New farm looking for ideas

[DiSc0Rd]

So i just bought a new hunting farm its 80 acres surrounded mostly by ag fields. it was an old tree farm a decade a go and has had no QDM done to it ever. the prior owner killed some nice deer on it with no work or food plots. but, i think i can make it even better. im looking to get winter food and cover for the deer to stick around after all the ag crops are picked. there is a small pond on the south side and a man made trough near the center and i will be adding anohter small water hole on the north side. the tiber is all pine and very dense. it's walk able but barely. everything will need to be no till for the first few years as i spent all my free cash on the land itself. im thinking about putting in buckwheat in the bottom right as a start but think id like to get some switchgrass or a better cover on the timber edges. the bottom left area im not really sure what do to with yet and so im here for ideas. the land is almost all junk grass and weeds with tons of prickly pears, so that will need addressed at some point as well. thanks for a great place to learn and i look forward to hearing differnet ideas

P.S. this is in central Il in sandy soil. i iwll do a Ph test in the next week but im guessing it pretty acidic

 

[woodduck]

I would probably try to screen the property line where the more open areas and fields are. Either by planting some kind of evergreen or NWSG strips or even just not mow and let brush grow. It might be a good idea to spend a huntung season observing what deer do and how deer react to what your neighbors do. Maybe start mapping out places for fruit trees too. Crabapples, pear, Persimmon. Good luck to you and congratulations on your new place.

 

[bwoods11]

Congrats on the purchase, I would hunt it for one year and then get a better feel for it. Food plots should help right away.

 

[DiSc0Rd]

so here is what i have in my head. by all means tell me what you think and any options you would consider. as i said, the non-tree areas is mostly prickly pears and weeds so i dont think i can make it worse. i added more land around me so you could get a better idea of the area im in

 

[Troubles Trees]

Everyone is different, every area is different, and even within the same area it's different from plot to plot. You might be surrounded by oaks but don't have any on your property because the guy logged off the Oaks prior to selling for example. Your neighbors might not have any cover, and you may have the only safe feeling cover around once you hit the ground, but no food sources to hold them there.
I don't have access to farm equipment to do food plots, so my focus was on planting unique food sources to my area that nobody else around me has. Chestnut, Pears, Persimmon, PawPaw, Pecan, Hazelnut, Crabapple, Cherries, various Oaks and many many various forms of cover and browse like Dogwood, ninebark etc.
Your place looks like mine though, tons of farmers fields around me so even if I chose to do food plots the only positive is my place would have seclusion to feed compared to the giant fields of similar food surrounding me. The negative is I would have to invest alot of money to get my clover and soybeans to come close to the quality of crops that the pro's around me already have so it seems fruitless (at high cost) in my situation.

 

[DiSc0Rd]

Everyone is different, every area is different, and even within the same area it's different from plot to plot. You might be surrounded by oaks but don't have any on your property because the guy logged off the Oaks prior to selling for example. Your neighbors might not have any cover, and you may have the only safe feeling cover around once you hit the ground, but no food sources to hold them there.
I don't have access to farm equipment to do food plots, so my focus was on planting unique food sources to my area that nobody else around me has. Chestnut, Pears, Persimmon, PawPaw, Pecan, Hazelnut, Crabapple, Cherries, various Oaks and many many various forms of cover and browse like Dogwood, ninebark etc.
Your place looks like mine though, tons of farmers fields around me so even if I chose to do food plots the only positive is my place would have seclusion to feed compared to the giant fields of similar food surrounding me. The negative is I would have to invest alot of money to get my clover and soybeans to come close to the quality of crops that the pro's around me already have so it seems fruitless (at high cost) in my situation.

agreed. i cant compete with 100s of acres of corn and beans going in around me. my thought was make a safe place to go when the fields empty out. my area the crops go in early and come out early so if i can have some food after that it's a bonus and a place to stay with cover. i have to much open ground as you can see in the picture so im looking for ideas to make them feel safer on my place then any other timber. there are no real hardwood timbers near me it's all pine and over grown at that. what timber i have needs thinned out so they can bed in it. the whole property is flat as a pancake so figuring out how to lay out tall grasses in the bare spots seems to be what i want to focus on first. this is the first year we are on it so i really do not know what it will be like i just assume there are things i can do to help my cause a little this year and have a good start for next year. this is the first time i have the ability to shape land i own to a better place to hunt and be better for my kids as they get older so they can see how to make a better property to hunt deer for years to come

 

[hesseu]

What do the fields currently have in them / look like?

 

[DiSc0Rd]

What do the fields currently have in them / look like?

the ag fields are corn and beans. the open spots on my land is just fallow grass and prickley pears. it is pretty much worthless as is. no current cover no food.

 

[TreeDaddy]

As mentioned above ,
i would take my time and observe how deer are currently using the property and terrain features ,then formulate your plan
Topo maps also provide valuable info

Good luck and welcome to the addiction!

bill

 

[Kdog]

As others said, taking a year to observe would be a good option. Looks like you have a good plan in place for the first year. If this is primarily a hunting tract, I would add some funnels (red areas) for deer to travel directly into the woods you have in the center of the property. Any food plots (blue areas) would be inside of these near the wood lines. I would also move the new water hole south to intersect with the new funnels on the N side of the property. Keep in mind I hunt in the south, and our deer prefer not to travel in the wide open.

 

[DiSc0Rd]

As others said, taking a year to observe would be a good option. Looks like you have a good plan in place for the first year. If this is primarily a hunting tract, I would add some funnels (red areas) for deer to travel directly into the woods you have in the center of the property. Any food plots (blue areas) would be inside of these near the wood lines. I would also move the new water hole south to intersect with the new funnels on the N side of the property. Keep in mind I hunt in the south, and our deer prefer not to travel in the wide open.

View attachment 30356

this is awesome. the funnels you drew is that open area surrounded by tall grass or is that the place you would put the tall grass? i cant tell you how they move in the open right now as it is year one but if you look at the land on google earth you can see the paths they walk right through the open areas. i assume to bed in the timber and eat in the fields. i will know more after this year. but the main question now is how to build the funnels you drew

 

[j-bird]

Only "plan" I would set into motion right away would be screening the perimeter and setting up perimeter access for your hunting. other than that...wait and develop a plan based on what the deer naturally do already. Evaluate what your property has and what the surrounding area is like and how the deer move across and thru your property. I wouldn't even worry about the water holes yet. Look for rubs and scrape and the like and bedding and work with what you have. Even 80 acres means your sharing deer with the general area so you will need to know how they come and go and when, where and why. You may want to invest in a few trail cams if you can.....to be your eyes for you.

 

[DiSc0Rd]

Only "plan" I would set into motion right away would be screening the perimeter and setting up perimeter access for your hunting. other than that...wait and develop a plan based on what the deer naturally do already. Evaluate what your property has and what the surrounding area is like and how the deer move across and thru your property. I wouldn't even worry about the water holes yet. Look for rubs and scrape and the like and bedding and work with what you have. Even 80 acres means your sharing deer with the general area so you will need to know how they come and go and when, where and why. You may want to invest in a few trail cams if you can.....to be your eyes for you.

I have the roundup ordered to kill the weeds on the perimeter getting the switch grass in as soon as I can will be next week if I can swing it. But the weather isn't looking good in IL the next week. I have 6 cameras up currently I'll see what they show next time I'm there.

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[FarmerDan]

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Congratulations on your land purchase! The first thing everyone wants to do, and we all believe we have more power to do it than we are granted, is to change circumstances. I guess I'm getting cynical in my old age. Based on the information at hand it's impossible to know if any improvement - any expenditure of your hard (or easy) earned money is warranted. Respected contributors want you to wait to see what happens. I contended if you know how to read aerials, soils maps, understand the herd dynamics in the area, and lots of other learned things about your land (which is a small spit in the wind), you will, first, know what changes / improvements might be beneficial and others that are genuine wastes of resources without the need to wait. In the span of a lifetime waiting a year is a sample of one. Other years might be similar - or not.

That doesn't leave you with anything actionable except to broaden your base of understanding. Among my curiosities - you say corn and soybeans. Is there any fall planted wheat? Any cover crops? If you are planting food plots, when does the production go barren? Are you planting as an attraction for the hunting season? And it makes a difference what kind of hunting season and the timing of it? Or, are you providing food during stress periods in the hopes of keeping deer close-by?

More questions than answers, and while I would encourage action sooner rather than later, study before you act. I have to ask why you want to do anything? You said, to paraphrase, you were please by the size and/or number of deer the previous owner harvested. What makes you think you can make it better. Ego is one thing, actual execution is easier said than done.

Cheers!

 

[DiSc0Rd]

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Congratulations on your land purchase! The first thing everyone wants to do, and we all believe we have more power to do it than we are granted, is to change circumstances. I guess I'm getting cynical in my old age. Based on the information at hand it's impossible to know if any improvement - any expenditure of your hard (or easy) earned money is warranted. Respected contributors want you to wait to see what happens. I contended if you know how to read aerials, soils maps, understand the herd dynamics in the area, and lots of other learned things about your land (which is a small spit in the wind), you will, first, know what changes / improvements might be beneficial and others that are genuine wastes of resources without the need to wait. In the span of a lifetime waiting a year is a sample of one. Other years might be similar - or not.

That doesn't leave you with anything actionable except to broaden your base of understanding. Among my curiosities - you say corn and soybeans. Is there any fall planted wheat? Any cover crops? If you are planting food plots, when does the production go barren? Are you planting as an attraction for the hunting season? And it makes a difference what kind of hunting season and the timing of it? Or, are you providing food during stress periods in the hopes of keeping deer close-by?

More questions than answers, and while I would encourage action sooner rather than later, study before you act. I have to ask why you want to do anything? You said, to paraphrase, you were please by the size and/or number of deer the previous owner harvested. What makes you think you can make it better. Ego is one thing, actual execution is easier said than done.

Cheers!

I think I came off over zealous in my post. I know nothing about changing land to suit deer. I'm just Trying to shove as much info into my brain as possible. Doing something small like switch grass might help. And that's all I'm looking for. As far as the the winter crops I'll find out this winter. Like I said, right now it's just prickly pears anything beats that to take the kids to, deer or no deer. I know any changes I make will be years in the making. Just due to time(little) and money(even less). I have no ego in this game I'm just a baby trying to learn to walk.

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[woodduck]

It will all come together for you. Make sure you have fun. A lot of us have jumped in and made major changes that we've regretted...i know I have. Take your time with your improvements. Plan plan plan. Especially cutting trees down. You can't replace an 80 year old oak tree over night. I know that seems like a no brainer but it happens a lot. Spend some time looking through the land tours here. These guys have put a lot of time into there properties and are gracious enough to share. There's a lot of ideas you can pick up from them. There's no cookie cutter right answer but the more you can accumulate the better off you'll be. Your on the right track. Good luck and most important, like I said have fun.

 

[g squared 23]

I would do as little as possible. Stay out and pay close attention to deer sign and sightings. Jumping in and changing things just to change things might 1. Help, 2. Do more harm than good or 3. do nothing. In 2/3 scenarios, you’re wasting your time and resources. Relax, take notes, and start trying to identify what your property could benefit from the most. It might not be obvious right away.


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[DiSc0Rd]

I would do as little as possible. Stay out and pay close attention to deer sign and sightings. Jumping in and changing things just to change things might 1. Help, 2. Do more harm than good or 3. do nothing. In 2/3 scenarios, you’re wasting your time and resources. Relax, take notes, and start trying to identify what your property could benefit from the most. It might not be obvious right away.


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Noted. Like I said, I really have no idea what I'm doing. Just getting as much data as I can. I like the fact you think I can figure out what the deer need, sadly I'm not that smart, but I'll take it, lol. I can't wait too learn.

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[Bill]

Quick reply.

You’ve gotten some good advise. Do what you want around the edges. But wait and see on the rest.
A prickly pear field doesn’t hold a candle to a beautiful food plot in a magazine.

“but” If you’re a 90 lb doe being chased by a 240 lb buck in November that prickly pear field looks like a good spot to hide.

 

[roymunson]

Good news is you have dirt and a canvas to do something. But habitat work is working the long game. As long as you keep that in mind, you'll be fine. Figure how the deer are using it today, then sweeten that to make it better. Dont try to drag deer thru somewhere that they don't naturally want to be.

Also, be patient with switchgrass. Switchgrass is cool and effective, but it takes 2-3 years to get a good stand with any screening value to it.

When you start setting things up, think access. You can put a million deer on your piece, but if you blow them out every time you're walking in and out, you wont have deer for long. Keep some sort of a sanctuary if you at all can.

There are a lot of way, explained on here, to get seeds to grow without a ton of huge expensive machinery. If you're like me tho, you aspire to the machinery. And you can build things up as you go.

Takes some money to get the ball rolling the first couple years, but then, once you have the pulse of things, it's easier to maintain.

Congrats on your place. Looks like there's a lot of fun to be had out there.