If you are tired of sitting in the woods for hours or even days without seeing any game, it is high time you take matters into your own hands.
You must become proactive and do everything possible to attract enough deer to your property or hunting area.
The good news is that all whitetail deer have the same needs – food, water, and cover. You can thus easily guess the 4 effective ways to attract whitetail deer, isn’t that so?
Let’s talk about that in more detail:
- Food
Planting food plots and establishing feeders are the two most effective ways for you to attract deer to your land. However, this strategy is quite intensive and expensive too.
If you are on a low budget, you can consider an alternative solution.
Namely, instead of costly and time-consuming techniques, you can try controlling the natural vegetation.
There are a few activities that you can rely on to address the needs of white-tailed deer, such as:
Stop plowing
In case you are unfamiliar with the term plowing, it refers to working the soil with a disk harrow.
When plowing, you distribute the soil all over shallow tillage and stimulate the growth of grass and forbs.
At the same time, you inhibit the bushes from overgrowing and taking over the land.
Many woody species that are an essential part of the deer diet will resprout too.
Mowing
Plowing cannot be done without mowing. The two always go hand-in-hand.
It is essential that you try to remove old-growth grass as much as possible and make way for fresh one.
In this way, you will also disperse seeds and help keep the land covered. Pay special attention to the edge roads and old fields.
Reducing Tree Density & Harvesting
If the wood is too dense, it is not very animal-friendly. You can change that by thinning it.
If you do it correctly, the sunlight will be able to reach the floor of the forest. As a result, whitetail deers will browse bushes more easily.
Besides, you have complete control over deciding which trees will be removed or left behind.
The trees you choose to leave will grow faster and better.
Thus, you should concentrate on leaving only the desirable tree species and bushes that deer are keen on browsing. Those are:
- Young oaks
- Beech
- Chestnut
- Hickory
- Persimmon
- Crabapple
- Honey locusts
- Blackberries
- Honeysuckle
- Grape
- Staghorn sumac
- Acorns
As you can see, the main focus should be on cultivating and planting mast-producing trees.
Managing the mast will attract wildlife.
For this reason, try to keep at least 20% of your woodland satiated with fruit and nut-bearing trees.
You can even include domestic apple and pear trees as those are sure to attract deer too.
If you want to attract white-tailed deer, you should try to learn everything there is about managing native vegetation and planting trees.
However, try not to overdo it since you will need to have openings throughout the forest, especially if you plan to hunt.
How many openings should your forest have? 10% will do it.
You will create these openings best if you clear cut patches that measure from one to up to five acres each.
Fertilizing
You can further enhance the growth of the desired foliage and grass by fertilizing the thinned patches of woodland.
Once again, you should pay special attention to the road edges, as well as the borders of tree stands.
Controlled Burning
It might sound a bit drastic, but prescribed burning is actually one of the most usual methods used to manage wildlife habitats.
Of course, you need to check the state laws and take all the precautionary measures before doing it on your own.
In essence, controlled burns have numerous advantages, besides the most obvious one – controlling the bush.
They help diversify vegetation and enhance the growth of preferred plants, browse and forbs included.
Moreover, food plants become more accessible to animals. The nutritional quality of plants is also improved.
Establishing Food Plots
Once you finalize all the previously listed activities, you can start planting food plots to supplement the natural forage.
It is one of the best methods to concentrate whitetail deer on your land and hunt them down more easily.
In order to make things easier for you, I have a few tips and tricks prepared.
- Find the right place
You should create at least a few of them throughout your property.
If you are not sure where to best establish the food plots, try the following areas:
- Strip of open space in the forest
- Minor openings among pine trees
- Cut-overs
- Swamps
- Wooded areas
- What to plant:
There is a formula you should follow that guarantees success.
It states that the ratio you should stick to is 60%:20%:20%.
- 60% of the planted foliage should be the cold season perennials
- 20% should consist of cold season annuals such as rape, kale, and turnip
- 20% should include annuals for warm seasons such as corn, soybeans, and alfalfa.
The good news is that you can find the ready-made seed mixes created solely for whitetail deer food plots.
Do mind that perennials are the most economical option in the long run due to higher productivity than annuals.
On the other hand, they require more effort, such as regular fertilization, mowing, and weed control.
Annuals are easier to establish and maintain and are best suited for those of you who need quick results.
- How much is enough
The experts in this area consider that you should be planting food plots on about 3 to 5 % of the land.
Recent research has proven that establishing food plots on only 1% of your land will still yield success.
It will not only attract deer but also help improve their health and body weight.
It is one of the best wildlife management strategies you can turn to.
- Cover
The good news is that if you have already mastered and applied all the already listed habitat management techniques, there is not much more you need to do to further improve cover.
For example, you can use the “slash” or thinning residue to create an adequate cover for wildlife on your land.
Whitetail deer often use food plots for cover too, mainly if you cultivate high plants such as corn.
If you mow regularly, you will stimulate the growth of native grasses that are their natural cover in the first place.
- Water
In cold seasons, whitetail deer get most of the needed water from their food. Still, when it gets warmer, they will need a separate water source.
Therefore, your task is to make sure deer have an easily accessible perennial water source whenever they seek it.
If your land does not have a river, brook, or a lake on it, you can make a watering hole or secure a water tank.
Where should you best place the water source?
The only rule you should follow is to make it protected. It would be ideal to create a forested buffer zone.
A row of trees on both sides of the water will not only keep erosion in check but also help filter out pollutants.
Of course, the trees will also present a perfect cover for wildlife.
- Lures
There are lures you can use to draw whitetail deer to the desired area. Those are:
Deer urine
It is a highly effective scent you can use to lure deer. It is often used by most hunters, but you can use it to attract these beautiful animals for viewing purposes only.
Simply apply it onto the grass or trees throughout the property. It will be most effective about ten weeks before the height of their breeding season.
You can also get scent wicks saturated with buck urine and hang them on trees around your hunting tree stand.
They should be positioned about twenty yards in front of the stand and approximately five feet off the ground so that the wind can spread the scent.
Avoid leaving the human scent on the lure.
Salt blocks
Whitetail deer are attracted to salt, mineral, or apple cider blocks. You can find those in almost any hunting goods store.
You should best place the blocks at the edge of your property or around food plots.
Be patient, since deer will rarely find the salt blocks immediately. It can sometimes take weeks or even months.
Commercial lures
Hunting or sporting goods stores often sell a selection of deer scents.
Those are usually quite creative scent combinations that aim to attract deer. The selection includes corn, apple, or even orange scents.
Conclusion
So that’s my 4 effective ways to attract whitetail deer. What’s your favorite tips? Do you use salt blocks or you prefer planting food plots?
Tell me below. To know more about deer hunting tips and tricks, check this useful resource: Archerytopic.com
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Try our 4 effective ways to attract whitetail deer to your property. They all guarantee success!
