Only one buck on trail camera

Its not necessarily a bad thing but I am really confused, we have one massive 11 point buck hanging out on our trail cameras. However, thats it. We have tons of turkey, hogs, other stuff running around but just this one buck and ZERO does.

Our neighbor has 6,000 acres and feeds so I am assuming they are all hanging out over there but only this guy comes to eat. Any tips on getting more to come to our property?

Food plot
Protein AND corn, with a hog fence
Cover

Where are you at and how many acres are you on?

Over by Lake Whitney, our neighbor is divided by the river which could be a problem but its pretty shallow and slow moving.

We have 700 acres but only hunt 100 because we have a cattle operation. We have hog fence up, hogs just eat the stuff getting thrown outside fence. Does protein draw them in?

Protein does draw them in and can help hold them. I would put a pen in the middle of the cattle operation and set a protein and corn feeder there. Make the pen pretty big and the cows won't mess with it. You don't have to hunt it and it will give the deer a safe haven to reside in, draw them in and you can use corn to bring them into the area that you do hunt.

What is the terrain like on the area that you do hunt? I am assuming thicker cover. If you draw many deer in, there is a good chance that the really big eleven will ease off. Many times, the older bucks are loners until rut starts and if too many deer move in, they will find another place to rest.

Food plots and in some cases, even the throw and grow will work well. Especially with no cows around you.

To keep the hogs at bay, make the pen bigger so very little, if any, corn goes outside.

Chances are the neighbors are feeding and good chance they have agriculture and protein. You have to make your place as appealing as possible or make your place a safe place to bed and hold.

Pay attention to how you enter and exit, when you enter and exit, where your scent is as you enter and exit, where your scent is while you are sitting, where you park, etc. Many times, it is easy to bump deer and never even realize it.

Good luck

Any food will draw them in along with good cover for security. I like the protein feeders because deer can eat whenever they want unlike corn feeders(spinners anyways) that they have to wait on to go off. My deer chow down on protein while they wait for the corn to fling. It did take my deer a while to start eating the protein when I first started feeding it. Now I can't keep my protein feeders full.

Protein and/or alfalfa would be a nice start. The alfalfa might be something different than your neighbors.

What do you want a picture of? The buck?

Do you put a protein feeder inside same fence as corn feeder?

Corn = attractant, Protein = food source. Think of it as candy versus real food. Nursing does need protein, bucks growing antlers need protein. When acorns fall, protein gets to be a hard sell for a month or so, but they'll come back. If you get them coming consistently it becomes a habit for them. Even if you can only fill the feeder periodically, you might try having protein out year-round.

Food plots are great because there's not that much green forage this time of year. Deer will hammer oats/wheat/clover/peas, and if there is cover nearby, they'll bed there. Where the does are the bucks will come.

Do you have any stock at all on the 100 acres? Are your neighbors ranching as well? What is the deer population like in your area?

Absolutely. We all love big bucks!!



Many people do. When feeding as a straight supplement, some ranches will put them away from anywhere that is hunted so there isn't any pressure on them. The purpose they would be serving for you is as an attractant, so in the same pen wouldn't hurt anything.

Do you put a protein feeder inside same fence as corn feeder?

Pen is 10 feet in diameter. We have hog traps everywhere too because we sell them sometimes. Could this be hurting deer population?

I like idea of another feeder but the 600 acres we had cleared out because we can have up to 600 head of cattle.

The 100 we hunt is right by river, pretty thick and cows are fenced off 90% of time. We only have 1 feeder going so maybe we could have some more

Heres a good picture of him. I read that sometimes he can claim a smaller piece of land.

Deer population is good. Put this guy down last year. But usually when rut is on and we rattle them in.

First thing I would do is make a bigger pen. Second thing I would do is add a section that is a little shorter.

I wouldn't add a protein feeder to that pen.

That deer is mature. He won't let anything in the pen with him. While he will claim an area as his own, usually some younger bucks will tag along with him and as long as they don't challenge him, he will let them stay.

Thats a cool looking buck

Section shorter assuming so they can jump in right? Would you put protein in second one if bigger with corn? and what would you say is best size?
Thanks for your help!

Absolutely!! I would make the pen bigger, at least have one side that is shorter than what you have so they can jump in easier, and then put the protein feeder in it with the corn feeder.

I like a bigger pen so the deer can spread out more and the less corn pigs can get too, the less pigs you will have to deal with. Around a corn feeder alone, I like a 10 panel and if you add the protein feeder, I would go 12 panels. In a circle, that would give you 10 yards on each side of the feeder.

Like txshntr, I would make the pen much bigger and sides shorter. Swine panels are about 34 inches tall, that's a good height and I would make one using at least 10 16-foot panels if I was going to put 2 feeders in there.

Oh and yes those are some great looking deer and we love to see pictures of them.

Any one have any guess on age of one on camera? I was gonna guess 5 or older due to neck and belly hanging.

Really hard to tell from that picture, but I would say 5 min

What about these?

How hard is your area hunted? How many cameras do you have set up? Do you have several stands/feeders so you can rotate the hunting pressure? Have you ever done spot lighting at night to count deer (after the season)? Do you see many deer tracks?

As I tell our guys, the cam only shows what is going on .01 % of the property.

This... We started putting cams on trails and started getting pics of bucks that never show at feeders. After a good hard freeze this should change. If you're close to the Brazos, you have plenty of deer. Good luck.

A few thoughts:

- As others have mentioned, build a bigger pen with some lower sections.

- The cattle are your (or part of your) livelihood. With that said, 600 cattle on 600 acres is a much higher than typical density. Most deer won't hang around large herds of cattle if they don't have to - the cattle screw with the deer's natural protections. Cattle are loud, they smell, move around alot, etc. This makes it very difficult for deer to use their senses to stay alive. I'm not saying you won't ever see deer around cattle, just saying that near a high density of cattle is not going to be their first choice.

- Depending on exactly where you are located, you have the potential for MONSTER bucks. I grew up in the area and [used to] know it well. As a kid, the Powell Ranch was the land of giants. The W4 and Whisky Canyon Ranches also held quality animals. Your potential is high! I would do everything in your power to make that 100 acres a deer paradise!!!

Good luck!

Not hunted hard at all, guy who has 6k acres feeds but does not hunt one bit. We have and we see a higher amount than expected in just 100 acres.

Yes, not worried about if deer are there, just wondering if I could entice them to bed down on ours.

It sure is green there...and no cattle? Sounds like you might have lots of good browse for deer and they may not need the feeder. Keep feeding and pay attention when it get brown out there.
I hunt in the pan handle and still don't have any bucks to think about shooting. On my 900 acre section I have 3feeders with huge pens. I might have 8 does coming and a few young bucks. It's ok though cause it's super green out there still. Once the leaves drop I'll start paying attention.
If there are no cattle you should just pull your pens. Feed corn later in the morning and early in the evening while it's still plenty light out. The hogs usually won't hit it when it's bright out but the deer will. If the hogs do they will be easy to kill. They'll learn quick and the deer will take over