How to transgress without making a mess

[Garrett S]

So I am blessed to be a new landowner on an amazing piece of ground. However, the topography and access make it so hard to get anywhere on the west or north portions without torching the place. There is no neighborly allowed access from these areas so I am forced to come in from the east. While I have no interest in presssurinv the place, hunting a wrong wind, etc …… I would love to hear what others are doing to get through their ground without destroying the interior as a sanctuary and minimizing the impact.

 

[Buckly]

A wise man once told me it would be worth the big price to buy access from another direction. Otherwise yoI’ll have to rely on some heavy hinge cuts along the property lines. It’s a lot of work but in 5 years you’ll have pretty good screening along those borders. Third option would be to place stands in there where you want and only hunt them if necessary and during the rut when the deer really don’t care what direction you come from. One timer stands I call them. One and done.

 

[Buckly]

What State did you end up in?

 

[Booner21]

I have only access from the east side of my property I cut trails down both property lines with hinge cuts but mine is a big rectangle. I can now access 3 sides depending on wind and always have wind on the neighbors.

I can’t tell what is in the open Areas but I would use those to access in the evening hunts looks like you could get access to 3 sides relatively easy. I would also put up some enclosed blinds/plots to allow hunting on less than ideal winds say a blind on the south end with a south wind short walk and in to the blind minimize exposure especially with a light wind.

I also control vegetation on walking trails so I leave a lot less ground scent behind to minimize my impact after I am gone.

Having access from the east slows to hunt the prevailing wind here as well as most fronts with the wind out of the w/nw


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[Bill]

We use those one a done stands also. Sometimes it's even years between sits. Not for strategy, but because they are a pain to get to.

 

[Garrett S]

What State did you end up in?

OHIO


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[Garrett S]

We use those one a done stands also. Sometimes it's even years between sits. Not for strategy, but because they are a pain to get to.

I try to keep all of mine one and done and actually hunt mobile on my land here in NY at times.


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[SwampCat]

I drive by the deer on my ranger and wave

 

[Garrett S]

Without buying a UTV (haha)- does anyone else have any input?


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[Bill]

Without buying a UTV (haha)- does anyone else have any input?


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I know this sounds crazy. But as a friend once told me crazy has no bounds. I had a stand deep in the timber, like a mile walk. Haven’t been there in years now. Several days before we hunted it I would go in mid day making all the noise I could on the field and then leaf blower a path to it. That let me get in before light as quiet as a mouse. And the lumber jack had left days before.

 

[swat1018]

I'm fortunate in that my neighbors allow access from all directions on my main farm.

 

[buckdeer1]

I don't see the issue unless you have alot of easterly winds.My place i enter from the east for most of the farm the depth I go in depends on the wind.I would have a food plot that part way in so you can hunt travel route from the big bedding areas.

 

[Troubles Trees]

Hahaa, this is where my crazy ideas might be of use :)
I have an area similar to yours that I really can't access without blowing up the spot before I get there. I have thought about installing a zip line (did I mention crazy ideas?). When I looked into it ziplines are cheaper than you would think but for my situation it would only work one way, getting back to the house so that was off the table.

I have also considered, which is probably the most expensive but also most effective, installing a 5-6' diameter drainage pipe, half buried to walk inside. I made you smile there right? :)

Probably cheapest of them all is renting a dozer and creating a double berm to walk in the middle of.

Good luck Garrett, great looking property bud!

 

[Garrett S]

Hahaa, this is where my crazy ideas might be of use :)
I have an area similar to yours that I really can't access without blowing up the spot before I get there. I have thought about installing a zip line (did I mention crazy ideas?). When I looked into it ziplines are cheaper than you would think but for my situation it would only work one way, getting back to the house so that was off the table.

I have also considered, which is probably the most expensive but also most effective, installing a 5-6' diameter drainage pipe, half buried to walk inside. I made you smile there right? :)

Probably cheapest of them all is renting a dozer and creating a double berm to walk in the middle of.

Good luck Garrett, great looking property bud!

You are the best. At least you recognized the soil was sandy and subterranean tunnels weren’t a financially sound option. Haha.

I was thinking about a path to the west then north Bermed with Miscanthus and providing a few designated cross points.

I’ve done the leafblower/raked path approach many times. Deadly tactic.

The neighbors will likely not play nice, or without cost, as I just bought their old playground.

That darn east line half 2/3-3/4 of the way up is the issue. They use all those ridges and appear to hit that plot there so predictably… but the north and west ears have some great travel and guiding topography so
Don’t want to give that up either. Just not sure how to cut the property in half and the standard perimeter trail is not practically feasible.

 

[BenAllgood]

It looks like you have about 60-70 acres? I'd carve out one big food source on the south end and make your northern sections great security cover, then access from the perimeter to a planned travel corridor that runs from the north bedding to the southern food.

 

[Garrett S]

It looks like you have about 60-70 acres? I'd carve out one big food source on the south end and make your northern sections great security cover, then access from the perimeter to a planned travel corridor that runs from the north bedding to the southern food.

Great idea Ben. Feasible for the most part too.

It’s basically 75ac.

It’s crazy diverse. The very south and the northern quarter with both rabbit ears are mature woods. Lots of mast bearing trees. The remainder, in a generic description sense, is early successional of some degree. Fallow fields, brush (berries, honeysuckle, dogwood, young shrubs and trees) and crp resembling grasses, shrubs and conifers. Some lends to self well to the create-able trail aspects others (such as the woods) would be solely based on topography. It has some utility ROWs that also have to remain open (or non woody stemmed vegetation at its best).

 

[Buckly]

This is my opinion and may not be what others believe. I made sanctuary that was never visited on one end of the property and hunting was done on the other end. After about 3 years I ventured in to the sanctuary to get a feel for how the deer were using it and if it was working out. I found 3 tree stands in there. By creating a no go zone on one end of the property for me, it was a go zone for other people. And I would have no idea because I never went there. In my opinion you need to show a presence around the perimeters . I like the sanctuaries more in the middle of a property and hunt the outsides. Once I showed a presence around the perimeter, the trespassers couldn’t bypass me And the sanctuaries could be used how they were intended.

 

[b116757]

Personally I’d hire an dozer to push in some decent access roads around the property you will never regret being able to drive around the place. Growing up we had forest roads on my mothers 80 acre place. My uncle had forest roads on his 160 acres that aloud access more or less around the perimeter of his forested property. On my home 35 I had roads pushed in shortly after purchase and have never regretted have good access. I’ve already started pushing in forest roads on the new farm and our other farm already has very good access most places and I’ve added some over the years in some of the more remote areas. Personally having forest roads to easily get around a property are simply a necessity to me. Sometimes do to a swamp/ water way a part of some properties is inaccessible but if you can push in forest roads I highly recommend it to me they truly add to my enjoyment of a property.

 

[Garrett S]

The whole “depth of cover” thing from that guy and feeling like 75 ac is better than a 35&45 is where I am hung up. So would the take be make the two pieces self inclusive? Ultimately, can I actually limit my scent (or presence) going inward? Perhaps using a bike on that road would be key…..

Just thinking out loud I guess

 

[roymunson]

1. I know you said an ATV isn't in the cards, but what about an e bike or a mountain bike? On our place we have a side by side and we've killed 3 bucks 4 or older from the same blind this year off of a food plot. 2 of the 3 were afternoon only sits in the heart of the property where we were dropped off by an ATV, then the driver of hte ATV left. Now we're in there fairly regularly that the ATV doesn't equate to danger. But the buck I shot this year was the second deer on the plot at 3:30 in the afternoon. He had to have been bedding within earshot, he just wasn't scared of the ATV. I'm convinced if we'd have walked into the stand and the deer had heard us, he wouldn't have showed up.

2. Move your sanctuary. Make that inaccessible area your sanctuary and draw them out to the spots you can get in and out to hunt better. That's tough to do when you're not there to hunt a lot. We can hunt multiple times a week at our place ,so pressure is a real thing, but I'd recommend making a plan where that inaccessible area is a no fly zone, and draw the deer out to where you can hunt them with better access.

3. Find a way to minimize your access footprint. a bermed access lane is one idea, but that's hardcore. There was a guy about 1/2 hour from us with a blind you could see from the raod that everyone said "hows he getting in and out of there without blowing things up?" Dude buried a 36" culvert pipe thru the property to get to the blind. Thats stupid money and fairly ridiculous, but hey, you didn't say money was an issue. haha