I asked a while back what many of you would prefer if given the choice - owning land, or taking trips. The land ownership idea also brought about another theme I see somewhat frequently on the QDMA forums, and even mentioned on here (but mostly by those who are leasing). If you owned land (or if you do), would you simply use it for hunting and management purposes, and stay off of it for all other activities not related to hunting and management (walking ,shooting, riding an ATV/Bike, etc)? From a management prospective, I understand the concept of establishing a sanctuary on property that remains untouched throughout much of the year, and I'm obviously not talking about ripping through every square inch of property on an ATV two weeks before the season. I've seen quite a few people on various forums throughout the years advocated the strategy of staying completely off their property except when absolutely necessary. Now, if this is a piece of ground you travel to, I could see this practice being a little easier, but what if you lived on it? Wouldn't it be difficult NOT to enjoy the land for other things besides hunting? I'm curious...if you do own land, is it used primarily for hunting and nothing else? If you COULD own your own land, would it be used primarily for hunting and nothing else?
Matt, The predominant wildlife on my property, bighorn sheep and mule deer, seem to be unaffected by the other uses (including my daughter's activities on the ATV) of the property. I truly feel animals sense the pursuit. Moreover, they maintain a strict defensive perimeter (somewhere around 100 yards). They scatter when they're pursued ( IMO, it has to do with eye contact) and that defensive perimeter has been breached. Otherwise, they let you go about your business. It's their home too...they ebb and flow.That's my observations anyway.
I'm interested to see everyones response to this. While I don't own land, I'd like to, and I'd personally like to leave it alone as much as possible with a few exceptions. I'd like to make a small network of trails for walking and possibly horses, but still have them wide enough to get a quad or a UTV through to get gear and deer in and out and I'd make a decent shooting station out to 60 yards or so for bows only. I'd concentrate more on when I access it than how I use the land. Probably stay off it all of September except for some long distance scouting with binoculars and a camera.
I hunt three different properties right now for whitetail. All three properties have houses on them and the acreage on the three is 10, 12, and 75. The land is a mix of hardwoods, crop fields, and residential areas. The deer are always in relatively close proximity to some type of human form. It does not seem to bother them. People take walks through the woods, kids ride four wheelers through them sometimes, people shoot guns around them, and tractors are used to maintain the properties on a regular basis. From all my time in the woods I have learned that the deer do know when they are being hunted. Obviously there are times that I go completely undetected, and then there are times when I get busted. It is just a sense of feeling for them in my opinion. The general noise and distractions are something the deer are used to, they are not used to a distinct smell in the woods when all is calm. They put their gaurd up when this happens and you get caught most of the time. You still have to hunt the wind and try to go as scent free as possible. These are just my experiences where I hunt. I don't have the privelage of hunting really large tracts of land where deer do not come into contact with humans on a regular basis. One day I do hope to though!!!
My opinion is that you'd be crazy to "just hunt" land you own. There is too much fun to be had outdoors to allow for that - especially for kids or those not used to being outdoors - take them out with you mushroom hunting, look for sheds, cut firewood - have a fire, photography, hike, whatever. My two properties are 20 and 35 acres....we use them year round. Deer could care less. Obviously they have their comfort zone - but ATV's, tractors, trucks have zero impact on deer hunting around here. I'm sure "top end" bucks don't treat our properties like sanctuaries...but you could stay off the place all year - bump him once and it's no longer a sanctuary anyway. I'm not sure there's a parcel in IL where a deer is not familiar with human activity. I understand those that own property long distance strictly for hunting - and they feel that them staying off it is beneficial...but unfortunately what most of them don't realize is how often people are on their property when they are not around. One other recommendation for your property - try to buy one with (or build) a lake or large pond...this only adds to the year round enjoyment through fishing, swimming, waterfowl, etc. HAVE FUN!
My family has owned the same 40 acre chunk of land in Northern Wisconsin for 19 years. It is a mix of uplands and river bottom. We have a cabin on the western edge near the road. During those 19 years, the land has seen a wide variety of uses and misuses in terms of human encroachment. During the first 10 or so years, we did little to guard its use from others. The neighbors used the land as if it were their own. Hiking, hunting, trapping, four-wheelering, you name it....it happened. Over the last 9 years, we have made much more of an effort to improve the land with selective cutting, popple clear-cuts, and a 3/4 acre food plot in the center. We have gated (in two spots) the old logging road leading in and posted the perimeter heavily. I have moved to a town about an hour away and can make unexpected trips there any time my schedule (and kids) allow. All of this has greatly reduced the extra "human impact". We watched our sightings of deer, grouse, bear, and just about everything else increase very quickly once all of the extra recreation had been limited. We saw a pretty clear correlation between less human impact and more deer sightings. The land sees a fair share of activity during bow and gun season, firewood cutting in the winter, and foodplot mowing in the summer. Most of the activity is limited to weekends leaving time for the woods to "cool down". I agree that deer can become habituated to human contact and presence, but only if the area you disturb is a place the deer want to be. In our case, the extra pressure the land got made it less desirable and the deer just passed through or stayed out all together. There wasn't a reason for them to tolerate all the activity and disruption. Long reply , but that's what we've done and things seem to be better off for it.
I think very regular non-hunting use, is less harmful than intermittant use. Deer get used to normal people activities fairly easily.
My land plan will be to find that happy medium. You should be able to enjoy the land and hunt it effectively if you exercise some common sense. This actual plan will be determined by the size of the property but some of the ideas I have to try and find that happy medium are: Have an area for fun and an area for hunting. Stay out of the hunting area for the most part and play in the fun area. Do fun activities during mid-day hours. Don't go racing your ATV through the property at dusk. Make a main trail for walks. The deer should get used to the activity on the trail. You may even be able to use that to your advantage while setting your stand locations. You may be able to use that trail as an easy access point to some stand locations without alerting the deer.
We enjoy our land in several different ways. We pick blackberries, wild plums, and morel mushrooms. We walk the creeks and fields picking up Indian artifacts and fossils. We have campfires, watch the stars, and watch the meteor showers every summer. The boys love to chase frogs in the ponds with BB guns and they also love to fish. We pick up sheds and scout deer trails in the spring. We hunt turkeys and deer. We have some walking trails that we keep up and occasionally ride our 4-wheeler. We plant wildlife habitat it the form of trees and shrubs. But there is always a large tract that we stay away from for most of the year for sanctuary.
I think this is true. It is less stressful on the deer if I'm cutting fire wood than it is when I check 4 trail cams on 40 acres.
We rip quads/bikes, fish, shed hunt, obviously hunt, play paintball, farm, have bonfires, swim, camp, conduct mock search adn rescue fire department trainings and snowboard on our farm. Our peice is 47 acres, my uncles in 53. So far so good... Heres some pics...all from the farm
I can say with out question that atv's blasting field edges near hunting times will change deer activity big time,I have had two good places ruined by neighbors. Tractors and farm trucks and atv's deer get used to but the the high rpm stuff moves deer away from these areas or the deer move under the cover of darkness. I drive my 4x4 truck on are farms all the time but i stay out during prime hunting times, I drive slow and steady and do my work and get out. deer get used to this kind of activity,but not a smoking atv doing a wheelie across the field at dusk.
MIxed use for sure. I would (and do at our cabin land) limit trips leading up to and including hunting season. I couldn't have land that I just hunted unless I really hit the lotto and had multiple properties.
While we use our land for recreation other than hunting, such as mushroom hunting, shed hunting, just walks, the occassional ATV ride, etc, there are pieces that are off limits and left strictly as sanctuaries for wildlife.
Nice pictures, Siman. I know for me, if I ever get any land, it will be used for more than just hunting. Our current 90 acres my parents own sees daily activity, but not on all 90 acres. In fact, we have quite a few pieces that serve as sanctuaries, and the deer are holding great to the property, and sightings are still great every season. Part of being fortunate enough to have your own land is getting the chance to get out and stretch the legs, so to speak.
When a person purchases land they should seek to enjoy it however they see fit. However, the best trophy whitetail properties will be the ones with sanctuaries set aside with little to no human intrusion.
