Pep Talk for New QDM'rs (like me!)

[roostersbane]

3 yrs ago I started managing my 115 acres for deer/pheasants rather than strictly birds. The biggest change was to assign a couple sanctuaries (sp?) and to pass on small bucks.
Anyway, after alot of frustration- having the neighbors take a 3pt, a small 6 and a 4pt this year alone (my 'QDM' neighbors!), not seeing any shooters during season, not seeing many deer after season, I was feeling pretty low and was considering the 'brown-its-down' method...then I saw the light!:

Christmas day: 4 bucks entering sanct #1 (15 acres brush). I was a biggie, 2 were 6-8's and 1 was a spike/fork.

Last Sunday running around sanct #2 ( 20acres switchgrass): 9 deer at least 4 bucks, 1 a biggie (diff than the biggie above).

Both groups of deer were out before dark and I presume are around due to my sanctuaries/plots/h20/feeders. So I guess I just want to say 'keep at it' and hopefully you'll have success, too.
Now I need to figure out how to harvest one off the edge of the sanctuaries without ruining their sense of security...!?

[bjmad]

I have been dabbling in habitat improvement for about 8 or so years. I've learned more from Jeff and other people on this site in the last year than I have in a long time. My plots have grown from one tiny maybe 20 feet by 20 feet. It was more of a scratch the ground and sprinkle some seeds. I didn't have much knowledge at all. My last buck I have taken was an 8 pointer in 1997. I saw 5 bucks last year but they were 5 points and under and I didn't take any deer. The most deer I saw in one area at one time was about 10. We have seen two big older deer for the last 3 years in the area of my 54 acres and my family and cousins for about a total of around 850 acres. In the last several years, I was able to get my cousins to plant something. Gradually it will improve. My neighbors took 3 really nice 8 pointers and above this hunting season. They shot them near my property in an area where I don't have any plots and it is at the very edge. I think I need to set up my bow stand over there next year and see what I can do.

Anyway, I am gradually seeing improvement and have not gotten discouraged. I now have a Honda Rubicon (500 cc), a disk, brush hog, drag, compactor, spreader and sprayer that I have purchased over the last several years. My food plot acreage has increased to about 5 acreas total now. I just enjoy being out there and planting and working up the soil and seeing what comes up. I have sandy soil but the ph is good and whatever I plant, comes up very well. I will be spraying this spring to kill weeds such and to battle those damn things. The weeds are the biggest problem and I didn't get the sprayer until late last year. It's funny because I have a lot of rubs in the area but I have not seen one buck this year. Probably because I was only able to hunt 3 times from Oct 1 to Nov 30. Also, I have yet to get a picture of a buck on my cuddeback. Just does, crows, turkeys and racoons. I just had some selective cutting done before deer season so that may have shaken things up a bit too. But you're right, do not get discouraged.

[QDMAMAN]

roostersbane,
One of my neighbors who is a member of our QDM co-op in Eaton County shot a huge 6 pt. (109" gross) in 2004 that field dressed near 200 lbs. It was 1 of 4 bucks that he watched throughout the bow season and he finally killed it on Nov. 19th with his shotgun. Right after the season closed he phoned me to tell me there were 5 different bucks at his back yard feeder and 3 of them he had not seen before. While this story isn't remarkable in and of itself it is if you consider he owns only 4 acres but because he is part of a 1800 acre co-op the deer he hunts have got the advantage of growing an extra year or so. Needless to say he is a big fan of the co-op and is also happy to help with doe harvest as well.
The neighbor that borders him has 240 acres and found the shed off his buck from the previous spring which was exciting for both of them. Just a note, the neighbor with the 240 shot a 180" gross 10 pt. the same year and this year has been watching upwards of 11 bucks at a time in his plots.
Hope this info helps you keep focused.:D

Big T