Most hunters associate summer velvet bucks with a group of guys going to a major league baseball game. The celebrations begin well before the opening pitch. The event starts with a trip to the stadium. Then, a game of cornhole in the parking lot and pre-game beers come. Following the main event, the group will likely consume a hot dog or two, some beers more, and cap the night with a funnel cake.
Instead of viewing bucks as testosterone-fueled meatheads, we might consider their motions to be a five-course feast at a chef’s table event.
During the day, it is usual to witness bucks making their way to a place.
You can catch them exploring and loafing around on their route to the large food source. The buck’s movement may appear to be random. Yet, it serves a greater function than you may believe.
Bucks understand how to travel in hot temperatures to meet their needs. Monitor for these summer food sources if you want an SD card full of velvet-fest bucks.
Course #1: Mushrooms
Mushroom patches thrive around decaying trees and withering vegetation. They flourish in cool hideaways where deer seek to escape the heat.
Concentrate on dead falls (fallen trees) between bed and food, particularly in lower lands. These areas are a notable source of mushrooms and may be a factor early in the archery season.
While mushrooms are not a staple, they are a tasty appetizer on the way to greater cuisine. They contain a high phosphorous concentration, which attracts bucks growing new antlers.
Course #2: Woody Browse
The next food tier we will look at is woody browse. You may have spotted a deer wandering through the woods, nibbling on various little shoots. They will consume anything, including oak, ferns, and sassafras.
The difficulty with browse is that it is dispersed across the woods and is not always the same type of food. To find the best forage, look for information that will help you pinpoint a deer’s sleeping location first. If you have not scouted a location, a ballpark concept would suffice.
The best everyday staging food is woody browse, which is comparable to bedding. That implies beautiful daylight shots during the velvet. Expect consistent activity throughout the fall. If this trend continues, this area might become a viable hunting location.
For camera location, look for a well-worn route through dense foliage that shows evidence of recent feeding activity. Use that trail as a starting point. Besides, if more movement is coming from a particular path, move your camera in that direction.
Course #3: Green Briar
Green briar, a form of browse, prospers all year. In the great forests, this food source is the velvet-fest king. The buds of this plant have a high pulling power in the early spring and summer. The attraction is largely because of the high protein content at that time of year.
The attractiveness of green briar fluctuates depending on the availability of binge-worthy food like acorns. Expect a few days to two weeks of steady movement if a green pattern occurs.
The problem with Green Briar is that usually, we find it scattered over a terrain. Thus, it might be challenging to narrow down a crowded growing zone. Green briar grows best in mature timber because the best growth occurs where the forest floor receives the most sunshine.
Green briar takes up much of the increasing plant life in a three to five-year-old clear-cut. Typically, one patch fades into the next. Finding a sequence of identifiable islands is an excellent choice for velvet success on green briar in a clear-cut. Bucks will hop from island to island, but the location for a feeding frenzy is more definite.
Besides, green briar enjoys the borders of ancient, dense logging roads. These boundaries will restrict deer movement and require them to pause for food now and then. That makes logging roads and road crossing ideal locations for photographing massive velvet bucks.
Course #4: Pokeweed
Pokeweed thrives on disturbed ground. Therefore, it is best to look it in fresh clean cuts or burns. Large portions of this plant in new clear cuts provide some of the best summer covers.
I have previously described tire ruts caused by large machinery, and this trait is critical to fruitful pokeweed. Not only are the tire ruts beneficial to plant development. Also, they keep the region wet.
Consider a deer’s requirements: food, drink, cover, and cool summer bedding. These needs are not the same in the autumn. But pokeweed provides most of these needs. Hence, bucks prefer to sleep in these locations.
Regarding health benefits, pokeberry is high in vitamins that boost immune function. Vitamins in pokeberry thickets equal amazing daylight velvet-fest photographs!
Course #5: Blueberries
Blueberry fields are an excellent source of summer nourishment. Perhaps their scent attracts attention from a great distance away. Whatever its charm, they draw velvet bucks.
Blueberries grow best on well-drained soil with plenty of sunlight, in my experience. During the summer, they are a buck’s primary nighttime food source.
For the best daylight shots, position your camera near entrance points. Elevating your camera and locating it away from direct sunlight will also help you take better photos.
In the same way a farm buck uses a bean field, big wood deer use berry thickets. Because there is minimal covert cover in the area, expect ingress from the downwind side of the food.
Does and fawns cling to the berries as a summer mainstay as well. Have you been watching the Exodus YouTube channel? You will understand why it is critical to be aware of the does and fawns in your region.
These are only a few of the hundreds of feeding options accessible to large woodland bucks. To capture relevant data from your cameras, match a buck’s requirements to your planned hunting period.
Also, while taking velvet photographs is fun, packing a buck out is far superior. Select elements from the images that you can use in your hunting approach.
What kind of funnel is the food in? Is it reasonable for a buck to use the area even if the food has run out? Will the meal provide nice shooting opportunities, or is it preferable to hunt the route from bed to food?
Continue to ask yourself questions about the region you’re hunting in. Compile the information and go through it with a fine-toothed comb. Avoid neglecting little details. In terms of your quest, velvet bucks will play a role.
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