How To Build a Mature Buck Sanctuary

Some properties are born to be big buck sanctuaries. Others are molded to become it. Whether searching for a turnkey property that’s ready to rock, or hoping to create one from a blank slate, this element is crucial for those hoping to consistently harvest mature whitetails.

One property that I hunt sets up perfectly for holding mature deer and producing opportunities at mature bucks. Last fall, that played a major role in me tagging one of my biggest bucks ever. I’ll never forget that mainframe 12-pointer materializing in the cedars and walking down into bow range.

He spent his life in the designated sanctuary, and after several years of following the deer, I eventually shot him right on the edge of it. Without question, killing big deer is part art and part science. Part luck isn’t needed for those who set their hunting land up for success. Optimize it for utmost performance, and see the results.

1. Start with What the Land and Deer Give You

Properties can be molded into what you, and deer, need them to be. But it’s always best to start by observing how deer already use the landscape. Deer can become ingrained in their habits and use properties in certain (and predictable) ways. Furthermore, in some instances, it can be difficult to change how deer use a property.

For example, in hill country, deer prefer to bed along the highest elevations that provide quality bedding. Typically, these spots are the areas that offer the best cover and security. Therefore, it can be difficult to spur deer to bed elsewhere, especially if other high-elevation bedding is available nearby.

Because of this, it’s important to take what the deer and land give you, so to speak. Some things can be altered. Other things can’t be. Change what you can.

2. Divide the Property into Sectors

With an understanding of how deer already use the property, it’s vital to think of your hunting tract as several small communities rather than just one big one. Designing a parcel in this manner can accomplish a couple things.

The author and his big Kentucky buck that walked out of the sanctuary (for the last time) on September 12, 2023. Honeycutt Creative photo

First, mature bucks need space. Most of the hunting season, they don’t want to bed close to other bucks. Creating bedding hubs with dedicated food sources in multiple locations spreads them out.

Secondly, bucks need different bedding cover types and food sources at different times of the year. For instance, while in velvet, bucks prefer open bedding cover that offers airflow and fewer objects to hit their sensitive antlers (which have nerve endings until the latter stages of the antler growth cycle). During the rut, bucks bed closer to doe bedding. In the late season, deer prefer to bed in areas that offer a reprieve from hunting pressure and the elements, the latter of which involves solar and/or thermal bedding cover. Knowing this, and offering various types of bedding over, can increase the odds that mature deer stay on your property throughout the year.

Of course, acreage impacts this element of creating sanctuaries. It’s difficult, and sometimes impossible, to divide small tracts of land into sectors. However, for larger tracts with the proper composition, it’s important to do.

3. Use Natural Borders as Designated “Sanctuary” Perimeter

Sanctuaries shouldn’t be loosely defined. They also shouldn’t be loosely bordered. Sanctuaries must have definite borders, and hunters shouldn’t enter except for strict (and rare) occasions. These include retrieving wounded game and post-season scouting. Largely, that’s it.

One of the best ways to designate sanctuary borders is using natural edges. Examples include tree lines, field edges, creeks and other natural borders. Also, consider outlining sanctuaries on your preferred hunting app using the map editing tool. This way, you and your hunting family and friends can easily know where and where not to go.

Additionally, deer are edge animals. They like feeding and traveling along these transition areas. So, designating such spots allows you to hunt these areas along the fringes of bedding cover that make good stand locations.

4. Consider Visibility and Prevailing Winds

Visibility is another concern. Are deer bedded on the ridgeline watching you approach from the valley? Are they watching you walk across a field or down a tree line? Is your scent drifting into areas that deer inhabit? These are questions to ask and things to remedy when designating sanctuaries, setting up access routes, etc.

Plant good micro food sources along bed-to-feed lines of movement. Honeycutt Creative Photo

If deer see or smell hunters coming and going, it’s game over. This ruins hunts the day of. Over time, it can ruin the property entirely. Hunters must be able to enter and exit the property without deer seeing, smelling or hearing hunters, or it’ll never serve as a sanctuary.

5. Plant Screening Cover in Abundance

Establishing screening cover can help shield hunters visually. Maybe it’s a series of hinge-cuts that run perpendicular to a timber line edge. Perhaps it’s a long line of Egyptian wheat (an annual) or giant miscanthus (a perennial) that grow many feet tall and hide approach and departure quite well.

The benefit of planting such screening cover extends beyond the visual, too. Oftentimes, if planted correctly and in the right places, it can help steer deer away from your ground scent. At least, it might limit the odds of deer encountering it, and decrease the time that deer spend along entry and exit paths.

In addition to shielding hunt ingress and egress, screening cover can make deer feel more comfortable. For example, planting these in certain areas can ensure deer feel more comfortable moving during daylight. Furthermore, it can be an excellent way to separate larger fields or food plots into smaller sections.

6. Create More (But Smaller) Food Sources

While quality, unspoiled bedding cover is vital to an effective sanctuary, something people often overlook is unpressured food. Whitetails feed numerous times within each 24-hour period (up to four or five feedings). Several of these feedings occur after dark. But one to two of these take place within or close to the bedding sanctuary they inhabit during daytime hours.

Oftentimes, those food sources are browse-based, which are most common close to typical bedding cover. Other times, it’s isolated oak trees dropping acorns within or close to beds. Regardless, if good food sources aren’t present, bucks are much less likely to inhabit those areas.

For this reason, it’s important to dedicate unpressured food sources within or directly adjacent to bedding areas, and these should become part of the overarching sanctuary. Do that, and you’ll hold more bucks.

Provide seasonal sanctuary food sources to hold deer in sanctuary bedding. Honeycutt Creative Photo

7. Add Water Close to Bedding Cover

Another important element is water. A mature, heavy-bodied buck might drink up to 5 quarts each day. Oftentimes, deer find spots that offer at least a small, secluded water source near bedding cover. However, unless a water source already exists close to the bedroom and is positioned perfectly, consider adding a source.

When locating these, think about typical lines of movement. Everything should be along the same linear path. Deer get up, walk to water, walk along the same line to sanctuary food, and then on toward a destination food source. This gets deer up and moving along a linear path, rather than twisting and turning. Essentially, it gets deer from A to B faster, which increases the odds of a daylight encounter.

8. Establish Smart Stand Locations and Access Routes

Those who hope to kill deer, and not just hold them on the property, must also consider smart stand locations and access routes. Pinpoint locations that hunters can place stands that offer legitimate opportunities at big, old deer.

Of course, access trails to and from stand locations must be good, too. If you can’t reach a stand location without spooking deer, it isn’t good for hunting. If you can get there, but not out, without spooking deer, it’s the same story. Access routes must be as good as the stand locations themselves.

9. Establish Quick-Bound Cover

A mature buck spends its daylight hours in spots where it can quickly retreat to thick cover. It wants to, if needed, be able to quickly move from open or semi-open areas into security cover. This doesn’t apply to bedding cover. But it does apply to sanctuary food sources. Offer this by planting soft edges in native grasses and creating buffers around perimeters.

10. Create Escape Routes

Deer need exit plans. Hopefully, this is not because of your use of the property. But coyotes and other predators impact deer, too. Deer need a way out, and if they don’t have one, they aren’t likely to use the area. Even if they never need these, deer won’t bed somewhere that doesn’t offer them. That’s especially true in areas where bucks grow up surviving hunting pressure at some point in their lives.

Of course, you should design and hunt a property in a manner that doesn’t require giving deer ways to escape your hunting pressure. But if neighboring properties receive hunting pressure, creating openings for deer to escape onto your property can prove beneficial, too.

Hunt Smart

Overall, it’s important to hunt in a smart manner. Consider how deer use the property, how you want deer to use the property, and set it up accordingly. Do that, and the odds of success increase significantly. As the famous movie quote goes, “Build it, and they will come.” That saying holds far truer for big bucks than dead baseball players.

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