Top_Heavy's World

Deer in every part of the country relate heavily to one thing... groceries. Does and fawns frequent the best feeding areas and big bucks follow the does. Proper nutrition creates healthier deer and that creates larger antlers. No matter how you look at it, food is the single greatest factor that I can easily have an impact on, and it is the easiest factor to affect my hunting during every season. I have a couple of new properties that I am working on, and I thought I could share how I choose a plot location. Once the spot is chosen we will go into what I plant, how I plant it, variables that affect different seasons etc.
Location is critical in several ways. Deer like security, the more secure a deer feels in it's habitat, the more it will move naturally. I like to put plots in areas that offer the deer percieved advantages, I want to give my herd a false sense of security. The property I will show is a prime example of this theory. The property has a huge slope to the south, more winter sun offers less snow in the worst part of the year, a bonus for the late season. It has heavy timber and bedding cover on the East side of the property and there is established CRP and heavy grass on the South and West sides. Pastured timber that has been allowed to brush up again, borders the North West side and there is a small river on the very far south edge of the CRP. The area has a huge deer population, but the movement patterns were unpredictable, spread out and hard to hunt. There are only 2 fields for several miles in all directions, so a permanent food source would greatly concentrate movement.
We know the approximate area for a plot, there is about 40 acres here that would work. Now we need to figure out how to hunt it. A food plot is not good if you blow all of your deer off the field everytime you come to hunt, with continuous disturbance, the deer will become very nocturnal and you are defeating the purpose for even planting. I looked at the best locations for a tree stand. This was done by evaluating current natural deer movement, you can't force them to go where they don't want to, so work with them naturally. I looked at the best trees for a stand, not just a current tree, but also back up trees incase of disease or wind damage. I looked at the wind direction best suited to this plot and stand locations. I evaluated the land contours to get me to the tree unseen while keeping my scent controlled.

This is the best tree I could find for an East, North East, South East of South wind. It is in point of timber that runs west into the field. Many people would not choose this spot, it appears very touchy with the wind, but due to the hill, my scent is almost not even an issue. South is not my ideal wind, but as the cattle are put into the pasture on the NE corner, the deer will be coming to the food via the south trail or the trail right below the stand, thus making a S wind huntable. The fact that my tree is in a corner is another bonus as deer will have visual security by the hill to the N, timber on the E and S and open country with a great view to the W. The contours of the hill naturally lessen at this corner and the wash that starts in this point prevents deer from getting right under the stand.
Shape of the field can be critical. We chose to run this plot up the hill and West into the field. The rows of plant material will naturally prevent run off this way, the large farm equipment we are using on this property can easily be turned around with out damage to the surrounding plant materials, and the current deer movement follows this X shape already. 2 legs of the X go into the timber and the other 2 go up the hill and also out into the field. We are designing this plot to slow and hold the deer during normal movement as well as create a destination with predictable access.

This is the view of the L shaped plot with the shooting tree in the corner. We tilled the ground and worked the soil for planting, next we will pick the best plant material for this site.