By Will Jenkins
We’ve all heard the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Unfortunately people who have been hunting he same property for years apply this saying to their property and hunt the same stand locations year after year. Then when it ‘breaks’ and they don’t see deer they blame everything but their lack of preparation. I’ve been that guy.
If you’re lucky enough to hunt the same property year after year you know there are certain areas where you can always find deer. However, things change, many of which you as a land manager can’t control.
At Hadley Creek, we are fortunate to hunt many of the same properties that we have managed for years. There’s a very careful and meticulous process that goes into farm layouts, stand locations and hunt strategy and each one gets re-evaluated every year.
Here are two reasons to scout and monitor your property despite years of success.
Mother Nature: She can really screw up your hunt. Growing up on the east coast we had hurricanes that came through every few years. Quite often they drastically changed the landscape for deer. Large areas of blow downs and washouts can change a frequent travel corridor into a deer wasteland without a single hoof print. Similarly heavy rains and droughts can make deer abandon once heavily traversed areas in favor of others.
- Your Neighbors: One year I was convinced the people on the neighboring property had put up a wall. The stand where I always saw deer was worthless. I’d noticed a slightly lower number of deer hitting the area from the trail cameras in previous months but didn’t think too much of it. Eventually I decided to walk the property line only to find that the neighboring property had completely clear-cut what was once a forested ridge the deer traveled on their way to my stand. Had I walked the property line months earlier I would have seen the marked trees and noticed this was going to happen and planned accordingly.
Modern land management practices for whitetail can control many aspects of the deer’s needs covering the basics of food, water and sanctuary. Unfortunately we can only control so much of that and if you aren’t scouting a property despite the years or potentially the decades you’ve been hunting it, you may be setting yourself up for a tough season. Get out there and do your homework.
For information on hunts with Hadley Creek Outfitters, please visit our Whitetail Deer Hunts page. For availability or more details give us a call at 217-335-3804 or send us a message.