Increasing Daylight Activity for Mature Bucks
Mature bucks are incredibly smart, elusive creatures, only moving during daylight where they feel the safest. As hunters it is incredibly important that we encourage that target buck to move during daylight hours on our property and not the neighbors, it takes way more than just setting up a stand and waiting. It also goes far beyond planting food plots! Our property needs to be the “safe place”.
Understanding Mature Buck Behavior
Mature bucks are different from younger deer in their habits and behavior. By the time a buck reaches 4.5 years or older, it has survived multiple hunting seasons and learned to avoid human presence. These bucks often become more nocturnal, only moving during daylight where they feel the most secure. Their patterns are shaped by factors such as:
- Pressure from hunters
- Availability of food and water
- Secure bedding areas close to resources
To increase daylight movement of mature bucks on your property, you need to address these factors, creating a landscape that encourages them to move during daylight while feeling safe and unpressured.
1. Minimizing Human Pressure
Human pressure is one of the biggest reasons why mature bucks become nocturnal. Excessive disturbance, whether through hunting, scouting, or other land activities, can quickly push a buck into nighttime movement and ultimately off your property.
- Sanctuaries: Designate certain areas of your property as off-limits to human activity. These sanctuaries should be dense bedding areas with ample browse. Mature bucks like to be secluded and the more secluded that we can make them feel, the more likely they will stay on property vs heading to the neighbors.
- Entry and Exit Strategies: When hunting, it’s crucial to plan your access routes carefully to minimize your intrusion. Stick to hidden, quiet access routes and always keeping the wind in your favor as best you can.
- Limit Scouting Intrusions: Limit how often you check trail cameras, use cellular trail camera and limit how often you conduct in-person scouting. Excessive human scent and noise can push deer into nocturnal patterns. Use high wind, rain, high heat and other unfavorable conditions to do your in-person scouting excursions, this will help minimize the probability of getting busted while collecting crucial information.
2. Strategic Food Plot Placement
While food plots are commonly used to attract deer, their placement is key to encouraging daylight movement, especially for mature bucks. Mature bucks are more likely to feed in daylight if they don’t have to travel far from their bedding areas and if they feel secure moving between food and cover.
- Close Proximity to Bedding Areas: Create small, secluded food plots, also known as "staging plots," near bedding areas. These plots are often located within or adjacent to thick cover, allowing bucks to grab a quick bite before moving to larger, more open feeding areas. By positioning food plots near safe bedding areas, you reduce the distance a buck must travel, making him more likely to reach your food plot during daylight hours.
- Diverse Plantings: Plant a variety of forage that matures at different times of the year to keep deer on your property throughout the season. Popular choices include clover, brassicas, cereal grains, and soybeans. This ensures that deer have a reliable food source as the seasons change and making them less likely to shift to another property.
- Edge Food Plots: Create food plots along the edges of different habitat types—such as where a forest meets an open field. These edge habitats offer the cover that mature bucks prefer while providing the food sources that draw them out. Bucks are more likely to emerge in daylight if they don’t have to travel far into open areas to feed.
3. Thick Bedding Cover
Mature bucks require secure bedding cover, where they can rest undisturbed from human intrusion and the rest of the deer herd during the day. Again make your property the “safe place” for these bucks and give them the ability to seclude themselves from the rest of the herd.
- Hinge Cutting: Hinge cutting is a forest management technique where trees are partially cut so they fall over but remain alive. The fallen trees provide a mix of cover and food by promoting new growth.
- Thick Brush and Native Grasses: Encourage the growth of thick brush and native grasses by selectively thinning forests or conducting controlled burns. Areas with a mix of grasses, shrubs, and saplings provide excellent bedding cover for bucks.
- Multiple Bedding Areas: Provide multiple bedding zones throughout your property, particularly near food and water sources. This gives mature bucks several options based on wind direction and other elements, reducing the amount of travel required to reach those food sources during daylight hours.
4. Water Sources
Mature bucks need water throughout the day, and providing easily accessible water sources on your property near bedding cover will encourage bucks to bed on property and even use the water hole during daylight hours.
- Water Holes: If natural water sources are scarce, creating small water holes can significantly increase daytime deer activity. These water sources should be located near bedding areas or along travel corridors between bedding and feeding areas to make it convenient for bucks to drink during daylight.
- Natural Creeks and Springs: Enhance any natural water sources on your property by clearing the area around creeks or springs, making it more accessible to deer. Keeping these water sources close to bedding areas can lead to more daytime movement.
5. Creating Travel Corridors
Mature bucks prefer to move along natural travel corridors where they feel hidden and safe. On small and large properties alike, creating and enhancing these corridors will help guide deer movement and increase the chances of seeing them during daylight. Deer like to take the easiest route of travel as often as they can.
- Natural Funnels and Pinch Points: Bucks will often use natural terrain features such as saddles, ridges, and low-lying areas to move undetected. If these features exist on your property, clear a few paths through them to encourage deer to use them regularly.
- Brush Lines and Fence Rows: Plant brush lines or enhance existing fence rows to create safe travel corridors for deer. These corridors should connect bedding areas to food plots or water sources, allowing bucks to travel safely during daylight hours.
6. Low-Pressure Hunting
One of the most critical factors in keeping mature bucks active during daylight is reducing hunting pressure and overall human intrusion. Bucks that feel constant hunting pressure will quickly become nocturnal and move off property.
- Hunt Only in Optimal Conditions: Be selective about when you hunt. Target days when the wind is in your favor, temperatures drop, or when you have visual evidence that you need to make a move. Sometimes sitting on the couch is the best way to kill your target buck and only hunting the high odds days.
- Rotate Stand Locations: Avoid hunting the same stand location repeatedly. Your first sit is your best opportunity to harvest your target buck, so choose your days wisely. Overhunting an area can condition deer to avoid it during daylight.
Conclusion
Encouraging daylight activity, particularly for mature bucks, requires more than just luck or patience—it takes thoughtful management practices aimed at creating an environment where deer feel safe and secure. By minimizing human pressure, strategically placing food plots, enhancing bedding cover, and creating safe travel corridors, you can greatly increase the chances of seeing mature bucks during daylight hours.
Success comes from understanding the behavior of mature bucks and shaping your property in a way that meets their needs without making them feel threatened. With the right approach, you’ll not only increase deer movement on your property but also improve the quality of your overall hunting experience.
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