Toxie Givens

Today I picked up my bow for the first time since last October in preparation for this year’s bow season (September 11th). I wanted to start practicing and also see what parts of my bow needed tuning up by my bow shop. I shot this video to just play around with different camera angles. Also, I wanted to practice my video editing skills. So if you watch this video, it is not a how to shoot a bow but instead someone having fun shooting and videoing.

Here is a video I shot of one of our feed stations in Georgia. I wanted to share our setup with anyone who might be interested. First, we have a spinner feeder set to go off at different times of day. Currently during the summer we run it at 7:00 a.m. for about 4 to 5 seconds, since the deer are not consuming as much carbohydrates in their main diet at this time of year. The spinner feeder conditions them to check the feed station on regular intervals to see what feed is available. We also have a feed trough were we put corn, soybeans, and some supplemental feed between April and July when bucks are growing antlers and does are nursing their fawns. We also have a landscaping pool (that someone was throwing away in my neighborhood) to provide a good source of water. Finally we have mineral blocks placed on a hilly spot where we keep minerals year round. We run a camera almost a year round at this location to monitor which deer are using this station. Watch the video and see if this setup can help you in your wildlife management plan.

The great part about having a wildlife management plan is watching certain deer grow up to maturity. We run a lot of trail cameras during the year. Sometimes as many as 20 cameras will be out capturing deer and their behavior. We name our bucks and we start watching them normally when they are 2 ½ year olds. This year we have two bucks that we know from previous years that we are watching and are getting trail camera photos. Luckily for us, they are traveling together so that will make monitoring them that much easier. I thought I would show you some of their pictures and hopefully we can continue to get pictures of them through their antler growing season.

The first buck is a 4 ½ year old that I call Mr. Potential. Shown below is a picture of him from August 2008 as a 2 ½ year old. For some reason we never got a photo of him as a 3 ½ year old.

Now this is him as a 4 ½ year old. These 3 pictures show how fast his antlers are growing. They were taken on May 24th, May 28th, and June 11th.

  

The other buck traveling with him is also a 4 ½ year old that I call No Brow Jr. These names have a long story and I am not going to go in it at this time. Shown below are pictures of him as a 2 ½ year old from 2008 and a picture of him as a 3 ½ year old at the end of gun season last year (2009-2010).

 

These pictures below are photos of him as a 4 ½ year old this year and the type of head gear he is growing. They were taken on May 24th, May 28th, and June 14th.

  

Another interesting thing about these two bucks is that they have been traveling together during the spring/summer for the past 3 years. Shown below is a photo taken of them back in 2008 and the other two below are from this year 2010.

  

I hope you enjoyed these photos and the history behind these two deer.

I decided to sit in one of our other tower stands to see how many deer were using that food plot. During this time, I got video of this young buck with his sister and his mother. In this video, you can see how the flies and gnats bother this buck to such a point where he starts acting crazy and jumping around. This is real funny to me to witness in the wild. I thought I was the only one the gnats bothered. Enjoy the video.

While sitting on our power line food plot, I filmed this young buck feeding on our soybeans and iron and clay peas. Last year we only planted 2 acres and the deer ate it all up in less than 3 weeks when it first came up. Watching this video showed me how efficient these deer can eat while the food plot is in its early stage. We planted almost 8 acres this year. Hopefully we can get the food plot up before they can mow it down like last year.

Back a few months ago, I heard Dr. James C. Kroll (Dr. Deer) use the term, “Landscaping for Whitetails” and it stuck in my head. His segment was based on preparing your land for the deer. After watching his segment I realized that I have been doing that for years but he hit home with a few points that I have overlooked. Most people say deer are lazy and that they always take the path of least resistance. Is that really lazy or just more efficient? If a deer has a choice between two trails where one is blocked by a downed tree and the other one is open, which one do you think they are going to take? Which one would you take?

I have incorporated this concept into my preparation for the upcoming hunting seasons. I had a great bow stand on the end of a logging deck that has been converted into a food plot. The pines had been thinned a few years ago and the unwanted new pine growth had taken over the clear lanes. I noticed that the turkeys did not like walking through them because of the thickness and I have found turkey carcasses where the predators had successfully killed a couple of them in this growth. So, my buddy and I decided to take the tractor and brush hog and mow out these lanes before they got too big. He operated the tractor while I took the chainsaw and cut down unwanted young pines. I took video of this work and you can see the before and after shots of the lanes. I also cut lanes strategically around my bow stand in hopes of influencing the deer as they travel around this food plot. Now the deer and turkeys will be able to walk through this area and feel safe since they can see their surroundings. This concept of landscaping for wildlife is a new tool that I am going to add to my tool box for prepping for the upcoming season.