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Wow-the journey begins

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dipper

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My wife told me she gave me my Christmas gift this year, and we sealed the deal on another 80 acres. Didn't see it coming but they accepted our offer. This is 80 acres in the heart of a large waupaca county swamp. There has been multiple 170" plus bucks harvested in this swamp. a few projects are going to turn this into a big buck paradise.
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Your access is from the south?
 
Congrats. Can't wait to follow along.
 
Congrats.

I'm with Kabic. How do you get there?
 
Congrats Dipper ... looking forward to the journey!
 
Right of way is 1/4 mile berm from the south. I am close friends with the neighbor's to the north, and I will be able to access property from there, as well
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Class one trout stream slices the west border. The yellow area is around 15 acres and it is a couple feet higher than the rest of the property. Approximately 5 acres of that will be converted to food plot.
The property has a low deer population by waupaca county standards. I kicked up a few deer when I walked it last week. With the recent monsoon we had there is a lot of water by the river and I could hear deer running and swimming 200 yards out.
The habitat consists of lowland brush: sedge/tag alder/tamarack/dogwood/etc. Those areas are super thick. The higher ground consists of huge white pine, maple, ash and a few oak(heavy infestation of oak wilt on a little island that borders property). There is some black ash swamp along river, with a lot of blow downs, also thick. Also some mature balsam and fir stands.
The rest is about 40 acres of 100-150year old white cedar. The early settlers clear cut the virgin swamps and it hasnt really been touched since. You can see over 100 yards through it. It is the typical age structure of area cedar swamps. Generally poor habitat during most months, but very good winter habitat. The deer really concentrate in there during the winter for the thermal cover and white cedar food.
 
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Have fun with your journey on the new land.
 
like almost any property in the area, hunting pressure is pretty intense. As its been noted access into these swamps takes effort and work. Almost everyone practices some sort of buck management, but most guys will smoke the first 14" spread they see.
Almost all pressure will come during gun season, neighbor stand locations are orange dots.
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The neighbor outlined in brown hammers everything they see. There is also a neighbor a half mile to east that owns a large (600 acre) chunk, and they hammer everything. There is hardly a deer on these properties and this will have a huge impact on my numbers.
Neighbor to west owns 140 acres and they are hard core mature buck hunters. They also have a ton of stands in there I didn't list. They also do a lot of 4 wheel driving.
Neighbor's to south are hardcore management, as well. My main farm is only a mile and a half away, as the crow flys.
I'll be hunting different deer, than my main farm. This will also be different hunting with a ton less deer. There has always been big bucks in this swamp, well before QDM was a thought. I might be complaining like some of you guys about not seeing much, so be forewarned. Haha
Goal #1 is to get a food plot in. I want to increase the population on the property. It's kinda weird, because 1.5 miles away I need to reduce the population.
 
Congrats Dipper on what sounds like rough diamond. I'm sure you will be able to get that property turned into something special.
 
You won't regret buying swamp. Having access from north and south is huge, looks secluded, good find.
 
Not asking for specifics...but what does land sell for in Waupaca County (price range)...Timber, tillable, swamp etc...?
 
Nice find, I love swamp properties like your new one for hunting. Most hunters won't go thru the effort to hunt a place that's thick and tuff to get to. There's a reason that the bucks get big in a spot like this.
 
Funny to see how hunters are drawn to property lines!!

How was this property hunted before and have the neighbors to the south dealt with regular access along that berm?


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The property has had little hunting. There was minimal pressure on the south end of the possible food plot. It has served as a quasi sanctuary for neighboring landowners.
I'm not sure what the going rate is on all swamp. This place was not on the market and I purchased it in an unconventional way, which I feel good about. Those details will be kept personal;)
Gun season should be very good hunting. I have a feeling I will need to complete my projects to improve the bow hunting. It's kinda featureless compared to my other properties.
The only way I'm gonna find out is to hunt it. I've already got my pops get intimate with it as we speak. Major trails, rub lines and isolated rubs will be marked and mapped asap. No need for a deer consultant :p
 
Are you concerned, or what is your plan for all those line sitters?
 
It is what it is. I can't really go anywhere near me and purchase 80 acres and not have neighboring hunters close or on the line. Hunter density is just so high. If I could find such a place, I would have to pay big time for it.
 
dipper said:
It is what it is. I can't really go anywhere near me and purchase 80 acres and not have neighboring hunters close or on the line. Hunter density is just so high. If I could find such a place, I would have to pay big time for it.
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Wasnt sure if you had an idea on hinging the lines or make them more open so deer won't go there. I thought my new property would be secluded from hunters but one season in and it is obvious I need to address the lines and how to keep line hunters from having a chance to shoot into my property. My first thought is to leave the first 75 yards open then hinge heavy to make sure you can't shoot into where the deer may be.
 
dipper said:
The property has had little hunting:p
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I can help you out with this problem...I'll hang a stand there this weekend:D
 
chummer said:
Wasnt sure if you had an idea on hinging the lines or make them more open so deer won't go there. I thought my new property would be secluded from hunters but one season in and it is obvious I need to address the lines and how to keep line hunters from having a chance to shoot into my property. My first thought is to leave the first 75 yards open then hinge heavy to make sure you can't shoot into where the deer may be.
Click to expand...
Chummeri think these are some great points, but I own 80 acres in a 1200 plus acre swamp. Even with habitat improvements and every effort to hold deer, my neighbor's are going to hold deer. A deer is a wild animal, it can go anywhere in the 1200 acre swamp.
I personally think these so called deer experts have give. A false sense of expectations that their projects will hoard deer. They give examples of how they raise deer to 6 plus years for this client. I know people on this site don't like hearing these things but it's true.
My neighbor sitting on the line might cut me off from deer coming out of his place as much as any deer leaving my place.
All a person can do is give deer the best habitat possible and optimum food, and try to get lucky. Everything else from these deer experts is marketing or personal opinion.
 
dipper said:
Chummeri think these are some great points, but I own 80 acres in a 1200 plus acre swamp. Even with habitat improvements and every effort to hold deer, my neighbor's are going to hold deer. A deer is a wild animal, it can go anywhere in the 1200 acre swamp.
I personally think these so called deer experts have give. A false sense of expectations that their projects will hoard deer. They give examples of how they raise deer to 6 plus years for this client. I know people on this site don't like hearing these things but it's true.
My neighbor sitting on the line might cut me off from deer coming out of his place as much as any deer leaving my place.
All a person can do is give deer the best habitat possible and optimum food, and try to get lucky. Everything else from these deer experts is marketing or personal opinion.
Click to expand...

So true! We have had 2 160-175" deer on our property all year the last 3 years and each of them were arrowed/shot right across the street on neighbors property. You can try and influence their behavior and travel patterns, but you can't "hold" them. Sometimes the wrong, or too much habitat work will benefit your neighbors more than you.
 
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