[WALLEYE MIKE]

The deer around my dad's house are like stars--they only come out at nite. They roam all over his place during the dark hours and are not to be seen during light.

With snow on the ground you can see thousands of tracks all over. Every nite the apples are gone.

Don't know what to do!!!!!! Any suggestions.

 

[fatboy]

Mike You ever try to follow the tracks ? I would be willing to bet that they are coming from a low spot with thick/grassy cover.Wait til we get a fresh snow and go follow some tracks to see where they come from.

 

[WALLEYE MIKE]

They go from woodlot to woodlot and into a swamp area(3 in the immediate area(square mile). Sometimes they are bedded in his woods but gone by morning. All private property in the area.

 

[stelmon]

Try only putting a few apples out at a time

 

[WALLEYE MIKE]

Thats what we do Dan. But those little buggers like to work the nite shift.

 

[jawbreaker]

Need to try to find out where they are coming from and intercept them on there way to your apples. I don't think there is anything you can to get them there earlier. However if you do figure out how to get them there at the times you are hunting let me know how you did it.


Dan

 

[mike hartges]

Mike, can you set up closer to the bedding areas?

 

[johnhunter]

Not sure what you're working with, but you may want to try to establish bedding areas on your property that can compete with the ones the deer are using now.

 

[WALLEYE MIKE]

The area they might use for beeding is a very thick swail and swamp area. Can't get any closer unless I'm sitting in an open field or right in the swail.

I don't think they have a truely "bedding" area. They seem to bed down where they very well please. This is southern michigan farmland with wood lots and some swamp area where the land naturally drains.

They occasionally take a snooze in my dads woods. When there is snow on the ground, you can see the body outlines thoughout the woods. A group of 3 there and a group of 5 there. But not everyday.

We'll keep trying.

 

[Rico]

WM,
How much property do you have to work with? What is the general layout?

My back yard is somewhat the same. The deer come from other areas and do not bed in the sector that I can hunt. I only have 2 acres to work with.

 

[slayer]

Ive read many times on deer only hitting bait at night, that it makes them nocturnal they seem to know there is no danger if they feed on bait at night. This happens after the bait has been down for awhile. Try just hunting the well used runs and forget the bait ......

 

[WALLEYE MIKE]

Rico, my dads got 20 acres total. 12 1/2 acres of woods and 7 1/2 of "front yard" (grass and assorted trees such as pine, a few apple and some Mnt. ash)

 

[mike hartges]

Mike, If you create a safe area in the woods, the deer will bed there. A chainsaw is a deer hunters best friend. Get a copy of the book "Grow Em Right." There is a wealth of information on creating deer habitat.

 

[Tony H.]

Hate to tell you this but those deer are nocturnal because you've made them that way.

Baiting is the No. 1 sure-fire way to make a deer nocturnal. How? Simple. They know that food is not supposed to be there and they can likely smell humans in the area you put it. They don't want to forage because free food is easier. So they do the obvious thing, lounge around all day, staying in warm, thermal cover areas for bedding. Then get up at night, under the safety of darkness and go eat those apples they know will be there. Simple.

Now if they don't have that bait to eat what do they have to do? that's right. Move around and find food during daylight hours.

Get rid of the bait and I bet you enjoy better success.

 

[Airoh]

If you want to see them in the daylight just wait till January 2nd.

 

[WALLEYE MIKE]

I always said they got a calandar that is marked Nov 15- Jan 2. Thats when they work the nite shift.

 

[slayer]

If you read my reply from earlier and then read tony h. reply you will have your answer no bait !!!!

 

[Liver and Onions]

Yes indeed, I'm sure that it must be the 2 gallons of apples put out a few times of week that are making those deer nocturnal. I am guessing that the area that you are talking about is the Romeo-Armada area. Tons and tons of food available....food plots, alfalfa fields, picked corn fields, rye & winter wheat fields, but it must be the apples.
BTW did you store these apples somewhere to keep them cool and yet not freeze ? I assume that you are not buying apples since that would get to be rather expensive quickly.
It sounds like you could make changes and improve your odds of seeing more critters.
Any chance that the woodlot is ready for some logging ? You didn't mention if you have water on your setup. If not, are there a couple of seasonal potholes that you could work on next July with a dozer or backhoe and make them into year round water sources ? How about putting in an acre of food plots in that 7 acre area? Pheasants Forever is a great group for ideas & help. Putting in the right combination of items will draw the pheasants, turkeys, & deer to your dad's acreage.

L & O

 

[WALLEYE MIKE]

L & O, Imlay city area. (Newark and Lk. pleasant) No room for food plots. Front yard has plenty of grass and clover. Dad would'nt want to plow his front yard. Plowed field to the north, residential to the south mainly and mixed east and west. Woods got logged 2 winters ago. Water where I suspect they bed most of the time, 1/4 mile north. Not buying apples, got the bad ones from my trees plus dad has a few trees available and some mountain ash which they like. He also puts out corn and bird seed for the birds. They like that too. Also available to eat are the tips of alot of shrubs. Used to has the whole woods filled with trillium which they love, but they ate what they could get to in the last 5 years. Not much of those left.(summer food). They got plenty of food whether natural of "manmade".

One of these days we'll run into some.

 

[WALLEYE MIKE]

Well thier back!!!!!! My dad sees them every evening at 5:15 now that the season is over. I swear they have calandars.