This was mis-posted in the Articles Section, is a good subject so I'm reposting it here.

Eric West wrote:

searching for big deer I own 20 acres of bush, Ive open 3 areas about 50ft by 50ft for clover and chickery, its been 3 yrs since the food plots and still no big deer. Only seeing small 4's and 6's in the past 15 yrs Ive only seen 1 10 pt on my land. I have a lake on one side its all bush and bog lake frontage, and main road on other side. The land on the other side of the road has huge deer, its managed by farm land on both sides of it. Can anyone help me get those Deer to my neck of the woods.

Interesting problem Dallan.

Eric...is the feed on the other side of the road different to what you have? Maybe you need to plant something that is more alluring to the deer...make them want to cross the road and come to your place. You could plant in a corner close to the road, and the other paddocks, so that the deer can see/smell the fodder on your side and venture on over.

What about cover for the deer? They need to feel safe when they are in an area, and if your place is wide open they maybe just don't want to venture right out into the open.

Are the other property owners doing something that stops the deer from crossing over to your place?

Do your know and get on well with the other owners? If so, maybe you could sit down with them and find out what they believe to be the reason the deer don't venture beyond their place.

I don't know deer all that well, but I do know that livestock will go to the best fodder so you just need to make your place at least as attractive for the deer as the other places.

There are a couple of "food for thought" ideas mate, but I will be watching this one to see what the experts have to say...I will no doubt learn something.

Cheers, Vince

Are Deer feeders legal in your neck of the woods?

Could be a problem...Deer tend to be creatures of habit. If they are having a good time at the neighbors they may not see any reason to venture to other places. They also tend to move in the same circle and unless forced to move to another area will continue as long as the food does not play out or preditors don't pressure them.

You might want to sneak over to the neighbors and see what they are getting for fare over there. You might not be offering the best food...If salt blocks are legal, put one next to a main game trail and in a somewhat protected spot that you can watch.

I once leased a 350 acre place to hunt deer. This 350 acre ranch was notched out of the Burns Ranch in LaSalle County, Texas, a 40,000 acre ranch that has never been leased for hunting. Those 350 acres was like hunting the 40,000 acres (super place). Another time I leased a 3,000 acre ranch that was surrounded by ranches that were cut up into 10 and 20 acre blocks and a carrot farmer on one side. Most of the 10 and 20 acre ranches had a deer stand with one or more hunters and the carrot farmer would occasionally shoot deer out of his fields.

The smaller place was great because of location. The large ranch, which should have been better, was all shot out.

It's like any other real estate....Location, Location, Location.