Hi all, I wanted to continue my "Newbie - Recommendations" thread to begin brainstorming for next spring, however, I thought it would be more appropriate to start a land tour thread to show a lay of the land and hopefully receive some input for further improving my property for whitetail habitat. First, I will give a general lay of the land with satellite photos but I will continue the thread with a few posts of the photographs from around the property to help supplement.
For starters, I purchased approx. 50 acres last year which is my primary residence and also where I plan to hunt nearly exclusively. I have 2 sizable adjacent properties, one is a 200 acre hunting camp (to the left on these photos) with some food plots planted, and the other is a 400+ acre tree farm. Both properties receive decent hunting pressure. To the west (top of photos) is a mountainside which is public land of approximately 2500 acres.
My property (as you can see) is irregular in shape, long driveway, a pipeline (left) with a very deep ravine that separates my property from the neighbor to the left. The property adjacent to the driveway (bottom left) is an overgrown field, high thick grasses and overgrown shrubs but minimal mature trees.
I have a small 0.25 kill plot planted with clover in woods just below the small bend in the property line, and a 0.5 acre clover/rye/chicory/brassica plot in the bottom field along the edge of the pipeline/ravine roughly denoted in blue in the picture below. My primary residence is just above the pond and woodshop/garage to the right of the pond in the photos attached.
I'd love to purchase some additional adjoining acreage in the coming years, but as for now, this is what I have to work with.
I think my primary goal for the upcoming year is to expand the footprint of the existing plots. Both proved to draw deer very well, although due to their small size they've been absolutely decimated by the deer (unsurprisingly). They were intentionally small though, as this year was my first in habitat work and I wanted to trial and error on a smaller scale first. I plan to expand the lower plot to 2-3 acres in size this spring and develop a privacy screen because as of now it has wide open views of my driveway and garage which I know limits daytime deer activity. The benefit of the smaller size is I know exactly where deer enter and leave these areas and my stands are placed accordingly. Particularly on the lower plot, I'm afraid they'll have more liberty to access the plot from a wider berth (primarily on the bottom edge) and handicap my opportunities with my bow. I've attached two photos below showing two rough ideas.
First thought, simply to maximize size and therefore forage tonnage.
Second, to expand size and tonnage but maintaining a limited access to control entry/exit and permit better bowhunting opportunities.
Either way, I plan to plant a privacy screen of grasses next year and to plant rows of young pines that will ultimately serve as a permanent privacy screen from the driveway and structures.
My property is long and narrow, I have no delusions of attempting to keep deer on my land, but rather hope to provide enough cover and forage for them to utilize this land and offer myself some hunting opportunities. One benefit I have, is the large acreage of open acreage on either side of my property that deer utilize, so I get substantial deer traffic crossing. Additionally, between my house and the upper food plot in the woods is very dense, which I know a lot of deer utilize as a bedding area.
I would love if anyone has any feedback/suggestions that they'd like to share!
For starters, I purchased approx. 50 acres last year which is my primary residence and also where I plan to hunt nearly exclusively. I have 2 sizable adjacent properties, one is a 200 acre hunting camp (to the left on these photos) with some food plots planted, and the other is a 400+ acre tree farm. Both properties receive decent hunting pressure. To the west (top of photos) is a mountainside which is public land of approximately 2500 acres.
My property (as you can see) is irregular in shape, long driveway, a pipeline (left) with a very deep ravine that separates my property from the neighbor to the left. The property adjacent to the driveway (bottom left) is an overgrown field, high thick grasses and overgrown shrubs but minimal mature trees.
I have a small 0.25 kill plot planted with clover in woods just below the small bend in the property line, and a 0.5 acre clover/rye/chicory/brassica plot in the bottom field along the edge of the pipeline/ravine roughly denoted in blue in the picture below. My primary residence is just above the pond and woodshop/garage to the right of the pond in the photos attached.
I'd love to purchase some additional adjoining acreage in the coming years, but as for now, this is what I have to work with.
I think my primary goal for the upcoming year is to expand the footprint of the existing plots. Both proved to draw deer very well, although due to their small size they've been absolutely decimated by the deer (unsurprisingly). They were intentionally small though, as this year was my first in habitat work and I wanted to trial and error on a smaller scale first. I plan to expand the lower plot to 2-3 acres in size this spring and develop a privacy screen because as of now it has wide open views of my driveway and garage which I know limits daytime deer activity. The benefit of the smaller size is I know exactly where deer enter and leave these areas and my stands are placed accordingly. Particularly on the lower plot, I'm afraid they'll have more liberty to access the plot from a wider berth (primarily on the bottom edge) and handicap my opportunities with my bow. I've attached two photos below showing two rough ideas.
First thought, simply to maximize size and therefore forage tonnage.
Second, to expand size and tonnage but maintaining a limited access to control entry/exit and permit better bowhunting opportunities.
Either way, I plan to plant a privacy screen of grasses next year and to plant rows of young pines that will ultimately serve as a permanent privacy screen from the driveway and structures.
My property is long and narrow, I have no delusions of attempting to keep deer on my land, but rather hope to provide enough cover and forage for them to utilize this land and offer myself some hunting opportunities. One benefit I have, is the large acreage of open acreage on either side of my property that deer utilize, so I get substantial deer traffic crossing. Additionally, between my house and the upper food plot in the woods is very dense, which I know a lot of deer utilize as a bedding area.
I would love if anyone has any feedback/suggestions that they'd like to share!
