Improve this property

[Jterry81]

How would you go about improving this property? Red area is where deer bed (lots of does and small bucks). Blue is currently food plots, but don't get a ton of use. Thinking of creating openings in yellow area. Access is from road in SE corner. Open area to east is tall grass/weeds

Deer will go out the north and northeast part of property at night to big ag fields. Will also head south to more ag and more wildlife property. Would like to attract and keep more deer on the property instead of property a mile to the south which is loaded all year round.

Would you clean up a large portion of down trees or Do these down/dead trees help with cover? Should I Open up some areas? Possibly plant some plots? Thinking of brush hogging some trails that wander from N to S through trees. Very little browse or grass growing in the trees.

Note, the property does flood each spring so that has its issues.

 

[buckdeer1]

I would hinge cut some areas to get browse there.In those pics it shows areas that I doubt provides much bedding.If the bedded there they should be hitting your food plot before going to ag fields unless it's something they don't want to eat.I really like over hanging trunks from about 3ft off ground sloping down to ground for bedding.What is to the right of the yellow and red?

 

[Jterry81]

Its a slough with willows close to the trees and cat tails further out

 

[buckdeer1]

Is that whats in the green area,what is right of big blue rectangle?What lays around this

 

[Jterry81]

Green area is the slough and willows. Area to the right side is grass/weeds. Some tall grass, lots of fox tail and some brome. There is a farmhouse just to the right just out of picture.

Ag fields in all directions. 1 mile south is a big tract of trees and native grasses which no one hunts so it keeps a lot of deer, especially over winter.

Both blue box was planted with brassica. neither one, but especially the one near the top did not come in well this year due to dry conditions.

 

[Jterry81]

 

[j-bird]

Where is your access point?
Is using the river/large stream tot he east an option for access?
Is the large area that appears to be grass in play - is this area on the table for habitat work?
What ag crops tend to grow North, South and East of your place?
How do you like to hunt? You bow or gun? You like to hunt over plots or hunt the trials leading to the plots?
What sort of primary wind directions are we looking at?

I think the mature timber area may need some sunlight on the ground, but I wouldn't go crazy. In most flood plains like this the species tend to be soft species and as such they will hinge and or stump sprout readily as well.
The willow area may need some of it knocked down as well, as willow will stump sprout/copice well also.
The grass area would be a great area to plant some cover pockets and create even more cover for holding deer.

As for food...I would wait. I'm thinking you are looking at some small and scattered clover/chicory plots and some fall annual plots. Trying to plant corn or beans in the spring may be tough if you have a lot of spring flooding. Let the neighbors feed the deer in the summer. Maybe....maybe you implement a corn or bean plot in the grass area to help pull deer deeper into your place, but I see that as being fairly low on the priority list.

I also see maybe some road screening being needed.

The first place we need to start is where the current pinch points are that are driven by terrain or cover type....these more than likely won't change much and you have to consider how you can access these areas for hunting without educating deer. We need to plan the hunt FIRST and not plan the habitat and THEN try to figure out how to hunt it.

 

[Jterry81]

I've marked where I park and where I had a stand and ground blind this year. Try not to go into the timber at all. Wind is primarily from west or NW. Bow hunt mostly.

Yes, the trees i have cut have stump sprouted.

Planning to establish native grass in the big grass area east of ground blind (approximately 25 acres) whole property is 60 acres.

 

[Telemark]

I would focus on bedding/cover and fall/winter food plots. Can you excavate ditches or swails to drain the property?

 

[j-bird]

I just tossed this together so it's by no means a plan....but it will get you thinking and shows some ideas you may like.

So the like "X" areas is where I create some blockades to control deer movement. We need to "push" those deer to venture deeper into your property. The red lines are deer travel either natural or planned. The green areas are plots...perennial clover/chicory and fall annuals. We spread these out to again force movement, and we make them narrow so they feel safe. I showed box blinds sitting over them for gun season. The white lines are your access route to stands. You want to limit how much area you disturb going to and from stands and leave more property for the deer. Hunt the stand further south when the wind is from the west, the middle stand when it's from the NW and the north stand when the wind comes from the north. This all blows your scent into "no mans land" where you limit cover and food as you don't want deer in there. The yellow lines are a screen of some sort. You want to screen your property from neighbors, the road and even so the deer don't see you moving about the property. The orange dots are cover clusters. These will be tree/conifer and shrub plantings in little clusters surrounded by a mix of switchgrass and native weeds to provide additional cover and bedding areas for the deer. The areas of existing cover that you have...you simply try to improve what you can/wish. I kept the plots out of the area of existing cover as I assume there is a high water table and the drier soils will be better for your plots....this also puts the plots closer to your access point as well which disturb less property and gives you a decent access with equipment to your plots if so needed. again this is just "spit-balling". You being a bow hunter you may want to change the areas of your plots a little so you have access to trees for stands and hunt the travel ways between the plots. The big thing is that you want your scent being blown either to a neighbors property or into an area where you know there is very little chance of deer being there. this goes for your stand location as well as you access route to and from the stand. Things may not quite be to scale, but you will get the general idea.

 

[Chainsaw]

I love those wet spots with the rising land on each side. The cover and browse looks terrible though, not mature deer looking. I can't tell what kind of trees are growing. What are they? In our wet spots and the rising land around it that work we have a mixture of cedar, wild apple, wild pear. alder, red maple, red dogwood, briars, beech on the higher spots and a few invasive undesirable buckthorn throughout. The width of those areas bordering wet spots before they go into higher ground looks about the same as yours say 125 yards; however we can't see more than thirty to fifty yards into it even this time of year. They are our among our best producers of mature daytime buck sightings during the rut. Note we also have some wet spots that don't work and those tend to be just stunted looking trees with not much undergrowth and long visibility from ground level to three or four feet up.

 

[buckdeer1]

Identify the areas least likely to flood,
Plant screening from viewing from anyone but you
identify areas that are dry enough for food,which ones can you plant in spring which ones in fall
Main methods of adding cover,switch grass it should survive some light flooding as long as it goes down quick.
I like to plant things that mature in different times over the next set amount of years.If a tree grows fast it dies young grows slow lives long.
Some fruit trees are always fun to have.
Can you plant all the field to your right of brassica plot?
I would n't plant brassicas unless they really ate them
What state is this?

 

[Jterry81]

I just tossed this together so it's by no means a plan....but it will get you thinking and shows some ideas you may like.

So the like "X" areas is where I create some blockades to control deer movement. We need to "push" those deer to venture deeper into your property. The red lines are deer travel either natural or planned. The green areas are plots...perennial clover/chicory and fall annuals. We spread these out to again force movement, and we make them narrow so they feel safe. I showed box blinds sitting over them for gun season. The white lines are your access route to stands. You want to limit how much area you disturb going to and from stands and leave more property for the deer. Hunt the stand further south when the wind is from the west, the middle stand when it's from the NW and the north stand when the wind comes from the north. This all blows your scent into "no mans land" where you limit cover and food as you don't want deer in there. The yellow lines are a screen of some sort. You want to screen your property from neighbors, the road and even so the deer don't see you moving about the property. The orange dots are cover clusters. These will be tree/conifer and shrub plantings in little clusters surrounded by a mix of switchgrass and native weeds to provide additional cover and bedding areas for the deer. The areas of existing cover that you have...you simply try to improve what you can/wish. I kept the plots out of the area of existing cover as I assume there is a high water table and the drier soils will be better for your plots....this also puts the plots closer to your access point as well which disturb less property and gives you a decent access with equipment to your plots if so needed. again this is just "spit-balling". You being a bow hunter you may want to change the areas of your plots a little so you have access to trees for stands and hunt the travel ways between the plots. The big thing is that you want your scent being blown either to a neighbors property or into an area where you know there is very little chance of deer being there. this goes for your stand location as well as you access route to and from the stand. Things may not quite be to scale, but you will get the general idea.
View attachment 33138

Love the ideas, especially the screening. Top area will be replanted through government habitat program to native grasses which should only improve the bedding area.

 

[Jterry81]

I love those wet spots with the rising land on each side. The cover and browse looks terrible though, not mature deer looking. I can't tell what kind of trees are growing. What are they? In our wet spots and the rising land around it that work we have a mixture of cedar, wild apple, wild pear. alder, red maple, red dogwood, briars, beech on the higher spots and a few invasive undesirable buckthorn throughout. The width of those areas bordering wet spots before they go into higher ground looks about the same as yours say 125 yards; however we can't see more than thirty to fifty yards into it even this time of year. They are our among our best producers of mature daytime buck sightings during the rut. Note we also have some wet spots that don't work and those tend to be just stunted looking trees with not much undergrowth and long visibility from ground level to three or four feet up.

Trees are a Mix of cotton wood, mulberry, elm, willows, and a few locust and I agree not thick cover at all.

 

[Jterry81]

Identify the areas least likely to flood,
Plant screening from viewing from anyone but you
identify areas that are dry enough for food,which ones can you plant in spring which ones in fall
Main methods of adding cover,switch grass it should survive some light flooding as long as it goes down quick.
I like to plant things that mature in different times over the next set amount of years.If a tree grows fast it dies young grows slow lives long.
Some fruit trees are always fun to have.
Can you plant all the field to your right of brassica plot?
I would n't plant brassicas unless they really ate them
What state is this?

South dakota. Deer only lightly hit the plots. Thinking a different blend next year.

 

[Jterry81]

I would focus on bedding/cover and fall/winter food plots. Can you excavate ditches or swails to drain the property?

No we cannot excavate ditches. What would you do to improve bedding/ cover?

 

[Telemark]

No we cannot excavate ditches. What would you do to improve bedding/ cover?

Similar to what j-bird suggested. But I would add ROD and willows in the wet areas and some switch west of the big wet area.