Vern Evans
Jeff Sturgis has the unique experience of living through dozens of deer seasons all at once. As the founder of Whitetail Habitat Solutions, he works with clients around the country to improve their deer hunting and private land habitat.
But before ever stepping foot on a property, Sturgis does in-depth interviews with these hunters to understand what they’d like to improve and what problems they’ve been having. Through this process, trends start to emerge.
Sturgis calls these problems “huntisms.” But they could also be described as misconceptions, misunderstandings, or straight up bad information. Whatever you want to call them, there are certain things that hunters get wrong when it comes to hunting mature bucks and managing habitat for those mature bucks.
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So in this episode of the Outdoor Life Podcast, Sturgis will reference his decades of experience working on private land habitat as well as his time spent hunting on public ground to outline the most common and detrimental deer hunting mistakes. Heed his advice for a better season next year.
Huntism #1: You Can’t Kill ‘Em from the Couch
This common mentality of having to pound the woods and hunt all the time has saved a lot of big deer over the decades, Sturgis says.
“In some cases I can see this being partially true,” Sturgis says. “Maybe if you’re hunting public land, you’ve got ten spots and you’ve got the time to hunt freely.”
But if you’re hunting small parcels where you can’t afford to spook deer, then it’s usually smarter to stay home when hunting conditions are poor in order to not burn out your stands.
“There’s something to be said for minimizing your hunting, taking care of other priorities in life and expecting a higher rate of potential success because you’ve not over-pressured your stand locations.”
“It’s not just your stand locations [that you don’t want to burn out, it’s also your family, your career, your friends — it extends to an entire way to look at things. When I go out in the woods I want there to be a reasonable expectation that I’m going to shoot a deer for this reason.”
Sturgis says that if you have a “rutcation” planned where you know you’re going to hunt for a solid seven to nine days in a row, then it’s critical to reduce your impact. Instead of charging into a core area regardless of conditions, hunt spots where your scent cone won’t spook deer (because it’s blowing over a lake or off a cliff). And when conditions aren’t ideal, hunt transition areas where you could catch a big buck walking by, but you won’t spook deer near bedding areas or primary food sources.
Huntism #2: More Food Plots Means More Big Bucks
Sturgis works with many clients who have the financial resources to grow and maintain sprawling food plots on their properties. Many of these clients believe that growing the maximum amount of food on the property will translate to holding the most amount of mature bucks in the fall.
But that’s not how it plays out most of the time. Growing too much summertime food — like big clover or bean plots — will increase the number of does and fawns on the property. During the summer and early fall, mature bucks don’t like to live on crowded food sources and bedding areas, Sturgis says.
“When you add summer food to good cover, you get a lot of does and fawns,” Sturgis says. “And those does and fawns that are here today are here to stay.”
These deer take up space and resources. Mature bucks will live on the fringes of these high-density deer areas but not establish a core zone there.
“Yeah, some bucks will come through during the rut. But bucks, the older they get, they don’t want that commotion and stress of a bunch of does and fawns. That’s why they live somewhere else.”
Sturgis says it’s better to focus on a comprehensive management strategy with proper deer cover, screening cover, sanctuaries, water holes, fall food, and yes, maybe some summer food plots, than it is to simply plant clover plots throughout the entire property.
“If you want to raise population, add summer food. If you want to lower population, get rid of summer food,” Sturgis says. “When I go to a client and see 20 acres of beans on their 200-acre property and we drive around and see over 100 does and fawns and only a couple bucks, they have a severe problem. I’d rather have those does and fawns be somewhere else in the summertime and shift over to the property starting in September and October.”
Huntism #3: The Single Best Way to Kill a Big Buck Is to Wait on a Food Plot
Don’t read this as an attack on food plots. Sturgis has written countless articles on the benefits of food plots, he’s got an online food plot class, he’s authored a book on the subject, and Whitetail Habitat Solutions sells food plot seed. So yes, food plots can be a critical element in consistently harvesting mature bucks.
But that doesn’t mean you should always hunt over them.
“This year I shot four bucks in four states with my bow … and not one of them was shot on a food plot,” Sturgis says. “Then I go to clients and they’re spending 90 percent of their hunts on food plots — and I’m not saying I never hunt on food plots — but the point is that the vast majority of my bucks are shot not in food plots.”
Sturgis tries to convince his clients to hunt away from food plots. Focusing instead on waterholes or funnels in the woods that might lead to food. This helps hunters spook fewer deer and see target bucks during daylight hours.
“Food plots have the greatest level of potential reward and the greatest level of risk,” Sturgis says. “If you spook out those food plots, you’ve just destroyed your property.”
Huntism #4: Other Hunters Will Ruin Your Public Land Spot
Even though Sturgis has access to prime whitetail properties in the Midwest, he also hunts public land in Pennsylvania every year. In 22 seasons of hunting the same public area, Sturgis has shot 18 bucks.
It’s pretty common for him to bump into other hunters on these hunts, but he doesn’t sweat it. He just moves somewhere else. The key is being flexible and using tactics that match the conditions. For example, if it’s snowy and windy, Sturgis might still hunt through an area. If the woods are blanketed in crunchy leaves, he’ll opt to sit for the day.
One way that Sturgis makes sure that he avoids other hunters is by walking in at twilight (not in the dark).
“You don’t have to be to your spot before light,” Sturgis says. “When I’m walking into a spot like that, I don’t know what tree I’m going to be sitting under or in… So we’re walking into an area in daylight and still hunting [our way in].”
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It’s also important to remember that other hunters will bump deer long distances, not just a few hundred yards.
“Public land deer will get pushed a long way,” Sturgis says. “Especially in open woods. Where we hunt we can get 200-yard shots in the woods in some places. So when people push deer out there, they’re moving three quarters of a mile. So don’t think about just one little thicket. Think about how deer are moving big picture [across the landscape].”
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