Dick’s Deer Hunting Blog

Deer season is upon us. I hope everyone has a safe and productive season. I have talked to folks that are not seeing deer in the food plots or at the feeders. It is very green in most parts of Texas and we have a good crop of acorns. Deer are dining on the natural forage. Keep the feeders full and in working order. As soon as the natural forage is gone, the deer will be back.
I was on a 5,200 low fence lease in Sterling Texas several years ago. I showed up the second weekend of the season and the majority of the hunters were complaining, loudly. The land owner had an oil drilling rig on the property. The loudest of the hunters said there were no deer on the game cameras or at the feeders due to the drilling rig. The first day of my hunt I saw plenty of deer moving in and out of the thickets but none at my feeder. I don’t shoot deer at the feeder anyway. After the morning hunt I took a stroll into those thickets. The low areas of the thickets were lush with native foliage. That’s what the deer were eating. I shot two deer that weekend coming out of those thickets. The deer were dining on what nature provided. Feeders became active during the fourth week of season after the natural food was gone. And by the way, the guy that complained the loudest wound up shooting a 160 class buck about 500 yards from the drilling rig.
Doe (a deer, a female deer) health is the key to good herd management. Healthy females make healthy herds. Throwing corn from a feeder is an attractant with little nutritional value. Throwing a feed that is nutritionally complete is the first step in managing a heard. Wells Brothers offer a complete line of Purina Deer Chows to get the most from your deer herd. Trigger control is the next management technique. Let those nice six and eight points walk. Thin the doe population and take out the cull deer first. A two-year-old spike is not helping your deer herd.
To bring the deer to you, try Purina’s Antlermax Sweet feed. Do not put this in a feeder. Instead, pour it on stumps, logs and the ground. It will bring the deer and hogs to you. A 50 pound bag sells for $17.75 as of this writing. Have a good season and keep the wind in your face! Click here for some great deer pictures.