1). Deer prefer to live where there is food, water, habitat, and protection.
It gets no simpler than that. Look at properties you hunt. The more of those 4 attributes, the more deer will frequent the property.
Why do people plant food plots/bait? Why do people make ponds? Why do people post their property? Do you see how this tips the odds in a landowners favor??
The single most aspect that can improve a deer hunters changes at consistently killing deer is to buy property. As a landowner, they can control what keeps deer inhabiting the property. It is up to the individual if or how much land they can afford. If buying land is not an option, see public land or work to find permission. Make it a goal, landownership Is not limited, anybody can buy land if they put their mind to it.
With landownership being what it is today, people have taken shortcuts to maintaining deer populations. I will say, foodplots and baiting are a big shortcut and totally unneeded. Yes, foodplots benefit other critters, but they are no doubt cultivated to cover the "food" attribute. However, a foodplot in the north woods is so out of place and is no way a substitute for a deers food intake. Same with baiting, it is done solely to bring deer to the property. All shortcuts and most easily manipulated attribute for what a deer needs.
When deer are in short supply, landowners pit each other even more. There are more no trespassing signs, more food plots, more baiting. In the end, landowners get frustrated and the deer laugh. Landowners spend a lot of money and this makes the situation even worse.
What is the answer for a deer nirvana? For starters, turn off the TV, stop looking at shortcuts. Get back to basics: Food, water, habitat, protection. Don't use shortcuts as a crutch.
Improving habitat should be #1 on a landowners priority list, without doubt. If your property does not have adequate habitat, deer will not frequent the property. They want the protection habitat offers. Even if you have the human equivalent of pizza on your property without habitat, you have poor deer property. This is why deer baiters see all kinds of pictures of deer, but seldom or consistently get mature deer. Deer won't survive with only a food attribute and move off property to habitat.
So, my advice is to concentrate on habitat. Have clearcuts in areas of popple to regenerate browse and cover. Make small clearcuts in areas of mature oaks to regenerate oaks. Don't remove deadwood, leave it for critters and cover. Strive to make the wooded areas uneven aged. Let areas of prickly ash thrive.
If legal, put in shallow scrapes (ponds) to provide water for amphibious creatures and invertebrates. Mammals need water too. These scrapes should be able to percolate to recharge and not become rancid.
Of all artificial manipulation, habitat improvement is the most beneficial. Shortcuts are just that and a bandaid to a bigger problem.
With all the manipulation going on today, you can see how hard it is for the DNR to set harvest quotas. The deer are there, just concentrated on property providing what they want. This is to the chagrin of others landowners who don't take time to provide habitat. Uneven populations of deer will continue to be a problem and throw in public properties, you have deer management nightmare.
You cannot go wrong taking time to improve habitat. That statement unfortunately does not resonate like it should.
However I leave that to him, me I just hunt, no way I could own a big enough piece to satisfy my wander lust, and I get bored hunting the same land,,,,,
It is nice to have it, but there is also really good public hunting available, you just have to know, how to find it, and put on the boot leather,,,,,,,,,
The state has done a lot of improvement in their management, as well as some counties and the feds..... I also like how the state is working with the feds......
I learned that first hand this past week, the state forester is marking all the areas and trees, on Federal land, for a private logger, who got the bid,,,, like to see it
