Getting deer to stay on your property takes just as much planning and calculating as getting them there in the first place. While food is a major draw, you have to make sure there’s enough foliage on your property to get them to stay. If the deer don’t have anywhere to bed down, they may dine and dash. You need the whole package to cultivate dependence on your property. You can keep deer coming back to your property if you have a food source, water source, proper bedding areas, and areas of safety.
Water is Key
Provide the deer with a water source that is high in minerals and nutrients. Our Wild Water® Mineral Supplement will create a dependency and can be added to natural or man-made water sources. This means you can set up the water source anywhere on your property. You can give any container of water a boost and turn it into a mineral site with our supplement.
Give them Cover
Make sure your property has plenty of cover. Deer learn survival skills very quickly and will soon know not to stay out in the open for too long. Offer them areas of cover on your property to make them feel safe. If you do not have naturally growing cover on your property, consider planting some bushes or trees to create a path. Build a forested path for the deer to follow that leads to a food or water source.
Make the Bed
Create bedding areas on your property that aren’t just temporary cover, but are thick enough to encourage deer to bed down for the night. Make sure these areas aren’t too close to any kind of foot traffic. Place them close enough to a water or food source for it to be convenient, but far enough away that they have to pass through another area to get to it. The trips from the bedding area to the food or water source are where you’ll have your chance at the deer. You want to make sure you have enough space to allow for a clear shot.
Safe Zone
Consider creating an area of coverage that is off-limits to human contact and designate this as a safe zone for deer. This will encourage deer to continue frequenting your property because they know they are safe there. This will also create the perfect opportunity for herd monitoring. Set up a trail camera pointed at the safe zone and observe the deer behavior. If you continue to keep this area untainted year after year, the deer will continue to visit as they grow up and you’ll be able to monitor the same deer throughout it’s growth stages and harvest it once it’s ready.
Food sources are a great way to attract deer to your property but if you can’t provide them with the proper cover, you may find they’ll leave as fast as they came. To make sure deer stay on your property once they’re there, provide them with a water source packed with nutrients, a place for them to spend the night, and forested areas untouched by humans. If you have this power combo on your property, you’ll see deer activity all season.
How do you keep deer active on your property? Share your tips in the comments below!
