DANIEL: We've recently assisted a landowner in central Missouri with his habitat improvement and hunting plan.
DANIEL: Andy, the property owner, owns 20 acres where he and his son hunt.
GRANT: Andy, Grant Woods calling.
ANDY: Hi, Grant.
How are you doing?
GRANT: I'm well.
How are you today, sir?
ANDY: Very good.
DANIEL: Andy's property is on the north portion of a large block of timber and to the north,
east, and west, there's production cropland.
DANIEL: Looking at the onX map, it was easy to tell Andy's property was well-positioned.
He was smack dab in the middle of the travel corridor that deer would be using as they
traveled between food and cover.
GRANT: It's a little bit over 700 yards from your northern boundary up those ag fields.
ANDY: Yeah.
GRANT: So, that's not far.
It's less than half a mile up there.
ANDY: Okay.
GRANT: So, to a deer, it's not too far, but your property is situated in the middle of
a bunch of timber and cattle pastures.
ANDY: I know.
GRANT: So, if we can develop some good food plots on your property, I think we can shortstop
deer from going up to the ag fields, at least during daylight hours.
DANIEL: Because Andy's property is in crop country, quality food and cover is often a
limited resource after the harvest.
Grant recommended that Andy focus on providing cool-season forage and cover on his property.
GRANT: So, one of the first things I would do is the small powerline easement that's
on the east side of your property…
ANDY: Yes.
GRANT: …I would – there's not a lot of elevation change there at all, like 20 feet
from one end to the other?
ANDY: Yeah, it just kind of goes up and down.
GRANT: Yeah.
ANDY: Like up and down about four times.
GRANT: Right.
All those low spots or even in 50 yards - which is a fair amount from either end of your property
- I would plant the rest of that thing in a food plot.
GRANT: Another plan I have is…
ANDY: Uh huh.
GRANT: …I notice there's a line of trees that goes across the top of your property,
oh, just 50 or 60 yards down from your border.
ANDY: Yeah, and that's - that’s a creek right there.
GRANT: Ah huh.
ANDY: There are trees on either side of that.
GRANT: Yeah.
So I've drawn out a food plot there.
We'll send you a map of this food plot and it hugs the line of your timber, those cedar
trees.
That pasture with the cedars, I'm sure you see deer out there, but they're just passing
through.
It's not really providing much benefit.
GRANT: So, what I want to do is stay away from the road over there even though it gates
at your property.
You just don't want your neighbors seeing deer out in your place all the time.
It's just a big temptation.
ANDY: Right. (Laughter)
GRANT: So, I've mapped out about a 2.8-acre food plot in the center there and, that way,
it's going to attract a lot of deer across your utility right-of-way.
ANDY: Yeah.
GRANT: And I would suggest hunting along that utility right-of-way or in between there and
the big food plot and not necessarily right on the food plot because if you get busted
or you alert deer while hunting a food plot, they're going to associate that area with
danger.
ANDY: Right.
GRANT: And then on the top up here in that field just like, because there's another little
creek or little stream of woods kind of between you and your neighbor to the north there.
So, I've drawn out a three-quarter of an acre plot there.
ANDY: Okay.
GRANT: And it hugs your timberline, so you've got places for stands and blinds.
ANDY: Hmm, hmm.
GRANT: And - and this will give you more of a feeding size type food plot.
These are destination plots.
GRANT: What I want to talk about is ways to hunt or position stands and blinds of deer
going to those plots and not necessarily focused on hunting those plots.
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In between a big old block of your property - the timber in there, and I notice there's
a little opening and a large flat area.
And I'll draw this or shoot it to you.
But we can make another little hunting or hidey hole plot that's just, gosh, a half-acre
or less right in the middle of all those trees.
GRANT: Now, what that does is a couple of things.
It's not only more food but, when I do that, now I've created several bottlenecks, several
areas in the timber that deer are gonna scoot through because they don't want to be out
in the open.
ANDY: Right, right.
GRANT: And this just makes your property much, much more huntable.
GRANT: There's cover everywhere; there's water everywhere.
What you can provide that your neighbors are not likely to provide is food.
And deer are going to food every day.
So, boy, if you, if you get these plots established, I promise you, you're going to see a lot of
deer.
ANDY: Right. And so, do you think I should put beans in those plots?
GRANT: Next summer, I would, I would try beans in the larger two plots.
GRANT: You may want to use one of the fences like I use, the Hot Zone fence, to protect
the one to the north because I'm afraid there's so many deer in your area and you've got the
only food right there, that they may damage it pretty quickly due to browse pressure.
GRANT: I would encourage you to allow the south half of your property.
Below that food plot, I would never mow that or try to keep it looking like a golf course
or anything.
I want those grasses to grow up to be bedding cover.
ANDY: Okay, okay.
I can do that because it takes quite a long time to mow that, so that's not a problem.
GRANT: Yeah. Yeah. Stop, stop mowing that.
You may mow it once a year, once every two years, simply so saplings don't take over.
Or if you start getting some hardwood saplings in there you can walk around with a backpack
sprayer and just terminate those saplings and leave your cover out there.
ANDY: Ah huh.
GRANT: Now, this is a little bit more advanced, but if you can work it out, if you can do
this, this would be awesome.
GRANT: You have a road on the west side of your property and a neighbor's driveway on
the south or maybe just slightly off your property on the south.
GRANT: And if you go over to the timberline and then go back up that food plot, the food
plot is a fire break; the roads are fire breaks.
And if you just disc in between or mow real shortly - short to the ground, close to the
ground - from the food plot back west to the road and from the southeast corner of the
food plot down to the road - the neighbor's driveway if the neighbor allows you do this.
GRANT: If you would burn that area, you know, about once every three years it would be even
better habitat.
And that would take care of your cedars and your hardwood saplings encroaching on that
area.
DANIEL: Eastern red cedar offers little benefit for wildlife.
Grant recommended that Andy target those cedars, get ‘em on the ground, open up the canopy,
allow sunlight to hit the ground, and encourage native grasses and forbs to grow.
GRANT: So, you had a list of questions here, and I'm gonna go back to it, but one of ‘em
was talked about cutting all the cedars.
You know, my first priority is -
ANDY: Yeah, there's just a lot of them.
GRANT: Yeah.
My first priority, or maybe year one if you will, is cut the cedars in the - where the
food plots are going.
ANDY: Right.
GRANT: Year two or three, I would just start going in there and felling those cedars.
You’re just gonna fell them.
As long as you cut a cedar below the bottom limb it will not regenerate.
It won't send up saplings like a hardwood sprout will.
ANDY: Okay.
GRANT: So, you've just got - you know, you've got a safety helmet on and chaps on and hearing
protection.
You don't have to have a large chainsaw to cut cedars.
So, we use a pretty small model because you're carrying it all day and it's very efficient.
ANDY: Right.
GRANT: Cedars are relatively softwood and we just fell ‘em and let ‘em lay for at
least two years.
Boy, there'll be all kinds of deer cover, but as those needles fall off the cedars,
vegetation will start growing up in them.
GRANT: Fell those cedars and let them dry for at least two years and then run a light
- when I say light - backing fire.
So, let's say the wind is out of the west.
You start the fire on the east and let it creep in there.
And that will consume a lot of those cedars and skeletons and open up that area where
you can see deer further.
And even more importantly, allow sunshine to reach the soil and stimulate really great
native grasses and forbs to grow in your woods and create more of a savannah habitat.
DANIEL: As with any property, a key part to Andy’s success will be his hunting strategy.
GRANT: So, let's talk about hunting strategies.
So, you, you're going to approach down the road there, and I really, really, really want
you to develop a path all the way along your southern border and your northern border.
GRANT: So, if we have a west wind – let's just say we have a west wind --
ANDY: Yeah.
GRANT: - and you park there at your place, and you start walking these food plots.
Well, the wind is pushing your scent right to the plot before you ever get there.
ANDY: Oh, yeah.
GRANT: So, usually, it's rarely a direct west wind.
There's a little south to it or a little north to it.
So, I need you to be able to go from the gravel road there all the way to the eastern end
of your property.
ANDY: Hmm, hmm.
GRANT: And then walk up or down the eastern end of your property until you get about parallel
with where you want to hunt and then cut in.
ANDY: Okay.
GRANT: Because those west winds, you need to be able to come in from the east.
ANDY: Okay.
GRANT: And - and not through the middle of your property.
If it's a northwest wind, you need to go all the way to the south.
If it's a southwest wind you want to come in to the north.
Get all the way to the eastern side of your property or at least as far east as where
you're hunting and then cut down to where your stand or blind is.
ANDY: Yeah.
DANIEL: Grant designed a hunting plan that gave Andy access around the border of his
property and had many stand and blind locations.
This gave Andy many options to be able to hunt during different winds.
GRANT: These walking paths that - where you can get in silently are as important as any
habitat feature we have on this property.
Because you have to be able to approach your hunting area without alerting deer.
ANDY: Agree, agree.
GRANT: And if you just like come through the middle, maybe you come, you know, 50 yards,
100 yards south of the creek that runs through your property, that drainage, and cut through
that food plot and get all the way back to the little food plot we designed in the timber,
well goodness, you spooked a lot of deer before you ever started your hunt.
ANDY: Yep.
GRANT: So, I think that's really, really important.
DANIEL: We believe that if Andy and his son apply the hunting strategies and the habitat
improvement plans to this 20 acres, they're gonna have many great hunts.
DANIEL: The entire GrowingDeer Team enjoys working with landowners and hunters to create
better habitat, but we're not the only ones.
There are many great biologists out there that enjoy working with landowners to improve
their properties.
DANIEL: Recently, over 100 private land biologists that work with the Missouri Department of
Conservation and other organizations came and toured The Proving Grounds.
DANIEL: We had a great time discussing the Buffalo System, soil health, and habitat improvement.
DANIEL: By working together, we can all make wise decisions on conserving and improving
our natural resources.
DANIEL: Grant recently traveled to Syracuse, New York to share these topics and hunting
strategies with hunters and landowners there.
DANIEL: Grant had a great time swapping hunting stories and sharing about Creation.
We share the details of these events on our social media pages, so if you'd like more
information, check ‘em out.
DANIEL: If you enjoy the hunting tips and strategies we share on GrowingDeer,
I encourage you to check out our Deer Hunting playlist, subscribe to our channel and give us a thumbs up.
DANIEL: Putting together an effective hunting plan, well, it takes time and some strategy.
The same is true for our lives.
I hope you slow down this week and enjoy Creation.
But more importantly I hope you slow down, listen to what the Creator is saying to you,
and the plan He has for your life.
DANIEL: Thanks for watching GrowingDeer.