New property, asking for advice

Walleyeman

Yearling... With promise
I just bought this 50 acres in North Carolina. About 30 acres is soy beans rotated with corn with the rest woods. The season already started here so I’m not going to do any real work besides a couple stands I put up, but this winter I want to start putting it all together.

I’ve never done this before so want any advice based off the topo map/google earth image below.

This is all proposed stuff but want your input
Diagonal blue- make bedding (ridges)
Green- food plot
Red dot- stand
Blue dot- water hole (put in low runoff spots)
Yellow dot- mineral
Yellow line- hunter trail
Black line- property line
 

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I just bought this 50 acres in North Carolina. A

If you want real observation ... post a 1000 acre view surrounding your property.

Do nothing for 2 years except places a few tree stands and scout, observe, and take notes. Realize your excited, that is why most 1st dates don't go well.

You have a great transition point and anything you do will disrupt deer movement.

Now enjoy the next 30 posts of deer & Deer Hunting magazine advice ... :emoji_wink:
 
so you own the current crop of beans? get em harvested, let them finance what comes next, get that winter rye in there after the harvest and let that feed the deer through the winter. Get familiar with fruit trees, plant em early and reap years of benefit. a walk through with a habitat biologist will aid you well.
 
If you want real observation ... post a 1000 acre view surrounding your property.

Do nothing for 2 years except places a few tree stands and scout, observe, and take notes. Realize your excited, that is why most 1st dates don't go well.

You have a great transition point and anything you do will disrupt deer movement.

Now enjoy the next 30 posts of deer & Deer Hunting magazine advice ... :emoji_wink:

I hear ya. I don’t want to start screwing stuff up. I added the zoomed out view. Thanks
 
so you own the current crop of beans? get em harvested, let them finance what comes next, get that winter rye in there after the harvest and let that feed the deer through the winter. Get familiar with fruit trees, plant em early and reap years of benefit. a walk through with a habitat biologist will aid you well.

The farmer who planted it gets this crop. But I’m going to lease out the farming rights to him as I’m in no place to start farming. After the beans are harvested in November winter wheat will be planted until corn the following June
 
Cool looking place with natural funnels in place. What county are you in? Our place is in Ashe.

Ditto what was said about observation. I've jumped the gun on several projects. Realistically in the mountains I'm limited on where I can put food plots, how we access hunting locations, etc. Steep terrain makes a lot of the decisions pretty strait forward. I certainly understand the excitement but if you can scout and observe the natural movement, get an idea of surrounding pressure, etc. you'll be better off.

The one thing I doubt you'd regret at all would be a good access trail around the perimeter of your property. Good access is the one thing all properties require to reach their full hunting potential. Even this point is argued though...
 
Do nothing for 2 years except places a few tree stands and scout, observe, and take notes. Realize your excited, that is why most 1st dates don't go well.

I think that is sound advice
 
I hear ya. I don’t want to start screwing stuff up. I added the zoomed out view. Thanks

In the upper left corner, is that a draw or ravine that extends out into the field?

Good looking property with loots of food, plenty of funnels and transitions. Those fingers that extend into the fields let you place stands for most any wind direction.

Where is your property located? May want to add your location.
 
Good luck! Try to make your property different than the surrounding land.
 
T
Cool looking place with natural funnels in place. What county are you in? Our place is in Ashe.

Ditto what was said about observation. I've jumped the gun on several projects. Realistically in the mountains I'm limited on where I can put food plots, how we access hunting locations, etc. Steep terrain makes a lot of the decisions pretty strait forward. I certainly understand the excitement but if you can scout and observe the natural movement, get an idea of surrounding pressure, etc. you'll be better off.

The one thing I doubt you'd regret at all would be a good access trail around the perimeter of your property. Good access is the one thing all properties require to reach their full hunting potential. Even this point is argued though...
thanks for input. I’m in Anson county
 
In the upper left corner, is that a draw or ravine that extends out into the field?

Good looking property with loots of food, plenty of funnels and transitions. Those fingers that extend into the fields let you place stands for most any wind direction.

Where is your property located? May want to add your location.
Thanks. It’s in Anson County, rolling hills east of Charlotte. Yea it’s a little drainage ditch in the field. Definitely good spot for rifle season
 
Ok can’t help myself :).

There is one thing I might do. The timber that runs east off the larger block of timber. You have a stand on the N side of that finger. Check, good for Southish winds. I’d add one on the south side for North winds. I’d also make it difficult for deer to move through the middle so they have to skirt the edge where your stands are. 50/50 chance depending on which stand you’re in. I’d use snow fence because if turns out to be wrong you can undo it.

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All good advice so far. It looks like a great property in the making with lots of good natural features like funnels and pinch points, topography changes, edges, etc.

Are all of the fields planted in crops? If so, access to the upper section of that middle block of timber and the left (western?) woodlot are going to be your biggest pain points. You would need to work it out so you can screen your access paths with some sort of permanent vegetation (windrows of some kind) and the farmer will have to plant around them. Otherwise I think you would blow everything out of the fields coming in for morning sits and maybe some evenings sits as well.
 
Couple of questions....
#1 - how much do you intend on continue to be farmed? I know the income from the farming can help fund some projects, but to be honest with the cover south of your place it looks like small plots may be difficult depending on how many deer you have in the area. If income from the farming is an interest or concern at least look into some of the CRP programs that may be available to you to diversify the cover types you have and soften the edges of the wooded areas and prevent the deer from sitting on the hills watching you cross the open fields.
#2 - where do the deer like to bed currently? If the deer bed in areas that are acceptable to you currently - don't fix what isn't broken. In the center wood lot of your place the large plot area is shown right smack in an area where I would suspect the deer to be currently bedding if there is ample cover. These larger flatter areas in hills tend to draw deer to them.....so make sure you use these areas wisely.....sometimes that means just leaving well enough alone.
#3 - where and what historical deer sign is there? Typically you can locate old rub trees and watch for and track scrapes and bedding areas over a year or two and you will find that the deer will tend to do the same thing year after year. Also locate your natural foods sources as well.

Areas of interest:
#1 - the center woodlot seems to have a nice draw/ravine in it. This may be a significant terrain feature that dictates deer movement at the head of it. I would certainly keep an eye on that location.

#2 - the SW field - looks to me to be begging to become a destination type plot area. Some buffers to break it up with a nice fruit orchard and some perennial and annual deer food plantings and it will draw deer from all that cover south of you. depending on your understory maybe even some shrub plantings and the like as well.

#3 - the east woodlot appears that it may be some sort of connecting cover so you may not see a lot of active sign in there....but during the rut you may find a buck cruising thru that area as he tries to remain hidden yet on his feet.

#4 - the west island of cover could be a great spot as long as you just let it get nasty thick in there.

#5 - I would try to promote bedding in all 3 areas and try to create a line of travel the starts with the west island of cover....shoots the gap to the central block that then takes the deer up and around the draw or down and around it and then back to the eastern wood lot. Place a few kill plots or water holes along the way where you can get to stands in those few areas and then stay out of the rest of it. That big destination plot could be hunted if you wanted...but it will be best if left alone to draw the deer to it and to the rest of your property. I see 4 maybe 5 stand locations.....not 10 as you have shown. We are hunting them...not trying to surround them!

Just what I see and my 2 cents worth.
 
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I agree it's good to plan out and wait and see how everything moves and get a feel for the property because it's new to you....another common theme is the best time to plant trees/shrubs is last year. So start out small play with it a little and get a project started.
I drew a red line across bottom of top right field, I would break that few acre piece of tillable off bottom so it squares that field off and start your project work there.
Use this winter to plan out the project and what you want to do with it to make it a wildlife draw.
What I would do with it;
Get a soil test then fix whatever needs fixing with dirt if anything.
Draw up a little orchard plan and pick out some good strong DR apple/crabs/pears to plant in it.
Draw up a plan to plant a shrub strip along the top close to where red line is and look into things with nuts/berries/fruits/browse to put in the strip.
Find a koi pond or pool to dig into the bottom left corner of new project to give you a close water source for wildlife that you can watch from your stand.
Plant your shrubs and trees in late winter early spring.
Plant some type of ground cover in it, clover mix/chicory/trefoil or whatever you want for ground cover that can feed and attract wildlife.
That way you have a small spot that you can play with and enjoy spring&summer while you are deciding how you are going to develop the rest of the property in the future if at all. And don't forget to tell the farmer your going to lease tillable to for now what you are doing and to be careful of overspray.
That's my two cents....
 
I would wait until after the season and see where the deer naturally bed, and then thicken that up after the season when you confirm your suspicions. I agree with the southernmost point likely being a bedding area, they like the point of a ridge with thick at their back and the wind blowing over their back (so north wind for that spot). Food plots and waterholes need to be out of sight of the bedding, so adjust accordingly. I would also cut down any oaks directly in the bedding area so the deer have to move in October to find food.


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