There’s nothing more satisfying than harvesting a mature buck on a micro-property that you targeted, purchased, managed, and hunted successfully.
There is no lack of content written on how to manage large and medium size properties for deer hunting. However, much less is written on micro-properties of 10 acres or less. This is because not many people have the knowledge and experience finding, managing and hunting suburban micro-properties successfully. After purchasing a six-acre micro property seven years ago, I’ve seen the potential they have to grow mature bucks. I’ve also been blessed to successfully harvest four mature bucks over the past five years. I’ve found four keys that have been critical for success.
Finding the Right Property
The first key is finding the right micro-property, which can be like finding a needle in a haystack. The biggest challenge is often having the patience to wait until you truly find that hidden gem. I was looking for a five-to-ten-acre property where I could build a house to raise a family and hunt successfully. I also wanted a property that had more woods than yard, which is a challenge to find in my area. Unfortunately, most of the small wooded properties wouldn’t perk.
After looking at countless property searches over a couple of years, I finally found a real six-acre gem. The land was roughly five acres of woods and had a one-acre yard. It was also a hub of several ridges and woodlots that came together to form a natural funnel. However, it already had a house on the property. Sometimes you must be flexible to get what you want. Fortunately, the house was similar to what we were planning to build.
Habitat Management
Next is to manage the property to increase its potential to attract and hold does and mature bucks. There is plenty of food available in the area during the summer. Therefore, I focus on planting food plots that will attract and hold deer from the Fall through early Spring. The front and back yard also had a healthy stand of white clover that provided a good Fall food source. However, clover works best when paired with a winter grain.
With that in mind, I supplemented it by over-seeding winter rye in late September and two additional layers in October. I planted the rye in a long strip 100 yards by 30 yards alongside the woods in the front yard. I also planted it in a 1/4 acre plot in the corner of the back yard next to the woods. This approach allows the does to bed in the thick cover that is next to both of the food plots. The bucks will bed in the cover that is further back in the woods away from the does.
Deer Management
You must also let the bucks go to let them grow. The property already held several does and a few young core bucks when I purchased it. Quite a few young non-core bucks would also check the area during the rut. I passed on all of the young bucks for the first two seasons after buying the property. This is another exercise in patience to let the bucks grow to maturity, which is at age four.
Thankfully my patience definitely paid off in spades. In the third year I started to see several 3 year old bucks one mature 4 year old buck. At year four I started seeing several 4 year old bucks and one 5 year old. I take pride in watching the buck age-class increase and seeing the tremendous growth in their body size and antlers.
Hunting Strategies
Last and most important is to hunt the property carefully and wisely to kill mature bucks. This requires much patience and restraint during the season. I am very selective when choosing the days that I hunt. I focus on hunting the back side of cold fronts during the pre-rut and rut periods. Furthermore, the worse the weather is before the cold front hits the better (rain, wind, warm temps, etc.).
It is way too easy to educate and spook a mature buck by hunting too often. Hunting after major cold fronts helps me focus my time on when a bucks move the most during daylight. The added benefit of living on the property is that I can observe the deer from my house. This allows me to confirm when the mature bucks get involved in the rut movement.
Where to Hunt
When the time is right, I hunt in the woods next to the food plot in the back yard. I hunt it mainly in the morning, waiting until after daylight to allow the does to leave the plot. It’s not unusual to see 7-10 different bucks cruising the nearby woods during a cold front, pre-rut morning hunt. I can hunt this spot effectively with a bow or firearm.
For afternoon hunts, I’ve found it most effective to hunt in a blind 75-100 yards away from the food plot. I can watch the deer filter into the food plot and feed before dark without spooking them. During the rut, it’s just a matter of time before a mature buck comes into the plot to scent-check the does. Most importantly, I can also exit the blind at dark without spooking the deer in the plot. This approach is best suited to hunting with a muzzleloader or rifle where legal.
Four Bucks in Five Years
I’ve been blessed to harvest four mature bucks on the property over the past five years using these hunting strategies. The first buck I harvested was tending a doe in the woods beside the front food plot on a cold mid-November morning. I was able to harvest him by still hunting with a muzzleloader. The second buck was chasing does in the back food plot on a cold front afternoon during the rut, and I was able to harvest him with a muzzleloader. His 9-point rack was not huge, but the size of his 220-pound body made it obvious that he was mature.
The third buck was tending a doe in the evening during the peak rut in November. I was able to kill him with a crossbow the following morning near the back corner food plot. I watched him over three years until he reached five years old. His unofficial green score is 134” as a main-frame 8 point, putting him in Pope & Young class.
Most recently, I harvested an 11-point buck scent-checking some does in the back food plot during the second rut with a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle. I also included a trail cam pic of that deer from the year prior. His body was emaciated due to a leg injury most likely caused by an automobile on a nearby road. The quality of the bucks keeps getting better each year as the average age class increases combined with better nutrition. You can employ these same strategies successfully on your micro-property, whether you pursue hunting permission or to purchase the property. Good hunting!
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