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.