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Hunting Tips | Scouting

Cheap food plot

Here is a cheaper alternative to bio-logic. Go to your local feed store and buy enough turnip seed to cover your food plot times two. The key to any good food plot is to fertilize, fertilize and fertilize. I have about a one acre food plot and we put on just over 600 pounds of fertilize (13-13-13) on it. Bio-logic is nothing more than super-fertilized greens. But remember deer will not touch the turnip greens until after the first frost of the year. The frost takes the bitter taste out of the leaves.

Find those does

When scouting for a big buck, you should always look for signs of does and doe activity, such as places where does congregate or bed. If you're hunting the rut based on doe activity; you have a great chance of getting that big buck. The big bucks will find the does during the rut.

Finding the deer trails

I use a corn feeder near my stand to draw in deer. Prior to season, I go out and sit in my stand until dark and watch to see which way the deer are coming and leaving the area. Once I have determined the deer routes, I can choose a different route for myself. This way the deer will not come across your scent trail as they approach the feeder and your stand.

Home made deer feeder

You don't have to buy one of those expensive deer feeders, you can construct a home made deer feeder to attract deer to your hunting area. Take a 5' long piece of 6" round PVC pipe with a removable type PVC end cap, or you can use a coffee can as an end cap. Paint the pipe and end cap an earth tone color or camo color and use a couple of bungie cords to attach the feeder to a tree 4" to 5" off the ground. Fill the feeder with shucked corn or rolled oats mixed with molasses. You can purchase the rolled oats with molasses at your local horse and cattle feed store. Put the pipe end cap on to keep out moisture, squirrels and raccoons. You now have a gravity fed deer feeder that is highly mobile. Check your local game laws to be sure that deer feeders are legal in your state or province.

Homemade deer trails

If you own the land where you hunt or it is ok with the land owner, then you can try this idea. Deer like to feel hidden but they also like to travel routes that are not thick and brushy. Try clearing out a few "trails" in your hunting area. The trails you make don't have to be real wide, but wide enough that deer can easily use them. Make sure the trail is mostly covered with dirt so that you can see if deer are using the trails and where they are using them the most. Also make sure that the trails don't end, but rather loop back or connect into other existing deer trails. You might try placing some kind of attractant like corn, wheat, minerals or some scent on these trails to keep the deer coming back. (Check to see if baiting is legal in your area). This procedure has worked for me and I'm sure it will work for you.

Homemade mineral lick

Go to your local feed store and buy (1) 50lb bag of granulized dicalcium phosphate, (2) 50lb bags of trace mineral salt, and (1) 50lb bag of rock salt. Using a 32oz cup mix 1-cup dicalcium phosphate 2-cups trace mineral salt and 1-cup rock salt (ice cream salt) into 5-gallon bucket. Rake leaves and other debris out of the way in a 6ft circle then add mix evenly over the circle. Try to find a moist area for best results. Slightly rake back over mix and then leave alone. Deer will actually eat the dirt when they find it. This makes about 200lbs and is the majority of what's in the 3006 mineral blend. Cost is about $30.00. Check your local game laws about creating your own salt lick.

How to find a deer's food source

Lets say you get your deer on the last day of hunting season. How do you find out where their feeding area is? The best way to find out where the deer are feeding is after cleaning the deer, open the stomach and observe the contents to see what they were eating. The following year, you will have a heads up as to where to set up at that time of year, right along side the food source. Deer are relatively habitual. Where and what they were eating this year, is a sure bet they will be dining on the same thing next year.