Seclusion. The state allows you hunting privileges but you are the one who decides how many does to take or what age bucks you want. Hunting big bucks on small properties is no easy task but you can kill mature deer on any property so long as you put the time inand be smart about it. With a little time and effort it is very possible. Now that I’ve established what good cover is and how critical it is to holding big bucks, I’d like to share some things that you can do on your hunting property to improve the habitat. Creating mock scrapes can keep bucks curious and on your property longer. If you treat your entire property as a sanctuary and if you use your property with the full awareness that one mistake can cost you the season, you will have developed the proper mindset for what it takes to attract, hold, and harvest mature bucks on a small parcel. We know that on this small property, many folks will argue this point – that each one you do not shoot may walk off of your property and on to the next tract and then be shot. To consistently hold big bucks on your land, you’ve got to have the kind of thick habitat that they desire and some areas that you stay out of. If older bucks are not showing up on camera then mature bucks are rare in the area. Only bucks that are 16” of wider and generally considered to be worthy of being mounted are taken – many years, we take none. In every direction from this property the hunting pressure was substantial, and any buck … Bucks typically have a core area they like to spend most of there time as long as they are not pressured and have water and food. Get there early and stay till last legal shooting light, the odds are good that a bruiser buck will show himself in waning light. Small plots in thick cover can do the trick. For deer to use the food plots, they must feel secure. I have moved cameras all over my land mineral sites, food plots, trails apple trees. If you need help working through all the considerations of laying out your hunting property, consider taking NDA’s Deer Steward I … Would a large doe and fawn numbers keep bucks away? You may believe that your state manages the deer you hunt, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Not only are game cameras good at identifying unique bucks, but cameras document the age structure of bucks using a property. Holding deer on small property can be done very easily. Of course that happens. However, they can work even better still when connecting to a small staging plot that sits just off that large food source. If you keep the does on your land year round, the bucks will be there during November. You name it and still no bucks. the only thing different is the number of doe and fawns i been seeing this year. Post-rut is about recovery and survival. Keep the wind in mind, both when entering your stand, during the hunt, and when exiting the hunt. Keep in mind, however, that without good cover to create a sense of security for the deer, much of the food plot usage will occur at night — especially by mature bucks. Increasing human populations and urban sprawl has forced hunters to be more adept at hunting bucks on ever-shrinking chunks of property, and the best small acreage hunter I know is Chad McKibben. Though he’s only been hunting just over a decade, McKibben has managed to take really large bucks on properties where other hunters would strike out. Please keep that in mind as you delve into some of the more commonly used and effective time-wasters. Cameras can be left out longer, but the law of diminishing returns kicks in as the same bucks keep returning for photo sessions. Hunting small properties doesn’t mean that you won’t shoot big bucks, it just means you have to be smart about how you hunt. 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