New property purchase

[Natty Bumppo]

Congratulations. Likes looks a nice piece of land. I've always considered buying a little piece of property in MS when I retire. Nine years away from that. But nice to see what's out there.

 

[ksgobbler]

I’ve been thinking about trying to elimite that fescue and plant clover or something. However that’s going to require a tractor, implements, trailer, and truck. All of those things I don’t have.

Dont need a tractor and implements to do that.

 

[swat1018]

Nice, I killed a 160"+ deer in Sullivan Co in 2007, on a friend's farm. That's what started the dream of owning land in MO. I've got good friends in Sullivan Co. if you ever have a question.

 

[Bszweda]

My last foodplot attempts using manual means have been failures. If I spar

Just spray the fescue once greenup starts in march / april. Let the natives / weeds grow from there. Will make a world of difference.

So spray in april, and then let native weeds grow? Should I try to plant anything? My last food plot attempts have failed badly.

 

[ksgobbler]

My last foodplot attempts using manual means have been failures. If I spar


So spray in april, and then let native weeds grow? Should I try to plant anything? My last food plot attempts have failed badly.

You have to hit the fescue before the natives break dormancy.

Fall is a great time to get it if you dont get it sprayed this spring. After a couple hard freezes send the natives into dormancy, wait on a 55 degree day and go hit it. They are taking nutrients to the roots and uptake it great.

 

[BC Buck]

You have to hit the fescue before the natives break dormancy.

Fall is a great time to get it if you dont get it sprayed this spring. After a couple hard freezes send the natives into dormancy, wait on a 55 degree day and go hit it. They are taking nutrients to the roots and uptake it great.

Get atv and 25 gal sprayer with boom. In Fall use 1qt glyphosate per acre. For under $4 per acre you will produce more year round forage than any food plot can produce.

 

[Bszweda]

Do I need to remove the dead weeds? Won't the dead grass smother out the native growth? If I spray in Fall will the natives grow in the fall period and provide food?

 

[BC Buck]

Do I need to remove the dead weeds? Won't the dead grass smother out the native growth? If I spray in Fall will the natives grow in the fall period and provide food?

You get by with less chemicals and get better kill on fescue with fall applications. You will not see much regeneration till fowling Spring. Your first step this Winter is contact your MDC PLC. Its free and they are a wealth of habitat knowledge. They will come out and walk the property with you. Then right up a habitat plan with cost share suggestions. As for temporary food plots till you get a game plan you can always frost seed clovers. Also google LC Lick creek, the guy was a habitat genius.

 

[ksgobbler]

If it was me...
Id treat in the fall and burn it early spring. Early spring burn does 2 things.
1. Promotes forbs
2. Will clear off the dead fescue as well as other plant material. Anything that greens up prior to nwsg can be treated again.

I did this exact thing on my place. Still doing it since fescue is such a problem. Late burns are also an option on fescue if you can get fire to carry.

 

[yoderjac]

Why don't you guys like fescue?

You need a tongue-in-cheek emoticon for that post!

 

[ksgobbler]

https://www.nwtf.org/conservation/article/eradicate-fescue

 

[hesseu]

My last foodplot attempts using manual means have been failures. If I spar


So spray in april, and then let native weeds grow? Should I try to plant anything? My last food plot attempts have failed badly.

We sprayed 20-25 acres last spring and let the weeds and native grasses go. It made a dramatic difference in the hunting this past season. We are planning on doing 1 more spray this spring, to ensure the fescue gets killed, and then we'll work some areas for food plots. The food plots are more of a cherry on top of the ice cream.

TSI and fescue eradication are such a big deal.

 

[Bszweda]

Hey guys,

I am looking at starting to improve my new property and want to create a property plan, before I start bull dozing, planting plots, hinge cutting, etc... I am thinking about hiring a habitat consultant to aid me in this. I've made a quick layout of the property, which is 31 ish acres. My 1st goal is to keep deer on my property by creating the right improvements that will control deer flow.(Please see topo map) The end goal is to try and harvest 4 1/2 year old deer. Anyone have any ideas that they think I should do, and in what order? My rough idea is 1. access / stand sites (The only low impact site that I currently have in mind is East side by power lines.) / blockades, 2. food plots, and lastly hinge cutting. Any input is appreciated

Map key
Yellow line is creek I'll use for access
Green is future food Plot - Not sure if this is a good idea (Destination food plot) I want to draw deer to it after shooting light
light green is an logging road - Not sure if I will expand on the logging trail
b is deer beds I've found on the property
Purple is a future blockade (by dozer) if a good idea
Brown is neighbors fence
light pink is deer trail
Black is property line
Brown is super thick early succession

 

[yoderjac]

Hey guys,
... I've made a quick layout of the property, which is 31 ish acres. My 1st goal is to keep deer on my property by creating the right improvements that will control deer flow....

Start with an achievable goal. Keeping deer on a 31 acre property requires a high fence, not habitat improvements. Forget keeping deer on your property. Realistic goals might be to make the property more huntable or to increase use by mature bucks or something similar. Approaches could be quite different depending on your goals. For example if you want kids to harvest does, a well laid out small food plot or two may be in order. If you would like to shoot a mature buck, providing thick cover and limiting human access to almost nothing might be an approach.

Don't start with a map of 30 acres. Start with a map of 1,000 acres and identify how deer use that home range. Then, figure out how to positively differentiate your 31 acres during the specific hunting season that you are focused on. Some one who is focused on archery season may do things differently as deer are usually less pressured than rifle season in most areas where another approach may work better.

The less acreage you have the more limited your focus and modest your goals should be.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[hesseu]

Just my opinion here...From the layout of the property with the topo map, etc, your property is a good example of a classic put the bedding in the center. And, I do like what you've laid out so far....

Here are my reasons why:
1) Access routes is your low ground. You can stay half way hidden then pop up into your stand.
2) If you keep your food plot in the location you've got drawn in, you can have the deer beat with all but a NE wind. I would put up a screen on the north and east side of the food plot, and an access route behind it right on your property line so you have access all the way around the plot.
3) Expand the early succession and chainsaw trees in the center where the pond is. I personally like seeing a pond there because it does give deer that reason to hang out on your place a little bit longer. They don't have to go searching for water.
4) With the bedding in the center of the property, that is a great "point" on the topo that I believe deer would naturally bed on. I would really take the chainsaw to this as the thicker it is, the more it will keep you and the deer hidden from each other during access. It will also allow access to hunt the military crest on the east and west side of this bedding thicket. Stay low, and pop up in a stand. I can see bucks cruising in a circular fashion around this point if they know this is a doe bedding area.

 

[Someday isle]

I too am a small property owner. Feel free to check out my land tour. Our properties are different but I wouldn’t discount using those Logging roads as long winding food plots. Is there water in the creek? A couple water holes might be a good idea. We can’t hold deer necessarily on our small properties but we can make them attractive places. Provide Food, water and cover with attention to limited pressure. We don’t target big bucks or even specific deer. We’re content with what we have and align our goals with that. The first three seasons we had occasional pics of a nice buck or two and a couple doe groups with some young bucks sprinkled in. This is the first year we have regular pics of a bachelor group. Maybe it’s an oddity or maybe it’s because our place is getting more attractive. We’ll see. My advice is set realistic goals and just have fun. We don’t tie our success to our results or antlers. We just have fun and enjoy the work and the opportunities we do get.

 

[j-bird]

What are your goals for the property?

The reason I start here is that this is a small parcel. If you envision running quads every weekend all summer long or fishing that pond a lot or letting the dogs run the place or the like it's going to be a real struggle to hold deer. If you see the place being almost solely for deer hunting....then you have a chance. That said....if it's for hunting...then you start with that first and foremost in your mind. Where does the trails, cover types, current food sources, historical deer sign, terrain and wind directions tell me to hunt? AND just as important how can I access those places WITHOUT educating deer in the process. Not educating deer (the deer feeling safe) on a small parcel should be the highest priority.

Once you have that figured out....then you can start talking about improvements. Improvements are to work WITH your hunting plan....not drive your hunting plan. Take this a step further....space/cover/safety is your friend, so don't over-run the property with improvements. Know when to stop! Plots need to be about improving your hunting....not improving the herd....you don't have the room for that.

The only sure fire thing I would do is have perimeter access if at all possible. Even if you don't use it for hunting, you have a means to access and monitor any activity on your property. Nothing wrong with a good fence either....

Good luck.

 

[yoderjac]

Also keep in mind that size matters (like in most things). It may not make sense to apply multiple techniques on a small property. Just for explanation, lets take it to an extreme. Say you had a 5 acre property. Would it make sense to have an acre of food plot, and acre of orchard, and acre of hardwoods, and acre of hinge cuts, and an acre of shrubs? Probably not. Deer need all those things but having all those things on 5 acres may not increase use or make it easier to hunt. In fact, they may have the opposite effect. I've got a buddy in Ohio that is overrun with big bucks on 5 acres. It is an island of hardwoods in the middle of big ag with nothing but corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see. Every deer in the area will spend time there. Converting part of that to anything else would hurt more than help his hunting and deer use.

Put that same 5 acres in the middle of big woods hardwoods and convert the entire thing to a food plot and every deer for miles will visit. Put that same 5 acres in a patchwork mix of woodlots and open pasture, and hinge cut the crap out of it, and it become a deer magnet. These are extreme examples, but the surrounding environment and well defined achievable objectives should drive your plan.

A lot can be done with some small properties but keep in mind that if you don't take the broader home range into account, deer reactions may be different than your expect.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Bszweda]

What are your goals for the property?

The reason I start here is that this is a small parcel. If you envision running quads every weekend all summer long or fishing that pond a lot or letting the dogs run the place or the like it's going to be a real struggle to hold deer. If you see the place being almost solely for deer hunting....then you have a chance. That said....if it's for hunting...then you start with that first and foremost in your mind. Where does the trails, cover types, current food sources, historical deer sign, terrain and wind directions tell me to hunt? AND just as important how can I access those places WITHOUT educating deer in the process. Not educating deer (the deer feeling safe) on a small parcel should be the highest priority.

Once you have that figured out....then you can start talking about improvements. Improvements are to work WITH your hunting plan....not drive your hunting plan. Take this a step further....space/cover/safety is your friend, so don't over-run the property with improvements. Know when to stop! Plots need to be about improving your hunting....not improving the herd....you don't have the room for that.

The only sure fire thing I would do is have perimeter access if at all possible. Even if you don't use it for hunting, you have a means to access and monitor any activity on your property. Nothing wrong with a good fence either....

Good luck.

My primary goal is to get a shot at a 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 bucks on the property. At the end of the day I want to make the property better for deer. I am a remote property owner and have limited time I'll most likely only be bow hunting during one week in November.(Split between two properties). I think if I want to keep deer on the property I need a food source to compete with my neighbor to the south. I think that will probably be my main goal for next year, and if I can hire a dozer to make trails & blockades. I am trying to figure out how to get back to the South part of my property with the least amount of disruption and scent.

 

[Bszweda]

Just my opinion here...From the layout of the property with the topo map, etc, your property is a good example of a classic put the bedding in the center. And, I do like what you've laid out so far....

Here are my reasons why:
1) Access routes is your low ground. You can stay half way hidden then pop up into your stand.
2) If you keep your food plot in the location you've got drawn in, you can have the deer beat with all but a NE wind. I would put up a screen on the north and east side of the food plot, and an access route behind it right on your property line so you have access all the way around the plot.
3) Expand the early succession and chainsaw trees in the center where the pond is. I personally like seeing a pond there because it does give deer that reason to hang out on your place a little bit longer. They don't have to go searching for water.
4) With the bedding in the center of the property, that is a great "point" on the topo that I believe deer would naturally bed on. I would really take the chainsaw to this as the thicker it is, the more it will keep you and the deer hidden from each other during access. It will also allow access to hunt the military crest on the east and west side of this bedding thicket. Stay low, and pop up in a stand. I can see bucks cruising in a circular fashion around this point if they know this is a doe bedding area.

Thanks for the input... That what I was also thinking with food plot location. The does bedding would be on the point, and the bucks would cruise on the downwind side of it. On 3) I feel like its too thick right now to the point deer can't really bed in it.