more bedding and cover, mixed with hinge cuts behind it to create layers of bedding. First was the edges.

Last year I planted switch in this field. I wanted to create more bedding on the edges and pull deer closer. So I went along the edge around the whole south side of the field and cut trees every 30 feet into the field. I cut these trees about belt line high and 3/4 the way through. A hinge cut. I did this so the whole trunk of the tree could be used as cover to bed against and the tree will still survive and produce browse for years to come.

In the pic below the yellow is the switchgrass and the red lines are examples of where I dropped trees into the field around the whole edge. This will create a lot of bedding and add another layer of depth to the property.