Deer Management Land Management
One of the more frustrating hunts I ever had took place in eastern Montana. I spent the first afternoon on the northern edge of a big alfalfa field, and over the course of the afternoon watched the herd of deer feeding on the lush greens slowly grow to over 50 head. None came within bow range, but I could see where most were entering the field. Unfortunately, the wind stayed wrong for the next two days so all I could do was sit and watch.
On day three the wind finally shifted in my favor, so my guide and I hastily hung a stand along one of the heaviest trails entering the field. In the process we had to trim a few branches, which we tossed thoughtlessly in a pile nearby. The first deer to come by were a doe and two fawns. Rather than continuing on their way to the lush alfalfa, they made a 90-degree turn and headed straight for the brushpile.
For a good 15 minutes they eagerly munched down the fresh cottonwood leaves that otherwise would have been unreachable. I wasn’t looking for a doe, but took note of how something as seemingly ineffectual as trimming a few branches to hang a tree or clear a shooting lane could make a particular location more attractive to deer. And I have since expanded that to several different levels.
Food plots are all the rage nowadays, and they’re certainly an effective way to attract and hold more deer on your property and increase potential hunting opportunities. But not everyone has the ways, means or the time to build them, or to build the number or size of plots they might like. That doesn’t mean they and you can’t turn your favorite patch of ground into a more attractive place for deer and hunter. In many cases, it takes little more than a chain saw and a few hours of labor.
Timber!
Several years ago I was hunting on Anticosti Island, a place once renowned for its deer densities and high proportion of mature bucks. The numbers and age ratios haven’t changed much but the rest of North America finally caught up. Anyway, it was getting on toward the end of our hunt and a couple guys in our group had yet to tag out. “Time for the secret weapon,” our French Canadian guide, Florent said in broken English.
