Weston- Congrats on your purchase! There’s no feeling like buying hunting land and then being able to manage it! I see you are from Dunn County. It seems like a lot of really nice bucks have been harvested up that way this year. What have you seen gun hunting so far? I’d use that info to start building your plan for winter and spring.
My view is a little different than some of the others that posted. I like to jump in with improvements right away. Many habitat improvements take time to grow and I don’t like waiting. Sure, you could do something wrong, but I think you will do more right than wrong if you have some habitat knowledge already.
#1- Access is not great. I wouldn’t plan on neighbors giving the new guy on the block access. Start working with neighbors now and maybe it will be an option someday. I just wouldn’t bet on it. I’d make sure that I had a good trail system on the west side to get back to the back field. I’d also use an ATV, so the deer get used to that traffic. Maybe improve a spot to park it by the back field where it will not alarm deer.
#2 Meet with a forester and see what your options are. Ideally, a timber harvest or TSI to thicken up the woods, so the deer do not blow out every time that you enter the property. Otherwise, if you are comfortable running a saw, I’d start my own tsi.
#3 Screens- I’d be planting conifer screens anywhere there was room to block others from seeing in and to help deer on the property feel more secure. Trees take time, I’d have some ordered and a tree planter lined up. What is the soil like in the back field? It’s probably worth pulling some soil samples before winter where you think you may plot in the future.
#4 Apples trees- I’d be trying to order some good varieties for your area on good rootstock if you could find any. They will take 10 years with good soil and care to produce in any numbers. They have been a big asset to me. They are also fun to work on and to enjoy the fruit of your labor. I’d probably add them to a big food source in the back field. I would not plant food or apples close to the property line. Maybe a 3 acre destination plot in the middle of the back 40 if the soil and slope is good there. Who farmed the back field before? Maybe the farmer to the west? I’d try to work a deal with him to plant soybeans in big open field. Work a deal to keep 3 acres standing
In the middle of that 40. I wouldn’t agree to a multi year deal unless you want row crop history and the chance for crp in the future. I’d frost seed the rest of the back field in switch grass next winter. This will get your good cover quick if the soil is not sandy.
Last, but not least, keep your improvements to the offseason and make sure you are extremely low impact when hunting. Hunt the edges and leave every inch that you can for a sanctuary.
Good luck! Make sure you add some more pictures, so we can get a better idea for the habitat that you already have.