Whitetails Only Nation

For those of you tracking the WOW cameras you may have noticed that quite a few deer are still passing by the three cameras despite the fact gun season has been under way for nearly three weeks.  As a matter of fact over the past week quite a few bucks could be seen feeding during the early afternoon well before dark.  But it was not always that way.

Let me tell you a little about the 200 acre site where the WOW cameras are located.  The property is currently in its’ second year of management.  Our goal is to balance the buck to doe ratio to a more biologically favorable number.  Two does for every buck is our long term goal.  Also we would like to see the age class of buck to increase.  Our goal is to hold off shooting immature bucks till they reach the age of three or four years of age.

Last year we had a few food plots on the property and had quite a nice assortment of deer using the farm prior to the start of hunting season.  As the season opened we started to loose deer. All told we photographed eighteen different bucks on the farm, some of the bucks had set up residence while others simply passed through posing for a picture or two.

The long and short of last years hunting season is all but one lucky buck was killed by the neighbors during last years hunting season.  The local guys were good, they went seventeen for eighteen on the buck photographed on the WOW site.  Drastic changes were needed if we were to reach our goals of balancing the buck to doe ratio and increase the age class.

The easiest way to manipulate deer movements is to change their feeding patterns.

The WOW site held deer well during the spring and summer months but lost deer during the fall, dramatically so during the firearms season.  To combat the loss of deer we needed a preferred food source that would be available during late October, November and December.  Biologically speaking the deer started to leave the site when their bodies started to crave carbohydrates rather than proteins.  Corn is a great carbohydrate and is the answer to satisfy the deer’s late season cravings.

A large open field was plowed and planted with a quick to mature variety of grain corn.  Grain corn produces more ears of corn than typical field corn, more ears equals more food for the deer.  As a matter of fact about five thousand pounds of corn is produced per acre with this type of planting.

So far the corn planting is working well.  About a half dozen different bucks were photographed last week on the WOW site.  This year is much better than last years hunting season.  If we are lucky, a handful of bucks will survive the next couple of weeks of hunting season and we will be off and running toward the successful realization of our management goals.

Some of you have questioned the white fence visible in photos taken at the cornfield corner site.  The fence is a wildlife exclusion fence specifically designed to keep deer out of food plots.  I’ve been very impressed so far this season.

The fence is manufactured by Gallagher Fence.  This particular fence uses a portable charging unit powered by a battery and solar panel to maintain an electric charge within the fence.  The fence also uses an innovative system of staggering the fence to make it nearly impossible for deer to simply jump into the plot.  The fence is portable and reusable, fence posts can easily be pulled and the wire reused season after season.  So far it has worked excellent.

We fenced off twenty-five percent of our four acre corn field.  The fence went up around September 1 and to date not one deer has entered the fenced in area.  As a matter of fact the lower wire of the fence appears to be low enough to block raccoons from entering the fenced in area. Keeping the coons out will significantly increase the food available to deer and turkeys once the fence has been removed.  We have had more than a few visits from black bears this season, it appears that the bears aren’t willing to tackle the electric fence.

The main reason for the fence was to ensure food was available to the deer during the late season.  As the deer start to clean up the open three acres of corn we will remove the fence and allow deer to feed on the remaining section of field.  Saving a section of food plot with the fence will drastically increase the lifespan of the corn planting and provide food for wildlife using the WOW farm through out the winter.  If your food plots have been consumed already, look into the Gallagher Fencing system at www.gallagherusa.com as a way to preserve food until later in the season.

Just about every aspect of wildlife is driven by the availability of food.  If you can find the food you will find wildlife.  Each deer walking in the north will consume nearly one ton of food per deer per year.  During the spring and summer they focus on feeding on foods high in protein.  As fall rolls around, soft mass becomes more of a preferred food. Once the temperatures start to drop they crave carbohydrates.  Carbs are key during the late fall and winter months as deer try to maintain body weight while the snow flies.  On the WOW site a good supply of carbohydrates will keep the deer from wandering to neighboring properties and help us achieve our management goals.

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