Getting neighbors onboard with big buck mgmt
 

My neighbors shoot everything. I lease 40 acres in Allen Parish and to the north and south I have two clubs that are 'brown and down' and they hunt right on the edge of our property. I am wanting to grow big bucks but they keep shooting all my deer I am growing. We have strict rules where deer must be 12" wide and a 6 pt or better unless its a kid's first buck and they can shoot anything. Most my land is cutover and my 2 uncles and I have 5 stands. We feed corn and rice bran all year and have cameras out also. We have 3 food plots of wheat about 1/8 acre each. We have pics in the summer of several does, a spike, a 4 pt, a 6 pt, and a 7 pt and a 'good 8' but only at night. Only one of my uncles bowhunts and we both killed opening day, he shot a doe and I thought I shot at a doe (it was dark) but it was a spike (honest mistake).

Opening day of youth rifle, I brought my kid and my uncle brought his. Both kids saw does eating corn that morning but we were holding out on a buck as they had killed does last year. My kid was able to shoot a 6 pt late that evening. We tracked it but never found it as it went into a slough we couldn't cross.

Opening day of rifle, I had two does under the feeder but holding out for that big 8 we have pics of. My uncles both killed does and one of them shot the 7 pt we had on camera. It was only a basket rack 12" wide but pretty tall.

The rest of the season we hunted hard. Two times we stayed til 10:30 am but never saw that big 8 nor got pics of it. What really chaps me is that the last weekend of rifle, I watched that 4 pt feed under my feeder at daylight and he walked over to the neighbors property line and I heard a shot. I know they shot that little buck:pissed:

Please tell me how I can go about talking to my neighbors about letting some deer walk so we can get some big genes into our area? And what can I plant on my property this time of year to ensure that the deer have plenty of protein to grow big antlers? :confused: Thanks in advance

Dude you hunt in Louisiana, nobody here lets anything walk?? Our state motto is " its brown, its down"

My cousin killed a good one last year while running dogs on his place in Beauregard Parish and he told me they are on strict trophy mgmt where they only shoot it if its 12" or 6 pt or better and thats why we went on this mgmt plan because my cousin pays money for the DMAP program. He also subscribes to like 5 deer hunting magazines so I think he knows what he is talking about;) I just want something to put on the wall and we can't do that if my neighbors are shooting all the little bucks I am trying to grow:pissed:

Unless you can get the neighbors to agree to your rules you are wasting time and money. You just don't have enough land to try to manage a herd.
About all you can do is work up a presentation give it to them and get ready to get laughed at.

Lol this dude has 40 acres with 5 deer stands on it and he wants his neighbors to change the way they hunt for him. I am amazed you manage to kill any deer off your property with that many people hunting it!

Unless yall own the land yall hunt I would let it go and find a bigger piece of land to lease. I hate hunting Louisiana due to "brown and down" and logging just before or during season.... that's why I like west Texas but then you have to "pay to play"

Best you can do is make a presentation to your neighbors and try and get them to buy into the program. Like others have said.. your 40 acres is not enough to make it even worth trying to manage the herd. If they also have small properties it's probably wasted time all around.

I would meet with them and explain that you would be very interested in doing something like that in cooperation with them. I can tell you for a fact that even one year of a six point or better rule can pay some big dividends the next year.

Serious

If I was you, pull to the trigger clicks!! 40 acres is not going to hold a pair of deer!! Kill what you see and hope you get lucky on a beast

But if you let it walk, your neighbor will take it

And that is just how it's is! Nuff said:smokin:

You have no chance of growing a heard on 40 Ac. If you let a small buck walk your neighbor will shoot it. You will be met with stiff opposition from your neighbors but its worth your time to talk to them and try to explain that if you all work together all of you may start seeing better bucks.

A deer herd will optimize meat production if most bucks are shot at age 1.5.

Food plots will put deer where you can shoot them. Consideration of soil types and pH will suggest the best forage for increasing protein, but sometimes you just gotta try a few different things to see what likes your soil. Turnips, clover, etc. You also need to consider when you need more protein. If there is a big acorn crop nearby, increasing protein when the acorns are falling is a waste. Turnips can be a great protein supplement in fall, winter, or spring, depending on when you plant them.

Please explain the first sentence about shooting buck at 1.5 years old?

Nothing against your place, but 40 acres is not enough to do anything in regards to managing. Plus 5 stands with 3 good plots is too many. I have 6 stands on over 300 acres with only 4 plots.

X2


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

Where can you bring a soil sample to see what will grow best in my area?

A buck will gain a lot more weight between 0.5 and 1.5 than he will between 1.5 and 2.5. But he'll eat more between 1.5 and 2.5. A given amount of forage (carrying capacity) produces the most meat when the males are harvested at about 70% of their eventual adult weight, because gaining that last 30% of weight takes as much food (or more) as the first 70%. This is why most beef cattle are made into meat at 18-24 months old even though they would gain a bit more weight by waiting until they are 36 months old. It is not beneficial (cost wise) to keep feeding them to peak weight. The feed is more efficiently used by younger beef cattle.

Quality Deer Management (QDM) is a misnomer which really means Quality Antler Management. The meat is better and there can be more of it if most bucks are harvested at 1.5.

40 acres won't get u the management u need.And 5 stands, too much pressure!! I have no-go areas on my place that are 30-40 acres. Supplimental feed is ok, but deer are browsers not grazers. If you have prefered natrual forge on your place,(what deer prefer) inhance it, fertilize it. Deer on my place won't touch corn until temp drops around 40 or below. Turnip only after the freeze. The bucks you see during spring / summer may not be there during the season. Deer I see during the summer usually disappear during the season and different ones come in. Killed one on my place that we had seen during 2 hunting seasons but someone else had pics of it 5-6 miles away during the summer months over a 2 year period. my place is in SWLA.

Please don't start deer hunting anywhere near Woodville,Ms. When hunters start using the same mentality on recreational property as they do in slaughter houses, hunting is down hill.

That's my thinking as well. This makes since for meat hunters.