60 acres, just acquired

[Steve Bartylla]

For me that depends on the size of the property. I sell quite a few smaller properties, 40's and 80's. One thing I have learned over the years is that if the property requires it, by doing some work across the entire 40 or 80, It helps, if nothing else in the eyes of the guy/guys buying it. But so much depends on the property. One property I hunt and don't own, is set up so go it needs nothing, and that is what some people can screw up so fast by not realizing what they have. A plan, or lack there of, can really help or hinder increases ones odds of having a quality hunt.

I agree completely and should have qualified the bolded portion of my post with "typically" or something else that indicated not every single time. I try to do that, but miss it on occasion. I should just make a signature saying something like: every post I make is talking in generalities and tendencies. there are exceptions to everything

 

[MoBuckChaser]

I agree completely and should have qualified the bolded portion of my post with "typically" or something else that indicated not every single time. I try to do that, but miss it on occasion. I should just make a signature saying something like: every post I make is talking in generalities and tendencies. there are exceptions to everything

Funny, but we know what you meant!

 

[tooln]

Congrats on the new property. You'll get a lot of good advise here.

 

[jaximus]

It was hard to draw the lines evenly with a mouse, but the eastern curved border is actually the center of the creek bed.

It appears that the deer cross the creek in one spot, a heavily traveled worn down trail that crosses in a slight bend in the creek, its in one of the deeper portions, but also one of the most narrow. They are able to jump across without touching water, and there is a little bit of a clearing/path that cuts across the stream. The rest of the creek bed is thick tag alders that are very difficult to navigate. We have a camera set up at this location and have gotten lots of doe pictures. This is the best funnel on the property.

There is no access through the eastern farm fields. However, there is an old logging road that runs along the west side of the creek at the edge of the creek bed along the high ground.

The air photo doesnt show this, but the neighboring lands are mostly hardwoods or lower tag alder areas. This property has the most pine tree cover in the area aside from the field with the teardrop shaped plantation pine plantings at the south end of the west neighbors 80. There are also a few areas along his eastern border (our western border) of mature plantation pines, although they provide no ground cover, only a canopy.

The low/younger pines are to our advantage as its part of unique habitat in the immediate area. There are also some pockets of poplar that we hope to release with the logging of the larger pines that have been shading them out.

we have ordered 12 apple trees for planting this spring from Woodstock Nursery in Neillsville. A mixture of apples for humans, deer, and crabapples. We havent picked a location yet for the orchard(s) as we want to keep as much of the field tillable as possible, and we are tentative to put anything along the west side of the small field near the creek as the deer may then use the neighbors creek bed as a travel corridor.

There is a ridge running from the northwest corner of the property, running south/southeast until it flattens out around where the property turns into an "L". The small field in the north-central portion ends with its western border being that ridge. The field is "visible" from the road along the north border only in the sense that you can tell there is a field there, but you cant see into it. there are already a couple piles of dirt there from long ago forming a berm, and a fair amount of growth blocking the view. we plan to transplant some of the pines that need to be moved along the north edge for a screen/windbreak.

Our idea is to make the 'sanctuary' a 15-20 acre portion of the property, in the middle area, running more north/south than east/west. It will be composed of a lot of the existing smaller pine trees and portions of poplar thickets. The old logging road lies east of this area, between the bedding cover and the large fields and will be our stand access. Along the ridge, we plan to plant oak saplings and acorns.

We are hoping/planning to take advantage of the large amount of agricultural fields surrounding the property as a steady healthy food source for the deer population while creating the best cover in the area for them to bed down in. We realize that the deer will utilize more land that what he owns, however, we hope that by making his are the best shelter/bedding area we can keep the deer closeby.

i will try to get a map of the proposed plan up as soon as i can

 

[Riggsgwp->]

"I really disagree on improving every inch of your ground. I want to have a good idea where deer will be, where they are going and when they'll be going there. Nope, that doesn't mean deer always follow the rules or that I'm always right in where I believe they'll be, where they're going or how they get there, but it's stacking odds once again. Improve every inch of the ground and it becomes a free for all in my mind. Now, they are likely to be anywhere, which makes killing them a lot harder."

I agree with this statement and its importance when setting up a new property. It took me awhile to fully understand how deer move on and through my property especially does vs. bucks. Having that info can be pretty crucial and gives your improvements a more defined purpose. Creating bedding(sanctuary) and food will maybe give you consistent doe sightings. If you setup a sanctuary and have hinge cut pockets along trails leading to food and place your stand downwind of those cuts in cover might give you an edge on pinpointing buck movement. My point is every habitat improvement you make should factor in what the does will do, what the buck will do and how you can capitalize on it.

 

[jaximus]

The orange portion is the ridge that runs through the property, its approximately 20-30 feet higher than the rest of the ground at its highest, which is in the northern most corner.

The purple is the proposed 'sanctuary'. It's thick and low with pines and by locating it there, we can access the trails around it without bumping deer and set up stands based on wind.

The guess that the neighbors stands are the big box stands is correct, they are easily view-able from google maps. The neighbor from the north-east corner had permission to use the property from the previous owner and he had a few hang on stands, but they were mainly on the northern half.

The red outline in the field is where my brother would like to put his garden and a few apple trees. Its sheltered from the north/west winds and gets the morning sun from the east and southern exposure.

 

[wiscwhip]

I might suggest an orchard planted in white clover in the "fuchsia" area on the south end of the large field. The heavy green line would be a conifer screen to make the orchard more secluded from the openness of the large plot. No cedars! lol


I also agree with your plan to eliminate or at least minimize the bedding in that SE corner, mainly so that it could be accessible and used for stands to intercept deer moving from the bedding areas in the west end of the property as they move to the ag fields to the east.

 

[jaximus]

I was hoping he would approve that area for an orchard/food plot mix, but he would like to keep as much field as possible. The south side of that little corner has some very large white pines that shade a ways out into the field and we plan to keep them for stands and windbreaks. Also, he wants a few of his apple trees fenced inside the garden to protect them from browse and to keep the bees nearby. For pollination purposes, keeping the trees close together makes sense. He wants the garden on the north end for sun and ease of access. The plan is to add about 8-10 nursery trees every 3 years or so to keep the apply supply healthy/steady/fresh/diverse. That will also be supplemented by our grafting/seedling endeavors. Currently the county where the property is located allows for baiting, but I'm guessing that in the next few years the baiting ban will be statewide and the need for apple trees to be planted where they can naturally 'drop' apples in prime locations will increase.

the west side of that field runs along the bottom of a ridge and there are some 6-7 ft tall pines creating a screen travel corridor that runs north/south up to where the orchard would be located. We didn't see any other fruit trees on neighboring properties, so we hope that they would be a fairly nice draw. While that small field will never compete with the large ag fields to the east in terms of sheer quantity of forage, it can provide great cover and the added bonus of fruit trees. Also, by keeping the orchard away from the creek, we hope keep the deer more centrally located in the property.

By having the does then pass through(along the edge of) the field to get to the fruit trees, we hope to establish the small field as a primary browse area. The travel area is already screened and used so they feel safe moving along that west edge of the field. Our hope is that we can establish doe movement consistent enough there that the bucks will have to follow.

 

[jaximus]

Here is the contour map, its quite old, but it kinda shows the ridge and the end of the high ground above the creek bed, it pretty much follows that last contour line and drops off about 8 ft.

And this map shows the trails that I would considered 'established.' They have new tracks each time we visit the property. The yellow dots are buck rubs from this year. The trails seem to follow the contour lines.

 

[sandbur]

I read that you are mentioning pines. In my mind they do not give real good cover once they lose their lower limbs. Start thinking about getting some spruce in there.

 

[wiscwhip]

I totally understand all the reasons for having the trees on the north end, the issue I see and primary concern for me would be that road on the north border. I guess if the road saw little to no traffic and you didn't have issues with poachers I wouldn't worry. I wouldn't be comfortable knowing I had an area that close to a road where deer would concentrate and potentially be put in harms way on a regular basis coming in to a food supply. Even if the orchard was fully screened from view, the deer will still be hanging around very close to that road, which could lead to potential increase in vehicle collisions and the potential for poaching if someone happens to notice a nice buck hanging around that road crossing. But again, maybe that isn't a concern if you are off the beaten path far enough?

 

[jaximus]

The road is gravel and sees VERY limited travel.

There are a few white pines on the property, most are very large. I didn't notice any red pine, and there are lots of low bushy pines, a mix of spruce, hemlock and balsams. We plan on keeping the pines low, even heading them back on occasion.

We also plan to hinge cut a bit around the creek bed for some increased funnel action.

Our father talked of a belated christmas/birthday present of a 4-wheeler or tractor. I've been pushing the merits of the tractor over the 4-wheeler as it would be better for the field area. Nothing gigantic, but something in the area of a 35-50hp tractor with a PPO, 3 pt hitch, and the wide front wheels, ideally with a hydraulic bucket. Our estimate is that the field is +/- 15 acres.