Ohio small property

Obie

A good 3 year old buck
Hello all, I'm designing 18 acres of old farm in Central ohio. Grassy brushy field in the back, house and barn in the middle and ag up front. I had no intention of buying it last year, but my uncle has given me a price I can't pass up. Last year i planted a mix of ew, wgf sorghum, and sunflowers to break up the back field a little. There is no hunting to the north, they sometimes run 4wheelers around, not often. There was a giant killed on the property east of me last year, they definitely have better cover and terrain. West across the road is a fallow field that has grown 6 foot tall. Cover is king in around here, so that's mostly my goal. I'll post a few pictures and see how you guys would set it up. West property line is 25 to 30 feet into the ag the length of the property.
 

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It will be taken out of ag to make bedding and I'm tossing around the idea of putting 2 acres into a soybean plot to leave all year.
 
On the Upper west side of that property, the neighbors have a tree line going east-west. I'd make a brushy line connectin from there to the bend in your driveway. Think you could make a quick travel route between cover areas. Spruce trees and red dogwood, then plant some quick cover alongside it while it grows.

Next to that, plant a mix of stuff depending on what you have to use. But, having some late season forage could attract a real shy guy in Late Nov / Dec.

You should tell us what you have to work with, tractor and implements. You can still do a few acres with just a lawn mower or ATV too.

Add some bedding, but you could still have some AG up front, Even brushing up 50 yard on the west side would work good too.

Keep in mind other uses for your property too. Add some seclusion between your hunting and your lawn, if needed. Even 2 or 3 acres of secluded bedding can still work good for you.
 
I appreciate the reply! Here are some of the bucks I've hunted out there. All have had eyes laid on them during daylight. The 3 cool ones are dead, absolute giants. The other two are the two core bucks, with the nice 10 point getting the pass 3 times this season. I guessed him at 3.5 this year because he was just a dink last year. He has a double white throat patch that's super unique around here.
 

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Here's roughly what I was thinking, there are two main bedding areas close to my place. North west of the property and north east. They do he'd along the brushy creek in the ag beside me but not much after the leaves fall. I've got tons of deer in the fall but once the weeds die there's no cover in the back. It's fill dirt from the canal they dug 8 years ago. My uncle kept it mowed til 4 years ago. It stays wet in spots and I plan to take advantage of that with willows that are starting to fill in in small clumps. I've got access to unlimited willow cuttings on another property and I've got tag alder coming from cold stream for this spring, along with rc big rock switch for the bean field to the south west. I may have a line on some 6 foot Norway spruce from a tree farm for immediate bedding pockets. There are some oaks I want to release in the treeline west of the house surrounded by big black locust. Thought about using the tops to add structure to the switch. I have a stoop in the barn I'm enclosing like a blind to contain my scent looking east over a small food plot that has been a hot spot on camera.
 

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Wow, those are some awesome deer!

Does anyone live in or use the house?

My primary concern with that setup would be laying it out for undetected access. Seems tough to keep the deer from knowing you're there if you drive right into the middle of it. If there is constant human presence at the house it might be less of an issue. Can you cross the Ag fields or do you need to use the driveway?
 
The property is being bought for a rental and I forsee it being developed all around us in the next 15 years. It most likely won't be a forever property unless one of us buys the others out. But for now it's going to be my habit playgrounds. The owner built a new house an hour away but stays there a few days a week along with his son going there every day to check on it.
The deer are exposed to non hunters on the north side housing development (walking dogs/jogging) and don't really run to the next county when they do get spooked. It has the perfect pinch point on the northern property line and I've got a reasonable chance at getting permission to walk in from the north, but its going to have to be an elevated box blind due to lack of trees.
The deer mostly move from north to south using both sides of the property. Deer numbers are pretty high, it's not uncommon to watch 8 to 9 doe/fawn groups moving through the property. Ehd did hit us here this year, not sure how bad but buck numbers were half what they were last year and nothing really changed ag wise.
I had a friend with a drone come out this summer and take some pictures that give a good idea on lay of the land and what's around.

Here is looking north east
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The north east corner of the property is shown bottom left in this one
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Looking north west here
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Looking directly south

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Boy has it been a busy spring. Between a baby learning to get into everything, working 6 days a week and deer chores I feel like I haven't had time to catch my breath. I figured I'd put an update on here and get some feedback about some food plot combinations im trying this year.
To start off I ordered some bareroot trees from Iowa dnr tree sales(no particular reason other than they were one of the cheaper options with some good reviews).
25 red pine
50 Norway spruce
25 red cedar
25 American plum
25 ninebark
25 pin oak
And I got lucky also found 50 loblolly pine on market place.
The good news is that we had almost a week worth of steady rains the day I finished planting. The bad news was we had the same drought that most of you had also. The survival rate on the trees I planted seems pretty decent considering the circumstances, id say 75%. I'm planting into an overgrown field, none are caged because I don't have the time, but they aren't out in the open to be rubbed or browsed so we shall see how they do. Some are planted in the tops of big locust trees I dropped, I expect them to be safe from all but the rabbits.
I also seeded 5 acres into switch grass early spring. About half and half mix of cave in rock and big rock (4#/acre) plus cone flower and partridge pea seeded into bean stubble. Are other weeds growing in there, but the switch is coming growing right along with everything else. I've got two 1/8th acre willow rings (double row of willow cuttings in a circle) in the two low spots ive got in that field.
I've also got my screening in, I went with 3 different sorghum varieties, sun hemp, pearl millet and sunflowers. This field was corn last year so there is volunteers popping up. I put in 2 acres of wgf grain sorghum mixed with sugar beats as an experiment. Germination looks like they will be spaced out enough to grow together, but again, its just an experiment so we will see. I also put in 4 pumpkin seeds every 10 feet in 3 rows in that field and in my other two designated food plots.
I'm running cams on minerals this year and only had time to pull one card the other day, but it looks promising. As of end of May this guy has some growth. Sure does get your blood pumping seeing the first big bucks in velvet!
Our second boy is due in August, and we're working 7 days a week. I dont think my blinds are going to get built this year.😅
 

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That’s some little spot you’ve got, exciting stuff. Thanks for dropping an update on us.
 
Been a very busy year this year! We're set to close on the farm in November, we've got some good deer showing up, and I had some good drone pictures taken yesterday and wanted to share.
As I observe deer movement and look at these pictures, I see things I need to do to make this small farm more efficient. The first picture was part of the bigger corn field last year, i had little time to do much with it with two children under two. But it got screened with sorghum Sudan/ Egyptian wheat mix, and split with a grain sorghum/sugar beat mix. Planting was far too heavy on the grain sorghum, so im not sure how many sugar beats actually grew once it canopied. The field had alot of desirable forbs and clovers that came in naturally, but im planning on returning it to corn with a bean plot inside. Bringing the corn all the way to the barn to help screen the house. The corn and beans will be left standing all year, i believe this will be the ticket because these ag deer love their crops.
The pictures progress to the left from there, all shot with the drone facing the east. The field in the back of the property is getting select spots disced in late winter and sprayed with cleth early at spring green up. It is mostly goldenrod and some cool season grass that smothers sections. Also getting a soil sample and amending the soil to get the best regrowth possible.
There are roughly 75 conifers planted in patches and strategic spots hiding back there, a mix of Norway spruce, red pine, white pine, red cedar, and loblolly. I didnt cage nor care for them this summer due to lack of free time. The drought has claimed a few im positive, but that's ok. It's a learning process.
The 4th picture down has a bright green patch towards the right (south) side of the field along the trees. This was my test spot on how the soil would react to clearing a small black locust Grove. I should have planned better, because it has turned into a more attractive food source than my fall plots. (Turnip, clover, winter pea mix)
The 2nd to last picture is a diverse planting of switchgrass(rc bigrock 50% and cave and rock 50%), partridge pea, and cone flower that frost seeded into bean stubble. I didn't have much of a plan on how I spread the seed, I wanted it random with regen in the rest of the field. I may disc and amend the soil in some spots there as well.
I'm pretty proud if the clover plot in that picture aswell. A mix of red and ladino that was planted with rye last year. I was planning on it being screened with "weeds" but I think the drought we had limited growth as it only got to 3 or 4 feet tall. I'm thinking of planning ornamental grasses and caged white pines to block the view of the house there. Maybe a berm? Any guidance on doing a berm would be appreciated.
Also planning on dragging some mature locust trees into the fields for structure/ perching spots for birds to distribute seed. Ive got plenty to cut, has anyone used down trees for cover? I love all the discussions on this forum, please feel free to give ideas and what you have had success doing.

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