Managing Small Properties Can Lead to Big Results

Managing Understanding the function of a food plot seed blend is critical, not only with the growing conditions and peak attractiveness but also what it provides for deer and when. As our hunting situation improved, we SMALL PROPERTIES Can Lead to BIG Results turned our focus to the critical late-winter and early-spring months. Fall plots had faded, the new summer crops were yet to be planted. In such situations, having a plot or two planted in a perennial blend such as Imperial Whitetail Clover or Fusion will provide great forage in late winter and early spring, when not much else is producing. It will be one of the first things to green-up in the spring and it will continue to provide high-quality forage into summer, fall and into winter. As you begin to plan food plot strategy, timing and type is extremely important. However, location — as it relates to access and property By Jeremy Flinn wrong place could reduce its value. On any small tract of land, hunting pressure is the No. 1 killer of deer hunting success. It’s important to

Growing up in the heavily hunted understand what you have to work with and use it wisely. It’s equally important to only create disturbances when necessary. state of Pennsylvania, finding land to hunt was difficult, let It isn’t nearly as easy to create long-term cover as it is to plant a food plot, but several options let you create cover that can provide supplemental bedding or better access while minimizing disturbance. Using alone land you could manage. a product such as Whitetail Institute’s Conceal will let you establish a quick, thick visual barrier. This comes in handy when the only place

Though small, many properties I hunted had huge potential. I reto plant is near high human traffic areas or if you’re trying to create member watching a lush bean field on a small property in July and supplemental cover for bedding. The ability to pop up a visual screen

August, and seeing velvet bucks pour out to feed on the high-protein to access a stand and minimize the disturbance of the area when the forage. But as the season neared, the deer disappeared. It was obvious location isn’t optimum can make the difference in getting on a big the deer were simply entering the property in summer to feed and buck. likely bedded off the property, especially as home ranges expanded. It One of the last needs for whitetails is water, though this might be was extremely tough to find a small property that contained the three one of the more limiting factors, especially depending on the time of essential needs of deer: food, cover and water. However, that doesn’t year. Many properties might have a natural pond, bog or spring, but mean you cannot create a small-tract whitetail haven via management that’s not always the case. If you are lucky enough to have one, your efforts. water situation is likely covered, except in drought conditions. If you

Food was the attractant on the aforementioned property, but also don’t have a water source, you likely have to get creative. The two main an ever-changing limiting factor. As combines combed the fields, we options are to bring in a water trough, typically above ground, which lost the main food source and acres of cover. The property was already collects water and distributes it into a large trough for deer to consume. limited in cover, but when the crops were removed, the land was way If your budget is tight, you might want to consider a manmade watertoo open, especially in a high-pressure state such as Pennsylvania. hole. You can accomplish this by simply burying a tub or digging a hole

Sure, there were some pockets of thick cover, but they held deer inand lining it with a non-permeable pond lining or plastic. consistently. When the food was gone, deer visited the area less freEvery property has limitations that act as barriers to creating a quently. If we wanted to be consistently successful, we had to make whitetail paradise. Based solely on size, larger tracts offer more opporsome strategic changes. tunities to provide whitetails what they want. But that doesn’t mean

The small tract was planted each spring in a rotation of soybeans you can’t create those opportunities on smaller hunting areas. It might and corn, so summer food availability was strong, but as September take more creativity, but through dedication, you can create that arrived, the harvest began, and our chances of seeing a good buck whitetail paradise, even on small properties. ^ waned. It’s a lot more difficult to create cover than it is to add a Whitetail Institute food plot. So, we started with the easiest opportunity, Food plots like this Winter-Greens plot which was to add some fall annuals that peaked in attractiveness as should be considered must-haves on the ag crops were removed. Using Whitetail Institute’s go-to mixes small properties. such as Winter-Greens and Pure Attraction, we created a diversity of forages that peaked at varying times throughout the early and late hunting seasons. The impact was immediate, as we saw more deer than ever during the season. However, because the plots were not as big as we would have liked, they were the main food source and Whitetail Institute blends are so attractive, deer hammered them. As we reached the critical months of February and March, deer were again left with little food on the property. Though it wasn’t hunting season, the nutrition they take in during those months can be critical to antler growth, fawn recruitment and overall herd health the next year. lines — might be just as important. The right type of food plot in the For the latest promotions, sales and news visit www.Facebook.com/WhitetailInstitute Vol. 30, No. 1 / WHITETAIL NEWS 55