Build a Stalking Trail

| By Dr. Mickey Hellickson
In my article in Quality Whitetails magazine titled “Paradise Under Construction,” I described the initial deer management practices my brother Jason and I implemented on a 350-acre farm we purchased in southern Iowa. One of the habitat features we discussed was “stalking trails,” which allow us to hunt more effectively on the ground. My idea …

Read More

Create a Buck Funnel

| By Dr. Mickey Hellickson
A habitat feature that I love to design is a funnel to bottleneck buck movements at specific ambush sites. All deer, including mature bucks, are surprisingly lazy and, unless they are pressured, will nearly always select the path of least resistance. Several funnel techniques have been described in previous articles by others, such as altering …

Read More

Bottled Bucks – Map 1

| By Paul Knox
Years ago, a friend who was a very successful bowhunter told me, “If you want to kill big bucks, you have to hunt where big bucks live, and then you have to bottle em’ up!” The first part seemed obvious, but back then I was still learning, and he could see by the puzzled look …

Read More

Bottled Bucks – Map 2

| By Paul Knox
Bottled Bucks No. 2 The only thing better for a stand site than a single well-used runway is a second one crossing it! The crosshairs effect can bring twice as many bucks by a stand, and I found just such a place where an old farm lane cut between two adjacent wood lots. The only …

Read More

Know Your Native Deer Foods

| By
Food studies have identified several hundred plant species that deer will consume during the course of a year.  Some are used seasonally, some only when little else is available, and some are preferred regardless of season and other species’ availability.  As deer managers, it is important to understand the preferred forages where you live and/or …

Read More