This thread won't interest the public land hunter or those that are mostly opportunistic meat hunters.

But, for those that have access to a private tract to hunt and are able to do a little work on that property this will be of some interest. It's pic heavy...past few months work and results on a 400 acre lease.

BTW...this is the 25th year I've had this lease...so it's been a long work in progress. When I leased it during the summer of 2000 there were maybe 12 or 15 deer on the property at any given time and few mature bucks that used the tract. Now....well, there are a LOT more. A lot of changes have occurred, some I've made, some the timber company landowner have made, and some the neighbor's have made. All in a positive direction...

I never considered myself a deer farmer but do consider myself a wildlife manager that uses tools other than an arrow or a bullet to improve the quality of the hunting that I have access to.

Yep...I spend a bit of money on this and I dont even own the land. If I owned the land I'd really pour $$ into this.

It is one of the most satisfying things to work the land to improve the wildlife habitat. I like the "giving something back" aspect of it all.

My family & friends enjoying this is a great feeling too!






















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Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been a taker my whole life… Finally in a position to give back a little bit. 99/100 deer get a pass from me. I’ve got kids and friends that help me keep the doe herd in check. My want is to challenge myself with a mature buck (or two or three) each year. I put in the time, money and sweat to make it what I want and the results have been as expected.

It ain’t for everyone and I probably wouldn’t do it if I didn’t own it. I’m fortunate to live in an area that’s rural, with extraordinary genes for the state, in Ag country with others around me who are practicing the same concepts.

…Mr. Swamp, I’m right fond of them chocolate horns. Beautiful buck you got a picture of there…

Is it high fenced? If not, I wouldn't really call it "deer farming". Looks like a fun project.

Not high fenced...but Ol' Savell calls us deer farmers if we plant food plots and such...so I added that for his enjoyment.

Post pics of any deer management or other wildlife management activities. I enjoy seeing what others do in different parts of the continent.

Spot on! My goals are very similar to your's.

If I had the money id try to do a more permaculture food plot so I wouldnt have to spend much in following years . grow chestnuts for food and a tree to hang a stand on in a few years, some other understory crop producing trees, hazelnuts, pawpaws, etc. Annual plantings just take too much time and money and too weather dependent unless they are cash crops where you sell what the deer dont eat

Old "DD"? wellHe feeds his deer spent grain after making moonshine, so I wouldn't care what he says...LOL

Not sure how many pics I have. Good example of a hard mast plot that I’ve incorporated into a typical food plot. I’ve just removed the tubes this year.

I had several sawtooth oaks that were about 12 yrs old killed by herbicide by the timber company contractor...even though I had them flagged.

Also, contract loggers cut a huge portion of the oaks off this tract about 3 or 4 years ago. It was sad to watch. But, thats what you have to deal with when leasing. The owner is in the timber business...not the deer business.

Oh...to own my own property!

But, getting the roads, plots, stands, etc back in shape after the logging ops gave me something to do. I went 20+ years on this tract with only a small amount of pine thinning. Over half the tract was natural stands of big pines and hardwoods. No doubt that it was just a matter of time b4 the cut down machines & skidders arrived..

On the positive side of them cleacutting 315 of 400 acreas in a 2 yr period....the deer love those clearcuts and the hen turkeys seem to have had good hatchings in the grown over clearcuts.

Bucks might rub those oak saplings...

I’d be pretty choked if I spent 25 years managing and improving wildlife habitat and all I could show was some 80-110” 4 pointers.

Genetics and location are everything. And the Florida Georgia line clearly is not the place for big bucks.

But you are helping and improving what is there! And for sure deserve to have bigger bucks on the property for your efforts!

We work 55 acres in MO that is primarily oak forest and rocky ground. It held deer but they had no set feeding areas the one neighbor has a large lawn at his cabin area that drew a lot of deer often but that was it. No real deer trails were established mostly roaming nomads just out wandering around feeding on acorns.

Often when deer season rolled around they were dispersed few remained then, the same with the turkey populations but now we hold the deer and we are seeing a lot more turkeys.

It being rocky ground root type plants are not realistic after years of experiments and trying the expensive bag seeds winter wheat and local sourced clover have been the best investment. We added lime several times and fertilizer we picked a lot of rocks and I’m sure we will be picking rocks for a longtime to come.

With all that work invested I think we have taken a handful of deer if that probably 3 deer and no turkeys yet it’s not about killing deer I get a lot of joy from just the trail cam pics. I care less what the meat or trophy hunters think they can do their thing and I’ll do mine just the way it is to each their own.

I'd do it, maybe, if I had the ground but I was brought up sitting in the mountains and shivering where if you could see 100yds you were in a nice clear spot.

My sister has farms and I use to go there and hunt once in awhile after hunting the mountain but it didn't seem like hunting in a sense.
I guess its all in how you brew up and the area you live.

Beautiful property and management Swamp! Good looking bucks for your area too.

In reality all I can say I do for “deer management “ is pass up some really nice bucks in hopes they become older and better. I don’t have sole access to any ground so doing any real work seems pointless to me. lol
But passing up real good deer does make for some big deer. It’s been 20 years since I’ve killed a buck other than one that I could have killed previous years when he was already a real solid buck.

I can grow big turnips. These are 55 lb full grown terriers.



ol' dad

Grandparents had a truck farm in the UP of MI grew everything in sand they were organic before it was a thing. If not for them doing that I doubt I’d be interested in planting the gravel pit in MO where we have food plots at now that are doing well the periodic rains get a lot of credit also.

I plant lots of varieties of food plots for the wildlife. Clover, corn, brassicas, and soybeans. I have put in a small plastic fish pond for water along with a couple old bath tubs and a water tub. I haul water from home as needed. I enjoy it a lot. Have grandkids that are now old enough to hunt so it's worth it.

Thanks WB! It aint Worth County area for sure but it has slowly evolved into the best this area has to offer along the lower Alapaha River.

Have to work with what you got my Canadian friend.

For size reference the buck my DIL killed weighed 145 lbs LW...which is typical for a 4.5 yr old in this area.

And a mature buck is a mature buck no matter where he lives....he is a challenge to kill. And guess what? It is more satisfying killing that mature 100" buck that you put some effort in than it is killing a mature buck on public or anywhere you haven’t donated any sweat equity.

The absolute best antlers youll see here is in the 130" range....and one of those show up about every 5 or 6 years or so.

These whitetails are the Seminole subspecies with a mix of Georgia coastal island subspecies mixed in in the 60s.

Timber company (landowner) contacted me this morning and asked if I would like some bladed out fire breaks around all the pine plantation blocks down in the river bottom....which is about half of the 400 acre area.

I said heck yeah! I said I'll meet the dozer operator there. He is almost done....we're still here. He's creating some fantastic hunter access trails in this rough!

I guess its good to be their beaver trapper....ahh the perks of knowing somebody!

But, part of the reason is we are in the best part of our firearms deer season and the dozer operators needed something to do that wouldn't disturb hunters on their leased lands. Im heading out tommorrow for an out of state hunt so I was giddy when they asked me....lol

Swamp I get it 100%. I was blessed to purchase 137 acres 19 years ago and I absolutely love to make improvements in the form of food plots, native vegetation management, etc. it has been great to see the fruits of my labor not only in my own harvests and experiences but also in the neighbors that have benefited as well. Not having huge acreage I have accepted the fact that I’ll win some and I’ll lose some when it comes to harvesting a good buck, turkey, or bear, but seeing the excitement of a neighbor that has killed a basket 8 point that is their best buck to date makes me happy even though I would make the personal choice not to shoot it. Giving back and teaching my son to give it back as well as working hard to do it is enough for me.

I joke around that with the time and money I spend on this property in the form of taxes, improvements, fuel, equipment, etc I could afford to go to the mid west on a high end whitetail hunt every year but it wouldn’t be near as fulfilling.

Exactly!!!

He pushed some stumps out of a couple plots too...

Gonna be a few purple top turnips around edges of this plot....unless the deer turn to em.....I'll eat a mess or three myself.....about Christmas.

…. Nice garden

Sure is.

It'll be full of does in a few weeks that will become cubed & vacuumed sealed. I'll likely eat some of them with a mess of turnips...

…. Have you got them on a finishing ration yet ? … I know that graze will keep them alive but do you put the grain to them for a little bit before slaughter?

What timber specie?
Fried turnip and back strap ok with me.
(Yanks put onion in all that, peppers too)

I live for this stuff. I own 400 acres and spend a lot of time and money - too much






Pollinator Field

That first pic is a nice dog leg left over water …. I suggest putting in a couple bunkers around the green

… good looking par four

WhiteCliffs - to heck with the deer, that flooded timber and mallards is where the fun's at!

Yes....corn!

Can't afford protein pellets. Plus I've discontinued using gravity or trough feeders as of a few months ago due to CWD being found about 35 miles north of me....5 positive deer so far.

Using only broad area ground distribution using a tailgate spinner and spinners that have skids so I can move them occasionally.

Pine.....slash and loblolly.

No onions in my turnips...or peppers.

Amazing pictures All^^^

Very rewarding work

WhiteCliffs,
You got it goin' on!

These ole girls should be getting some marbling by now.

When we fed cattle the deer were pretty good size as they ate out of the earlage and distillant pile, the worst part was they would dig into the top and wouldn’t eat off the face where we were digging into the pile.

…. Do yall keep good track of the herd ? Like if one comes up missing do you go looking for it ? … have yall started branding them yet or is that the next step in their domestication?

…. Well the deer farming industry needs to come up with a vaccine for cwd … y’all could immunize your herd while their at the feed troughs

… maybe even come up with a medicated pellet or something

… hey yall check this out … it’s a call that sounds like a feeder going off …could come in handy if they eat all the corn before you get a shot or something like that … kind of like rattling a feed bucket if a steer gets out

LOL.

Don’t worry Savell pretty soon we’ll start embryo implants for proper size testicles and large racks.

… yeah … they likely out there palpating the does to see how the next boon and Crockett named big Jim is coming along

… some of these boys got more pics of deer growing up than my mommas scrap book

… surprised we ain’t seen an ultrasound yet

Get back on the game or show us a buck down pic lol

….. I’ve killed more deer than cwd … got the shirt and front porch to prove it lol

… I ain’t even been out yet … but plan on it soon hopefully… no gardens or feed troughs to sit next to …. But I usually get lucky

Lol just picking at ya good luck

…. Been a few more added since that pic … going to need a bigger porch lol

… I must be getting old though… still got meat in the freezer and ain’t feeling mad at them yet for some reason

…. I don’t blame you

… I’m talking some major (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) in here lol

That's the size racks we cut up for knife handles. Let me know if you want to part with any.

Savell,
Did you build a pump house yet?

That tarp is probably rotten. Gonna get cold soon.

… no sir …. Them right there are all majestic trophies worthy of nothing less than absolute worship

… to make knife handles out of them would be sacrilegious

Cuz killed this buck this evening about 40 miles north of me. Not the best one from up there, but he's a good one.

Killed on a managed private tract that my family (several cousins) has had leased since 1986. Was my lease until I was hired as a GW in the mid90s and moved south to where I'm now.

… that well caved in two years ago … I had bought the shack in front of me … running of its well now and that shallow pos is unreliable as can be …. Wife likely to leave me over it lol

… got a tarp over it with a bunch of extension cords leading to one of those red bulb heat lamps

… too cheap to get a proper one drilled … but its coming at some point lol

Woman gotta have water....when she needs it.

…. Dang driveway so growed over …. Doubt a a well drilling truck could even get back here without a logging crew coming through first …. Hard living over here these days lol

… and on top of that she wants me to slow down on the beer drinking

…. Says some nonsense about me needing to grow up … there was a time a woman wasn’t allowed to talk to a man like that lol

We all gotta play by some rules....the good ones and the bad ones.

… thinking about changing my ways and becoming a game warden

My herd of grand daughters from 7 to 15 yrs old and a boyfriend was in this weekend and killed all but one of these in 45 min Sat eve

You'd probably be a good'un. Folks back in my hometown still can't believe DNR hired me. I was a tad poacher-ish back before my GW days.

…. You know that makes you a hypocrite right Uncle Swamp lol

Nah, they make the best green jeans.

Not full on poacher, but poacher adjacent.

Back on subject with some deer greens

Nice.

Y’all got some decent plots and land.

Keep up the good work.

I want to hear the story of killing that buck.

… well that was Johnny Crabclaw Jr…. He was conceived in a thicket on the noreast corner of my lush brassicas and genetically modified super radish plot in the fall of ‘19

… from the ultrasound pics I got … had feeling he was going to be the one

… his first few years I watched him grow up …. Excelling in reindeer games to point I thought I could lose him to Santa’s sleigh … yet he stayed around

…. In 2024 his b52’s and f16’s popped !

… so on the opener … I waited till my cell cam told me where he was …. Slipped in with a creedmore topped with my trusty Leupold… waited till his eyes were concealed by the foot tall brassicas so he wouldn’t charge me looking for shelled corn

…. Took my shot and it founds its mark

… raised my finger towards the sky and gave thanks for my harvest

… what a hunt …. That’s what it’s all about!

Lol

This was a good and interesting thread. To bad it got hijacked!

…. Prayers sent

… and on a half (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) serous note … ol uncle swamp knew this was going to happen the minute he posted it lol

… and I trap for people that do all the feeding and farming and naming … grateful for the access and beer money they give me

… it is a little sad that it’s become a big money activity to deer hunt now … my main trapping property is 6500 dollars a gun … and they don’t shoot much … just watch them hoping one gets big enough… sad to me

My youngest got connections and has a big property here to hunt but most of his friends are shut out of places due to big money from Houston leasing up and deer farming all the land trying to be like the Drury brothers

…. I had a hundred acres lease for my family for years till it was sold to one individual out of Houston that turned it all into feeders and foodplot waiting to grow a boon and Crockett

… I kill them in the government woods … its work but we don’t go hungry

… what say you about that Mr Bear tracker ?

This dummy speaks a lot of truth. Antler hunters and expensive leases are ruining hunting for the “common” hunter.

It’s the new commercialization of wildlife.

Folks like to shame a person for not letting a deer grow to a “trophy” level. Whatever that is. They have forgotten what it’s really about.

Now, if you want to name a deer and hunt that one deer, good for you. But don’t shame the guy who wants to shoot a spike because he bought the tag for it and he wants to shoot it.


Y’all deer farmers keep up the good work, glad you have a hobby and are doing what you want.

Please don’t judge the normal folks who don’t care about carry handles on a deer.

Some guys like playing farmer and some guys like hunting. Give me a mature buck bedded with a hot doe a mile and a half back in a pasture draw filled with plum thicks and all day to stalk him over a tractor seat any day.

Sounds like a dream hunt!

Are there cameras on those Deer feeders ...so you can just " Time them up ".

Also just wondering also ..if you get a phone alert..?

To a point I think so. here in Nova scotia asides from the odd field we're mostly all 2nd cut timber. 50 yards is open, 100-200 is a dream, usually. unless it's a cut over corn field but vast majority of deer, or any game, are 50 or less. my first deer this year was probably 25. so we all grew up stand hunting thats 90% + of hunters here, but I can't stand sitting on my butt doing nothing.

Sitting in a stand over bait doesn't feel like hunting at ALL to me, i understand there's work and money put in, but I wouldn't call it hunting.

I'm not bashing it, I do it from time to time. it's really, really difficult to successfully hunt any other way down here in thick woods and brush where there isn't a foot or two between trees.

It's like shooting fish in a barrel, no skill, talent, nothing really. pick a travel route set some bait sit for awhile and boom. may as well be putting down a hog in your yard. Again, not bashing sorry if it seems like it but it's just not hunting. stalking animals and still hunting is hunting.

I do like seeing the wildlife though! I'd probably sit in a stand over a food plot and enjoy watching the herd. sure beats television!

….. the ones I’ve talked to while trapping for them will have multiple stands with cell cameras…. If they’re sitting in one and the “target buck” gets sent to their phone at one of the other stands …. They’ll get out … jump on the side x side and ride over to it

… I bite my tongue when they brag about such things as they pay me to trap

… well that was Johnny Crabclaw Jr…. He was conceived in a thicket on the noreast corner of my lush brassicas and genetically modified super radish plot in the fall of ‘19

… from the ultrasound pics I got … had feeling he was going to be the one

… his first few years I watched him grow up …. Excelling in reindeer games to point I thought I could lose him to Santa’s sleigh … yet he stayed around

…. In 2024 his b52’s and f16’s popped !

… so on the opener … I waited till my cell cam told me where he was …. Slipped in with a creedmore topped with my trusty Leupold… waited till his eyes were concealed by the foot tall brassicas so he wouldn’t charge me looking for shelled corn

…. Took my shot and it founds its mark

… raised my finger towards the sky and gave thanks for my harvest

… what a hunt …. That’s what it’s all about! [/quote]


Oh my goodness that was funny.

Oh my goodness that was funny.[/quote]



Haha, that’s gold.


Gotta remember to video it next time so you can post it to social media for the clicks and don’t forget to be a pro staffer. Gotta sell a product .

Yup.
Boy my kids went thru 4H with is one.
Figured he'd go full outlaw or game warden, lol.
Seems like he's a good one.