Stewball, have deer been using your food plots consistently all season? On ours we had activity in the early season but now the deer coming on to our food plots are few and far between. We think it is because of the good acorn crop we have this year. Do the daytime deer on your food plots increase significantly in December?
Same situation in our area of NC Okla. Rut is about over, but the deer don't do the food plots during rut, and if you have a good acorn crop, they will be there. Our area does not have acorns, so we are saying the bucks are pestering the does so bad they have gone nocturnal.
Actually this 80 acres in Woods county is owned by our plumber. He bought it ten years ago and manages it for deer and turkey. He plants a summer pea plot and this year a winter pea plot, with rye mixed in. Fortunately we got enough moisture to promote good growth, although the deer keep it knawed off pretty good. I see deer on this field everytime I'm on the stand. We don't have cameras on the field, so I'm not sure what the full 24 hour activity is, but I'm sure they use it all day and night.
On a side note, Rick had been inviting me to go turkey hunting for years and I was always too busy, but two years ago my wife said "you're going, no excuses". It is a great place, he has some of the only woods surrounded by open fields and scrub brush. We've never really patterned the deer, we always see lots of them, many are six & eight points. He also has about 15 stands in the wooded area, but he never goes in the woods until hunting season. We're trying not to shoot anything less than ten points and I've passed on some very nice eight pointers with beautiful racks, but hopefully in a couple of years they will be bigger and better, if the offsetting landowners don't get them. Now I have a key to the place and a run of it, only myself and he have hunted it the last two years. I have never seen so many deer and turkeys in one place. I sit and watch deer that I would have died to shoot 10 years ago. But, hopefully being patient and waiting, a real big once in a lifetime buck will show himself. I really believe that you can do everything right, but it still has a lot to do with being in the right spot at the right time. I also think that the amount of time one spends in the stands has a lot to do with getting that big buck. IMHO. I wish I could take friends with me, but I have to respect his property and not violate his trust. I just feel very fortunate to have such a great place to hunt.
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