Caring For The Whole Herd

Deer herds throughout the northern half of the U.S. haven’t received much of a break this winter. Record snowfalls and bitter cold have become the norm. I’ve talked to more than a few hunters that are concerned about increased winterkill this year. Their concerns are somewhat grounded in reality, but it’s important to remember that we can certainly help out.

The most obvious is to fork over some cash for a few bags of Record Rack Golden Deer Nuggets and then haul them to your hunting area. Access to quality food is key to survival this time of year. But, beyond the obvious there are a few things hunters can do to reduce the stress level in their local deer herd.

The first is to leave them alone. There are few people that are more addicted to winter scouting and shed hunting than I am, but I always try to cut down the amount of times I enter bedding areas during this time of year. This means I only occasionally force deer to run and burn up calories because of my intrusion. To help with this I plan scouting and shed hunting trips around warm spells and even though some of my best shed spots are bedding areas, I try to enter them only once every two weeks or so.

The second is to either set up several feeding stations or cater to the most deer at each station. More feeding stations means more money and time, and a lot of hunters don’t have either. Instead, when setting up or maintaining a feeding station I try to have a main pile of food and then several “satellite” piles that are all replenished regularly. Dominant does and bucks are quick to claim the best real estate and they are not shy about pushing subordinate deer off of food sources, especially limited food sources.

The ones that suffer in this situation are fawns, young does and yearling bucks that need all of the help they can get. From my experience running trail cameras in the winter I’ve come to realize that these satellite food piles tend to get hit hardest by the subordinate deer while the main piles are devoured by older herd members.

It’s a little concession to make when running feeding stations but can go along way toward carrying an entire herd into a healthy spring. *

Deer are amazingly efficient in the winter.They often bed close to food sources and will travel as little as possible during periods of extreme cold or deep snow. The author likes to set up feeding stations with Record Rack Golden Deer Nuggets that contain a main pile of food and then several “satellite” piles. The main piles are quickly claimed by dominant deer while the satellite piles draw in younger, subordinate deer