Food Plots?

[loneranger]

Everyone talks about leaving stands alone until hunting gets hot,,like the Rut. Not leaving scent around to educate deer,,etc. What about food plots? Do you finally get them all planted and prepped and then stay away from them? Does human scent around them educate deer to stay away or do deer get used to human scent around them, since humans work in them so often? Mine are not big. I have apple trees among some, and pick apples early Oct. Do deer tolerate my activity or should I stay away? Actually I do try to stay away from the areas I plan on hunting Mid Oct on--as I usually get down to hunting beginning of Nov.

 

[Daver]

That's a hard question to answer Ed...here's one angle to consider...I am of the persuasion that deer are pretty tolerant of food plot work as long as you stay on your ATV or tractor, but if you are walking around too much they will take notice and may spook.

My youngest son and I worked all over our farm last Saturday and were still finishing up field work at about 10:00P. Late in the evening, around 8:15P, he was dragging a field with the ATV that I had disked up just about an hour beforehand. It was getting near dark when I was there and I was seeing some deer coming out of the timber to begin to feed in nearby clover, etc...and then he came later with the ATV.

Two of our biggest bucks stepped out of the timber into a clover field about 80 yards away from where he was running laps with the drag. As long as he maintained his speed and didn't get any closer than about 75 yards, those bucks fed in the clover and were content and did not spook...both are at least 5 years old.

I am sure though if he would traveled another 10-20 yards closer to them OR stopped OR even slowed down too much that they would have bolted. FYI, they came out of a timbered draw that we worked around on all three sides all day long.

Just act like a farmer and you will be fine. Now then, I cannot say how they will react to a weatherman! That could be a different story and you are on your own there!

 

[loneranger]

Thanks Dave, I do think the deer tolerate my scent and activity somewhat,,,as long as I stay in my Human Space,,and leave their ,Deer Spaces,,alone. For right now anyway. Come Oct, and Nov,,I always plan on staying away from all the areas as much aspossible, but with my small setup,,even getting to my stands to hunt,,puts me near the deer and their trails.