| Looking for help with 10 acres |
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By:
drewbears
Date:07-Jan-18
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I am just starting to hunt this 10 acres. It's at the end of a 20 acre total chunk of mature maples, cottonwoods, elms, basswoods and a few oaks. the surrounding area is 160 acres lots of corn and bean fields. there are a few bigger chunks of timber that are up to 40 acres. I am wondering how to hunt this. I have gotten a few nighttime picture of decent buck but they are nocturnal. How do I create better habitat and get daylight deer activity?
****Mature forest with not much undergrowth and forage and cover****
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By:
BOWNUT
Date:07-Jan-18
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Keep the oaks clear cut the rest and create a bedding area. If you own the land.
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By:
jeffkim
Date:07-Jan-18
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I to have 10 acres surrounding my house that I just hunted for the first time this year. I had 15 different bucks on cameras, most only at night. I think the best thing to do is stay out of there till the heart of the rut. I am planning on just hunting Nov, 8-12 next year.
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By:
WV Mountaineer
Date:07-Jan-18
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That big flat due north of the house, on top of the ridge, will be a preferred bedding area from what I see. Great place to hunt morning, midday, and evening. You can bet the bucks will be wearing it out once the urge to find does comes back around. Where the point of the ridge drops into that big flat just north of the ridge flat, should be eat up with buck/deer sign. NE of the house at about 1 o'clock, where the hollow feeds into the flat, you'll find a trail down from the top of the hollow where deer cut cross country instead of walking around the flat. That's money when the bucks are cruising.
I'm solely basing this on where I'd start to look in the country I hunt. It is a lot steeper where I hunt so, your property might be different. Good luck and God Bless
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By:
IdyllwildArcher
Date:07-Jan-18
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You can always just put a stand in each corner and just inside the woods around the house and hunt the proper wind... Have you scouted it and looked at game trails? Are you living in that house? What state is this in? It may be helpful to post a picture of the surrounding area for the white tail gurus on the site.
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By:
drewbears
Date:07-Jan-18
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Thanks for all the helpful advice! really appreciate it. Any recommendations for food plots to help attract any deer onto the property? What should I plant and how much should I clear cut? Thanks!
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By:
CAS_HNTR
Date:07-Jan-18
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Thicker cover will go farther than food considering you are surrounded by that large ag acrage.
I'd cut a couple pockets out and try and get some pines or spruce growing if you can......looks like you would be the only area with good thermal cover come winter
Case in point......hunting today, I counted close to 50 beds from the last week or so on a big hardwood ridge with scattered evergreens......ALL of them were directly under or adjacent to a 20 ft tall pine
Last thing.....keep your expectations realistic on 10 ac. You surely can improve it but it will be very easy to push deer off the property if you pressure them much
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By:
woodguy65
Date:07-Jan-18
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Is there only 1 access point to the property?
Can you hunt the field edges?
I would not worry about food plots.
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By:
LBshooter
Date:07-Jan-18
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As mentioned, some stands in the corners and then make the center of your property a bedding area with some mast trees. If you have oaks great, if not maybe some apple trees. Give them a reason to hang out on your property.
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By:
HeadHunter®
Date:08-Jan-18
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' do not shoot any does ' .... they are your decoys and will attract the bucks!
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By:
drewbears
Date:08-Jan-18
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Here is a picture of the surrounding land too. Just outside the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Southwest metro. All the land is owned and I am able to hunt the field edges.
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By:
Franklin
Date:08-Jan-18
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You have some of the only cover around....make your place their sanctuary....hunt the fringes 40 yards from the edges. The bucks will show up if they are not pressured or pushed.
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By:
The last savage
Date:08-Jan-18
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I'm with Craig,,plant pines,a make nice tight sanctuary,when you plant,I suggest strategize your stand placements at that time,to be less invasive at a latter date.Also creating an easy,quiet way to and from stands,,can't stress enough that if your hunting dangerously close to bedding /sanctuary area,stealth and wind are your allies...good luck,looks like a great place.
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By:
BOWNUT
Date:08-Jan-18
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S W inside corner. Looks like a ditch line coming to it.
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By:
md5252
Date:08-Jan-18
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Hunt the edges and inside corners.
Use a decoy on the field edges if possible
Good luck. Looks like a nice little spot
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By:
SBH
Date:08-Jan-18
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Do you have any set deer trails? Any rubs or bedding sign? I wouldn't worry about food so much, looks like you have the bedding area....food is all around them.
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By:
TreeWalker
Date:08-Jan-18
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What about water on the property? A creek, pond, spring?
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By:
APauls
Date:08-Jan-18
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Don't do anything. Hunt it for a couple years before you decide to do anything. 10 acres is not much. As mentioned you have some bush there, and there's not much around. Crops are next door, so there is the food. They need beds, which you have. Don't get rid of it. Learn it for a few calendar years before you decide what they are missing. I like that inside corner on the south side to the west of the windrow that heads south from your place. I'd bet $ on that spot. NW and SW corners will prob get you shots as well. On a small spot like that getting to and from will be your #1 concern as others have stated. Last thing I'd do is make a change year 1.
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By:
Bowriter
Date:08-Jan-18
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A pauls is just about dead on. For gosh sakes, don't cut the maples...in fact, don't cut anything. I hunt a very similar situation-13 acres between two hay fields with corn on one end and beans across the road. Kill 3-5 deer there every year. It is going to take you a couple years to position the stands exactly right. Rubs should tell you something. Ignore field edge scrapes, remove the cameras and stray out of it. If it is fenced in any way, it is a lot simpler. But two main things. #1 Hunt before you do anything-especially during chase phase of the rut. #2 stay out of it.
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By:
MK111
Date:24-Jan-18
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I'm on the other page and would put in a good summer and fall food plot as a drawing point. Sure there is food all around but after the harvest of farm crops there isn't much left. A good fall food plot will bring in the deer looking to eat the good candy so to speak. This is what I did on my farm 5-6 yrs ago as I border a 110 ac horse baling operation. There is plenty of surrounding brushed in areas. I planted the spring and fall food plots and the deer come out of the surrounding brush walk non-stop across the hay field and hit my food plot. In the 1st 21 yrs of owning the farm I never seen over 3 deer in a group. Now I have 16-20 deer feeding at one time in the 3 ac food plot.
