Recommendations?

[greekfreak]

Good morning guys, we’ve had this farm for quite some time now and I want to know what you all think. The two areas outlined in red are infested pine thickets (pines got a bore or disease) and are thicker than thick in some spots. I’d even say too thick. They get used for sure but at the same time you can follow the paths around them as if they were being avoided. Never find any sheds in them during shed season. Let alone beds. There’s two stand locations on this field. The hazard mark to the East are neighbors that are occasionally a hassle to hunt around. However, last year they were nowhere to be seen. The hazard mark to the south are some gun hunters that pop shots at 250+ yards. I’ve watched it. Never really kill anything and they don’t hunt anything but gun, and only when the weathers nice. The blue strip is tall natives and forbs I planted this year.

My questions:
1. I think I already know the answer to this but I’m thinking access to my stands are one of my problems. Maybe move one to the blue strip on the east side?

2. Has anyone experienced too thick? I know it sounds crazy but damn, it’s the great wall of thicket in those places.

3. is there anything I can do to improve the two pine flats?

BTW: this farm, when hunted on a west wind, with no southern neighbors being silly, you’ll see 30-40 deer if not more out of the tower blind.

 

[Troubles Trees]

I am probably not the best to answer but I will take a swing and see how my answers compare to others. What direction is the prevailing wind? I have to guess but it appears like you are hunting the fields, not the woods, so I would assume the wind is out of the south or east going north and west? I assume that because, although I don't know how thick it is, I doubt you mean that you see 30-40 deer in the woods behind the tower stand.

1) It is tough to consider stealthy stand access without seeing the parking/walking routes or knowing the general deer movements, this map shows the southern portion of 2 properties you have stands on? If you move a stand across the field to the blue strip, will you have to walk across an open field at dark either morning or night?

2) Too thick in my area is where deer go when high human pressure is on but impassable is impassable, if deer physically can't get in there I would suggest either hunting the edges or cutting paths in there and opening up a couple spots for them to go.

3) Answer is in #2. There isn't much you can do about too thick other than make it accessible or simply hunt the edges.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I'd thin a travel corridor along the creek and be hunting that bottleneck.

 

[greekfreak]

I'd thin a travel corridor along the creek and be hunting that bottleneck.

We have a stand there as well! It’s a good one.

 

[greekfreak]

I am probably not the best to answer but I will take a swing and see how my answers compare to others. What direction is the prevailing wind? I have to guess but it appears like you are hunting the fields, not the woods, so I would assume the wind is out of the south or east going north and west? I assume that because, although I don't know how thick it is, I doubt you mean that you see 30-40 deer in the woods behind the tower stand.

1) It is tough to consider stealthy stand access without seeing the parking/walking routes or knowing the general deer movements, this map shows the southern portion of 2 properties you have stands on? If you move a stand across the field to the blue strip, will you have to walk across an open field at dark either morning or night?

2) Too thick in my area is where deer go when high human pressure is on but impassable is impassable, if deer physically can't get in there I would suggest either hunting the edges or cutting paths in there and opening up a couple spots for them to go.

3) Answer is in #2. There isn't much you can do about too thick other than make it accessible or simply hunt the edges.

Yes so there’s a small path on the north side that leads up into that upper field. This will pertain mostly to gun hunting since bow hunting would be even more difficult my guess is. We have now stands on the bottom of the creek like Fanatic had mentioned. Wind is typically out of the west in some way. However, during bow season we get winds out of the east quite a bit. We did just buy a land muncher so the possibility are endless. Munch it up and plant something? Let it grow up again but in earlier growth?

 

[Bassattackr]

I'd thin a travel corridor along the creek and be hunting that bottleneck.

Agree x1000! I'd have two there. I'd place one on the NW side for a S + SE wind and one on the SE corner for a NW wind. As a bonus, these are also inside corner sets.

Skip ahead to 5:40 mark, Don has outlined an almost identical scenario..

 

[greekfreak]

All, how about the habitat aspect of those two particular areas?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

A zoomed out map may help as well.


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