Pinetag's Plot - 43 acres in Virginia

[pinetag]

Absolutely! I think of how much money we put into food plots and the amount of quality food they produce. I compare that to Timber management which creates a much higher quantity of quality native foods for a much larger positive impact. On top of that, instead of being a financial drain like food plots, it is an income producing source. While we will always have some food plots, timber management provides a much better bang for the buck in more ways than one.

Agreed!


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[pinetag]

First sits of the year today. I only saw a small doe this morning but I had an encounter with my #1 target buck this evening. He was slow trailing a doe about 70 yards out. I was only catching glimpses of antler at first but then he hit a small hole and I immediately recognized him. He was in the area this morning as well.

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[pinetag]

It all came together yesterday and I was fortunate enough to take this incredible 9 pointer!! He started showing on camera in mid October and I have gotten multiple daylight pics of him since. The big 12 has been absent since 11/1 so there is the possibility that he got careless or maybe he’s just off chasing does on other properties.

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[T-Max]

Heck yeah! Congrats!!!


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[George]

What a beauty, congratulations.

G

 

[pinetag]

Thanks guys! Now I hope my daughter gets a shot during gun season.


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[yoderjac]

It all came together yesterday and I was fortunate enough to take this incredible 9 pointer!! He started showing on camera in mid October and I have gotten multiple daylight pics of him since. The big 12 has been absent since 11/1 so there is the possibility that he got careless or maybe he’s just off chasing does on other properties.

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Very nice buck! Congrats!

 

[weekender21]

That’s a great buck, congrats!


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[cutman]

Awesome!

 

[BenAllgood]

Congratulations!

 

[Native Hunter]

Congratulations!

 

[pinetag]

I was able to get out for another hunt yesterday with a buddy of mine. We got skunked in the morning but had a flurry of activity in the evening. I ended up seeing 3 does with 4 fawns (3 of which were button bucks) and then had an encounter with a decent buck an hour before last light. He stayed about 70 yards out in the thick stuff but his mass, main beams, and tine length all looked good. I think one of my target 8’s showed back up on camera two nights ago so glad to know at least 1 of my top 3 has survived to this point. The rut has slimmed him down some over the last couple weeks.

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[pinetag]

I haven’t done an update in a while so here is how my season went and where things are headed.

Over all 2023 was a good season! 1) I started the season with 3 mature bucks (3.5 yo) that I was getting consistently on camera and I picked up a 4th in mid Oct 2) Daylight buck activity was the best it’s been to date 3) I saw my #1 target buck on my first sit during bow season 4) I saw multiple young bucks chasing, grunting, and using my mock scrapes while on stand 5) I killed the 9 pointer that was the newcomer during muzzleloader season 6) and lastly my daughter had a super close call with a nice young 8 that had a broken g3 during gun season, but unfortunately she couldn’t quite get a clean shot.

I started my habitat work right after the season ended in January and I found some good stuff growing in my cutover. I need to do some invasive control however as I have a lot of Japanese Honeysuckle to kill. I’m looking into burn possibilities as well. As I continue to thicken the timber through girdling, felling, and hinging some trees and as the cutover continues to mature I have high hopes that this year will be great as well!

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[pinetag]

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[pinetag]

My plans for this year are to girdle the southern trees around my food plots and bedding pockets, create some new deer trails to and around my improvement areas, try to expand my horseshoe plot, set some more mock scrapes, add some screening along the pasture trail, and cut in additional shooting lanes at some of my stands.


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[yoderjac]

nice cadre of bucks!

 

[pinetag]

nice cadre of bucks!

Thanks! Unfortunately I think all of my target bucks got killed because I had each of them consistently from Sep - Nov and then they all disappeared. I got a pic of my #1 buck moving through the horseshoe plot just before dark on 11/3. He was headed toward the bean field across the road and then the next morning I heard a shot right by the field and I haven’t gotten a single pic of him since.

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[yoderjac]

Could be. That is the difficulty with small tracts. One can manipulate habitat to improve deer use and hunting opportunities, but we have no control over what happens for the large portion of their time spent off our land.

 

[pinetag]

Could be. That is the difficulty with small tracts. One can manipulate habitat to improve deer use and hunting opportunities, but we have no control over what happens for the large portion of their time spent off our land.

Yea, I didn’t expect them all to make it, but I was hoping at least one would. I try to keep my expectations realistic and I know of at least one good survivor that was 2.5 or maybe 3.5 this year.


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[yoderjac]

Yea, I didn’t expect them all to make it, but I was hoping at least one would. I try to keep my expectations realistic and I know of at least one good survivor that was 2.5 or maybe 3.5 this year.


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We have just under 400 acres with about another 400 on adjoining tracts that cooperate either intentionally or unintentionally. Every year buck are shot off our property. Some over a mile away during the rut. Of course we also get mature bucks from elsewhere that we have no pictures of moving through during the rut.

We figured out that bucks 3 1/2 and older comprise the top 10% of our bucks. So, we target 3 1/2 and older for our experienced hunters. When you get much older than that, the percentage drops quickly and chances of shooting a buck go way down. We think this is a good balance between having a good age structure and yet still being able to harvest a buck from time to time.

If we did not have the issue with bucks that primarily use our land being shot elsewhere, we would likely raise that targeted age.