Perfect setup?

[gunther89]

I have an idea and I think it seems like a perfect setup that could result in a food source that could produce big time. In the photo below, we have roughly a 2 acre field that is secluded. Where the 3 red rectangles are, I am thinking of planting a strip of beans, a strip of turnips and radishes and a strip of winter rye and clover. I figure I will have a food source 365 days out of the year. I plan to rotate them every year. To the west where the yellow outline is, our neighbor will be putting his 60 acres into CRP starting this spring. Their is more to the field than what the photo shows but you get the idea. To the northwest, is a very deep, thick draw that our neighbors own and don't know how to hunt it. The deer bed in this area. To the south and east, is our own sidehill and draw. It's somewhat thick but we plan on getting it logged a little to thicken it up. The deer use this to bed sometimes. What does everyone think? The only downside I see to it all, is it will be extremely hard to hunt if the deer are bedding in our draw as we have to walk through it to get to this plot. I'm thinking of not even hunting it until the rut and maybe a day or 2 during gun season. Leave it more as a hidden food source for the deer.

 

[dipper]

I think it's a great plan. The last place in the world u want to be scaring bedded deer is your bedding area to the east!
? Though, could I plot that opening where your compass is or the field north of that?
If u could plant ure current food plot in spruce or pine.

 

[gunther89]

Where the compass is located we actually have about a 1.5 acre field that we rotate corn and beans every year. The field to the north is owned by our neighbors. We are hoping to plant some spruce trees by the compass this spring and give it some cover.

 

[wiscwhip]

Could you post another pic with your property lines drawn in? There might be some potential to access and hunt this new area with the right winds.

 

[gunther89]

The black lines are roughly the property lines. The red line is our path that we take to get up there currently. There is a road that goes through our woods that we walk to get up there.

 

[wiscwhip]

Well your current road is close to where it needs to be, but potentially right through the bedding area. Could you make a single "man" trail right on the very edge of the north property line for access in SSW or WSW winds? Keep it clean of debris and make your access as quiet as possible?

 

[wiscwhip]

Or along the extreme south boundary for N winds?

 

[dipper]

I'd honestly put ure food plot on ure east field furthest from the nearest hunters. Make that west opening thermal cover. Than u can still take advantage of the deer going to ure neighbor's field to north and your plots to east

 

[Bill]

Is there a fence on the west hedgerow between you and where the neighbor is going to plant CPR?

Do you own the hedgerow or is it on both you and the neighbor?

How hard does the neighbor to the west hunt?

If those answers are positive the only way I see to make a decent setup is to put a stand on the southwest in the hedge row. Cave in your whole west property line with an opening near the stand and catch them coming out of the CRP to your food or looking for does.

Enter from the south line like wiscwhip said and prey for a N to NE wind during the rut.

If the west neighbor is a serious hunter I agree with dipper. Don't plant them a food plot. In that case I'd concentrate on making them enter the east field where you can kill them.

 

[buckdeer1]

I agree on planting the west field in cover and making food right alon west side of east field then getting a good screen on the east side of that field

 

[gunther89]

Wiscwhip: My cousin actually said we should try and create a new path along the north side of the property and use it to access this 2 acre field. I like you're thinking about the north side. The south side won't work as I would be walking through the bedding area.

Dipper: I like that thinking but the on the east side of our property, this is an old pasture and that area is really rocky. The 2 acre area, is rock free and would work better for planting food plots.

Bill: Both the neighbor and us own the hedgerow. On the very south end of the hedgerow, their is about a 12 foot gap clear of brush and everything which makes for a perfect funnel. The deer already use it pretty good. The neighbors rarely bow hunt and gun hunt some but they are no way as dedicated as we are.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

[wiscwhip]

Unfortunate about the south line being right in the bedding area, pretty much eliminates being able to hunt that new plot with a northerly wind, but we all need setups for varying wind conditions, and only having access to that area with southerly winds will keep you from possibly overhunting it and potentially turning that area into a nocturnal only zone for the deer. After all, as hunters, we pretty much require dayside movement to harvest our quarry.

 

[dipper]

I know a thing or two about rocks. I can hop and entire 1/4 from rock-rock on one of my ridges.
No till drills are great for rocky farming. Is there surface boulders?

 

[rocksnstumps]

If your east side looks like this, you might be happy to even get ironwood to grow...

 

[gunther89]

Our east side doesn't quite look like that but you can see some rocks growing in the pasture. We have to be careful when we mow paths not to hit any stones.

 

[dipper]

As u know I don't like spending $ I don't have to. In your case I would bite the bullet and bring in a dozer to clear that east pasture of surface boulders. The location of not only neighboring food sources, but the huntabilit would be worth the $. U probably have some decent soil if the land was pastured by cattle for decades.

 

[dipper]

Go no till to avoid bringing up more rocks

 

[ruskbucks]

If your east side looks like this, you might be happy to even get ironwood to grow...

View attachment 8133

Wow! I see where your username comes from.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Rusk,
Yes unfortunately that's not my only spot that looks like that. No planting trees with a planter on this ground but have a few small 1/4 acre areas that aren't too bad. Getting them to double in size takes a lot of work though. Have a 5/8 acre plot shown in another clover thread that was done in "three major expansions" over about an 8 yr window. What a coincidence, I think I have replaced broken parts on my buddies disc at least three times over the last ten years...