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John's Journal... Entry 264, Day 5

ZERO- TO 150-BOONE AND CROCKETT POINT BUCKS IN THREE YEARS

The Requirements of Good Management

Editor's Note: By intensely managing deer for three years, Mark Drury, the creator of M.A.D. Calls and co-owner of Drury Outdoors Adventures saw the 2,100 acres of land he owned and leased go from having few if any shooter deer to producing 150-class bucks. His amazing story demonstrates what quality wildlife management can do for a deer herd when sportsmen willingly invest the time and money to produce better bucks. In 2001, Mark of St. Peters, Missouri, and his brother Terry Drury harvested five bucks that scored 150 or more Boone & Crockett points from property almost completely devoid of deer three years earlier. Could you do this on the lands where you hunt?

"You need to spend very little time on the property during hunting season if you want to grow and keep big bucks on your property," Mark Drury emphasizes. "We only hunt this property for a few days during bow season. During gun season, we aggressively take does, but we try and harass the bucks as little as possible. We only take bigger bucks. We also let the wind dictate where we'll hunt. We only hunt from the shooting houses and stands where we know that the deer never will smell us. We scout all year long, but we learn the most about our property in the late season when all the deer hit the food plots. We learn when all the deer hit the food plots, where the deer come into the fields, and where they exit. Then, during bow season, we scout the trails that lead to the green fields to try and determine an ambush point away from our green fields. By using this method, I believe that we easily can take two deer a year that will score 140- to 150- B&C-points each and two deer a year that will score 160- to 170-B&C points each."

SIX SECRETS FOR ZERO TO 150 POINT BUCKS IN THREE YEARS

According to Mark Drury, here's the way you can have nice bucks to hunt.
* "Bag only bucks 3-years old and older. Provide sanctuary areas and plenty of cover in which the big bucks can hide. Don't go into those sanctuaries, or push those big bucks out of them. Hunt the fringe areas of the heavy cover, and never penetrate that cover.
* "Depend on more than one food source. Deer like to browse and enjoy variety in their diets. Instead of planting one crop each season, plant several crops so the deer have diversity in their diets and a wide choice of foods to eat.
* "Have plenty of green food sources during the spring, summer, fall and especially in the winter. During the fall, you need to have some type of grain that not only serves as food but also cover.
* "Protect the land. Patrol your property, and keep poachers out of it. Enlist your friends and neighbors to help you patrol your property. Poachers not only will kill your bucks, but poacher pressure can run deer off your land just like hunter pressure can.
* "Harvest does aggressively. I don't believe you ever can take enough does off your property. Probably in most instances, your neighbor's does will produce all the bucks you need." The Drurys bag two does for every buck they harvest, but they probably will modify their management program for upcoming hunting seasons to take three does for every buck.

To learn more about Drury Outdoors Adventures, call (800) 990-9451, or go to www.druryoutdoors.com.


 

 


 

 

Check back each day this week for more about ZERO- TO 150-BOONE AND CROCKETT POINT BUCKS IN THREE YEARS...

Day 1 - How the Process Began
Day 2 - Drury's Planting Regimen
Day 3 - The First 150-Point Buck
Day 4 - The Second 150-Point Buck
Day 5 - The Requirements of Good Management


John's Journal