North 40

[Walleyeguy13]

Posting with the hope that this will motivate me to post progress and ask more questions, and to provide a reference for those who take the time to respond.

This is our property in Northern MN (red bordered square). Light green is adjacent public land. Our access is the yellow line.



This year was our first year hunting and the plan was to just look and learn. There is no shortage of deer moving through the property:



The trick is obviously getting them to stick around throughout the firearms season.

This property has pretty much the whole gamut of habitat; alder-lined swamp, open woods, thick aspen from old cuttings, moderate ridges with north and east facing slopes, etc. It finally snowed, so we can make a trek out there to see exactly where deer are bedding, but there really is no shortage of bedding habitat with clear signs of buck activity.

We think the first order of business is to get some food plots established.



The green shaded areas are the most obvious right now simply because they are open and located on the outer edges.

The first will be the roughly half acre field in the NW:



It is basically just grass right now. Has great screening on N, W and S sides and there is a ridge between it and the cabin to the east. The rickety old stand will be coming down.

The picture below is looking east. You can see the conifer stand and alder swamp just south of the field. Good bedding area that could probably be improved. The entire south border (the right side of this pic) is loaded with prime bedding from east to west.



We also need to establish some trails around the perimeter of the property to provide stand access and also establish travel corridors between known bedding areas and food plots. I think we would consider it a good start to get food and trails off the list before next season.

Anyway, that's the nickel tour. Stay tuned!

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I like that high woods along the swamp edge on the west side of your property. The funnels just to the NW of your property look really good to concentrate NW/SE buck movement on that northwest corner of your property.

It looks like there's no shortage of bedding in the neighborhood, so I'd look at adding some food. A couple acre food plot would be quite the draw, but you want to put it in a location that allows you to get in and out without bumping bedding deer. And ideally away from your property lines where neighboring hunters could be temped to check things out on your side of the fence.

 

[Walleyeguy13]

I like that high woods along the swamp edge on the west side of your property. The funnels just to the NW of your property look really good to concentrate NW/SE buck movement on that northwest corner of your property.

It looks like there's no shortage of bedding in the neighborhood, so I'd look at adding some food. A couple acre food plot would be quite the draw, but you want to put it in a location that allows you to get in and out without bumping bedding deer. And ideally away from your property lines where neighboring hunters could be temped to check things out on your side of the fence.

It's super thick alder and some small oak for the most part. Starting on the woods/swamp edge on the north border and walking along the edge to the southwest corner of the property we found heavily used trails and a ton of rubs at the south end.

I think we need to clear a trail in the NW corner between the swamp and the field to encourage movement.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Looks like a great canvas to work with. Ben.MN/WI above hit some good ideas concerning access to stand(s) without bumping deer. What's your prevailing wind direction? That may give you a clue as to where to plan your access routes.

 

[356]

As a landowner in NE Missouri (near Tower), I am slightly jealous that you have good buck sign! As for your plans, I have three questions:
1) What season(s) are you primarily wanting to hunt?
2) How will you get to the blinds (walk, e-bike, SxS, combination)
3) What equipment is available for improvements.

Welcome to the forum, and I hope our insights will be helpful--or at least encouraging. Also, remember that the members of this forum will be happy to spend your money! Good luck and Godspeed on your setups.

 

[bwoods11]

On the public to the east it looks like .. is that planted trees in rows ?

 

[Walleyeguy13]

Looks like a great canvas to work with. Ben.MN/WI above hit some good ideas concerning access to stand(s) without bumping deer. What's your prevailing wind direction? That may give you a clue as to where to plan your access routes.

Prevailing winds in November are between west and northwest.

 

[Walleyeguy13]

As a landowner in NE Missouri (near Tower), I am slightly jealous that you have good buck sign! As for your plans, I have three questions:
1) What season(s) are you primarily wanting to hunt?
2) How will you get to the blinds (walk, e-bike, SxS, combination)
3) What equipment is available for improvements.

Welcome to the forum, and I hope our insights will be helpful--or at least encouraging. Also, remember that the members of this forum will be happy to spend your money! Good luck and Godspeed on your setups.

We primarily hunt our firearms season. Three weekends in early November.

We park at the cabin and walk to our stands.

We have an old Massey Ferguson tractor with a front bucket, brush hog, box blade and a disc harrow. Have a 4 wheeler as well. Tried to dig up that bigger field in the NW corner with the disc harrow and it can't punch through the thick grass. I really think if we can rake it up with something like a drag harrow or de-thatcher we would have enough exposed soil to broadcast clover and winter rye late summer.

 

[Walleyeguy13]

On the public to the east it looks like .. is that planted trees in rows ?

Yep. Pretty common practice up here after clear cutting. Right now they are mostly mature red pine.

 

[Telemark]

Amazing looking property.

I would rent a springtooth harrow or some kind of cultivator and rip through the thatch and get down to the dirt. Then plant a diverse mix that includes at least some daikon radish and annual clover. You could buy an implement and sell it after if you can't find one to rent.

Do all the clearings and plant them with the same diverse mix. It looks like food will draw everything to your property. Plus you have all that public you can hunt on.

I would also plant willows and dogwoods in that open swampy area. They will provide good natural browse all year.

Do the deer yard up in those pines in winter?

 

[Walleyeguy13]

Did a little scouting after our last snow... found some nice deer beds in what we suspected would be perfect bedding areas:



Probably two dozen beds scattered in likely locations around the 40. So we really should not need to focus too much time on bedding area improvement. Instead we can probably establish clearer travel corridors between these bedding locations and food.

 

[Walleyeguy13]

Do the deer yard up in those pines in winter?

I wouldn't think so. They really block out the sun, so there isn't much browse and very little cover because the branches tend to be higher up the trunk. Closer to the road there are some young pines that I would think deer would bed in for great thermal cover.

This is our first year, so we don't have a great feel for exactly how many hunters are on the surrounding public land... but there was definitely some pressure!

 

[Telemark]

This is our first year, so we don't have a great feel for exactly how many hunters are on the surrounding public land... but there was definitely some pressure!

You can use that pressure to your advantage. You should be scouting that public area to learn as much as you can about it and how it affects deer in relation to your property. I consider each day scouting worth about 10 days of hunting. If rifle season is open, you can scout and hunt that public land simultaneously. Take a GPS app to record your trail and drop waypoints with notes. Snap some photos for reference. That looks like a dream property.

 

[356]

I consider each day scouting worth about 10 days of hunting.

Very true...I wish I had learned this earlier, as scouting is productive and fun. I am hoping to draw a bear tag for Northern MN in the next year or two and will be looking forward to the scouting as much as the hunt.

This is a great property, and you have some good equipment to start with. Consider termination of the existing grasses followed by broadcasting. No need to disturb the soil with a disk, IMO.

 

[Walleyeguy13]

Very true...I wish I had learned this earlier, as scouting is productive and fun. I am hoping to draw a bear tag for Northern MN in the next year or two and will be looking forward to the scouting as much as the hunt.

This is a great property, and you have some good equipment to start with. Consider termination of the existing grasses followed by broadcasting. No need to disturb the soil with a disk, IMO.

This guy was all over the place September and October.

I have to admit we would really prefer not to disturb the soil. There is such a nice layer of topsoil. Just look at the grass in the picture above... better than my lawn at home!

 

[356]

View attachment 85986

This guy was all over the place September and October.

I have to admit we would really prefer not to disturb the soil. There is such a nice layer of topsoil. Just look at the grass in the picture above... better than my lawn at home!

I've used the herbicide--wait two weeks, broadcast & herbicide (same day) on grass similar to what you have. You can also go to my "lawnmower plot" thread which is similar and provided great results.

 

[Walleyeguy13]

I've used the herbicide--wait two weeks, broadcast & herbicide (same day) on grass similar to what you have. You can also go to my "lawnmower plot" thread which is similar and provided great results.

Yep... read that thread. And several Jeff Sturgis videos on the topic of no till. I think that is the route we will go. Spray early. Spray again and then plant a clover mix with some winter rye in late August.

 

[SD51555]

Is there a lot of elevation change across the property?

I wouldn’t sweat that heavy grass. If you can get over the top of it with a sprayer, I’d spray it three weeks before you want to plant and then broadcast into it and press it flat. Tall heavy duff like that can be a great germination dome. I’d get your soil test in spring and focus on getting lime out there first. I’d also split your winter cereals between rye and triticale until you know how big your draw is.

If they don’t get on rye before gun season, you don’t get the deer. That’s where triticale can pull them sooner, and it’s got all the same features of rye. If the trit gets blasted before season, you can fall back on the rye.

I like the idea of perimeter trail first. The road to greatness starts with a road. You need to be able to move around to work.

And is your entire property set back off the road? That is awesome!


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[rocksnstumps]

Curious about that open patch just above you in the northwest corner and due east of pothole. Is that being maintained by the neighbors to the north or just another swampy grassy spot. With a tree a two in it kinda guess it's more dry land and perhaps worked up by the owner up north. Can tell that further east of that is just another big swampy area though. Also can see just a hint of a road up there in the Google Earth view so assume access for them is easy just north of that big pothole/marsh.

Putting your own foodplot in NW corner and if another close by on neighbor's, will be tempting for your neighbor to hunt between the two since he probably owns more of that corridor. Just something to consider. I eliminated a small foodplot on my land close to my line because the neighbor decided to reposition his stand much closer to me. Now no foodplot and his stand kinda moved back away from me and it is used very little during gun season.

Edited to add: Having snow sure helps with figuring out deer patterns. If you have a lot of bedding now you might not want to tramp around too much or make big changes.

 

[Walleyeguy13]

Curious about that open patch just above you in the northwest corner and due east of pothole. Is that being maintained by the neighbors to the north or just another swampy grassy spot. With a tree a two in it kinda guess it's more dry land and perhaps worked up by the owner up north. Can tell that further east of that is just another big swampy area though. Also can see just a hint of a road up there in the Google Earth view so assume access for them is easy just north of that big pothole/marsh.

Putting your own foodplot in NW corner and if another close by on neighbor's, will be tempting for your neighbor to hunt between the two since he probably owns more of that corridor. Just something to consider. I eliminated a small foodplot on my land close to my line because the neighbor decided to reposition his stand much closer to me. Now no foodplot and his stand kinda moved back away from me and it is used very little during gun season.

Edited to add: Having snow sure helps with figuring out deer patterns. If you have a lot of bedding now you might not want to tramp around too much or make big changes.

Yep... he has a field there and probably has some food planted on it. They are good people and are all about maintaining a quality herd. I don't anticipate any issues on that front.

Our firearms season is over now and we won't be out for muzzle loader or any archery. It was just good luck that we had our first snow so close to the end of the season so that I could confirm what we suspected would be good natural bedding locations.