The right food plots in the right places can transform a big woods property from mediocrity to a deer hunting paradise.
Quality deer hunting has different meanings to different hunters. Some believe putting a big-antlered buck on the ground defines quality, but others are mainly turned on by tasty venison, and antlers are way down the priority list. Many hunters are more concerned with aesthetics or elements of the hunt that value particular settings, equipment or techniques rather than success.
Some hunters want it all, though. They seek hunting experiences with aesthetically pleasing settings where they can consistently kill deer “their way” — with some big bucks on the landscape, too. I want it all. For me and many others, the big woods provide deer hunting that reeks of quality. By big woods, I mean settings where timber is king and agriculture is not much of a factor. Peace and quiet rule, and the sights and sounds of modern life are ushered away by the tranquility of a remote, natural world where the only sounds are the wind blowing through the trees and other melodies of nature. Normally, big-woods deer, especially adult bucks, are very challenging to hunt, as big-woods deer densities are often lower than those in farm country. Natural food sources are scattered through a wide area, making it difficult to pattern deer. Big woods deer tend to be spookier and more reclusive, too. Savvy big-woods property owners can increase their odds of success by implementing a land management program that focuses on high-quality food plots. In fact, there’s no other environment in which food plots will have such a dramatic impact on a deer herd. The right food plots in the right places can transform a big-woods property from something less than mediocre to a deer hunting paradise. My wife and I own 160 acres in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Agriculture is almost nonexistent, and the area has few residents. In recent years, bad winters and overabundant predators — including wolves, coyotes, bobcats, bears and even cougars — have lowered deer numbers. In fact, we now have the smallest deer herd there in more than 50 years. I was told by a Department of Natural Resources biologist that the area by my camp has one of the highest wolf concentrations in the region with three large, overlapping packs. Despite the doom and gloom in our area, my wife and I bucked the trend last season and had one of our best deer seasons ever. By providing top-quality nutrition and cover, and by hunting intelligently, my wife and I each took our limits of adult bucks. In fact, I have taken my Michigan limit of two bucks every year there for more than 10 consecutive years — in an area where less than two percent of hunters tag out. It takes a considerable investment in time, money and effort to reach such a high degree of success in an area with such a depressed deer herd, but it’s a labor of love seeing a property go from rags to riches in terms of deer numbers and age structure despite overall herd trends.
Background Info
We bought our hunting property in 1996. It consists of a 50-50 mix of high and low lands, with a beaver dam-studded stream meandering through one side. Much of the land had not been logged in more than 100 years, so a timber treatment was in order. We hired a forester to develop a management plan and had some major timber treatments performed in 1996 and 1997. The treatments consisted of a mixture of clear-cuts, select-cuts and strip-cuts. As a byproduct of those projects, workers installed a series of carefully planned logging roads, which opened up most of the property for easy access. Ideally, access roads will circle the perimeter of a property, with spurs leading off those roads for food plots and stand locations on the interior. Because of the lay of our land, though, with lots of wet areas along the borders, we only have one main road running the length of the property, with lots of spurs. It’s important the main access routes not run past one stand to get to another, which we accomplished. In 1998, we hired an excavator to clear our first food plots on the property. One was perhaps one acre, and the other was almost two acres. We worked those plots with ATV implements. We also installed several small plots we cleared and maintained with just hand tools. The first year, I tested several seed blends from various manufacturers in those plots to see what worked the best. I did soil tests and had to add a lot of lime to increase the pH. I followed the manufacturer’s planting instructions along with the soil test recommendations. The plots grew pretty well the first year, but one section of my larger food plot planted with Imperial Whitetail Clover really seemed to shine. I learned a lot from that first planting. Breaking ground with late summer plantings on those heavy soils, which sometimes dry out like concrete, is nearly impossible with ATV implements. Also, some plants did not hold up to the heavy grazing pressure. In the big woods, with food sources being limited, deer often gobble up any quality food sources until they’re gone. My plots were chewed to the dirt by mid- October. My solution was simple: I had to create more food plot acreage, and those plots needed to be planted with forage that was extremely resistant to overgrazing. A couple of years later, I hired another excavator contractor who used his bulldozer to expand the 2-acre plot into a 5-acre field. That large plot is not normally hunted directly. It serves as a central attraction on the property where deer can feed in peace. We hunt the periphery of that field. I also had the contractor clear out several more small food plots. Based on experience, I planted all of my plots with Imperial Whitetail Clover. The next year, though, I started to plant Imperial No-Plow during late summer at spots prone to spring flooding, where clover did not survive. Eventually, I also started using Imperial Secret Spot at those wetter spots — with great results. In the late 1990s, I established four mineral stations on my property. Those sites were next to some of the smaller food plots, withstands overlooking them. I have used 30-06 Plus Protein with outstanding results for decades. Deer consume the minerals during spring and summer, but even though there is nothing left during fall, they still visit the sites out of habit or social curiosity. Although a stream flows through the property, deer seem to prefer to drink from muddy water holes instead of clear, flowing water. Deer really like water by a food source, too. I’m convinced a waterhole next to a food plot will dramatically increase deer usage. The water table in our area is high, so I’ve dug dozens of small water holes throughout my property. I dug most with a shovel but some with a mini-excavator I rented. During dry autumns, those water holes will attract deer like a magnet.
Maintenance
I live more than 400 miles from my hunting property and because my time is extremely limited during spring and summer, my food plot maintenance is very restricted. In spring, I fertilize the clover plots with a low-nitrogen, high-phosphorus/potassium mixture. If I find any bare spots, I might do some overseeding, too. During June or early July, I make a spraying trip to my property and hit my food plots with a herbicide treatment, using a selective herbicide on my perennials and a non-selective herbicide on my annuals. I use my ATV sprayer on larger plots and a 5-gallon backpack sprayer on the smaller ones. In August, I mow my plots to about six inches, using an old modified garden tractor on the larger plots and a heavy-duty string trimmer on the small plots. I also mow my roads and trails. I then give my annual plots a second herbicide spraying to kill off any remaining vegetation. I plant my annuals and fertilize the smaller kill plots during that August trip, too. I regularly do laboratory soil tests because my soils are very acidic and vary in pH from one spot to another. I invested in an ATV lime spreader and use it on my larger plots with bulk lime deliveries. I use bagged, powdered lime on my smaller plots, and I really keep those kill plots well limed and fertilized for optimal growing power. I also do periodic timber cuttings on my property to keep things fresh and thick in strategic areas. During some treatments, I harvest timber, but I just hinge-cut some small spots. I also do some trapping and varmint hunting on my property to reduce predator numbers.
The Result
I have kept detailed logs of every hunt at my property for the past 20 seasons. Compared to data published by the Michigan DNR, the number of deer sightings we experience is more than 10 times higher than the average for our area. Even our neighbors see just a fraction of the deer we do. We also log higher-than-average fawn recruitment at our property. We practice quality deer management on our land, passing up young bucks. We would shoot does if the overall deer population were higher, but we’ll refrain from antlerless harvests until deer numbers increase sufficiently. We also keep hunting pressure as light as possible. I read a study in which a researcher used telemetry to determine the effect hunting pressure had on deer. He concluded that it takes at least five days for deer to return to an area during daylight after being spooked by a hunter. We try not to hunt a stand more than once a week. The U.P. has more than one million acres of public land, much of it with little hunting pressure. I hunt public lands often, too, which lowers pressure on my land. We also have a lot of stands on our property (22) to help spread out the hunting pressure. Last year, on Nov. 17, with both of my deer tags filled, I headed to town to run some errands while my wife went hunting at a ground blind only 200 yards from the cabin. About noon, she spotted a big buck. When he stopped broadside at about 100 yards, she aimed and fired her .270. The buck ran off, so she waited an hour before tracking him in the snow. He only made it about 50 yards before piling up, and she was shocked when she saw the brute. The buck had a large 10- point rack, but the body size really made the deer stand out. It fell among some fallen trees in a puddle, and my wife couldn’t even move it. She had to gut it right there. After the buck was dressed and lighter, my wife wrestled it into a Jet Sled and extracted it back to camp. When I returned and saw that buck next to the cabin, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Even with a block and tackle, I could barely hoist it onto the buck pole. Although he had little fat, he still weighed 226 pounds dressed, so his live weight would have been almost 300 pounds. When we processed that deer, it yielded more than 120 pounds of pure boned venison, and the best news was that he was tender and provided good eating. My wife won a local big buck contest with her deer. The stand she shot the buck from overlooks two food plots, which was no coincidence. If you want more and bigger deer in the big woods, food plots will likely help. They sure helped us.
