How To Hunt A Buck That Doesn't Live On Your Small Parcel

[@ExodusOutdoorGear]

Very relatable topic! All helpful tips for folks hunting small parcels.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thank you very much guys! This is one of my tried and true tactics from the early 90s...which also underscores I don't get to hunt large parcels very often :) I hope that you can tell that my Exodus trail cameras are of HUGE importance to me! I can rely on them for both my passion for whitetails AND my career!

[@ExodusOutdoorGear]

Whitetail Habitat Solutions absolutely!

[@TheElementWild]

Wow Jeff! What a great encouraging video. Thanks so much for the great tips. Very refreshing for us guys hunting realistic properties. Can’t wait to implement these tactics next fall on my 16 acres!

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Man you are very welcome, that's great to hear! For sure you can tap into a larger buck herd with a small parcel, and successfully hunt the largest bucks in the neighborhood every single year. Good luck 🙂 I really do love thes small parcel's...crazy guys giving advice in how to build whitetail dreams...while they do it on a 1000 acres or more. So I really hope this info hits home for folks

[@strikeforcek9149]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 I only TWO tiny acres, lol... But I'm nestled in right up against and between about 60acres of decently wooded acreage with farm fields locking it all in. So, I just wait for everyone else to pressure the other woods and they ALL come to my tiny 2 acres of deer heaven where I keep a food plot year round and a bedding area that I don't allow anyone to disturb, hehe. I get pictures every single night and day of deer coming and bedding right in my little thick covered corner bedding area I created over the past 3yrs and without hunting this little area. This is now my first year actively hunting this little corner. So Im trying to wait for them, hopefully I get one this year! :)

[@brucemuche630]

great topic and info jeff...cant wait till you incorporate the blogs into a dvd so I can just let them play while at deer camp...I learn something different every time I watch and listen..thanks

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thanks a lot Bruce...that really means a lot to me and I I always enjoy your feedback! Ha...not sure when in the DVDs, BUT if you check out my playlists on the top of the channel banner...you can pick a topic and it will play all the way through. Most topics I have 12-15 vids in...LOTS of run time 🙂

[@brucemuche630]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 thanks for the tip...I will give it a try....

[@jonathanb9429]

This applies to me quite a bit, and I try this exact tactic every year on a small parcel that I hunt that is attached to a very large parcel and it has been very successful for me over the last 5 years. Great video!

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thats great to hear Jonathan and it that sounds like a very good amount of success! Thank you very much too...I am trying to make sure I keep the videos coming and I hope you continue to like them. Really hope they help a lot of folks...

[@dswish1730]

Your info is so spot on every time.found #22 shed yesterday .got pics of buck still holding yesterday..

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thanks a lot D and man, that's a lot of sheds so far this year...great job!

[@garyhughes4884]

Thanks for another informative video Jeff. I hunted a 7 acre parcel for the first time this year. It's located next to 300+ acres of ag which they do not allow hunting. My parcel consists of large, mature oaks, hickory,and beach trees. There's no understory for bedding. I tried to lure the deer in by baiting by baiting but only saw does and young bucks in they daylight. Until, as you stated, the rut started. I then saw more mature bucks but not at the bait site. They were going to the mock scrape that I started that was roughly 50yds from the bait.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Ha, thosr mock scrapes can be golden! Sounds like a very cool 7 acres, real nice! Maybe you could work on cutting some if those trees down? Thanks too Gary, I really appreciate it!

[@garyhughes4884]

Great idea! I hope to develop this spot further and entice the mature bucks in the area to visit. I was able to obtain permission to bow hunt this property because of the overwhelming numbers of deer and the damage that they are doing to the landscape. For this reason I harvested 15 deer( we have unlimited doe zones here in nj) The land owner is very pleased and invited me back to hunt next season. My question is....when should I do my doe management?

[@garyhughes4884]

I should add that my season starts in September and goes until mid February. Thanks Jeff

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

@@garyhughes4884 sounds like a great opportunity Gary! I like harvesting early and late...none in the middle of the season unless I have a buck down.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

@@garyhughes4884 check out this article I wrote a couple of years ago...I love to target does early and late! www.whitetailhabitatsolutions.com/blog/the-most-strategic-time-to-shoot-a-doe

[@transamguy9073]

Great vid. I love the small parcel videos. I just bought 21 acres. last yr was our 1st yr hunting it and we had 20+ bucks on the property with 4 of those nice mature bucks. Lots of great upping commers. My son took a great buck and i had a few great encounters. With 2 shooter bucks. Im with you. I would rather have a few 20-40 acre parcels kind of all over. Rather than one big parcel

[@dmouse522]

With less than 10 acres all the bucks less maybe one are non core bucks for me. That said with several of your ideas I get lots of travelers and this video describes my hunt last year to a T. What a difference a little food, some scrapes and staying the heck out of there made. Good thing there are muskies to chase while waiting!!

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Ha, now muskies sound awesome! Very too cool about your hunt last year. Shows what you can experience on a truly small parcel! Enjoy the hunt...for a giant musky...and of course buck.

[@bluelineoutdoors2726]

Thanks Jeff for another great video! We have been applying alot of youre tips and info to our habitat enhancement on a small 25 acre parcel in NE Kent county in Michigan and it has really been yeilding fantastic results for us! Keep up the great work.

[@theicecreamman669]

Great tips! Love your videos been trying to apply them to my hunting strategy just can’t seem to peg down which block of trees my target is living in. I know he summers right next to me since he disappears every year in the rut and returns afterwards. Just a lot of small blocks of trees(20ac-) and he comes from one block today and another the next. Always at dark as well.

[@nathanhager7082]

This is so true becaue in the rut I seen bucks I have never seen before come out in day light and crazy because there was 2 bucks one was bigger then the other and the small one would always come in before the big one around 10 AM

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thanks Nathan and great feedback. What's cool about those non core bucks too, is often you can look back at them during the middle of the night and randomly, on just a few pictures over the previous years. Then you can really pin them down as non core bucks and plan accordingly. Good luck with them this season!

[@nathanhager7082]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 going to try put down the biggest buck around my property this year tryed for 2 years now ever year he never show himself but at night and iv stayed out of that spot all season but during the rut when the time right

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

@@nathanhager7082 sounds like a great plan Nathan, good luck!!

[@stevoky]

A friend and myself had pics of the same buck for two years. When we realized it we compared the pics and found that he was on both properties on Six consecutive days the last week of October and first week of November in consecutive years. The crazy thing is the properties were nearly 4 miles apart and my photos were about three hours after dark and his would be just before daylight. That is some serious travel!

[@stevemcarthur1280]

Non core = BONUS BUCKS! The best kind. My brother and myself killed 2 like you described that were both our personal best bucks. Best part....season over and every buck I wanted to survive have hung around and survived. Can't wait for fall 2019 season.

[@abrouch1]

Great stuff as always, Jeff - love your videos. Questions for you - I have 60 acres that I have permission to hunt that is in the Lakewood/Mountain WI area. It is neslted in among some other private, but their are literally thousands of acres of Public (Nicolet National Forest) surrounding us as well. Basically all of the nice bucks I see on the 60 acres only show up during the rut, and at night so it's safe to say they are "non core". I hunt both some of the public and some of the 60 acres of private as it is right behind my cottage. When I get that perfect weather day that you describe during the rut, if you were in my shoes would you try and hunt the less traveled Non Core buck area, or would you venture out on to the public where it may be a better spot in theory, yet all bets are off in terms of hunting pressure, as their could be other deer hunters out their, people walking dogs, people fishing, you get the idea. Appreciate your input.

[@huntwarbukz4117]

Awesome Jeff great info .. thx perfect ..timing .. was thinking about that monster had in one pic at end of season where is he and where the heck did he hang all year ahah ..🏹-----👀🦌🦌👌🥩

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Great to hear...man I hope that it helps 🙂 Although...I'm ready to get rid of this snow, lol. Can't wait to see leaves, sticks and soil

[@g.k.dalton4530]

Pretty much how I hunt ... biggest parcel I hunt is 50 acres.. with a lot of bigger ones around me.. and things are pretty quiet until rut the hang on to your hat.. gets pretty crazy at times... they put on one heck of a show.!! Lol.. chasing, fights, the whole kit and kaboodel !! Great video as usual.. love your topics buddy.!! 👍🏻

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Nice GK, sounds like a fun time on that parcel! Love this tactic. And thanks man, I will do my best to keep them coming.

[@justinedmiston4420]

I love small parcels, I hunt on 40 acres but next to me is a 2000 acre state park that u can't hunt on so there are a lot of big buck near me.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

That's awesome...many times the perfect setup! Very cool...love those opportunities.

[@bucknuts8824]

Jeff, if you're getting day time pics all summer long, is it safe to say that's a core deer? Or will he change his core area come fall?

[@deercamp3479]

Oh man I could never shoot “someone else’s buck”.LOL 😂! I have definitely found that to be so true. Seems like the best bucks show up between about November 1 and November 15 and many will hang around awhile! Also the more I learn about this stuff I agree that from a success standpoint it might be better to have three 40 acre parcels than a 120.of course for most time and resources won’t allow that to happen but I understand your point! Great video thanks!

[@nybbhUSA]

You 100% described my 14.75 acre piece. I waited until October 30th to hunt my piece. They bucks were coming in on my southeast corner,looping downwind of the doe bedding area. I saw my target buck three times and shot him the last day of the season. I won’t see any bucks until late October and it will die off by the end of the second week of November. Then will start coming back on the property after gun season pressure kicks in.

[@danplanck4058]

Amother great vid Jeff!

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thanks a lot Dan, really hope you enjoyed it!

[@worknman78]

Question; you always say a good deer census is done in October and November. What if your core bucks are mostly 1-3 years old that get bumped off by mature non-core bucks during the rut? Every year it seems that's what happens here and the core bucks start coming back late December. On a side note, I do usually have some, not many, old does and fawns that are on our 10 acres, all year.

[@lcsmith6092]

Thanks for the great info! I hunt a very small parcel (12 acres) and for the last 2 years have gotten a shooter buck on camera October 29th. Both trail cam pictures are within hours of each other and then no other pictures the rest of the year. What do you think are the chances he will be back this year on October 29th?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Lance you are very welcome! Those kind of buck patterns are so cool AND very dependable. I would be hunting that movement hard as long as the weather was good...As close to that time as I could. Sounds like a great opportunity!

[@lcsmith6092]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 Awesome, thanks so much for the reply. I know where I'll be on the afternoon of October 29th! Do you have any videos on improving properties smaller than 15 acres?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

@@lcsmith6092 I sure would...although in would pic the best weather day within a day or two either side... All of the land I hunt on is fairly small and I should be buying a 24.5 acre chunk this year...but I will have to find something smaller to illustrate! I love those small chunks

[@baileydressler2000]

Hi Jeff, I was wondering if you rely on weather apps on your phone to pick your stand based on the wind or if you wait until you're on the property and use the wind chalk

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Bailey, great question! I have heavily relied on AccuWeather.com for the hour to hour wind forecast. The wind direction is one of the most accurate portions of the forecast ..and then I apply that wind to various stand locations. Based on the hills, heavy conifer lines, berms, etc...you can really understand what wind does what, where, if you become a student of the wind. Then there are no surprises when you get to a stand. On a side note, I blow bubbles with my mouth to check the wind. I know, maybe more disgusting but a great tactic I learned sitting in the front row of the balcony at church when I was a teenager, lol. I also use weather underground...I use neither in the app form.

[@calebharrington7087]

You always have great tips, I noticed one thing you said about having 20 pictures over a course of 3 years is a alot. I had 1 picture of a buck in 2016 but had a flash camera that ran him off, finally on September 2018 had a picture of him on a trail about 1/4 of a mile away, he got killed on public about 6 miles away, I never could figure out how to kill this deer my guess would be he figured me out before I figured him out 😂. the only problem is the wind changes directions so much that it's hard to hunt, them mature bucks can get on the next ridge over and wind you, I need a video on Wind direction 🤣 one day

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thanks a lot! That sounds like a tough buck with a HUGE home range. I have a playlist about wind and thermal directions....I hope that it helps! kzbin.info/aero/PLmV8IlexgmhdBUnMATu39a5uumtm8PlnP

[@calebharrington7087]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 idk if his home range was that big or not , he was killed in November so he couldve been looking for does, ik one thing he had a bunch of people after him, there were 4 or 5 people had a picture of him he was about 6 ½

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

@@calebharrington7087 wow, 6.5 is incredible!! Well I hope another one pops up for you this season...AND that the info helps you shoot him 😉

[@calebharrington7087]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 it dose I'm already watching a 3.5 year old 9 point I hope he gives me a shot next season, good luck to you to

[@James-kq6tf]

Hey Jeff i love you content and i watch you religiously. But i do have a spin off question about this topic. Unfortunately i have new neighbors that has the 40 next to my 40. He was so disruptive this last year that i seen a 90% drop in mature buck activity and a 60% drop in deer moment in general. Once i realized that he was walking all over his 40 down in there bedding and hunting the fence line hard. i just quit for the season to relive pressure on my herd. Before he showed up i had thousands of pictures and many good mature but encounters, now hardly anything. unfortunately a lot of my mature buck movement comes from his direction. but when he over pressures and hunts the place so hard ( like 12 people ) opening day and if its brown it down... the bucks wont even pass through at night to reach my side...i am kinda in a spot that i am not sure how to get out of.... i have housing on all other sides so i am stuck behind his piece for 80% of my deer movement and not sure what i can do to improve my situation. just his pressure ruined the half of my land that touches his a bordering 20 acre sanctuary( void of anything but young does ).... and the other half only had small bucks after... i shoot good bucks ever year i didn't change anything major or ruin my own land in fact i still shot two great bucks ( one early one around the first days he started hunting ) recovery's were non invasive... just seen a massive reduction in my deer herd once he moved in around the end of bow season till now.

[@yogibear6271]

cody huhn you came to the right place with your problem Jeff can surely help you out. but it sounds to me like you should mybe see what he's got that you don't. The way you described it he shouldn't have a deer on his property.

[@yogibear6271]

cody huhn o an another thing Cody you better hope you're neighbor hasn't heard of Jeff an watched any of his videos. If so he may be well ahead of you.

[@James-kq6tf]

@@yogibear6271 his property is one giant bedding ground or used to be, he has no real food besides natural brows ,no water just thick under growth and a few trees.... i have 30 acres of bedding same habitat as him, perfect bedding. 5 acres of food in 3 spots 2 ponds 3 creeks come together on my land shaded food covered parallel travel corridors also a small patch of improved timber with oaks. i am not a novice hunter and have multiple fantastic bucks off this property...my issue is i am surround by housing on three sides with only his land touching me... his land facing the country and were most of the deer resided when they don't live on mine...also my deer have to pass through his place to reach agriculture ( my food plots cant compete with AG fields ) so most of my deer have to pass safely through his land to either seek sanctuary in mine or feed at night... this was no problem in tell this new guy moved in. he has 12 guys out there not to mention him hunting within spitting distance on my entire fence line. and just being about the worst land owner i have ever met. the previous neighbor was okay... and didn't over hunt it so he would at very least have bucks pass through in the dark. but now with this new guy in there he hasn't had any mature deer willing to even step foot on the property meaning i have to hope deer walk through my neighbors front yards at night for me to have a chance at anything... making my deer herd that lives on my land get cut by no less than 80% nothing will go through what used to be a night time travel corridor to access my land. so i really don't know what i can do if i even have options..

[@James-kq6tf]

@@yogibear6271 also the guy hasn't done anything management wise nothing changed besides him over hunting everything and walking everywhere. i have personally spoken to him and was told to F off. He has no intentions to manage or improve his property..... so i am left in the predicament i posted above.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

@@James-kq6tf Hi Cody, good to hear from you you but that is really tough! Feel for you man. BUT, I've found those type of hunters have very little effect on the buck age structure, just because they scare everything away. You almost have to redesign tour land...HEAVY cover on his side...quality food that holds season long deer attraction on the opposite side of him. What do you think?

[@Minnesotalife]

The buck in my pic I got last session. I never got a picture on the trail cam of him & he was nicer than any of the bucks I did get pics of.

[@gheft762]

I am hunting a upper 130s 10 point, on 30 acres surrounded by good hunters, a buck of this caliber in my area is like gold, everyone wants it but few ever even see a pic of it

[@fattroutlounge]

Awesome vid

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thank you Matt, hope that all is going great!

[@michaelneely4185]

How does manipulating habitat to encourage the concentration of deer traffic over a given area differ from using bait piles and mineral licks with respect to exposing more deer to infectious diseases like CWD? See,s that concentrating more deer into a small area is bad for herd health. Am I wrong?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Yes, I think that you are? CWD is a serious disease...but incredibly misunderstood and completely over-reacted too. Just in my experience. I have clients within CWD zones that are some of the best deer parcels in the country. I also wouldn't hesitate to buy land there myself, after hunting next door to CWD counties for 17 years and working withing CWD parcels for 14 years. Deer are always concentrated somewhere. Food sources, travel, bedding , winter habitat, natural mineral kicks, scrapes, rubs and even hunting pressure concentrates deer. So really not concerned...

[@michaelneely4185]

Whitetail Habitat Solutions No doubt with enough food and cover, deer can reproduce at a much faster rate than a slowly progressing disease like CWD can kill them off. Note that research from LSU now suggests a bacterial involvement, which if borne out in further study, will offer numerous avenues and strategies much more specific and measurable in their effects.

[@yogibear6271]

think your absolutely right I see it all the time but not the way your saying exactly as you already know. my core area bucks will leave here and become someone else's non core area bucks a 1/2 to 3/4's of a mile away. If most of the bucks your getting shots at are non core bucks than your core area bucks must be doing the same as mine backing up an leaving

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Core bucks only leave the majority of the time...for about 1/2 the rut. And even then you have morr time to shoot them on your own land during the rut, than someone else does. Core bucks begin coming into the land roughly late Sept to late October. Many folks confuse "core" bucks with bucks they have through the Summer months and into September, and then leave. Those are all non core bucks. Because of the small parcel, sometimes the biggest bucks I have are core bucks...so I shoot them. Slightly more than 1/2 the time the bucks that are bigger have been non core...so I shoot those. The core bucks only leave for a few days at a time here and there, mostly during the rut.

[@yogibear6271]

Whitetail Habitat Solutions well ok then. NOW I'm really confused thanks Jeff.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

@@yogibear6271 ha, I core bucks should be in and around shooting hours some time starting late Sept to late October and stick around the majority of the season. They leave a bit here and there during the rut. Non core bucks really only show up during the peak of the rut. Bucks that are around during the Summer and leave by late Sept to late October, are non core bucks. Most non core bucks begin transitioning out roughly late September, during the annual whitetail shift. Really cool, pretty defined annual patterns...

[@yogibear6271]

Whitetail Habitat Solutions I always thought a buck that spends at least 10 months out of the year on my property has his bedroom and dining room on the property to be his core area spends 10 months here leaves for the rut an then comes back after the rut an stays here until right before the rut next year to be a core buck the bucks I see only once a year here for alittle while during the rut always considered them the non core bucks guess I got it wrong if you have a store an i customer comes in every day and then someone comes in one or two times which one is your regular customer ?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

@@yogibear6271 if he leave for 2 months during prime time, he ain't a core buck 😉 keep in mind in most states the store is only open for 3 months.

[@randlerichardson5826]

That’s the way it works with me on my 46 acres. I see them coming cross the road at night on to my lease.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Nice...that works so well!! Sounds like a great 46 acre chunk

[@randlerichardson5826]

Whitetail Habitat Solutions it is a great place. Let me know where I can find one of your books brother I’d really like to read it GOD BLESS.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

@@randlerichardson5826 hi Randle.... www.whitetailhabitatsolutions.com or on Amazon...very easy to find. Or type in Jeff Sturgis whitetail books 🙂

[@randlerichardson5826]

Whitetail Habitat Solutions thanks brother soon as everything get straightened out I’ll get one. Thanks brother GOD BLESS.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

@@randlerichardson5826 that sounds great Randle...thank you! Good luck in getting everything straightened out

[@davidbryce3519]

That's what I'm dealing with on my small property. Non core bucks.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Hope the video helps you David!

[@randlerichardson5826]

That’s how it works on my place

[@flushot6513]

Yep i never go in till gets good dont wanna burn up a stand before gets good i always have opportunity at good deer deer alot of people would should last yr i would have shot but peep twist couldn't see thru never saw him again but i see those deer mayb i have dreams of that monster is why i keep letting these deer walk funny though most guys wont listen to that advice of wait there will be a better day to go deer hunting..