This is the 1st step in making sure that you see twice as many bucks during the hunting season compared to does. It can be done, and it is a lot easier than you may think. Here is the Summer buck management strategy that will keep you on track for the highest number of bucks you can fit on your land for this Fall…
Now we're here at the end of February And I'm excited this year because you Know we live up north you I've lived in The up of Michigan uh in the past where We averaged 185 Ines of snow in Munising And uh so you're used to snow you you Know if you live there you can't Complain about it cuz you choose to live There but man it's so nice where it's The end of February right here and it's Like this you it's 50° today Everything's dry we're going to have I'm Sure we'll be planning earlier and you Can imagine with us we want to get out Here and do our deer chores get things Done but I'm already thinking about Summer Buck management but it's not just Summer Buck management I use that as You're looking at the summer managing a Certain way but it applies to your Entire year and actually managing the Bucks and you talk about bucks and the Reason we talk about bucks is they're The lowest hole in the bucket and you Have to plug that first and everything Else follows um that's where like if you Manage for Do's dos are easy put a bunch Of food out put a bunch of cover on your Land go find that on public land you're Going to find a bunch of of Dos and Fawns uh Young Bucks aren't that much Much further behind but the limiting Number is the Bucks and increasing bucks And so when you look at the overall
Management of bucks and what you need on Your property to actually explode a buck Herd to have a buck herd you really need To set your sights on the future and Understand not only how to have more Bucks on your property but how to make Sure that you don't limit the number of Bucks on your property this is a good Example right here this is a 4 and 1/2 Acre food plot this little corner behind Me it's less than a quarter acre in fact You look at it's probably about an Eighth of an acre at the most might be More of a tenth of an acre this our Little Clover Corner we'll have a pop up Right over here in the future for turkey Hunting and um it'll be beautiful they Roost all around here in these Hardwoods That's one of the reason you don't want To cut these Hardwoods plus are our Approach over there so we're not Spooking deer but this is just a small Corner of this entire 4 and 1 half acre Field we planted our uh dual threat 365 Here and we'll refresh the uh clover Just a little Frost seating and uh make Sure it's a nice thick stand in here That's something the deer can hit all Summer long but it's a very small Percentage out of our entire 17 and half Acres of food pots here we have about an Acre and a half total of clover just on Small hunting plots there's actually a a Stand right over there in the corner and
We can slip in here after Daylight switch grass all around this And then we can go sit in that stand Blower scent off the hill I had a great Sit there last year that and we can Watch this little food plot here it's a Little Opening Critical that you're not attracting a Bunch of deer during the summer time you Know the number one way to destroy your Property in most locations unless you're Trying to build a herd is to have summer Food now there's exceptions um I know Areas where they're surrounded by Agland Area are very little for a mile in any Direction well you can do a lot of thing Wrong things wrong on a property like That and still get it right when it Comes to hunting and building a good Herd because you don't have to think About the herd complexity of when bucks Are there when Do's are there if you're Attracting too many dos at the wrong Time give you the opposite you're in a Mixed area like this where you have Woods Fields a Egland and I'm thinking of a client Property in particular has 60 to 80 Acres they have a big food plot top in The center of about 12 acres of Edge and Food plot I I almost get to the point of Being adamant with clients that this is Your problem this is what you need to do
And if there's a little hesitation on Their part I try to hit it pretty hard Because I'm not going to a client Property to tell you what you want to Hear I'm going to your property based on Going to, 1500 other properties over the Last 20 seasons of Designing property in 26 States and telling you what I've Learned on other people's property based On EXP experienced not would I've seen Happen in some little corner of the Property or corner of the world or Corner of the region State whatever but What I've seen as a whole and how that Relates to deer hunting and habitat and Properties everywhere so I go to this Client in Particular and the big problem they had Was they're working on the habitat They're working on the bedding areas and They've done that they've relocated Access Trails but they still that 12 Acres of food they have 8 ACR of beans They have a couple acres of corn and They have couple acres of clover now for A lot of you they look at it like wow It's a perfect combination the problem Is they're seeing 25 to 30 Doe's on a on A random October November afternoon Evening right before dark and with all Those dos in a small area they're really Hurting and shooting themselves in the Foot for bucks during the hunting season No a bunch of Doe's doesn't attract
Bucks now again if you're Sur surrounded By Agland you have a chunk of cover in The middle doesn't matter if it's 100 Acres 20 acres then you can you have to Stuff all those deer or else they going To go during the summertime so someone In that setting would look at it and say Well we have bucks here all all year Long and it doesn't hurt anything it's CU there's no other cover you have to Understand the why everywhere you go but When it comes into most mixed Areas and if you're not trying to build A herd meaning in the up of Michigan Where we at we relied on Clover rotation So we'd have 100% of our fields in Clover during the during the uh summer And then we'd rotate in cool season Annuals into at least 50% sometimes 75% Of all our food plots with a clover base So that Clover came back the following Year but we had a cool season annual That we use in an attraction we were Building a herd we were attracting more Deer we didn't have any deer we had one Spike the first year in 99 when we Bought the property we had one rub one Scrape and a few pictures of a spike and That was it you could walk the sand Trails for two and a half Miles over a 5 to 10 day period after a Big rain and not see any deer tracks During the summer there just weren't any There so that's a different different
Story but for most of You and especially that client I'm Talking to when they have all that Summer food it attracts a pile of does And fawns you have great cover which Means great fawning cover High stem Count switch grass edges hinge cuts and Cuting in the woods Timber Harvest those Doz and fawns that are here today are Here to stay in a soon as any kind of Green that pops up in the fall is there They hammer it now people will say well There's a lot of doze during the Summertime a lot of Dos in the fall that Equals a lot of bucks Wrong CU what ends up happening is with All those dos in the summertime they Tick up space there's no space left over For bucks bucks mature Buck don't bed Between those dos that are bedded and Taking up a lot of space and their food Source they have to bed behind Eventually they're bedding so far away That they're bedding on some else's Land and when you're seeing 30 do's and And fawns and just half as many Bucks During the season that means someone Else is seeing twice as many Bucks as do And fawns that's just the way it works So the problem is is during the rut These Bucks have gotten used to not Living on your land because there's so Many does and fawns it could be the same As they're not living on your land
Because of hunting pressure too and so You really exacerbate the problem when You have I apologize for cutting in the Video I'll try keep this 20 seconds or Less but we're thinking about planting And so is Lincoln at Packer Max and Right now he doesn't offer very many Deals it's $50 off check out the code Whhs 50 it's in the link in the Description try them great product check It out you won't be sorry exacerbate the Problem when you Have uh land that you over pressure and You put a lot of summer food on but just The summer food Alone if you have a lot of Doe's going Into the Run And those bucks have gotten used to August September October living Somewhere else for their fall property Why are they all of a sudden going to Relocate and come over to your land just For a bunch of do's they already have Do's where they're at they can only Breed one dough every 5 to seven days They typically breed two to four dos in The first primary rut and a couple deer In the second rut so it doesn't matter If they have 10 times as many Do's in Their area they can only breed a handful Of do's each and every rut So they don't want to come over to an Area where they've already established That we don't want to be here because of
All the do and fonds you have why are They all of a sudden going to come from Over a mile away 3/4 of a mile away and Just relocate to your land because you Have a bunch of do they already Identified as a distressful area they Don't want to be there so what ends up Happening during the rut in a case like That and this is what I see on client Properties often is that those bucks Don't even come during the rut and you See half as many Bucks as you do Do's During the entire season and you're Severely shooting yourself in the foot Because you did it you did it because You planted a bunch of summer food you Attracted all kinds of Dos fawns they Just stay around they take up space they Stress out mature bucks older becomes Less he wants to be around that not much Different than you know my dad he passed Away when he was almost 82 he liked to Have his quiet space and it wasn't just Around Doe's and fawns it was around the Whole family when we're playing games And being loud he wanted to go relax he Wanted to have his crossw word puzzle Take a nap nothing wrong with that he Want to go out for a drive by himself he Just wanted to get away like to be a Little bit slower in his older age Nothing wrong with that but think about Those older bucks and how they do that Too so when you're setting up your land
This year and you're looking at boy what Can I do to get more bux it's not going To be the quality of food you plant it's Not even be what what you do with your Habitat it's certainly going to be what You do with your hunt and how you sneak Around your property and not spook deer But it's also a in large part going to Do with if you have a lot of summer food On your property or not this is how much We have out of 4 and2 acres in this Entire area I do this for a living I Sell food plot seed I could tell you hey I got this magic bean planted on half This property out here and you going Have a whole bunch of bucks on your land I could show you a bunch of pictures of Grazing summer deer sell more seed make More money but it's not right I get paid First and foremost to be right and and Base those years two decades of Experience and looking at close to, 1600 Parcels base that experience and deliver It to you and this summer dough problem Is a big problem so when you're sitting Back here it's end of February and March And we're planning out our season we Have to look at that balance I want to Help you look at that balance and to That client I'm talking about and others Like them if they want to improve their Hunt in the fall you get rid of the dose In the summer you do that by not Planting the summer food it seems
Counterintuitive I know but it's the Right thing to do if you want to build a Great herd and a hunt there's always the Exception and I know some of you out There are saying but but But However folks don't understand what they Have right in front of them because they Don't have the experience of looking at Other hundreds of properties and Multiple States and applying that Knowledge and experience back to their Own world it's why they have diversity In the workplace if you just have this Small little town of of a small company Let's say it's even 50 employees you Never get any input from the outside Then you're going to become stale you Need to actually grow and experience Bring that back and it's no different Than this dough problem and I call a Dough Factory is a huge problem on your Land it's what's holding a lot of people Back sit right now and look at what can We do different with our food plot Program if you have lots of do's the First step is not to shoot more the First step is to eliminate summer food Sources do that what you find is those Do and fawns start to spread out in Other areas around you they get exposed To other Hunters you drop your Population in the area not only on your Own property by getting rid of the
Summer food now you make more space for Bucks going into the fall a certain Number of do and funds will always come Back in high number we have dozen FS That hang out here all year long because We have good cover good fawning cover But the food's out there I don't want Them right here because when this food Starts popping in August and we plant This in August let alone the corn the Corn's there we don't want them to hit It but when our greens start popping in August we don't want an army of do and Fawns there and that's another point of It too is that by not having those do And fawns now that food gets another Five six weeks of growth we get more Volume on it so if you're having trouble Making your food plots last in the Hunting season get rid of the do in the Summertime now you get five six weeks More of growth and that severely affs The amount of volume you can have taken Into the hunting season and that's all That's what it's all about making sure You have that food lasting during the Hunting season limiting the number of Doz and fonds and that's why in this Property right here but it's not just This property but this property right Here we'll see about 25 DOL and fawns on Our 17 1 12 acres of food stretched from One corner to the other but we routinely Every single year get 40 to 45 different
Bucks on trail camera that happened the Very first year we didn't do anything Else other than change food plots Locations access locations of stand Locations we hunted it effectively put The Predator into the hunt and here we Had that's why I almost didn't buy this Property I talk about it a lot or I I Was a little hesitant I wanted to know The why so I come here and most the 20 Out of 25 pictures were um buck and Velvet so 20 out of 25 pictures for Bucks in Velvet I want to know why nice box not Much here during the the hunting season Start to look at it I come out here Blinds on the food plots lots of bean Use beans were down in the dirt early October just 5 Acres of beans I thought You know what we can change this this Year in in in the first year really easy To do it in one season because you just Get rid of the summer food plant fall Food we had a great herd shot some Monster Bock right off the first year Bigger Buck than they shot the whole Seven years owning it previously and it Was all about just changing the food Over and that can be done in one season But it hasn't just happened here uh Where we're at in Wisconsin we shoot a High percentage of the target bucks in The area not just on our property each And every year and we have done so for
10 years which had about 15 Target bucks In that 10year period over there and We've never planted summer food it's all Fall food and if we planted a bunch of Summer food and beans and we had it out There and we had a high number of doz And fawns we wouldn't shoot those bucks That we have and we've shot in the past You Michigan as we reached our herd Numbers again build herd building mode We add that summer food as soon as we Got our numbers up we'd see 10 doz and Fawns 12 at the most do and fawns on the Annual basis one year we had 17 Different bucks and this is going from No bucks pass up 11 shoot two so I had 13 in front of me out of those 17 bucks And we do that by limiting the amount of Summer food carry more food over to the Fall and it's that times hundreds and Hundreds when we look at these clients So many people because you want to do The your best so you plant a whole bunch Of food you f you fall for the magic Bean you change the habitat and all of a Sudden you're overrun with do you don't See the number of bucks you should and I'll go back I'll back up the number of Bucks you should see now reflective of a Buck is their home range is six or seven Times five to seven times greater than a Do family group so when you're seeing Bucks and the number of bucks are Reflective of a very large area where do
Could be just on your parcel or the Parcel edges on your neighbors so When you see that number of bucks look At the number of Doe's your number of Bucks you see overall again reflective Of a large area should be about twice as Many do and fawns you see it's a quality Habitat and hunting ratio not a sex Ratio it's something I see over and over Again the best properties are right Around that range where you see about Twice as many Bucks during the season as You do do and fawns when you're seeing Half as many or even one to one you've Got a problem and if you have summer Food you need to look no further and That's how you can manage not only your Buck herd for the summertime but going Throughout the fall building a great Herb building a great hunt and that's How you can look at your land and be Very critical of yourself if you have Too many Bucks during the summertime if You have a lot of summer food then You're in big trouble it's really not Going to spell out a lot of great Success for the fall and just by Changing that food makeup you could just Explode your property into greatness for This season and Beyond