Suggestions, I'm stuck.

[shawnv]

I posted a pic before of my property and some said I'm on the right track but one area is bugging me. When it comes to looking at other people's property I have little issue suggesting what to do but on my own place I cannot seem to make up my mind and run through too many options that I'm stuck and need more opinions.

I attached a few photos that provide a good layout of the topography and what I'm thinking. The off white enclosed area is where I plant to have the woods clear cut minus 5-6 oak trees (I'm meeting with the loggers soon). This will leave the outer band of hardwoods intact and I also plan to place some spruce on the high points of the cut. The dark green is where I currently have some young cedars, white pines and will be filling in the rest with Norway's. The light green is my current food plot area (1/2 acre) with water hole. The brown line is my lower access point in the valley where the deer area not hanging out.

The biggest thing my place needs is more cover so where I have the box and question mark is the spot that is getting me.

Options:

1) Fill that area in with spruce, that would make the Cedars to the SW useful for winter bedding

PROBLEM: 1) Screening my entry if they bed on that SW side 2) On a W or NW wind, my scent may drift to that area

2) Make that a destination plot and fill in the existing plot area with grasses (maybe a leave micro plot).

3) Leave that area as is and just plant the end of the box NW of the plot in Pines

*Note the South End of my property is not a concern because that is where I farm although I may plant clover and or beans on my crop rotation.

 

[bat man]

Layout and access looks good. Access to the 'new plot' from the driveway makes it bullet proof. You may be able to manipulate the shape so you can sit on east end of the plot in a tower for rifle season, but change the shape so you could have an archery stand for the prevailing N and W winds along the south side somewhere with some plantings to guide them through where you want them.

 

[tooln]

Have you though about any NWSG? It would make great cover.

 

[shawnv]

Have you though about any NWSG? It would make great cover.

I do have a pocket in the north side of that square of native grasses and along the north slope, here they don't utilize NWSG like other areas, pine/spruce hold more for bedding and grasses seem to be better for transition areas. That I may use where the existing plot is.

 

[shawnv]

Layout and access looks good. Access to the 'new plot' from the driveway makes it bullet proof. You may be able to manipulate the shape so you can sit on east end of the plot in a tower for rifle season, but change the shape so you could have an archery stand for the prevailing N and W winds along the south side somewhere with some plantings to guide them through where you want them.

Yea, that is what I'm strongly leaning to doing now. I think it will also allow more room for me to catch deer coming and going from where they bed to the West. I think I'll keep one micro plot on the West end of the current plot and move my water hole there too and let the rest of the old plot grow back up. In 7-8 years this should be vastly improved over what I have now.

 

[Bucks&Ducks]

Where are the deer going at night especially after they hit your food plot? Is that area big enough to be a true destination plot?

If the neighbors do not have any big feeding areas, what about using your farming area as a "destination plot" and the deer would probably use your current access trail as a trail to the food. That looks like a natural ridge and trail You could hunt that trail or the food plot in the woods (new or old). That may be moving deer too close to the road if it is busy or you do not have screening.

Sticking to your options, I would make the area in question a food plot. No matter what you pick, have a plan for how you are going to hunt it once things are in place.

 

[shawnv]

The new plot might be a 1/2 acre and the one I have now I would say falls in between. Some nights they have hung around for hours to all night (more so pre-rut) and some days it's just for a few minutes. I say it's a place they will hang out longer than they would in a true micro plot and is a nice stop before getting to any larger ag fields. The closest corn or bean field is a 1/2 mile away from this plot regardless of direction.

I don't want deer following my access trail because it's the one way in to the back 25 acres without bumping anything. What I farm is garlic (crazy right?) so the area planted in garlic is useless to the deer but since I have to maintain a 3yr crop rotation the off years I will have it be beans, buckwheat and later a cereal grain year #1 and then clover in off year #2 before it's garlic again.

 

[younggun1849]

With your new clear cut and pines/spruce you will be planting I'd get more food where the question mark is. Probably screen it with spruce, plant EW until they grow big enough so you can get in and out. I'd do 1/2 corn, 1/2 beans and alternate every year. When your neighbors all pick their crops you know deer will be living in your clear cut & pines, especially with quality food that close to cover. Keep the deer in the dark that they are being hunted and you should be golden! Could you watch that plot from your house?

 

[shawnv]

The new plot area sits as high as my roof line and I plan to plant spruce between my house and the plot so it will be more secluded.

 

[Jameson]

Southern quarter connect the timber, or some sort of cover. Middle half make an apple orchard. Norhern quarter connect the timber, or some sort of cover.

 

[shawnv]

The Southern quarter has to remain open because that is the ground I plant my garlic on. Funny you mentioned apple trees, I have them all over the place.

I feel pretty good about moving the main plot now and adding a new one below my driveway to the East. It might take 6-7-8 years to see this as I have it drawn but I think it will be worth the wait. The thing I like about the new plot is that I can hunt just off the plot and cover the inside trail that bucks would use to try and scent check it. It slopes off both sides so I should have my scent blowing over them if they come downwind. I also should have 3-4 times the amount of thick cover that I had before.

dark green: norway spruce, white spruce, white pine
olive live: clear cut mature maples, poplar (I do have more than I though as mentioned in a previous post) + Will leave a few white oak standing
light green: new plots
white line: access trails (same as before)
off white: currently native grasses or where I will let the grasses come back in the current plot area
blue dot: water hold in the micro plot
red dots: apple trees
orange stars: bow and gun stand locations

 

[bat man]

One piece I have did several clear cuts for bedding that now have 2 years of growth. MN clear cuts are pretty slow to regenerate. In the interim, we have hinge cuts for bedding in the mature timber we left. The does are liking those hinge cuts.

Maybe consider doing some chest high hinged areas on the edge between your clear cut and the mature timber left standing that bucks will check during the rut. If you can get the bucks checking the bedding areas, you may get lucky and not have too hunt those 2 high impact stand locations to the west. Leaves more of the property safe for your deer.

 

[shawnv]

I actually have the two ridge points hinge cut right now, it just wasn't sufficient cover with this being a small block of woods and the neighbors to the SW hunting the fence line. I would have like to cut more here but my tress are 50-70ft tall and I'm not good enough to hinge more without every other tree getting hung up plus I want to plant pines on the NW corner. Some of the hinge work might be left though after it is all said and done and what I see here for regeneration in the area is pretty quick, thankfully. I think my wait is going to be on the pines and spruce to have some real attraction power

The highest impact stands are for opening day gun season only or maybe if I really need to give it one shot during bow season. My hope is the furthest I have to go West is where I put the light green dot. I think this plan allows me test the waters on how far I want to push it.