One thing that is critical to improve whitetail deer habitat that is often overlooked is what I like to refer to as “Segregation of the Sexes”. We all know that 4 one acre plots is better than 1 four acre plot…same with bedding areas, beds, etc. However, I think it’s more extreme to the point that 4 well placed 1 acre plots is better than 1 ten acre plot. The more feeding areas you have, the more bedding areas you have, the more room you make on your property for segregation of the sexes. You not only allow room for both sexes, but age of sexes as well.

That’s why I personally don’t advocate large, single plantings of any species. For example, if you planted a two acre brassica field and the deer didn’t touch the brassicas until mid-Nov., that would eliminate the deer usage in the early season. However, I don’t like to see 8 plots with different plantings on each plot. Instead, I like to see combinations of plantings within the same plot. You can do this with designated perennial portions that you maintain indefinitely by alternating combination plantings that include cool season plantings, and you can also include designated annual planting areas that are rotated between cool and warm season plantings in the same year.

In the end though you keep each plot’s efficiency high for the entire year, you scatter the deer herd, and you make room for more deer including both sexes. Unless you want deer NOT to use a plot for some reason during certain times of the year because you have to walk through them to access stands, etc….then by all means do not plant single plantings on a plot because that plot will experience time line holes in nutrition and attraction that lead to less deer that can use your property, in particular when they have the largest chance of being shot.

If I had to choose 1 crop to improve whitetail deer habitat, I would go with cool-season crops so I’m getting the highest amount of efficiency when the local deer herd is the most susceptible to getting shot, basically the month of November.

Also, on your property with all the switchgrass, your plots will actually help to separate your bedding areas, at least by defining them more for various family groups or bucks to use as opposed to one large wandering, undefined bedding area. Multiple efficient plots will also help to encourage more use of the defined bedding areas throughout the hunting season as long as those plots offer great attraction during Nov. and later. I’ve never cared if the deer were eating on my neighbors great crops and nutrition during the summer…as long as they lived in and around my property during Nov. and Dec.

There is no reason that with that much cover you shouldn’t actually be collecting deer as the season progresses as food supplies are dwindling and hunting pressure is most intense, but you have to have enough quality small food sources and diversity in bedding area.

Lee and Tiffany Lakosky’s Farm – A Dream Dirt Story in Iowa …

While there certainly is more acreage involved than the owned acres, I suspect that Lee and Tiffany also lease some adjoining ground which helps them be as effective as they are in managing the deer on their home place but their home place is about 350 acres. … When you look inside the timber you notice many of the markings of intertimber food plots that you often see in their video footage on their various appearances on television. These food plots are spread out and …

Why am I sooo excited? Because in my opinion it is the best week or 10 day period for getting multiple shot opportunities at mature bucks in the midwest.

Why? Because this is the narrow window of time that the mature bucks are ready to breed, but the does are not. It’s called the pre-rut. That means the bucks will be on their feet during daylight hours searching for that first receptive doe, and the best time of day to be in your stand is between 10 am and 2pm.

I believe the pre-rut is better for getting more cracks at mature bucks than the rut because during the rut the bucks are locked down with a hot doe and don’t travel as much while they will spend a whole day tending that doe.

Years ago I had a hard time getting myself to sit in a tree from 10am -2pm, but I quickly learned that mature bucks cruise around looking for hot does in the middle of the day and appear to not be as wary or cautious as they are during the morning or evening hunts. I didn’t see as many deer, but I saw more quality bucks.

I believe there are a couple reason for this.

First, the does are generally bedded down at midday and its easier for bucks to locate them simply by going from bedding area to bedding area to see if any does are hot to trot. This is why I like to hunt in travel corridors like fence rows, tree lines, or any strip of thick cover that connects different woodlots, swamps, or standing cornfields where does normally bed down in security.

Younger bucks may walk through an open field during the rut or pre-rut, but a mature buck is much more likely to stay in some sort of cover during daylight hours as he travels.

The second reason I think mature bucks cruise more during midday at this time of year while looking for some action is that they rarely encounter hunters during the midday. Now I know a lot hunters are quick to dismiss this idea because they simply do not believe a whitetail is that smart. That is true, until the bucks lives through a couple hunting seasons with antlers. If they survive to their 3rd hunting season where there’s even medium hunting pressure, this makes them a whole different animal and they wise up to the patterns of hunters being in woods for a few hours in the morning and evening. I have noticed a big difference in the way they seem to be more at ease and not as wary while they travel at midday.

So instead of getting up early like I normally do to hunt in the morning, I’ll sometimes sleep in and head out to my tree around 9am. I know, I know, it just doesn’t seem right to head out into the woods at 9am. But I try to hunt everyday during this period and sleeping in once in a while helps me from getting burned out.

I never thought I would ever get “burn out” from bowhunting too much.

If you don’t already have a stand ready to go in one of these travel corridors, be careful not to spoil a good spot if you scout and  prep a tree at this time of year. Springtime is really when you should be doing all of that.

Well, I’m headed out of state for this week. Looks like it will be dry and cooler for the best week of bowhunting whitetail all year. I’ll keep you posted with any success.

Feel free to leave a comment below of your experiences you’ve had while hunting during the midday.

Good Hunting,

Randy