The Key to Success for this Kentucky Hunt: Food Plot Design

By GrowingDeer,

Last fall, Grant was on the edge of his seat as he played cat and mouse with a big Kentucky buck!

The success of this hunt was the design of the food plot and the location of the Redneck Hunting Blinds.

Kentucky Huting Plan and Deer Movement

This food plot was in the middle of a pine stand and ran along a ridge top. There were two saddles in this ridge (marked with white lines) and the Redneck blind overlooked the entire plot.

Redneck blind in the field with great field of view

From the blind, deer were not alerted while traveling across the ridge or feeding in the plot.

Kentucky Buck shows during an early morning hunt

Kentucky Buck Hunt 2019: Cat and Mouse

When designing a plot and/or choosing a hunting location, consider how to approach, hunt and exit without alerting deer. You can watch this entire hunt unfold here!

See the Difference In Two Thinned Pine Stands: One Burned the Other Not

By GrowingDeer,

Our friend Keith recently shared a great habitat update he’s done on his hunting property! After thinning pines several years ago, he used prescribed fire this past spring and saw a flush of native species.

After Prescribed Fire

This vegetation is offering great cover and palatable browse. This is a great example that opening up the canopy (in this case thinning the pines) with the use of prescribed fire can create quality habitat. What’s even more interesting is that Keith also shared a photo of thinned pines that was not burned.

area that wasn't burned

This stand had many more woody species/saplings. Within a few seasons theses species will be shading the ground and browse will be out of reach of critters. If not addressed soon, this area could require a lot of work to convert it back to quality habitat.

Share your habitat improvement updates with us on social media: Facebook and Instagram!

Enjoy Creation!

Mapping Acorns!

By GrowingDeer,

While we’ve been out checking cameras we’ve kept an eye out for acorn producing oaks and marking them in OnX Hunt!

We’ll be hunting in this area when this white oak starts dropping acorns! Let us know how the acorn crop looking where you hunt by joining us on social media and leaving a comment!

Acorns producing trees marked on OnX

 

The Bullet that Leaves All Its Energy In the Deer

By GrowingDeer,

The GrowingDeer team has been using Winchester Deer Season XP for many years! Last fall I was able to fill my rifle tag on a great buck we called Slingshot. After the hunt we noticed the bullet was just underneath the skin on the offside shoulder. The bullet left all its energy in the deer, and Slingshot didn’t make it out of sight!

Deer Season XP by WinchesterWinchester Deer Season XP

We are ready for those crisp fall mornings in the deer woods!

Clay

 

Native Browse: Ragweed – It’s Extremely Nutritious

By GrowingDeer,

Native browse is extremely nutritious! We noticed an area where deer were hammering the giant ragweed. We collected a ragweed sample and had Waters Ag (same lab we use for soil samples) analyze the nutrient quality. Check out the results. This is one reason we work to improve native habitat! (page down to see the nutritional analysis)

doe eating native plants

native browse

nutritional analysis of native vegetation

Velvet Bucks, Fawns, Turkey Poults: Trail Camera Videos | May and June 2020

By GrowingDeer,

The velvet antlers are growing nicely on some of the bucks in these ReConyx trail camera videos. The bucks get up close and personal with the cameras as they browse.

 

A healthy crop of fawns here at The GrowingDeer.tv Proving Grounds! Check out these vidoes of does with their fawns in May and June 2020.

 

If you want to get to see more bucks that are on your property – find a fruit tree that is producing now and place a trail camera nearby! Soft mast trees like peaches will draw in all kinds of critters – deer, possums, raccoons! We had not seen any of these bucks on our other trail cameras so this was an easy way to get more in tune with the local bucks!

 

A short video compilation of hen turkeys with their poults from late May to mid-June 2020. Listen to the hens purr as they walk along with their little broods!

Archery Practice Tip 3: Get Higher

By GrowingDeer,

Many deer hunters hunt from an elevated blind or stand. It’s important to practice for those shot opportunities.

Standing at a higher elevation (even on top of a small hill in the yard) and shooting at a target lower in elevation can help you prepare for fall.

Archery Practice: shoot from an elevated position