Finally a Land Owner - Just Posted My Land

[Natty Bumppo]

Hey guys…some of you may recognize this from the other forum. My wife and I bought our house in 2001 next door to my mother-in-law's 150 acres. She promised us a chunk of land when we bought the house. I have been hunting this 150 since then…old fields, apple orchards, spruce swamps, open hardwoods, lots of cover. It's a great chunk of land, but with low deer densities and low hunting pressure. I've done some release of about 90 wild apples, but I've never been allowed to do any food plots on my MIL's land.

Well, after 13 years my MIL finally gifted us about a 20 acre chunk of her land. It's not a lot…but's it's mine. I will still hunt the entire 150 parcel, but now I can do any plotting that I want on the chunk I own. It's a great feeling. Been waiting for this for a long time!

Thought I'd share a few pics of the parcel. There is NO hard mast for miles. No AG anywhere. I started posting the entire 150 acres in Sept. and I just finished this weekend.. I went with the plastic posted signs by what was formerly Moldcraft (now Serious Property Markers), http://www.seriouspropertymarkers.com...the signs are great. No backer board required. Easy installation. Durable. And inexpensive. I also used some signs by a company called 3D Post...http://www.the3dpost.com…I used these sparingly throughout the property way up high in trees, on access trails, along fields and swamps where no trees were present, and to mark each corner of the parcel, etc.

An overview of the property and nearby State Forest.

Here's a pic of the entire 150 acres.

Some detail of the chunk my wife and I got in yellow.

And a pic of the signs I used…200 of the yellow signs and 12 of the 3D posts.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

I love that Orange Private Property marker. Where did you get those?

Congrats on the new land!

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I love that Orange Private Property marker. Where did you get those?

Congrats on the new land!

Thanks Buck Chaser. The orange signs I got at http://www.the3dpost.com. They fit over a T-post, can screw them to a tree, and they are visible from 180 degrees. Also…both the plastic signs and the orange sings are Made in the USA!

 

[huntall]

Congrats thats awesome!
lots of fun coming!

 

[MA VT Flatlander]

Were you having trespass problems?

 

[JackTerp]

Congrats. Nothing like owning your own piece of Heaven.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

Grats, Natty! Looks like the ground lays in a manner that you can play some serious games on it. On the now combined property, it helps a lot that you have the ridge running right down the center. You can make that into a backbone of drawing & holding deer, if you so choose.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Were you having trespass problems?

I wasn't. Nothing that I couldn't tolerate. Every now and then I'd see a set of footprints in the snow near the end of Mass. shotgun or muzzleloader. About 2 years ago though I did find a tree stand on the property overlooking a pile of apples and a mineral block. The last year I'm pretty sure somebody was hunting on a remote corner of the parcel. I put the signs up to send a strong message.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Grats, Natty! Looks like the ground lays in a manner that you can play some serious games on it. On the now combined property, it helps a lot that you have the ridge running right down the center. You can make that into a backbone of drawing & holding deer, if you so choose.

Thanks Steve. I have been reading and re-reading for the past 2 years now in anticipation of this land acquisition. I think I have a good plan as far as layout of potential food plots, bedding cover, sanctuaries, etc.

We are at 2,000 feet elevation on a fairly flat plateau in a very cold zone 5. Once the snow accumulates near the end of December the deer leave the area and head into the valley. They don't show up again until about the end of March. I think with the complete absence of ANY hard mast and AG up here food plots would have a huge holding power. I actually have too much cover…if that's possible. We had a hellacious ice storm in Dec. of 2008 that just dropped entire tree canopies and limbs to the forest floor. This instantly created a ton of cover almost universally throughout the area, and it had the subsequent effect of allowing more light into the forest. It's very think on the property with a very high stem count.

I think my focus in 2015 will be 1) to get in some small food plots, 2) identify and stay out of at least one sanctuary, and 3) establish the best I can some predictable lines of movement from those sanctuaries to my new plots.

How does this sound? Doable in year 1?

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Too Much Cover? I have never heard that phrase ever from a deer hunter. Congrats!

You know how many guys would give there Left Man Goo Holder, to have to much cover?

 

[chummer]

Congrats. Too much cover is a good problem to have. I am in the same boat,it is trying to figure out what to do with it is the challenge.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Too Much Cover? I have never heard that phrase ever from a deer hunter. Congrats!

You know how many guys would give there Left Man Goo Holder, to have to much cover?

Yeah, I guess it's a relative problem. I'm on a flat plateau, so there is no topography changes to funnel deer. There is no hard mast and no ag…so the deer are basically browsing. And there is browse absolutely everywhere. They don't move in predictable patterns. The can feed and bed just about anywhere. This obviously makes hunting them tough, and it also increases the odds of bumping into them during stand entry and/or egress.

I'm thankful for the cover and the browse. I'm hoping a destination food plot in the future will make the deer move in more predictable ways.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Congrats. Too much cover is a good problem to have. I am in the same boat,it is trying to figure out what to do with it is the challenge.

Thanks Chummer. Did you get hammered by the 2008 ice storm over in NY?

 

[tooln]

Congrats and good luck with it.

 

[scott44]

Nice looking place, Congrats getting the property!

 

[Deer Kar]

Congrats .Now the fun starts !!! If there is no ag in your area you will be the only game in town if you can get your plots rolling !!!!

 

[j-bird]

Congrats Natty! Nothing like having your own dirt to play in!

 

[Tree Spud]

Natty congrats ... If you did not have problems with trespassing, I would not post it. As I was told by a local once, No Trespass signs and a locked gate are welcome signs to those that are willing to violate your property. A locked gate tells them you are not there ...

 

[MoBuckChaser]

In many states if you don't have it posted, you don't get to prosecute!

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Thanks for the kind words gents.

In Massachusetts I have a few things going for me. The law places the onus on the Hunter to know where he is hunting and to avoid trespassing. So, technically I could still prosecute even without the signs. Every land owner I know though tells me that in practice it is very difficult to get a conviction without the signs.

Also, I do live on my land, and I am always a presence on the land. When I first began hunting it in 2001 I used to see many, many more footprints and butt-prints in the snow during shotgun season. Just the fact that I moved in and began putting up stands and hunting the property caused a drop in anybody else using the land.

Massachusetts is a largely liberal state with little affection for hunting, hunters, and gun-owners. I live in a rural area...but it's not poor rural. It's educated, upper middle-class, "have no interest in hunting" rural. So I don't have a huge problem with trespassing. Just wanted to send a message to anybody thinking about crossing the line.

I also put out 13 non-functioning trail cameras, visible but high up in trees, in areas that are prone to trespassing.