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Making farm more attractive during archery season

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smithhunter1975

Active Member
My farm in SE Iowa seems to hold a few deer during the summer. A few more deer during late summer/early fall. Very few deer during archery season, almost to the point that there is no reason to even hunt it. Starting shotgun season the deer start piling in and have fairly high density throughout the December/January late season. Farm is approximately 50% timber that was logged about 10 years ago so it is fairly thick with young regeneration. I have done some TSI to open the canopy in areas that was "junk timber" that didn't get logged. Other 50% is tall CRP with mixture of native grasses/forbs, monarch mix which is nearly 100% forbs, and food plots ranging from clover, brassicas, and soybeans. Farm in my opinion is 100% good habitat cover and food and is low pressure. Lots of diversity. I know this is tough to answer without seeing the farm, but I am looking for ideas/ways that I can get the deer to use the farm year round more than what they have previously. Any ideas are appreciated.
 
Here is a good article from meateater
www.themeateater.com

Best Food Sources to Deer Hunt in October

A focus on food is front-of-mind during September bowhunts. But what about October? Well, here’s your whitetail hot tip of the week: Deer eat in October too. I’m not sure why deer hunters seem to put food on the back burner when the calendar flips to October. It’s a mistake. While it’s true that...
www.themeateater.com www.themeateater.com

IMO- brassicas and soybeans don't draw much for early archery. The corn and oats I planted this year got absolutely smashed this year from Early Oct to Late Nov.

Also, the deer come running when Chestnuts drop in mid Sept to Mid Oct.

Good Luck!
 
Wi transplant said:
Do you have a coyote or dog problem? Dogs cruzing through even once or twice a week can keep them out.

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Great point. I have had a dog issue on a farm before, literally made most of the deer nocturnal for days or even weeks once the dogs made a lap through the farm. Drove me nuts!
 
Wi transplant said:
Do you have a coyote or dog problem? Dogs cruzing through even once or twice a week can keep them out.

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Never have seen, heard, or cam pics of dogs. Coyotes, I would say are average to slightly above average population. I enjoy calling/shooting them but nearly impossible now that the farm is all in tall/thick native grasses - cannot see much.
 
I would say 1st step is the does ! If they wont stay bucks sure wont . Year round food close to bedding . Clover n beans next to good doe bedding on the end of farm the deer naturaly want to transition out in the evenings is good start . If your bedding is to far from food not good . If you move food to where its good for you just make sure the does are happy n safe 50 to 100 yrds from there . The bucks will find there own spots further back . Just make sure your scent and sound doesn't bother them when entering and exit .

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Thanks for the feedback/comments so far! Food is very close to bedding. Access to farm is very good in my opinion to where I can enter/exit pretty much undetected. I am planning to switch some food over to the Doubletree rotation this coming year and hope that will help year round attraction. Wi Transplant, I would love to get your fresh set of eyes if you are willing. I always enjoy seeing other people's setup and would definitely appreciate your input/ideas/feedback. We can PM details to see if it can workout, thanks!
 
Appears you have you have a nice diverse piece of ground.
How many acres is this?

If what you described is true, there appears to be something missing?
Water source near by?
 
105ac and yes good water. Spring fed creek that run clear water even in severe drought years. Larger creek cut across corner of it that always has water. I have dug two watering holes as well, they are only 1.5 years old but have always had water since they first filled. One of the water holes is directly adjacent to both bedding and food. Have a nice pond as well, although it is not in a location that would likely be used by deer in daylight.
 
How is the overall population directly around you? EHD? How long have owned it and has it always been that way? Do you own next to Ranger, the droughmaster, haha?

Sounds like the population in your area is low and they move into your cover when it gets cold because you have food and good cover.
 
MN Slick said:
How is the overall population directly around you? EHD? How long have owned it and has it always been that way? Do you own next to Ranger, the droughmaster, haha?

Sounds like the population in your area is low and they move into your cover when it gets cold because you have food and good cover.
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I would say the population is far below what it could/should be. I would say the 5 square mile area is nearly a 50/50 split between wooded and tillable farmland. My personal opinion is that the population holding capacity in the area could be 2-3 times what it is. I think my farm should hold 3-4 times the number of deer given the habitat and food that I have.

This is my 4th year owning the farm. It is 1000% different now than when I bought it in terms of habitat, food, and general upkeep. The year I bought it the population was extremely low as the area had been wiped out with EHD the prior year. I have seen a slow and steady increase in population each year. I knew the EHD situation when I bought and the slow and steady growth is about what I expected, the frustrating part is that I don't have the deer during my favorite season....archery.

Thanks to all for the questions and advice!
 
How are you estimating how many deer are on your farm? (Trail Cam, observations, etc.). How often are you on the farm in the off season? Do you have "sanctuaries"? What type of food plots (I saw you mention clover, beans, brassicas) do you have and what approximate acreages of each type? What is your turkey population like? In my meager experience holding lots of deer means having multiple doe family groups that have enough cover that they won't push other does off the property. My strategy is to spread .1 to .5 acre plots (whose purpose is hold deer not necessarily congregate them for hunting) around the farm with dedicated bedding nearby that have a perennial component and an annual cool season grain (Oat/Wheat/Rye + radish) in fall. My method may not be best for holding bucks in the off-season. I am beginning to believe that buck bedding locations from February through late August are selected based on a lack of human intrusion over any other factor, by far.
 
Hard to know how many deer are living/using farm but I use trail cam pics, observations, and sign as indicators. It is extremely rare that I see any deer while visiting or working at the property, in part because the cover is very dense but largely because I stay out of areas deer bed other than shed season/tsi work in late winter/early spring.

How often am I at the farm? I cover the ground during shed season and tsi work from mid January to mid March. Outside of that window I do food plot work and general mowing/maintenance/spraying. That will be less this coming year because almost all of my CRP and monarch mixes are fully established and I'm past the maintenance mowing.

All bedding areas are sanctuaries outside the mid January through mid March. I access trails/food plots for mowing/maintenance but never step foot into bedding areas. The largest block of timber I have actually never even hunted. The smaller bedding areas I hunt the edges.

Quantity of food plots. I have four clover plots that are approx 1/10th ac, 1/4ac, 1/2ac, and 1ac. 3 of the 4 are directly adjacent to bedding areas. In addition to the three described, I have a destination plot concept with food plots similar to a pinwheel concept with 4 total plots. One of them is the 1/2ac clover, one of them is 1/4ac of brassicas drilled into a poor stand of soybeans, one 1ac soybeans and another 1.5ac soybeans. These destination plots of the "pinwheel" are out in the tall native grass field that is surrounded by timber. The concept is that tall natives screen each of them off so that they are smaller plots but also so that bucks cannot stand in one plot and see the entire thing.

The CRP fields are two roughly 10ac each tall natives and have a 25' wide firebreak all the way around. The firebreak is clover which adds another several acres of "food". Most of this firebreak is separating the CRP from timbered areas.

Turkey population is terrible. I do not have any turkeys that roost on my farm. Occasionally I will get a trail cam picture of a turkey, but very rare.

My farm is very broken up into multiple small fields and timbered sections which should lead itself well to scattered doe groups. Not very confident that I have that going unfortunately which I agree is my problem. At the time of year I have deer using my farm it is the time of year they are grouped up anyway. The early season where it would be doe families is when I don't have them.
 
May be too late for this but a large alfalfa field would have been a nice addition to hold deer in october. Another thing that came to mind is it a possibility the deer are leaving for larger timber about the time acorns hit the ground? Im betting that is exactly whats happening...
 
Sounds like you've done everything right, unfortunately it's just where Iowa is right now. I call it ground zero. It's when your area initially gets hit with EHD then evolves into a rolling yearly EHD kill. Overwintering in cattle just to start the process over in the spring. It doesn't seem as bad as the first but you're dealing with less deer at that time. Might even go undetected or hunters become accepting of it. After all, it's only one doe in a pond. Who knows how long Iowa will bounce off the bottom here but it sure would be nice if the DNR would step up with at least some season and bag limits to give us a fighting chance. Maybe even take this wasted CWD money and put it towards finding a way to break the cycle in the cattle, at least in the diseased hotspots. If not, we could be in for a decade of frustrating Whitetail hunting in Iowa.
 
Field of Dreams said:
May be too late for this but a large alfalfa field would have been a nice addition to hold deer in october. Another thing that came to mind is it a possibility the deer are leaving for larger timber about the time acorns hit the ground? Im betting that is exactly whats happening...
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I agree. Acorns and neighboring Corn peaking while the soybean are dropping leaves and clover plots are on the decline
 
One tiny thing to add…. Have a year where there’s corn on the farm. Ideally a good amount. This is not something that’s like “full on game changing” but it’s a big deal IMO. When I have farms without corn, I for sure lose more through out season. I absolutely hold more during hunting season. Minor but worth mentioning or seeing if it gives u a bump. I’d also add the above food but corn is a big one. Rest of comments are great as well. Just adding this little element I’ve seen change farms drastically when it’s there or not there.
 
Thanks again all for the suggestions! Going to do some corn next year to see if it helps. Cannot do alfalfa on this farm because I cannot bale it (dies off if cut but not baked doesn’t it?). Guessing there is truth to leaving for large timber acorns, I have plenty of oaks but not as many as neighboring large timber since mine was logged.
 
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