I don’t know what’s going on with my neighbor and December, but it’s getting a little eerie. Alan is an uber-busy farmer who caught the bowhunting bug several years ago, and because a fall spent in a combine doesn’t equate to many hours in a tree stand, my friend faces significant hurdles as a deer hunter. From the first blush of the season opener in September and through the rut, Alan’s field time is measured in bushels of corn and soybeans, not hours in a deer stand.
So, here’s where it gets
weird. In each of the past three seasons, Alan has killed the best buck of his
life. This does not make sense on the surface, especially when you consider
that in each of those seasons, my friend has hunted less than one week before
tagging out. After he killed his buck last season (on only his third day in a
tree stand), I considered comparing my hours-in-a-stand-per-buck-killed statistic
to Alan’s. Not needing any more lessons in humility, I elected to not do the
math. Still, my neighbor’s hot streak is relatively simple to explain Alan just
knows how to hunt food plots. If you’re tempted to dismiss this notion, don’t.
As many deer managers quickly learn, there’s a huge difference between planting
great deer food and consistently killing mature bucks over those plantings.
Pulling that off regularly is a matter of careful preparation, a smart game
plan and strict discipline. Here’s how to pull it off.
Make a Sweet Spot
It’s always a pleasure to
produce a killer plot of clover that sucks deer in like bikers to Sturgis. The
problem is, if there’s any size to the plot, killing a buck can be difficult
(at least with a bow). Watching a pile of deer pour into a plot is a hoot, but
if your target buck spends the afternoon browsing out of range, pleasure can
slowly turn to frustration. Iowa expert Roger Sapper (profiled in the previous
issue of Whitetail News) found an easy answer to this problem. Sapper planted abridge-top
plot in Imperial Whitetail Clover but quickly learned that much of the 2-plus
acre field was, of course, out of bow range. “I remember one of the first
nights I sat that plot,” he said. “I had16 mature bucks show up to feed on
clover. And that’s not even counting does and fawns. I finally managed to
shoot a nice buck that afternoon, but there were a whole lot of deer that
never fed into bow range.” Sapper solved the problem with a simple but clever
fix. “About two weeks before the bow opener, I started to mow the clover just
within bow range of my stand,” he said. “Right when I was getting ready to
hunt, the most tender, palatable stuff was growing by the stand. The rest of
the clover was pounded as well but just a little later in the season. Suddenly,
almost every deer that entered that plot was headed right to the clipped area.
It really worked perfectly, and I actually had to laugh at myself a bit. Before
I figured that out, I was just going to make the plot smaller. How dumb would
it have been to plow up an acre or more of perfectly good clover?” Sapper’s
technique also has a twist that can produce similar results. Before the season
opener, simply fertilize the part of a plot within range of the stand or blind.
The plants there will be a little tastier than the stuff growing in the rest of
the plot, and you’ll have effectively steered your deer.
Play the (Cross) Wind
Even the greenest deer
hunter has heard the term play the wind and recognizes the importance of not
letting whitetails smell human odor. Of course, the phrase makes perfect sense,
but there’s one problem: It’s too simplistic. Imagine hunting your favorite food plot, with
a stand or blind placed at the edge, where a buck will follow one or more entry
trails to the feed. Most of us envision an ideal wind was blowing directly from
the buck to us, making it impossible for the deer to catch our scent. Trouble
is, unless the buck is out of his mind with passion and following a doe, he’s
not likely to move during those conditions. Think about it. Most mature bucks
live and die by their noses, which is the sense that rarely fails them.
Although a mature buck will sometimes travel with the wind at his back, I’ve
been around the block enough times that I never bet on it. So, what’s the solution? Adam Hays, one of the
most successful bowhunters I know, taught me the perfect solution, which he calls
hunting the “almost-right” wind. Sound confusing? It’s not. The almost-right
wind is the one during which a buck can use his nose but is still good enough
for you. In most cases, this is a crosswind that lets the buck monitor scent
for most of his walk. But other situations exist. One of my favorites is an
obstacle (a bend in a trail or the dogleg in a food plot) that forces a buck to
walk, even for just 10 or 15 yards, without the wind advantage. Placing a stand at this critical spot is an
absolute killer, and its why Alan killed his dandy buck this past December.
Alan knew enough to wait for the ultra-cold conditions that force a post-rut
buck to feed, and then picked a stand that overlooked a food plot full of late-season
goodies. But the capper was this: The stand he selected let the mature buck
walk into the food plot with the wind mostly in his face. The buck was just a
few steps away from catching Alan’s wind when my friend sent an arrow through
his ribcage. Setups such as this are perfect for fooling mature bucks that only
move when conditions are right. Alan and I knew the mature 9-pointer well. We
had no daylight pics of him and knew he’d be a tough customer. But by waiting
for perfect conditions and giving the buck his nose, Alan was able to tag him.
Double-Whammy Set
Matt Harper, a frequent contributor to Whitetail News and a certified big-buck assassin, plants and maintains many food plots, and he’s mastered tagging mature whitetails on or near them. Harper said one of the most difficult times to hunt food plots is the normally exciting buildup to the rut. “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve sat right on the food plot edge with my only good shooting available into the plot itself,” he said. “The trouble with that is mature bucks are infamous for circling a plot, checking the entry trails for the scent of an estrous doe. If your only shot is to the plot, you can’t kill that cross-trailing buck.” After many such frustrating encounters, Harper committed to what he calls perimeter trails, which transect the main entry trails does use to access a plot. “Perimeter trails can be tough to spot, as they’re usually pretty faint,” he said. “They’re typically off the plot 30 to 50 yards, depending on the situation, but bucks love to use them because they can check the status of does without ever stepping foot in the plot itself.” Of course, committing to a perimeter trail comes with a price, Harper learned. “The crazy thing about the rut is, about the time you think a buck is never going to enter a plot unless he’s behind a hot doe, well, that’s when he does exactly that,” he said with a laugh. “About the time you devote yourself to staying in the timber, you’ll watch monster waltz into a plot to dog a doe, cruise the edge or check a scrape. Trust me, I’ve had it happen more than once.” Being creative, Harper started to look for stand setups that let him enjoy the best of both worlds. “Now, one of my favorite food plots setups is a stand hung in a tree 15 to 20 yards off the plot edge,” he said. “In that setup, I can shoot into the plot if a buck cruises the edge or checks a scrape, but I can usually cover the best perimeter trails, which is perfect for that buck that’s reluctant to stick his nose into that opening. I shot a nice 150-class whitetail this past fall using just that kind of setup.”
Midday Magic
Hunting food plots is
typically a morning or evening affair. That makes sense, considering those are
peak feeding times for whitetails. But plots can also shine at midday,
especially at one of the most frustrating times of the season; the period of
peak breeding many hunters refer to as lockdown. Lockdown hunting can be some
of the toughest of the year for various reasons. Does and fawns are less
active, so tired after weeks of harassment from bucks that they’re reluctant to
move. Immature bucks are lying low (if mature buck numbers are good, the little
guys are tired of getting beat up) or bombing throughout the landscape, trying to
figure out where all that wonderful estrous scent is coming from. And mature bucks?
Well, they’ve usually got an estrous doe pinned down in thick cover, afraid to
let her move for fear a stronger buck will swoop in and take her away. These
factors line up to make the typical morning or evening food plot hunt less
productive. But midday feeding can be stellar during this period. For starters,
a doe being tended by a buck can’t bed for three days without eating once in a
while. I’ve talked with several guides and whitetail experts who have watched
lone does feeding at midday during lockdown and then, by glassing nearby cover,
spotted a mature buck standing nearby. Perhaps the buck is content to let his
mate feed at midday when other deer are less likely to be active. I can’t say
for sure, but it’s something to watch. One
thing I know is that mature bucks that lose their does (after tending them) frequently
take a breather to eat and drink before looking for their next mate.
Conventional wisdom holds that bucks don’t take time to eat during the rut, but
I’ve come to believe that is an old wives’ tale. Sure, a buck loses a ton of
weight during the rut, but I’m convinced increased activity is mostly to blame.
Think about it. If a buck stopped eating for the three to four weeks of rutting
activity each fall, he wouldn’t be skinny. He’d be dead. And because mature
bucks are known for midday activity during breeding season, I wouldn’t hesitate
to sit a food plot (especially one surrounded by good habitat) while the sun
is high.
Conclusion
One of the main reasons I
love food plotting is the enormous satisfaction I get from keeping the deer I
hunt well fed and happy to stick close to the properties I hunt. But also
appreciate the endless challenge food plots present. I’ve learned that growing the
best deer food in the neighborhood is no easy task. And perhaps even a tougher
hurdle is figuring out how to tag mature bucks as they relate to my plantings.
These tips have proved effective for that, and I hope they’ll help you this
fall.
