Finding a great hunting lease!

Any quality hunting lease is going to cost you some of your hard-earned cash. The bigger the lease and more productive the lease, the more expensive it will be.  But what do you do when your lease turns out to be less expensive than you budgeted for?  Now you are left with money you had planned to drop into locking down a hunting property. This left over budget may help you upgrade your hunting season with a few purchases of new gear and wildlife management items. Let’s take a couple minutes to look at some great ways to spend that leftover money to help enhance your hunting experience.

The Trifecta to Keeping Deer on Your Property

Deer need three vital sources to stay on a property – water, cover and protection.  Why not spend some of that left over budget money on any of these items to help improve the lease and manage the deer herd?

One way to spend that leftover budget is to help the herd out with food sources or improving the ones already established.

Applying the money towards food plots like Domain can bring great return on money well spent. With the money leftover you can purchase seed needed to plant food plots to attract the local deer herd. Establishing food plots can help keep the herd healthy as well as become a target area to harvesting a few whitetails. If you don’t have the equipment to establish food plots you can always use some of that money to contract a local farmer with the equipment to implement these food plots for you.

Don’t have the area to implement food plots? That’s ok, there are still ways you can spend your money to add or improve food sources. Feeders, mineral blocks and improving mast health throughout the property will provide more food for the herd and if you are hunting in a harsh winter area this will help fatten them up to stay healthy throughout the cold months.

Investing in equipment to do hinge cuts or to plant a cover crop could help the deer feel more at home on your new lease.  They can create bedding areas and travel seamlessly throughout the property if they feel secure.

Lastly – creating a water source throughout the property in key areas that ensure there will be drinking sources for deer is critical to upgrading the property if it doesn’t already have it.  From simple ponds dug in the ground to catch rainwater to an extensive watering system anything you do to create water sources for deer will be worth the investment.

Whether it’s adding food plots, creating cover and water sources, enhancing the habitat with these three necessities for deer herd will help sustain the herd and keep the herd healthy and satisfied.  It would definitely be money well spent!

High temperatures, droughts, and long days can make summer the worse time to be a deer if your summer food plot isn’t doing what it needs to.

Here are 5 things you can do to manage your property to help deer through the summer.

  1. Summer Hinge Cuts

    It helps bring in more sunlight, which deer generally appreciate. If you think your food sources are low, hinge-cutting trees in the summer can really help provide sustenance.

  2. Plant MORE Shrubs

    A great way to offset summer malnutrition is to give the deer more options! People might not think of shrubs when they hear the words “deer food plot,” but it is a great way to add things to their diet. Some of the options you have would be raspberry, chickasaw plum, and strawberries

  1. Sprinkler System

    You may need to supplement your property and food plots with water depending on the climate. Now, it is almost unreasonable to think that you can water all of your food plots with a sprinkler system. This is why landowners more commonly practice the method of focusing it on a few smaller spots.

  2. The Time you Fertilize Your Food Plot.

    If you plan on adding fertilizer to your ground in the summer, you may be throwing money away. The dry heat of summer added with fertilizer can effectively kill your plants. There are times when it is helpful, but it is important that they are getting the proper amount of moisture first. Fertilizer in the summer should only be used as a boost to your summer food plot; if the conditions are not right, then skip this step.

  1. Summer Fruit Trees for Your Food Plot

    It should be no surprise that planting more fruit trees can help address the nutrition problem. They are rich in vitamins and minerals and are a great carbohydrate source for the deer. Find trees that have mast that ripens in July and August.

Picture Perfect

Trail Cameras such as StealthCam are a great investment for some of the left-over budget. With so many options – you’ll have a wide variety to fit within your budget and needs. There are infrared cameras to bulb flash, SD card capable to SIM card activated cameras that can send text photos to your cell phone or email address. Making investments like these with your leftover budget can pay off year after year.  Finding the right placement for your cameras can help you determine what, when and where animals are moving through, the health of the herd and to pattern them as best you can.  Just make sure not to get too intrusive setting them up and checking them often.

Gear Up

Tree Stands or Blinds – Finding the perfect spot for a Muddy tree stand or an Ameristep blind on your new hunting property may warrant spending some money so you can get the perfect spot.  Maybe you’ve always wanted to try climbing sticks or a new saddle for hunting – now may be a good time to try some new gear out. You can look for local dealers that demo the products you are interested in and ask them to show you some of the best features.

Camo – Now might be the time to invest in some Pnuma Outdoors all-season layering options or even scent elimination.  Trying out some of the new technology like heat gear or quiet fabrics could help you up your hunting game and sustainability in the cold.

Optics – Need a new range finder or binos to judge your distance?  They might help you plan a better shot

Packs and bags – Packing in gear and packing out game efficiently requires reliable gear.  Maybe you need a pack that will hold all your gear including your firearm. Having the right field dressing equipment, layers, optics, firearms, calls and of course water and snacks are important to any hunt and requires a pack that will hold all the things with compartments, pockets and have great weight distribution.

Go ahead – try the latest and greatest gear for your optimal hunting performance with that left over budget!

Knowledge Up: The Curve Ball

Up your hunting knowledge and invest in a subscription or two or three. Subscription to what? Magazines, hunt maps, weather & radar tools, sunrise and sunset apps! There are lots of great articles and hidden secrets/tactics in magazines like Great Days Outdoors.  HuntStand Map apps can keep you on the right path by showing you boundaries, elevation and vegetation. Weather apps can help you track wind, temps and storms that may make your hunt more successful. Acquiring and sharing tips, tactics, strategies and ideas is exactly how we learn how to hunt with better odds in our favor, other than trial and error.

In the end it’s all about putting all odds possible in our favor. Do your research and see what ways best suits you or your group to invest that left over budget money into and hopefully that extra little bit will turn into a major pay off.

In the end it’s all about putting all odds possible in our favor. Do your research and see what ways best suits you or your group to invest that left over budget money into and hopefully that extra little bit will turn into a major pay off.