Deer movement during the day tends to be limited as they focus on avoiding danger and staying close to their bedding areas. They usually only move during dawn and dusk when going for food sources before returning back home again.
There are various strategies for attracting deer during the daytime. This may involve using attractants such as mineral blocks, salt licks, sprays or powders or creating bedding areas as methods of attraction.
Plant Food Plots
Food plots that are planted incorrectly can be an immense waste of both time and money. If you own several acres and wish to convert all of them into food plots, ensure the locations selected are where deer tend to gather; an ideal site might even be inside an established bedding cover.
Another tip when planting a food plot is ensuring the soil is in good condition. Broadcasting seeds into dirt filled with sticks, twigs, matted leaves or conifer needles won’t produce results, so be sure to rake before broadcasting so the seeds reach loose soil. Also if you want your plots to thrive quickly you may require fertilizer applications as well.
Once the food plot is in place, it’s important to utilize multiple crops. This will provide deer with plenty of forage options throughout the season and keep them coming back for more throughout the season. In particular, brassica crops such as radish, turnip, canola and kale provide leafy options while offering high protein forage during late summer/early fall planting seasons.
Crop plants also help prevent the build-up of weeds and brush that might otherwise clog the plot, while using food plots to attract deer in the daytime, it is beneficial to include programmable feeders – these feeders will attract deer quickly while saving you time by eliminating manual refilling of your food plots.
To maximize the attraction of food plots for deer during daytime hours, it is key to create mock scrape sites nearby. Doing this will increase the time that deer spend in your food plot and can increase hunting success significantly. Easy Greens provides an all-in-one perennial food plot system which uses premium clovers and chicory to cover terrain with lush greens while simultaneously building quality soil.
Create Watering Holes
Waterholes can be powerful deer attractants when placed strategically. They can amplify the attraction of food plots and bedding areas, rivalling even trail cameras as an attractant. Deer require three essential things in order to survive: food, shelter and water – most hunting properties may possess two of those three essentials; yet often lack another important draw: water. One of the greatest yet often forgotten deer magnets around.
An effective hunting pond can make a tremendous difference to the quality of your hunts, particularly during hot September afternoons or during all-day rut marathons. Not only can it draw deer within range for shots but more importantly it keeps them hydrated and active when they might otherwise be bored and unproductive.
Created an effective water hole takes many forms; one effective approach involves filling at least 6 feet deep with sand to help hold back any evaporation and make accessing it simpler for deer.
Use either natural or manmade bodies of water – like a creek or lake – that are quiet. Deer prefer drinking from still pools rather than noisy bodies of water as noise reduces their ability to hear danger as they drink, thus increasing vulnerability.
Deer often congregate near watering holes before heading out in search of food sources during evening hours and throughout summer days, spending lots of time drinking from them and bathing nearby. A buck also often checks out any waterhole in an area to see if it’s suitable for scent testing purposes.
Once your waterhole has been established, it may take one or two weeks before deer use it regularly. When they do arrive, keeping it full is key as otherwise deer may bypass it altogether and miss an opportunity to rehydrate themselves.
Waterhole construction may require some physical labor and digging, but its rewards can be immense. Not only can a waterhole improve early season hunting but can also attract deer to specific locations during rut.
Create Bedding Areas
To lure deer to your food plots during the daytime, it is necessary to create bedding areas near those spots. Many hunters do this by creating a V-shaped arrangement of cedars, pines or hemlocks around their desired food plot, providing thick cover in which bucks can lie during the day while providing two escape routes should danger arise.
Make bedding areas by clearing away low-value trees such as sweetgums, poplars, spruces and birches that do not provide food sources for deer. Plant grasses in these areas to further attract deer. Whenever possible, seed warm-season grasses for year round sustenance.
As important as it is to create bedding areas, it’s also crucial that hunting pressure from the property be reduced or removed altogether. This may involve restricting human activity in areas you hope to attract deer during the daytime; these deer are known to become wary when human intrusions interfere with their daily movements – they need their privacy in their sleeping spots to feel secure during nocturnal movements without interference from humans.
To reduce hunting pressure, you can create inviolate areas by marking their boundaries with flagging or signs. Brushpiles and downed tree tops can also help block access to certain parts of the property or stand locations.
A mature buck will likely avoid humans when it comes to his bedding area, so it is vital that you create safe zones on your property where he feels secure and relaxed. Once these inviolate areas have been created, be sure not to disturb them except as necessary when hunting or monitoring trail cameras.
Bucks tend to prefer bedding areas with clear pathways out of cover and where they can easily smell food sources; by creating such terrain with rubs or scrapes in it, deer are much more likely to visit food plots during the day.
Set Up Trail Cameras
Trail cameras can be an invaluable hunting tool, particularly during daylight hours. By taking high-resolution images of deer in areas they frequent most often and providing evidence of deer hunting activity in those spots, trail cameras allow hunters to identify core hunting areas for deer. It is crucial that you visit areas you intend on setting up trail cameras during daylight hours in order to assess habitat, terrain and terrain features in that region; plus use this time as an opportunity to locate food sources, watering holes and bedding spots in that location.
Additionally to placing trail cameras in areas known for hosting deer, it’s essential that when mounting them you consider framing. While hunters might leave their cameras positioned without much thought about how the final image will look, paying close attention can ensure your deer photos are framed optimally.
One method for framing trail camera photos effectively is using leading lines, or visual paths that draw viewers toward specific target areas. Employing this technique can produce more engaging and compelling trail camera pictures by adding depth to scenes or emphasizing particular details in animals.
Experimenting with different mounting heights and angles is another great way to frame trail camera photos. Try mounting your camera low while tilting upward, giving the subject of the photo more opacity, giving it more drama, or mounting it low while tilting upward.
Hunters often get creative when mounting their trail cameras by mounting it to a trellis or other climbing method for stunning shots. Furthermore, remember to secure it against thieves, bears or any potential predators.
Attracting deer during the daytime can be tricky, but following all of the tips outlined above and taking time to set up trail cameras in strategic spots should help increase your odds of capturing incredible images this season. Be patient; over-checking can have adverse effects on device performance.