On top of that, I also operate a whitetail hunting and land management consulting service in which I help hunters get the most from their hunting properties. These endeavors take me onto numerous properties each year where the primary goal of the landowner is to improve the deer hunting opportunities -- specifically for mature bucks. I feel that this experience makes me qualified to offer some advice on what I see as the most common mistake that many hunters make in the management of their properties.

A BIG-BUCK REFUGE
Nearly every land manager that I meet seems to realize the importance of food plots. Most of these hunters/managers have implemented some form of a food plot program on their property. An entire industry has been created that revolves around supplying nutrition to wildlife, and land managers have bought in big-time. I'm not going to dismiss the importance of food plots. They are one of the keys to the puzzle.

However, on most properties there is another important element to a hunter's success that is often completely lacking, or at least misunderstood. I'm talking about sanctuaries. In my opinion, sanctuaries are so critical to the hunting success on a specific property that I would rather give up food plots than not have a sanctuary on the properties that I own and manage.

Back in the days when I roamed the countryside hunting new stands on nearly every hunt, a mature buck had many more safe bedding options than he has today. The relative lack of hunting pressure made nearly any suitable location a likely safe bedding area. Today a whitetail buck either finds a sanctuary or he doesn't survive long enough to make it to mature status. I firmly believe that every wild mature buck alive today has at least one sanctuary. If he didn't, he would be dead.

I have found that many hunters misunderstand what is meant by the word sanctuary. A sanctuary is simply an undisturbed area where deer feel safe. It seems that many hunters mistake "undisturbed" for "unhunted." A mature buck doesn't care why you are in an area, and it's likely that he can't discern whether you're deer hunting, picking daisies or watching "tweety" birds. All humor aside, any kind of human traffic within an area eliminates it as a possible sanctuary.

STICK TO THE PLAN
On my farm I have set aside two distinct areas as sanctuaries and only venture into them on a couple of occasions. Normally I go into these areas only in late winter when I'm post-season scouting and looking for shed antlers. Even then I limit my intrusions to one or two trips into these otherwise off-limit areas. The only other time that I ever venture into these sanctuaries is to trail a wounded deer that I have shot. Otherwise, every other form of human activity is strictly off limits in my sanctuaries.

This is an extreme step in land management and one that some hunters find difficult to follow. They seem to think: One little intrusion surely can't hurt anything. My response is always the same. An area is only a sanctuary as long as you allow it to be. You're only fooling yourself if you think that you can get away with a single hunt or other activity in your sanctuary.

Whether or not you own or lease, tagging a mature whitetail buck on property requires making sacrifices. If you own deer hunting property, you need to honestly evaluate why you own it, and you should prioritize. How important it is to kill mature bucks? If that is your primary interest, you definitely need to create a sanctuary and respect its boundaries at all times.

Creating a sanctuary is often easier than it sounds. You should start by deciding how much acreage you can commit to a sanctuary on your property. Bigger is definitely better. You will have to take many things into consideration when you decide how big your sanctuary will be. Things like the number of hunters on the property and the size of the overall property must be factored in. You also must decide on the location of your sanctuary. I frequently encourage landowners to place their sanctuaries in the middle of their property. There is no sense in designating a back corner as a sanctuary and then have hunters on neighboring lands sitting the fence and capitalizing on your efforts.

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