Top 12 Whitetail Habitat Fads and Myths
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- Опубліковано 27 лип 2024
- From clumped deer poop that equals bucks to high hinge cuts being good for your land, there are many whitetail habitat fads and myths that you should avoid if your time and money is precious. The best whitetail habitat practices are often the most basic and have stood the test of time. Online sources are full of whitetail habitat practices that are much more myth and fad than reality. While traveling the North 1/2 of the country I believe that I have seen it all! From the consistently best habitat practices to the predictably worst, there are many to choose from that fail to appreciably improve your habitat, herd or hunt. There at least a dozen whitetail habitat practices that you should consider avoiding for the lack of results combined with the amount of time and effort they take. Learn from the mistakes of myself and others as you explore my Top 12 Whitetail Habitat Fads and Myths.
Thanks for just worrying about the video and not making us suffer through a minute long slide show intro of loud music and clips of other videos.
Love your videos! I have learned a lot about the whitetail deer because of your videos, thank you very much and keep up the great work!
I've been watching your videos, they are consistently great, keep up the good work.
Great video as always, look forward to each new video you put out. I have used so much of your content in my hunting practices so thanks for all that you do
Thank you very much Justin, I really appreciate that! I have a lot of fun doing it too and most of all I hope that it helps a lot!
Thanks for the awesome videos Mr Sturgis! Greetings from Sturgis Saskatchewan!! I loved the myths video!
I've sent your videos to every single one of my hunting friends. Such great advice. Thanks for all you do!!
Lou that's awesome I really appreciate that! Thank you very much...really means a lot!
Great informative video brother. I’m goin to try some of this that I can on my 46 acre place I’ve got leased up from my house. This reminded me I’ve got to put up more no trespassing signs this week up there. The landowner wants me to so I’ve got to do what he says. I do what he wants. He’s good enough to let me have it so I respect his wishes. Great video brother thank you GOD BLESS.
That's great Randle...very food to hear and why I published these! No trespassing signs aren't a bad thing nowadays...people shouldn't be wandering like they used to, lol
best tips of the year Jeff. Maybe we should feed burritos and see what happens. I tried a bunch of hinge-cutting and bed-making in the past and what I noticed is that deer like to use the area for escape cover but don't bed down in it. Terrain position is more important and like you said, side cover. I used to always find beds at the edge of where I left off every day while TSI cutting on State Forest contracts. That taught me to make good bedding habitat by dropping trees in groups to get cover on the ground and skipping ahead to make another patch or line of tops on the ground. But only in a terrain feature they want to use for daytime cover anyway. That way there are plenty of individual spots to bed against cover while being able to run full speed in case a predator shows up. Theory being that a deer needs to have cover but not so thick they can't get into high gear and run when danger is detected.
Interesting about the water holes too. I tried to convince a client to put one in the tip of a food plot near some bedding I had made with chainsaw so a buck would hit it on the way out to feed. A scrape/water hole/feed combo near good bedding seems to me to be the best kill setup one could come up with
Love watching your videos! Always can learn something new everyday! Never thought of the reasoning of the color of their antlers, HAHA!
I always believed the same on rack color, but I believe now they're saying rack color is based on soil quality and minerals. Whiter racks are from higher quality soil regions and are harder and more dense.....Darker racks are more porous and not as dense from lesser quality soils. Makes sense, since virtually most everything physically, on deer is related to the regions soil quality and thus food quality.
Great info. Thanks for the video. God bless and happy new year.
Thank you very much Josh, that means a lot to me...Happy New Year to you too!
Great tips Jeff, Thanks Again
You are very welcome and I really appreciate the feedback!
Another good vid Jeff!!! Im all for getting deer in shooting range but iv seen some real nice future logs hinge cut lol.
Thanks a lot Dan! Ha, and that sounds good...me too!
"Deer are essentially red-green color blind like some humans. Their color vision is limited to the short [blue] and middle [green] wavelength colors. As a result, deer likely can distinguish blue from red, but not green from red, or orange from red."
Deer have oval pupils with the Horizon and only have 2 Color "Circles" unlike humans that have 3. Also, wearing Blue is like wearing a neon sign. Great Video. Thanks.
You need to read the research. Also, watch the video from the University of GA, available on UA-cam of you search U of GA Deer Vision. Deer absolutely do see red, just not with the same intensity that humans do. Although deer do not have RGB pigment like we do, there is no research to say they are RG color blind.
Another great video sir. I usually only make a plot that is about 30 yards in circumference and I make sure I take it around trees through Vs and stuff like that. I also put a mineral site not to far away. Where I used to hunt the land was heavily traveled and the couple years I hunted there and the more I learned and did the bigger the deer got. Now since I've set up this habitat the owner took it back and pushed me to public. This is really hindering me because I'm a disabled vet.
What a Lucky man! thats all i want to do for a living!!! If you ever need a hand sir, and or are up in NEK
I would love nothing more than to hunt with you! Good Luck from us here in VT.
Thats always been my understanding of bucks during the rut. They want to be near water sources by the heat of the day.
For sure...although they don't need to be like we do. They can feed on greens too for their moisture requirements...
Something I would like to add to hinge cut presciptions , We have coyote that are quite aggressive and use the bush clogs to trap deer . Install holes for escape venues .
On my trail cam i got a buck beding in front of it
Some good information....interesting.
That's great to hear Takur, I hope it made sense. Thank you and I appreciate your feedback
Another great video! Thank you so much for all the free advice! Where can I find your books and what would they be listed as? It’s time we help you out! Thank you again!
Thanks a lot Glenn, I really appreciate that!
Amazon will be restocked next week, but you can always order from the store area on my site: www.whitetailhabitatsolutions.com/store
Means a lot to me...thanks again!
good video all i know is about the time I think I got them figured out they surprise me by doing things totally different.
Man so true...that is the beauty of whitetails!
Whitetail Habitat Solutions YES SIR been watching an observing hunting white tail deer for 45 years now and it's never gotten old enjoy every second of it been blessed with many deer to learn from over the years.
@@yogibear6271 amen to that, I can fully appreciate that! You never stop learning from whitetails which is so enjoyable with these incredible creatures...
Great video as usual. Deer myth - “ my place is ALL WOODED so it’s better than 1/2 wooded”
Thank you and good myth!! Having some open ground is always better - for certain! Hardwood parcels typically have the least potential die to the lowest level of diversity...or quality...habitat.
also people say deer have to have tall grass for them to bed down. I live in Southeast iowa and we will get deer bedded down in the middle of a cut bean field
Good job agen jeff i use a piece of half a round tree bark cut hole for eye of camra small bunje cord use same bark as tree out a here
Thanks Rick and very interesting!
Thought I knew a lot about whitetail I've been hunting 47 years bowhunting 43 years gave up the gun hunting in 1997 just became too easy strictly bow hunt know it's not even about the killing anymore hasn't been for a long time my passion now is just a sit out there with Mother Nature and the Whitetail and watch even though I do fill my freezer every year Gotta to have it thank you for all your knowledge what do you know about hunting North Dakota pothole country I moved up here 12 years ago from Wisconsin still learning the ways of the Whitetail up here completely different then Wisconsin Woods hunting
Very much a "newbie" here. Recent new gun owner and very interested in getting into Deer hunting. I live in NY State, so plenty of opportunity to hunt during the winter months. One thing I don't get is the whole "hinge cutting" thing. From a somewhat "outside looking in" perspective; It seems destructive of the Deer habitat to go in chopping down a bunch of trees to make Hinge Cuts. Would it not make more sense to create habitat by dragging in existing deadfall boles, planting low shrubs and winter greenery and even using straight up lumber to BUILD areas where deer can hide? According to what I've been reading, deer will happily create bedding areas in the lee of old barns and near or within large brush piles that humans have made. If this is the case, why start hacking up the existing habitat when you can just drag in a bunch of existing natural junk and build a bedding area?
Your part right. Here on our spot in northern Michigan we use brush for cover. I randomly pile it along the edges of my food plot. I use lower hinge cuts to steer deer instead of using it for bedding, I plant lots of tall grasses along my plot for security.
Good info thanx
Awesome info
Thank you very much Chad, I hope that it helps you a lot!
I appreciate your videos! I wondered when do you do the mock scrape in relation to the hunting season? Is this recon work way before hunting season?
Leave it up year round. Think of it like a community bulletin board or a fire hydrant for dogs who want to communicate to others that they were there. Deer, just like dogs to the fire hydrant, are gonna be drawn to it and pee UNDER the mock scrape. Unlike the dogs who pee ON the hydrant.
I truly appreciate everything you're doing one thing that's kind of got me wondering is you're talking about hiding the cameras the little box that the Bucs pick up on and you're standing under an 8 by 8 foot blind now I only hunt from tree stands and I only bow hunt and I try to stay as small and as concealed as possible but really I I don't quite get the big box blind thing
Hi I like your videos. We have a place in tioga co. Pa . Lots of mountains. This season was a very bad year. With a foot of snow and rain on opening day it was pretty bad.whats your best strategy for hunting mountain deer with 350,000 acres there is a lot of land
About the trail camera myth. I have 2 Cuddeback cameras and they switch lenses from light to ir low light. They make a noticeable “click” sound that gets the deer’s attention. I’m going to look at Covert brand next. The Reconyx are just too much money to leave on a tree for months.
I just ordered my first rifle and planning on my first hunt on public land in Virginia. What advice do you have for a newbie.
Can you do a video of river bottom ground please got a new farm to hunt and it’s been rough figuring things out
The red light definitely creates a weary buck at least the mature bucks and does. So many times I've tipped off deer from them. What camera do you recommend that videos at night with no red light. Great video by the way.
Glad to see I'm on the right side of the poop theory! Very interesting info on the hinge cutting. Is the fencing behind you a method of deterring deer from behind your blind, access, or both?
Ha, the rights side of the poop theory, lol It is to deter deer...it is useful at times but not as often as sometimes used. It is on a client parcel...a parcel I designed a couple of weeks ago. They will be taking just about all of the fencing down...several hundred yards worth! That video will come out New year's morning...hope you like it!
Jeff. Another great video! I have changed my trail cam placement strategy based on your guidance.
Question. If mature bucks are sensitive to trail cams, can’t the same be said for the large fixed blinds? Why do mature bucks get use to or tolerate these but change patterns if trail cams are detected?
Hi David, thanks for the feedback! I find that mature bucks are even less thrilled about fixed blinds. Check out this video...I think you will like it, it's about the need and strategy for hiding both blinds and trail cams:
ua-cam.com/video/_IU-2tvms9Q/v-deo.html
Let me know what you think, thank you very much! AND...have a Happy New Year!
Hey question, we have 31 acres that had very thick canopy. 40%cottonwoods, 40% mulberry, with a few walnuts, hackberry, and box elder mixed in. We knocked down a bunch of cottonwoods to open up the canopy but it provides only screen and cover, not really food. Would we be better off, since we don't have a lot of property, getting rid of them and planting brambles, switchgrass, etc?
You had me until the end talking about big bucks not liking square box trail cams. Lol.
Here are a couple of good videos for you...mature bucks especially can't stand them, even mature does:
*ua-cam.com/video/_IU-2tvms9Q/v-deo.html
*ua-cam.com/video/4qrg8GARnAw/v-deo.html
*ua-cam.com/video/9VFfUtafMpc/v-deo.html
It's unnatural and easy for them to spot. But very many ways to hide them 😉
Western New York what is a good fall winter food plots
When you say the deer can see variations of "Red". Does that include Blaze Orange? I'm new to hunting and I'm doing all I can to lear .
So I don't have a huge area to work on, maybe an acre or two of mostly oak and pine in northern Massachusetts. I often see whitetails romping through the woods and sometimes on my front and back lawn. I've been thinking about building out a bedding area or a shelter and supplying it with feeders and/or hay, just so I can get a better look at them and hopefully make them feel safer. I've no interest in hunting them, I just want to do something to help them out in late winter. Any thoughts or tips that you might want to give a true beginner? I don't want to do more harm than good.
What brand of platform is that behind you?
Hi Mr. Sturgis
How do I get a hold of you to discuss your services. I have a 31 acre parcel with a lot of potential. Please let me know.
Great video! Heard you say Chippewa Falls. Where are you out of? I'm from the area
Thank you very much! I'm se of Lacrosse
What time of year would be best to establish the mock scrape? We have plenty of vines and I believe some good areas (about 100 yds away from food) to set them up) I just don't want to establish it in Jan, if you should wait until August to establish it.
Great question!! Here is a link to my best time to start a mock scrape video:
ua-cam.com/video/pwP1EgEbwLo/v-deo.html
My favorite time is mid Summer .
But now is great too. I do not recommend during the season...
Something pretty cool too...any of these whitetail questions if you as UA-cam, my videos typically come up at the top UA-cam searches...even Google searches. Not that you have too...but most are the first ones for most whitetail searches. Thanks a lot for watching!
Hey Jeff, if they see red having red arrows and vanes, Is that a bad thing.. also you talked about Egyptian wheat before , is that’s good for just block a food plot or bedding.. ps got my first deer this year, thanks for all your help
That's great to hear Dan, congrats and you are very welcome for the tips!
I think red vanes, 20' up in a stand and virtually motionless...hidden...are great. I even use white at times. But man red bulbs that all if a sudden flash "on" and are 3-10' off the ground, and always there...isn't s good recipe. Hope that helps Dan and again...congrats, love to hear that kind of feedback!
Jeff Sturgis, you mentioned not to use IR cameras. What do you recommend for trail cameras? Thanks
Hi Jason, what I have used for the last 3 hunting seasons are the Exodus Lift I and then the Lift II trail cams the past 2 years. 2" viewing screens, 5 year 100% warranty and outstanding pics with true, full HD vids. I set mine in Hybrid, for 1 pic and 1 ten second video...typically I use a 5 minute delay.
I have had zero hunting season failures. I even left one on public land for roughly 365 days and it was still taking pics when I walked up to it.
I have a code you can use for a discount ..here is the link to check them out: bit.ly/JSturgis
Let me know what you think! Very high quality trail cam at a great price for the features and reliability.
What's everyone's take on deer and sumack? I have a few spots on my land that are getting outta control and wondering if I should leave it be or try to get rid of it.
Great summer and early season habitat...poor fall/midwinter cover but good browse. However ..great to surround with switchgrass and conifer areas. Then you have cover surrounding the sumac. Switch would actually best in the end.
You can mow with a brush hog...spray simazine prior to spring green up and then you can hit it with glyphosate/2-4D about 4 weeks after green up. If soil is exposed you can frost seed at 8-10s per acre anytime before Spring green up.
I hope that helps? You would isolate pockets of and 1/8th acre or smaller, and then kill and plant switch in the rest of the areas, to hide the ultimate bedding pockets.
I like myth videos, maybe do one once a month or more type of thing.
Can you provide the name of that tree place you spoke of where you can get cuttings plz?
I sure can John! www.bigrocktrees.com
John Walton is the owner...
So I'm a beginner and my property is 40ish Acers of mostly hillside with the top being a lot of native grass and a big apple tree is that a possible main food source?
No, really not at all. It has to be a food source that can last all hunting season and on private land that unfortunately can only be created through a quality food plot program. Apple trees are limited even in an orchard, grass isn't food and oaks are ever worse than apple trees as far as acorns being severely limited.
one thing in this video that confuses me is why would the deer view the tiny trail cam as a foreign object to the point that it actually spooks them but not the giant tower blind sitting over the food plot. Seems like a trail cam would be just like a blind where its just a matter of time before they get used to it.
You do the same thing with a horizontal rub as you do with a mock scrape. You put a mock scrape right next to it if you follow the way Ted Miller does it. He uses it the same exact way you're using mock scrapes. He has many video's of it being successful.
They just don't attract nearly as many deer...and for rubs in general they are often rubbed very few times for entire year. Not areal good attraction I would sound much time with.
A scrape has the power to attract every single deer that walks by...a rub can't do that. Horizontal or vertical. I get thousands of hits by all deer on quite a few mockj scrapes each...I just haven't seen that anywhere with any rub. Not even close. What I'vee experienced is that whikr you can get them hit here and there, they just aren't something I would invest the time into. I have many many clients who have tried it out but even been a little embarrassed they fell for the fad. Trust me if the worked well I would use them for sure...
again, Ted Miller doesn't just put a horizontal rub along a route and hopes a buck rubs it. He always puts a mock scrape right next to the horizontal rub. He will sit over the scrape and watch bucks come in make a scrape and then turn their head and start rubbing on the horizontal rub. He also suggests doing it from middle of October into November as well. I agree that putting just a horizontal rub somewhere isn't going to do much but the way Ted Miller does it, he includes a mock scrape right there next to his rubs. He uses mixture of creek sand and mud when making his scrapes.
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751
@@gentrye02 oh I understand...but the point is that you shouldn't need another habitat feature to sweeten the first to get it to work. For example you don't need a horizontal rub to sweeten a mock scrape. The same can be said about a waterhole. Good habitat improvements can hold their own. If you need 1 habitat feature to sweeten another, why even bother with the one that has to be sweetened?
Just a very low hit-rate improvement that I personally see dozens of landowners using with a range of zero to very low success. They ask me what they are doing wrong...and I tell them nothing, it just doesn't work a lot of the time. Hey, just what I see time and time again. I try to give landowners projects to do that not only fit together, but are highly worth their time and money. There is just so much else to do...even if someone could get moderate use out of one.
Whitetail Habitat Solutions well to each his own. I’ve never hunted a horizontal rub. I have seen Ted Miller and others do so with great success. I’ve seen it done with and with out a scape and I’ve seen it work great either way. First of all, it not necessarily a deer attractant, it can be, but it’s more for holding a bucks attention so you can get the best shot with your bow. You say rubs don’t used that much well Ted Millers horizontal rubs do. Its placed in an area bucks travel through. It is very rare that a buck will pass it without rubbing it. Numerous different bucks use it. Again it’s rare when they don’t. But there’s may be some keys that make it successful. 1. It’s not meant to be attractant, it’s meant to hold a deer 2. He does things very specific. He uses a specific tree that is very sappy and he puts it out I believe just a few weeks before bow season- I not sure about exacts. The key is a very sappy tree is there at the exact right time. If it’s a different tree, does not work so good. If he puts it out to soon and it dries then no good during season. So in his part of the country with trees he used it works and is probably more affective at holding the deer for a shot over the scrape. Now it may not work a lick if I tried it, but it sure looks affective at stoping the deer and keeping the deers eyes off the hunter.
@@gregfoster6916 I can appreciate your feedback! Just something I continually see that isn't worth the effort...not something I would ever recommend to a client. Unfortunately I just have too many clients where they just experienced a you all waste of time with a horizontal rub. Cool fad, fun to experiment with but not something of real usefulness that I could put my name on when it comes to helping my clients maximize their time and efforts. Pretty cool to try, but man there are so many practices and features more effective that I would rather see my clients, readers and viewers spend their time with. In fact I would much rather see folks create a vertical rub than s horizontal rub. Even then though, a real high hole in the bucket...
I've got 60 acre's , I have 3 pastures I want to plant for food but what would be best to plant ?
Wheat, oats, rye grass...all you need..
I've heard that clumped poop is after they have been laying down in a bed. The poop is compacted while laying down is this true?
He literally answered your question in this video!
It would be great if you could make a video on mountain bucks. I hunt the Blue ridge mts of southwest va. It's 300 acres of pure mountains, no fields or farms. All hardwoods. I always see deer when I hunt but rarely am I seeing mature bucks. I'm assuming their diet is mostly acorns. With that being said, since it's all mts. And the same layout everywhere on the 300 acres (rolling mts) .I'm not sure where their bedding area is vs eating area. I subscribed to your channel and fell it can be helpful. I have yet to watch all your videos. Hunters around here seem to think that it depends on what side of the Mt. The sun hits most. I'm not sure but I would love know some of the myths vs. Facts of mountain bucks. I'm the only hunter on the land so I know it's definitely me that's doing something wrong to not harvest a nice buck. Thanks.
Hi Brad...I would love to hunt those areas at some point! Diversity is key though...anything. young timber vs old, blow downs, tree variety change, flats vs steep area, etc. I love long flat points in major elevation changes...30-100 yards across, old rub sign...historical rub sign mixed with new buck sign. Bucks love to cruise high in the morning, and find they seem to stay at the same elevation. Areas mixed with side saddles, benches and saddles below points that allow a buck to cruise great distances, above potential doe bedding...is perfect! Add diversity of habitat in and between elevation, diversity and low hunting pressure you can find bucks. In those areas, all being equal...I find bucks bed high
Thank you
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 if you are ever in swva near VA TECH during the season. I would be up for taking you hunting and learning more about my hunting spot.
Jeff- Do you have a recommendation of source for cave-in-rock switch grass you plant?
Hi Matt, I sure do! From John Komp at www.northwoodswhitetails.com/product/cave-in-rock-switch-grass-5-pound-bag
He sells in small quantities and is always willing to help! Great brassica, screening and other blends too...
Thank you!
I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned the myth about bucks going nocturnal, where in fact they are just nocturnal in a specific area, since they feed 5 times a day.
Great point! It's hard because I've covered a lot if these topics extensively before...I am actually working on a master list 😉
Check out this one on nocturnal bucks! It's been a big one...
ua-cam.com/video/5QTaFcIWRRU/v-deo.html
true mine is one of those. but heavily hunted general area. KEY got on cams at night, yes. during day no. nobrainer. also i am in alabama, no snow.....different myths here.
@@jmh8743 sure thing James...one of the things I that deer are always moving during the daylight somewhere. Of not coming until regularly at night, they are coming a pretty good distance to get there.
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 mentioned elsewhere, you cannot compete with a neighbor with large resourses. At one time they were here, now gone; thus an adjacent resourse shift. As you say, moved far away. thanks for your time. hard to accept, but stick a fork in me.......my best.
@@jmh8743 with great food (even just 2-3 acres and great cover with a great hunting approach...you can always compete with a neighbor because 99% of neighbors are over pressuring their deer herd. In fact the more they build to attract the land often the more they make their land nocturnal because they don't manage the level of attraction. That's why big neighbors with big resources are often a blessing...because small neighbors with a solid plan can easily take advantage of them 😉 I see it all of the time. They attract and grow giant bucks...you hold the #1 daylight patch of 20-30 acres next door. It is a beautiful system...and works!
I've heard you say deer feed 5 times a day on a couple of videos, could you elaborate on the times, or direct me to more detailed article. Love your videos!
Thanks a lot Chris and sure...here is one:
ua-cam.com/video/FXLvhIj7pIM/v-deo.html
Here is another one Chris...
So many myths when it comes to deer hunting. Any videos in tha future on mineral sights ?
Boy that is a great one too Shawn! I have a HUGE list for another myth section for sure. Cull bucks. Fawns being called yearlings when a yearlings is actually Iver s year old...not a few months old, etc.
Whitetail Habitat Solutions Always looking 4wrd to ur video's brother.
@@shawnmyers700 I greatly appreciate that Shawn! Always appreciate hearing from you. Have a Happy New Year!
I wish I knew how to send you some pics of some rubs I found the other day bout a week and a half to two weeks old. The shaving are on top of the leaves. I can hunt there but my nephew Inlaw has the flu and he has to be there to hunt it. Huge buck I’ve not seen rubs like this in years brother.
Man that is awesome...I love to see huge rubs!! One if my favorite things to find on client lands...
Whitetail Habitat Solutions 4 big I call them suckers off a old stump and they’re big as my arm above my elbow and I’ve got big arms. I’ve not found rubs like these here in years.
@@randlerichardson5826 very cool...I love those!
Whitetail Habitat Solutions I don’t know how to put pics on here or I would.
@@randlerichardson5826 me either!
What exactly is the point in the fence behind you?
Good question Austin! If you watch my next video I talk about it, but it's basically used to steer deer and funnel them. It works mostly in small parcels and young deer...but mature bucks can't stand being confined. This landowner is removing nearly all of their fencing...it basically kept mature bucks from living on the land because movement was so constricted. Among other things. A snow fence works sometimes behind a stand location, but if you have to use snow fencing a lot to funnel deer...the habitat is set up poorly and the landowner will experience just a portion of the potential herd and hunting success.
Not sure real advisable habitat practices. I typically recommend some type of fencing on less than 5 clients out of 75, per year...
Hope that helps!
You should go to the great American outdoor show. I'll buy all five of your books if you sign!
Man I wish I had the time to go! I hope to the ATA trade show, but even that is a stretch. I visit about 70 clients per year from December to September and am in the road way too much as it is. For that though I don't get to meet folks...which is a real bummer. If I went to a show though...that would be one of them for sure! Maybe some day? I tend to highly protect my weekends though...
Really appreciate you commenting and your interest in my content! Definitely adds fuel to the fire...
Hey btw Lou, if you order from the site I will make sure and sign them for you...just let me know in here. My wife handles all of the books but I would let you her know for you, no problem!
Thanks so much for the reply!! When I decide which book to get I'll let you know! See ya up the trail!
@@icallgreens89 sounds great Lou, have a Happy New Year!
@Dustin B that is outstanding Dustin...really appreciate your feedback! If you get All Weather Whitetails...let me know what you think too! Have a Happy New Year!
So you don’t use any infrared cameras correct? What do you use? Black flash? Any certain name brand you recommend?
I have used black flash or low glow trail cams exclusively for several years now. There are lots of brands and models to choose from. Back in 2011/2012 my hunting buddies and I even started using black sharpies to color the inside of the lenses of bulb covers on the trail cams. We cut our flash distance...but we gained spook free cams.
For the last 3 seasons I have used the Lift II from Exodus and love them! Low glow and a 5 year warranty with a 2" screen is hard to beat!
Here is a link to check them out: bit.ly/JSturgis
Let me know what you think and thanks for asking!
The pointed or blunt toe tracks myth
Do deer browse on the Japanese honeysuckle that stays green most of the winter?
They sure do! It is an invasive and I wouldn't plant it...but it is here to stay. It provides year round source of nutrition for deer and is a preferred species.
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 Thanks so much for the reply. I love your show, keep up the good work. I killed a deer in the late muzzleloader season and when I gutted the deer it's stomach was packed full of the leaves from the honeysuckle already. I'm figuring this would be a great place to shed hunt this year.
@@3279642 that's awesome to hear...congrats! Very cool on the stomach contents too. Another thing with honeysuckle and sheds...they are great for knocking them off!
And thanks a lot too...I will try to keep them coming!
Hey there ,, have you ever been to Ontario Canada with working on Whitetail Habitat??
No I have not...just northern MN and the UP of MI. Would be happy to travel depending on where it is at. I was in Ontario for mostly fishing, 5 times last year! West of Thunder Bay...
Where do you go fishing? I'm outside Fort Frances
@@briangregory6692 Up around Lac De Mil Lacs (sp?)...walleye mostly. I even went up there and wrote/finished my last book too. Didn't fish then, lol
So if they can see red and green what kind of flashlight do u walk into the woods with before dark?
Low glow, 1/2 lumens...and I only use flashlights when I have to. I also use then after dark 🙂
I try not to use lights at all but sometimes you have to to be safe.. I love well moon lit mornings before sun up.. let’s me walk all the way in without a light.
@@g.k.dalton4530 great point Greg! One of the main reasons I pay attention to what phase the moon is in. I like a clear, thin layer of white light. 1/2 lumens, sometimes even covering that with my thumb 1/2 way. I've seen neighbors use headlight red light or green light...and herd deer blowing out on their way in to their stands. Deer get spooked from a collection of small tiny IR bulbs...a bright green lens or red lenses in a head is far worse...to me anyways. So o like a small, thin white light straight on the ground from hip level.
Definitely safe...but small and white light is perfect!
Same here .. I keep that light covered and use as little as I can... And on some of my blackout camera they still have a little red flashing light on the front to tell you it’s ready and working... well I cover that with a small piece duct tape so the deer won’t see it flashing when it’s taking pictures.
@@g.k.dalton4530 that is a great idea! Very cool and I appreciate the feedback!
Great stuff Jeff, is alfalfa king? As far as AG sources go?
That's a tough call between beans or alfalfa...but neither are very good for a prime time hunting season draw.
we have about 120 acres of alfalfa can't run the deer out of it in the summer but the alfalfa go's dormant in the fall an winter not a good food source to hunt over around here mybe archery season alittle.
@@yogibear6271 it is pretty bad just about anywhere during the hunting season...maybe with the exception of some of the high ag/low cover areas where they don't have other food sources. Poor food plot choice. I can honestly say that while I have recommended, rape,turnips,radish,oats,wheat,rye,corn,beans,buckwheat,clover,forage peas,winter peas...I don't think I have ever recommend alfalfa as an actual food plot.
Whitetail Habitat Solutions I agree alfalfa is not a good choice all though it will attack an hold them there in the summer but not so much in the late fall or winter
@@yogibear6271 Good point! The great thing is there are alfalfa and bean fields around in most ag areas...so no use trying to compete with smaller plots on hunting parcels. I have very few bucks on the lands I hunt during the Summer...very few deer in general during the Summer, lol but then it explodes during late Sept and October. On the Summer alfalfa can be King...but I advise letting it be King on someone else's land 😉
I just tried buying a book from the website are E books only avaible?
Hi Dillion...hey, the hard copies are available too. Either. The latest book, All Weather Whitetails is only available by hard copy...
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 Ok I will be purchasing this could you sign it for me?
@@dillionbalentine7482 I sure will Dillion! I am letting my wife know right now...
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 Awesome I will be getting it tommorow morning I don't have my card on me at the moment but I will in the morn...do have any clients in southern Indiana?
@@dillionbalentine7482 sounds great Dillion! I do have one at some point soon...looking forward to it! I've had a few down that way...because the ATA is down in Louisville this year it opened up some dates around that area...
They are so use to ours I can show you pics of 6 mature bucks in my minerals within 5 yards of my camera in the wide open.
You should go into the poop deeper. Does anyone actually researched that? Take the woods you have.. I’m talking public land. Food that’s naturally there. The obvious ones and the extremes isn’t what I’m talking about. I’m thinkin color of poop or if you break it up what does it look like per what they eat. I know it sounds crazy but I find a lot of times on public land in New Hampshire the lakes region they have all they multiple areas they can go to eat and bed. Knowing what they are eating exactly might in this specific location help me find where they go and when. Or maybe I need like instruction on how to break these properties down. If I hunt the wind and fully control my scent it’s still tough to specifically locate the deer. I see one or two here and there and sign of bucks and a good herd all over. There’s roads in between as well and if they are spooked it’s nothing to them to skip across the road to another patch of woods also surrounded by the same chain of back roads.
Deers eyes are so sensitive to light how do you know there not just detecting the light from the infer red ( light )
That could be why there are only looking at it during the night , there actually just seeing the light .
Fed bear hunted with a red coat .
Also the purpose for horizontal rubs , is to get bucks to stop and sniff , maybe rub on them , giving a person a little more time to take a shot in front of there stand set up and the best thing is there almost free to make , no expensive deer urine to dribble in the scrape
If someone uses cedar trees to make them and puts them right beside a buck trail the bucks can't hardly resist to stop and sniff
The great thing about a scrape in general is that deer fo out of there way to hit them...every deer. Rubs are not something deer typically go out of there way for and the use or hit rate is very, very low. For the time and energy to create it really is an extremely low priority on a deer parcel. Much better options. At on top of that the total lack of use at times and it really isn't something that is a viable habitat option unless the landowner has truly checked off every other box and is bored.
The bulbs are red...hunters think deer can't see them because they are red...which is false. Same with flashlight lenses of green or red. It is also why camo isn't made in just pure red. Deer still see it in shades of gray/what/black...it still turns into a big dark block. That's why camo isn't made in green and red patterns... because deer still see it, lights or not. Even the ok'd red and black checkered hunting clothes...they turned into a big blob of dark. Not invisible. If hunters think their tail cam bulbs can hide under red or green lenses...same with flashlights...they are hurting their efforts. Which is what this myth is all about 😉
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 yes I agree , horizontal rubs don't provide any habitat , neither do scraps .
@@pureblood3127 scrapes are an incredible habitat attraction...easy to do too! Check out my mock scrape playlist for results 😉
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 scraps attract habitat ?
I think you meant scraps attrack deer .
@@pureblood3127 no...I meant what I said..."scrapes our a powerful habitat attraction". No different than food plots are a powerful, attraction, waterholes, etc...
I leave my cameras out Year round and my deer don’t pay any attention to them anymore. Even our mature bucks they could care less. Now throwing them in an area that’s new is different.
Unfortunately if you have a great deer parcel the mature bucks should be gone at least 1/2 of the year...not returning until the annual whitetail shift during late September, early October. If your cameras are Infrared, not hanging high, not hidden...those bucks will have a very negative reaction to your cams...unless in a low pressure state like Iowa or Kansas. Then you can get away with a lot more!
Whether trail cams are out or not all year doesn't matter...same with a deer blind...but whether the trail cams are hidden or not, always matters.
Here is a great way to check up in your trail cams. Like a deer blind, if you rely on leaving them up year round, that will hurt you with mature bucks. Mature bucks that should typically not be living on your land year round 😉
ua-cam.com/video/9VFfUtafMpc/v-deo.html
I always have a hand full of homebody bucks. That Hang around all year. I’ll have some that leaves for a fall range.
We have a saying at deer camp . It is beat the other hunters in to the woods. That way the deer you push will be pushed back.
The dragging toe tracks myth
Now I have followed a lot of mature bucks in the snow where this was true. Not in particular where their big bodies swayed out due to their overall size and created an arched drag mark. Does can sometimes do this but it can be a fairly reliable tracking clue for mature bucks in single, big tracks...
Hey brother.
Hi Randle!
Please stop hinge cuting ! Plant brush browse white cedar go to your nursery ask them what deer love to eat.cedar has great winter food for them. But it needs to be broken off the trees. In winter the snow load brakes off the green.i have seen this in my tree killing carrier.
6:28 thoughhhh
Derek...haunting clip to me! My wife missed that buck we had footage of for 3 years, just a few days later. A guy hunting around the corner lucked into him a few days later. Anyone is free to shoot any deer of course, but his name was "Russell" and we had a good history with him. Still bummed for her...
Yeah I hear you there. I've been chasing a very elusive buck for going on 3 years now. Had him on the hoof in the snow twice this season, and saw him multiple times with no shot while tracking him. He's a big 13 with a split brow and a drop, uncommon to see in Maine. After 2017 season he disappeared for 10 months, didn't get him back on cam until the same week but the following year (2018) Heard he may have been shot this year, but highly unlikely it was the same deer given the area and time of season he was said to be shot. (I think I spotted him a week after can't confirm.) Same buck I've told you about before, but I think with all the snow evidence I got, if he's still alive, this will be his final year dragging me around!
@@derekverville1125 very cool Derek...man I hope that he is alive and you can track him down! Bet an incredible, chocolate antlered buck!
Look at the biology and structure of the white tails eye they my know the camera is there but the do not have the rod and cone pattern and type to see in the red light spectrum this is a fact. They might see the bulbs they do not see “red light” it is impossible. Sorry to bust your bubble.
I believe they just see pure, bright white. They see in all shade of grey/white/black. They see the IR while they do not see the blackout or low glow bulbs...that's a fact, which is what this myth is about...sorry to burst your bubble 😉 Anyone thinking that deer don't see Infrared bulbs hasn't been around trail cams enough...which is where this myth is born. Just trying to help folks out there. I hear constantly that deer don't see red spectrum so they can't the IR bulbs or red lenses on a flashlight. That would be a huge false and so etching that can actually hurt hunters and their ability to capture pics or actually hold deer on their land. IR bulbs do a lot of damage...and, they are red. Doesn't matter what color the deer see them in, but they definitely pic them out and most mature animals don't like them.
Yeah he said , he knows for a fact they can see the color red . Now he's saying they see the light from an infrared bulb Wich is also what I believe .
I just wanted to see him promoting a hunting bicycle while riding it down hill in the intro LOL
@@pureblood3127 deer don't notice blackout cams...low glow, but they do notice Infrared.
What I promote is hunting smart and using proven methods or tools to do so, with an experience level that is at the highest possible level. This IS, actually what I do for a living. Hunters cover bulbs up with red or green lens, assuming deer don't see the light then. Obviously they do, and when hunters believe something to be true that isn't...I make sure to let them know so they can plan accordingly. Just trying to help hunters...
Here is a critical way to review your trail cams...
ua-cam.com/video/9VFfUtafMpc/v-deo.html
My cams have blue light.....full of deer on cam.....not spooked. Moose walk right up to the cam.
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 my cams have blue led.....deer have zero issues....Moose either.
The “venison is ‘gamey’ myth”
Ha, so true! It just tastes like venison, lol. Kind of like saying that beef is gamey...ham...chicken...pork. it's just ham, chicken or pork. Now, I will admit that some don't take care of their deer so it tastes bad...but venison tastes like venison and as someone who shot eaten a lot of deer from northern swamps, big hardwood public land and ag land...there isn't that big of difference of the meat is cared for consistently.
Spike myth
Ha, so true! Although that definitely falls under the cull buck myth too, lol Good one though!
Here’s another myth…What works in a northern experienced deer expert video always works in the deep south as well.
The Mexican deer are laughing.
DEER HATE SLASHINGS ............ WHY ? ................... FOR THE SAME REASON YOU DO. WHETHER YOU HAVE TWO LEGS OR FOUR THEY'RE A BITCH TO GO THROUGH. TRYING TO DRAG A DEER OUT THROUGH THAT CRAP IS EVEN MORE FUN. REMOVE SOME TREES IF NECESSARY TO OPEN UP THE CANOPY AND ENCOURAGE NEW GROWTH BY SELECT TIMBERING. MULCH UP THE SLASHING AND SPREAD IT OUT. THEY ONLY MAKE FOR AN UGLY WOODS.
Over 30 yrs land management 3 states over 11,000 acres including southern IOWA and northern Michigan and I don’t have enough time to go on about how wrong you are about perennials and grass !! I have made my living for the last 15 yrs just making ag land incredible hunting properties and flipping them and I never use any chemicals. Ag out Habit in Triple the value Fix the problem and get Rich doin it
Please stop cutting trees in that manner. Have you ever seen what’s called a barber chair happen? You are asking for a terrible accident to happen
Actually Will, this was professionally completed with more experience to back it up than anyone in the country. I suggest that you leave the conversation, educate yourself (not in a classroom), gain some real world experience and then come back to the discussion. Thanks! And if you have experience...find a greater level and then come back. Appreciate it!
professional people get killed everyday doing their professional job
Good topic.
Practice makes perfect.
Start with small trees and work your way up.
Always use caution!!
Lol Idk what professionals you're referring to but this is literally why you're supposed to notch the tree before you make your back cut. I worked in the woods for seven years in northern Alberta fighting forest fires and running a chainsaw. The Majority of chainsaw training courses will SPECIFICALLY address barber chairs and how to avoid them. suggesting it is perfectly safe for the average person, or even a "professional" for that matter, to be felling trees with nothing but a back cut is irresponsible at best and deadly advice at worst. Don't listen to this fool, he may know plenty about deer, but he doesn't seem to know jack about saw work.
A dangerous act does not become safe just because you're a professional, you are only better able to reduce the hazards but the hazards still exist.
You are absolutely wrong about hinge cutting. I have done it and for years and watched deer start using those areas for bedding. It also increases the natural browse for deer and allows for more deer to make your property "home". If you own land and are not doing this then you are missing out big time. Do NOT listen to this guy.
i total disagree on his canopy concept pine cut over and conifers hold in the ground warmth slowing down its dispersion making it the warmer part of the wood and shelter from the weather he is
WRONG
pine thickets i meant
Robert...I suggest you scout bedding areas for living in 26 states for over 900 clients for 15 years...and get back to me on that one 😉
That's why Switchgrass is such a great bedding component...no canopy, but great thermal protection. Some conifers...great thermal protection. But, like Switchgrass, conifers offer no food and deer will only bed in pure stands if forced to do so by extreme weather conditions of snow and cold.
As far as hardwood Regen canopy bedding, it is laughable that folks still think that deer need that type of canopy for bedding. Deer need side cover and hardwood Regen, briars, shrub tips and various weeds for daytime browse. The canopy places both cover (actually zero cover during fall and winter) and food above a deers reach. That was MI dad born out of the late 90s/early 2000s. Time to catch up bud...
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 have no such grass in my area hard woods high and low pines the low pines briers are mostly bedding areas as well as honey suckle i hunt wood change and catch deer on the in between worked for me for years no catch up needed Bud.