Giant Velvet Buck from South Carolina | Shade Tolerant Food Plots | Killing More Does
Early season success in South Carolina!
Showing Off in South Carolina
Shannon Mattson, of Round O, South Carolina, harvested her first velvet buck, and biggest buck to date in Orangeberg County, SC on the evening of Aug. 25.
Mattson is a passionate, life-long hunter that loves everything about the outdoors. She has spent the last few years chasing turkeys across the country, but is always excited for deer season to come in.
Mattson had a bruiser, 8-point buck showing up over camera during daylight hours before deer season opened. She was able to hunt on opening weekend, but didn’t have any luck.
“As soon as the season came in, they went nocturnal,” Mattson said. “It’s like they know.”
August 25 was Mattson’s second sit of the season. After getting situated in her spot, she couldn’t help getting fired up about the possibility of the buck showing up.
After some time passed, Mattson caught movement. It was him! The buck she had on camera. The old buck looked in Mattson’s direction. Their eyes locked. A stare down ensued. Chills.
“After a head to head stare down for what felt like forever, he finally turned broadside to give me a shot opportunity,” Mattson said.
Mattson started to shake, but took a deep breath to calm herself before taking the shot.
“I pulled the trigger and he dropped on the spot,” Mattson said. “I landed a beautiful Orangeburg, SC 8-point.”
Mattson was thrilled to get her hands on her first velvet buck. She was in awe of her hunt.
“It’s hunts like that, that keep me going back,” Mattson said. “I love every minute.”
Shade Tolerant Food Plots
Hunters are working on spring and summer food plots in preparation for deer season. Many are spending hours on a tractor moving acres of soil to make those perfect plots on the farm. Others might not have the acreage to have large food plots, or even a field to plant in. If the property you hunt on doesn’t have any fields, all is not lost, there are plenty of shade tolerant food plot options for you to create a secret spot in the woods.
Locate the spot(s) on your property where you want to put a food plot and take note of what you might need to do to get it ready for planting. Most of these areas are remote where tractors and implements are not an option. Gardening and lawn care tools are all you’ll need to help construct your plot. Clovers, winter wheat, oats and various brassicas are great shade tolerant options for your food plot.
Where To Plant
Hardwoods
If you have any open hardwoods on the farm you hunt, consider planting your food plots in those areas. Any place where natural sunlight makes it through the tree canopies, start your work around there. Take some survey flags with you to help mark the corners of the plot. This will help you shape the plot and give you an idea of what you are working with.
Depending on how much work you want to put into it, look around for trees that you can afford to clear out. Knock a few cedars down with a chainsaw or clear away any underbrush in the area. You don’t want to remove any oak trees for obvious reasons. Cut down ash trees, cedars, and small maple trees.
You can make the plot as big as you desire, but more than likely you are going to want to keep it condensed. You are designing a food plot to draw deer into bow range. Sure, you’ll be supplementing their diet, but this plot will never be big enough to handle constant browse from the deer herd.
After getting your plot marked off and desired trees cut, assess the weed situation. Spray any understory with glyphosate or Round-Up and give it time to kill the undergrowth. Return with a leaf blower or some rakes to remove the dead material and leaves to expose the dirt. Work the dirt with a rake to get it broken up a little bit. It’s always recommended to add some fertilizer to the soil. When you choose your seed, pay attention to the fertilizing instructions. Once you get some fertilizer down, you’re ready to start planting.
Logging Roads
Logging roads are perfect for food plot strips. Logging roads require a little less maintenance than plots in the hardwoods. Logging roads are typically clear since they get used as four-wheeler paths. You may need to move a few logs or cut up some blowdowns with a chainsaw during the process, but these dirt roads are typically maintained for easy access.
Tools you might need are a chainsaw, weed-eater, rake, and Round-Up. If the road is easily accessible, you might even be able to get the tractor out to take care of business. ATVs and ATV implements work great for logging roads as well. It would help make quick work of things after a few swipes back and forth on the tractor.
Spray the weeds with Round-Up and give it time to work. Come back and clear the road of any dead material and leaves. Again, fertilize the soil with what is recommended for the seed you are planting.
Shade Tolerant Food Plots to Plant
Whitetail Institute’s Imperial No-Plow seed is a mix of clovers and brassicas, designed to grow in areas that lack sunlight. It is advised to use 400 pounds of 17-17-17 fertilizer per acre. The seed doesn’t require any tilling, a true throw-and-grow option which is perfect for the remote food plots in the middle of the hardwoods. Nine pounds will plant around a half of an acre. For best results, broadcast the seed and lightly rake the dirt to help cover the seed. The mixture of clover, brassicas and radishes will bring deer into bow range from early fall to late season. Clover is a perennial, if weeds are managed, it will return the following year. Right now, it would be best to plant between August 20 and Sept. 30.
Whitetail Institute’s Imperial Whitetail Clover is a high-protein food plot option that aids in antler growth and milk production in does. Clover is one of the best food plots you can plant for the deer on your property. You can plant clover in the hardwoods plot or on logging roads. Broadcast the seed and do not cover it. For even distribution, get a walk-behind seeder or hand-held seeder. You can take these instruments right to your remote food plot. Clover can be planted in the spring or the fall. Fertilizing the soil is recommended. Four pounds will plant about a half an acre.
Whitetail Institute’s Imperial Bow Stand is another shade tolerant seed mix for food plots. The seed is a mix of lettuces, radish and winter wheat. This type of mix is designed for putting deer in bow range during the early season through the late season. Plant Bow Stand any time between August 20 and Sept. 30. Like some of the options before, it is recommended that you lime and fertilize the soil in the area of your plot. One hundred pounds of lime and 40 pounds of 17-17-17 fertilizer is the suggestion for an acre. After you’ve cleared the area and fertilized, broadcast the seed as evenly as possible. It would be ideal if you could drag the ground. In those inaccessible spots, find a manageable log and tie an end of a rope to each end of the log. Pull the log behind you, if the soil is loose, the log will help roll dirt on top of the lime, fertilizer and seed. Sometimes you must get creative in the deer woods to get the job done. Eight pounds will cover about 9,000 square feet, according to Whitetail Institute.
Whitetail Institute’s Imperial Whitetail Oats Plus is a fantastic option for logging roads. It will grow well in the prepared plots in hardwoods too. Oats are high in sugar content and are highly attractive to deer after the first few frosts. Oats should be planted around the beginning of September. A 45-pound bag will cover around a half of an acre. Oat seed is larger, which might require more groundwork. The seed will need to be covered by at least an inch of dirt. If an implement isn’t available, hopefully some gardening tools can help you get the seed covered. It is recommended that you spread 200 pounds of 17-17-17 fertilizer for a half-acre area to get the best results. Deer absolutely hammer oats mid to late season, the extra work will be worth it.
Think About The Possibilities
Get creative! You know and understand going in that these food plots will never be the main food source for deer on your property. You are providing supplemental food sources. Your main purpose is to draw deer to your stand. You increase your chances at seeing deer and hopefully harvesting one too.
Plant a trifecta. Plantclover,oats, andturnipstogether in one plot. A food plot that will attract the entire season. Clover from start to finish, oats and turnips get hot during the mid to late part of the season. Consider Antler Builder Clover, Antler Builder Turnip and Antler Builder Radish food plot seed for your fall food plots. Deer will eat the brassica leaves on the turnips during the early season, but when it begins to frost, those sugars will leave the greens and drop into the turnip. That’s going to be a desirable food plot for deer to frequent. Hopefully, you’ll be in a tree nearby to take in all the action.
Harvest Does, Grow Bigger Bucks
Hunters across Kentucky have been checking trail cameras and documenting bucks for weeks. Snap shots and video clips of hit-listers in velvet are being shared all over social media. The anticipation is building for Sept. 7th, opening day of deer season.
Most hunters have a desire to grow and harvest big bucks on the property they hunt. It’s easy to fixate on the bucks that get your blood pumping, but it’s important to harvest does, too. Some hunters choose to only take a buck during the season. As long as harvest regulations are followed, there is nothing wrong with this; however, this mindset is counterproductive to growing big bucks on the farm.
Hunters harvested 79,702 bucks while only taking 61,363 does during the 2023 deer season. In 2022 hunters harvested 79,172 bucks to just 65,343 does in Kentucky, according to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Web site. This alarming trend of shooting more bucks than does must stop if your goal is to grow bigger bucks on your farm.
In 2023 hunters took 141,065 whitetails and bucks made up 56.5 percent of that number. The total harvest number for the 2022 deer season was 144,515 and bucks made up 54.78 percent of that sum. While these ratios are in improvement from previous seasons, hunters need to continue to harvest more does and flip the trend of taking bucks.
Management Plan
One of the most effective steps to take when trying to grow big bucks is to control the buck to doe ratio on your property. Implement rules such as the 2-to-1 ratio management plan for everyone hunting on the property. The 2-to-1 ratio plan is to harvest two does for every buck that is taken from your farm.
Intensify the Rut
Shooting does will help shape the sex ratio of the deer herd on your property. A 1:1 buck to doe ratio can help encourage a shorter and more intense rut in an area. The increase in competition between bucks amplifies rut intensity which causes them to fight, chase and grunt more. This can also influence daytime movement. The properties with an even buck to doe ratio are less likely to experience a “trickle rut” because does get bred during the early cycles. “Trickle ruts” can harm the bucks on your property. Those long, drawn out ruts can wear bucks down, literally to death. More fighting and breeding for extended periods of time will make bucks susceptible to predation and lower the chance of surviving harsh winters.
Discipline
Another way to cut down on the buck harvest number is to become more disciplined in the stand. Simply quit shooting 1-year-and-a-half and 2-and-a-half year old bucks. Some hunters are even starting to pass on 3-and-a-half year old bucks. It can be tough to do, especially if you don’t like eating tag soup, but passing on young bucks will help even the harvest totals and increase opportunities to hunt bigger bucks.
Avoid shooting button bucks. This can be very hard to do because it is difficult to see the buttons on top of the deer’s head, especially during the gun season when the action seems to happen quickly. If you have to take a few looks at the deer through your scope, do it. Pay attention to the length of the nose, the size of the deer when comparing to other deer around it. Make the effort to avoid dropping a yearling buck.
The Doe Affect
The average doe will have one to two fawns each spring. Taking a doe in the fall would be preventing one to two more deer the following year. A ‘bucks only’ attitude will ultimately hurt your property. If you have 10 does on a small piece of property and you only shoot a buck, the following spring you’ll have one less buck and approximately 10 to 15 fawns added to the farm. The more does there are, the more deer there will be.
High deer densities in small areas are hard on food sources and on the growth of bucks. An adult doe eats about eight pounds of food per day. Shooting one doe would free up nearly 3,000 pounds of food a year that can be potentially consumed by bucks for antler growth, body mass and fat storage. Harvesting does is critical if you wish to grow big bucks and keep a healthy deer herd on your property.