New farm looking for ideas

[DiSc0Rd]

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.

I agree. This is deff a long game plan. Wont have any thing but a 4 wheeler for at least 2 or 3 years so big changes will be done in stages or just have to wait until I can get a tractor. Not to mention I'm just trying to figure this all out as I go.

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[Tree Spud]

the prior owner killed some nice deer on it with no work or food plots. but, i think i can make it even better.

I agree with many above who said ... do nothing (or very little) for 1st year or 2. And your statement above is the exact reason why. Sounds like the former owner learned how to hunt the property and was successful. The biggest mistake most make is to watch all the YouTube videos, read everything on sites like this, watch all the TV shows on how to turn your property into the next deer mecca. You then spend 2 years do everything you can to the property and then wonder why you see very few deer and no big bucks.

Your property is small compared to the landscape and a deer's range; however, you have some unique features. The wooded area through your center property is a travel corridor and funnel.

The only thing I would focus on initially (meaning next spring) would be to continue the pine tree screen around the NE and N, and SW property line. This disrupts the noise & visual disruption from the east road and eliminates people shinning at night.

You have a couple of natural transition travel funnels. These should be very good during the rut when bucks are on the move scent checking for does. Adding pines on your SW border will improve that travel corridor.

Get some cameras out and start monitoring the activity on the property. Spend winter and early spring looking for trails through the property. Spend a couple hours hours in your deer stands observing the deer activity and movements.

The only only other suggestion I would make is get hang on stands in each corner of the corners of the wooded area. Do you know where the former owner had his stands? This will allow you to play the wind. Do this asap and then minimize your activity until hunting season.

Congrats on the new property and enjoy.

 

[DiSc0Rd]

the prior owner killed some nice deer on it with no work or food plots. but, i think i can make it even better.

I agree with many above who said ... do nothing (or very little) for 1st year or 2. And your statement above is the exact reason why. Sounds like the former owner learned how to hunt the property and was successful. The biggest mistake most make is to watch all the YouTube videos, read everything on sites like this, watch all the TV shows on how to turn your property into the next deer mecca. You then spend 2 years do everything you can to the property and then wonder why you see very few deer and no big bucks.

Your property is small compared to the landscape and a deer's range; however, you have some unique features. The wooded area through your center property is a travel corridor and funnel.

The only thing I would focus on initially (meaning next spring) would be to continue the pine tree screen around the NE and N, and SW property line. This disrupts the noise & visual disruption from the east road and eliminates people shinning at night.

You have a couple of natural transition travel funnels. These should be very good during the rut when bucks are on the move scent checking for does. Adding pines on your SW border will improve that travel corridor.

Get some cameras out and start monitoring the activity on the property. Spend winter and early spring looking for trails through the property. Spend a couple hours hours in your deer stands observing the deer activity and movements.

The only only other suggestion I would make is get hang on stands in each corner of the corners of the wooded area. Do you know where the former owner had his stands? This will allow you to play the wind. Do this asap and then minimize your activity until hunting season.

Congrats on the new property and enjoy.

View attachment 30369

Thanks for the input. I don't know where the old stands were excepton the water in the middle as he didn't bother to take it and a box blind in the far south. So I'm just going to leave it as is. I had planned a stand on each corner. And a box blind in the far south because he took his. That might be a few years away money wise but I do have a pop up I can need in the pines on the east side of it.

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[Troubles Trees]

I definitely agree with the advice in this thread. Do some preliminary things first like perimeter screening to keep others eyes out, and make access trails central to the main areas and hunt it a few years while adding little until you understand deer movements and patterns. You have a clean slate to work with, as I did, and really if you plant mast bearing trees deer will still eat the food, it just might be in the wrong way for you to hunt them the way you intended.
If I were you I would simply have my goals be working towards planting unique food sources to your area. Chestnuts, Persimmon, Pears, plumbs etc. and the same for browse and bedding but they are less complicated.
Within the unique food sources topic, don’t just buy any pear tree for example, plant Pears that will drop during deer season or even later. Blue Hill has a good variety but out of stock quickly because of high demand. On the other end, I can buy an 8’ tall Kieffer pear from Lowe’s that will start producing fruit within a couple years, BUT those pears I planted drop all their fruit before deer season arrives. So I planted 5 of each type from Blue Hill and the drop times overlap and I have pears dropping from late September through January some years. Variety is always best, plant long term things like oaks as well. As long as a deer will eat it, you are successful.
Congrats on your new land bud! It can be both exciting and scary to plant because once planted things are there for a long time. If it’s for hunting deer from a stand, plant directionally away from the stand in lines or V shaped so you have shooting lanes between.
Good luck and keep us updated, we are all cheering you on bud!

 

[DiSc0Rd]

I definitely agree with the advice in this thread. Do some preliminary things first like perimeter screening to keep others eyes out, and make access trails central to the main areas and hunt it a few years while adding little until you understand deer movements and patterns. You have a clean slate to work with, as I did, and really if you plant mast bearing trees deer will still eat the food, it just might be in the wrong way for you to hunt them the way you intended.
If I were you I would simply have my goals be working towards planting unique food sources to your area. Chestnuts, Persimmon, Pears, plumbs etc. and the same for browse and bedding but they are less complicated.
Within the unique food sources topic, don’t just buy any pear tree for example, plant Pears that will drop during deer season or even later. Blue Hill has a good variety but out of stock quickly because of high demand. On the other end, I can buy an 8’ tall Kieffer pear from Lowe’s that will start producing fruit within a couple years, BUT those pears I planted drop all their fruit before deer season arrives. So I planted 5 of each type from Blue Hill and the drop times overlap and I have pears dropping from late September through January some years. Variety is always best, plant long term things like oaks as well. As long as a deer will eat it, you are successful.
Congrats on your new land bud! It can be both exciting and scary to plant because once planted things are there for a long time. If it’s for hunting deer from a stand, plant directionally away from the stand in lines or V shaped so you have shooting lanes between.
Good luck and keep us updated, we are all cheering you on bud!

Thanks for the tips. On your tree planting, did you have the open field like you see on mine? You can't really see in the photo but the "open" areas have random pines scattered throughout. I assume the trees should lead to a stand location or do you use it as a safe place they can eat and try and catch them coming and going?

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[BenAllgood]

Inventory

The first thing I would do is inventory. See what plants and tree species you have out there and if they are beneficial or not. It's like a business that you want productive. Your plants are your products. You can stock them at different rates, get rid of some, bring in some, arrange them differently, etc. A lot of major changes to be beneficial don't have to cost hardly anything. Spraying glyphosate to get rid of any cool season grasses in the fields may be a huge help. You may not even have to plant switch depending on what's in your seedbank. Getting rid of tree and shrub species in your woods that aren't where they belong could be another major improvement that doesn't cost much.

But, the first thing I would do is an inventory.

 

[j-bird]

Ready....aim....fire. Far too many times we Ready...fire...aim!

Depending on your experience level - there are a few books you can read in the meantime as well...but the power of observation is a wonderful tool..and the most particular to YOUR situation!

 

[Troubles Trees]

Thanks for the tips. On your tree planting, did you have the open field like you see on mine? You can't really see in the photo but the "open" areas have random pines scattered throughout. I assume the trees should lead to a stand location or do you use it as a safe place they can eat and try and catch them coming and going?

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I originally only had 10 acres that came with my house and it was mostly wooded with non-mast bearing trees like Maples and Poplar that I slowly converted to food sources to benefit deer and turkey in particular. Stuff like fruit trees, nut trees and berry bushes and cover/browse. I bought the 22 acres next door to my house almost 5 years ago now and have 32 total acres combined. Of that new 22 acres I would estimate 12 acres of it was abandon pasture that was mostly goldenrod and a few native apples, the other 10 acres is wooded with similar Maple, Poplar with a few Hemlocks. The only food sources I started with was some browse and wild apples, and all the woods within a 5 mile radius look just like that. So like you, I had a large clean slate to start with management-wise. A lot of Chainsaw work making trails and getting sun to the forest floor, and babying along seedlings (watering 1st year, tree tubes and cages) due to my shoe string budget.
By the end of my spring 2020 order I have planted just over 1,000 trees, shrubs and bushes, all focused on (diverse and unique to my area) food sources for Deer, Turkey and also things my family would eat like Chestnuts, Hazels, Butternut, Pecans and many various fruit trees from Pears and Persimmon to PawPaw's. With everything that is going on in this world today, having a food source for the family in the backyard is a little peace of mind, even if only the wildlife get the most benefit. Researching everything I kept the mindset that some things not common to my area might live, but we always have late frosts and might never have a long enough growing season to produce what I wanted, Persimmon and PawPaw's come to mind there.

As far as how and where to plant, I started with forming the main walking/4wheeler/perimeter trails for access and planting screening like pines on my borders with the "nosy neighbors' (they drive deer during bow season grrrr). Once I knew the deer's general travel patterns I nailed down known/obvious treestand and blind locations and plotted them on a map. Then I basically planted most things in straight lines or in pie wedge shapes (with the point of the wedge pointing at the treestand) while factoring in prevailing winds and access trails to get to them quietly and without kicking the deer out when approaching the stands. For example I would plant 50 Oak trees upwind from the future stand in a wedge shape and then later planted shorter stuff like High Bush Cranberry, Dogwood and Allegheny Chinquapin as a perimiter to the Oaks 20-30 feet away so when the Oaks are more mature it will be a feathered edge as opposed to just a stand of oaks. I left plenty of room between wedge or inline plantings so it just stays goldenrod for wide shooting lanes and possibly future strips of food plots down the road if I ever get access to the equipment.
To be honest I was intimidated (as you likely are) as I have no mentor, and all the researching, planning, buying and then the work was on me. The last thing anyone wants is to grow a bunch of trees in spot X and wish they were planted where Y is 10 years later. I will say, the guys in this group are VERY knowledgeable and always helpful so don't be afraid to ask or try something, if you plant food they will come, you just may have to adjust stands or blind strategy later. With everything I have planted I bear in mind that when it all is matured and producing food, deer patterns WILL change some.

Hope that helps more than it confuses lol

 

[DiSc0Rd]

I originally only had 10 acres that came with my house and it was mostly wooded with non-mast bearing trees like Maples and Poplar that I slowly converted to food sources to benefit deer and turkey in particular. Stuff like fruit trees, nut trees and berry bushes and cover/browse. I bought the 22 acres next door to my house almost 5 years ago now and have 32 total acres combined. Of that new 22 acres I would estimate 12 acres of it was abandon pasture that was mostly goldenrod and a few native apples, the other 10 acres is wooded with similar Maple, Poplar with a few Hemlocks. The only food sources I started with was some browse and wild apples, and all the woods within a 5 mile radius look just like that. So like you, I had a large clean slate to start with management-wise. A lot of Chainsaw work making trails and getting sun to the forest floor, and babying along seedlings (watering 1st year, tree tubes and cages) due to my shoe string budget.
By the end of my spring 2020 order I have planted just over 1,000 trees, shrubs and bushes, all focused on (diverse and unique to my area) food sources for Deer, Turkey and also things my family would eat like Chestnuts, Hazels, Butternut, Pecans and many various fruit trees from Pears and Persimmon to PawPaw's. With everything that is going on in this world today, having a food source for the family in the backyard is a little peace of mind, even if only the wildlife get the most benefit. Researching everything I kept the mindset that some things not common to my area might live, but we always have late frosts and might never have a long enough growing season to produce what I wanted, Persimmon and PawPaw's come to mind there.

As far as how and where to plant, I started with forming the main walking/4wheeler/perimeter trails for access and planting screening like pines on my borders with the "nosy neighbors' (they drive deer during bow season grrrr). Once I knew the deer's general travel patterns I nailed down known/obvious treestand and blind locations and plotted them on a map. Then I basically planted most things in straight lines or in pie wedge shapes (with the point of the wedge pointing at the treestand) while factoring in prevailing winds and access trails to get to them quietly and without kicking the deer out when approaching the stands. For example I would plant 50 Oak trees upwind from the future stand in a wedge shape and then later planted shorter stuff like High Bush Cranberry, Dogwood and Allegheny Chinquapin as a perimiter to the Oaks 20-30 feet away so when the Oaks are more mature it will be a feathered edge as opposed to just a stand of oaks. I left plenty of room between wedge or inline plantings so it just stays goldenrod for wide shooting lanes and possibly future strips of food plots down the road if I ever get access to the equipment.
To be honest I was intimidated (as you likely are) as I have no mentor, and all the researching, planning, buying and then the work was on me. The last thing anyone wants is to grow a bunch of trees in spot X and wish they were planted where Y is 10 years later. I will say, the guys in this group are VERY knowledgeable and always helpful so don't be afraid to ask or try something, if you plant food they will come, you just may have to adjust stands or blind strategy later. With everything I have planted I bear in mind that when it all is matured and producing food, deer patterns WILL change some.

Hope that helps more than it confuses lol

there is a ton of info on this site and everyone posting on my thread has been awesome. like you i have no mentor and am really shooting by the seat of my pants. the timber i have is all pine and over grown so much it's hard to walk through so that will need address at some point. as tree spud pointed out i plan on putting stands on the corner or each square and trying to make the open areas a little better each year. it will be a lot of trial and error i know that going ineach square is 10 acres and ill play with one at a time and see what happens. diverse food makes a ton of sense and i might play with one of the areas and put fruit and nut tress in it once i get an idea where they are moving. im excited and scared all at the same time.

 

[Tree Spud]

Maybe I missed it, but where do you access the property at?

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

How do you access the property and how many people will be hunting the property at once? If you already have water holes on your property I would skip adding more since you will just give the deer more options and that will make it harder to kill a deer. If you only have one watering hole then you know where to find thirsty deer. If you have a bunch of watering holes the deer could be drinking from watering hole #2 or #3 while you are sitting over watering hole #1.

Same goes for food plots - give them one or two awesome plots and put them in locations where you can kill the deer as they enter/leave those areas. Make sure you can get in and out of the stand without spooking any deer or you will burn out the hunting location. I don't want the deer to have a bunch of awesome food plot options because that makes it less likely for the buck I'm after to walk by the plot I'm sitting on.

 

[DiSc0Rd]

Maybe I missed it, but where do you access the property at?

the long strip of trees on the east has a road next to it that you cant see. it's the only access in to the main area from the hard road but from there u can go any direction as it has roads all thoughout

 

[DiSc0Rd]

How do you access the property and how many people will be hunting the property at once? If you already have water holes on your property I would skip adding more since you will just give the deer more options and that will make it harder to kill a deer. If you only have one watering hole then you know where to find thirsty deer. If you have a bunch of watering holes the deer could be drinking from watering hole #2 or #3 while you are sitting over watering hole #1.

Same goes for food plots - give them one or two awesome plots and put them in locations where you can kill the deer as they enter/leave those areas. Make sure you can get in and out of the stand without spooking any deer or you will burn out the hunting location. I don't want the deer to have a bunch of awesome food plot options because that makes it less likely for the buck I'm after to walk by the plot I'm sitting on.

90% of the time there will be 3 of us, myself, my dad, and my son.. during gun season my uncle will hunt as well... he doesnt get a water hole :)