First post - asking for advice on habitat plan

[ARdougie]

Just taking a quick stab at it here.

The black circle are doe bedding areas.
The red squares are stand sites.
View attachment 12048
North stand site is only used with your SW wind. Your going to have to access it by walking the western property line and then the north property line. Don't go any further in to the cover than you need to.

The two south stands are for North winds - walk the lower east property line and the the the south property line for access. Again don't go any deeper than needed.

You can keep your plots where they are if you wish. Your biggest issue is going to be able to improve that understory to hold the deer - not just in the bedding areas but also to screen your access to your stands as well. Many time deer will actually bed on the outer edge of the cover and then face where they can have a view to detect danger with the wind at their back. Without a screen they may see you coming from a long ways off and be gone before you have any clue.

If it is calm thermals are going to pull your scent down hill and to the deer - so don't be surprised if your best luck is in the mornings, when the temps are rising. The steep area to the northeast is nearly a wasteland. It appears too steep to hold deer in my opinion.

I'm not trying to be a downer here - I am sure others will chime in as well, but I certainly see some challenges - addressing the cover at deer level would be priority #1 for me if it was mine. You could make the bedding areas even smaller and more of them and scatter in a kill plot or to as well, but I think you can see how I would put those features at the edge of the steep areas and then minimize my intrusions into the cover for hunting. You can also add some blockades to force deer past a certain point as well, but that may come with time or be used in concert with your stand access.

Thank you for the response - very helpful. Yeah that NE section is a wasteland for the most part, but it does swamp during wet periods. A creek also runs through the property that can be seen on the topo. And no, no ash trees.

 

[j-bird]

"If it is calm thermals are going to pull your scent down hill and to the deer - so don't be surprised if your best luck is in the mornings, when the temps are rising."

That is a great statement J-Bird! Often overlooked!

I love hunting right in the mix of the bedding with morning thermals!

Nice avatar Mo...... I will be honest - I forget about it as well.....that is until I notice the calm And then hear a deer blow!

 

[Merle Hawggard]

Nice place AR! I'm about as far to your north east as one can go and stay in the state. Welcome to the forum.

Sent from my SM-S975L using Tapatalk