With turkey season in the rear-view mirror, now’s the time to get serious about what your big bucks will be eating over the summer and into fall. By now, you should have a green carpet of whitetail groceries that will benefit nursing does, help bucks grow larger antlers, and provide good hunting habitat as the fall brassicas and other cold weather plants mature. However, there are at least nine more things to do, as Gerald Almy points out in this post from the Whitetail Institute.
The fields are tilled. The seedbeds are smoothed. Tiny green seedlings are starting to pop up. Now it’s time to just sit back and wait for the food plots to grow and hunting seasons to arrive.
Getting a plot to sprout is only the first step to bagging a big buck like this.
Not really. You might think you’ve done all you need to. But chances are there are lots of little tasks, chores and projects you can do to improve your food plots even further and enhance the deer habitat. Fortunately, most of these tasks can be taken care of now before hunting seasons arrive. For the land manager focusing on deer and other wildlife, there should never be a dull moment throughout the year. Here are nine projects you can do during the next few months before fall plots are ready to be planted and tree stands need to be hung. Some are quick, easy chores that are great for when you have a spare half hour on your hands. Those can be good projects to have a youngster help out with. Others are a bit more time-consuming and need a full Saturday off or longer to complete. Juggle them to fit your schedule and you’ll see that the wildlife manager should never lack for something productive to do.
1. REACTIVATE YOUR MINERAL LICKS
Deer have specific mineral and vitamin needs that are rarely met completely in the wild. Sure there are natural licks in some areas and they get other elements from the soil and plants. But to meet a whitetail’s mineral and vitamin needs fully you need several licks on your property.
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