http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii266/arrintc/photo1.jpg I have an opportunity to purchase 100 acres within a couple of hours from my home and I'm looking for some advice on what should be done to set it up for hunting (food plots, cover, etc). This place is 100% timber with hardwoods, softwoods and a few hemlocks scattered around. No timber has been cut in about 60 years. The land is pretty level but has no open areas for food plots. It joins a large (1000 acres or more) natural area where no hunting is allowed. I feel like it should be a good location but I would like to add several food plots. Just wondering if anyone had any tips on how they would set this area up if they were buying the property (food plots, road system). Any advice? *For some reason the thumbnail is small image that doesn't resize but if you click the photobucket link it is normal size*
Plant apple trees if the climate allows. Find your oak trees and clear all the scrub away from them to allow them to grow better.
Get the hardwoods selective logged. Then have them clear like 3 small area and I mean small. No 1 acre foodpkots. Deer like to feel secure so a small food plot is better. You have to get the stumps removed also.
Good advice. I definitely like hunting over smaller food plots. So you wouldn't recommend a few larger food plots to help keep deer coming to the property for quality food? Always read stuff about having the best food on your property to keep the deer on it. I know this is hard to do on only 100 acres.
I don't have any advise to give but, it sounds like a gold mine of a deer hunting grounds. I would think about other species such as turkey.
What kind of food is available to them right now? If there are farms around it may be tough to compete with those as far as food. Food plots will be simply supplental "snacks.". Shape your food plots in C's or U's with groups of hinge-cut trees in the middle so deer have cover and feel secure.
100 acres is plenty of room for some larger plots. I think it would serve you well. Something with year round attraction like clover or alfalfa would be great there if it does well in your area. Especially if there is 1000 acres of no hunting adjacent. All you need to do is provide the food and they will come. I have one hunting property that is 125 acres and I have nearly 20 acres of it in food. I would think 10 to 15 acres would not be too much.
I couldn't see the attachment, so sorry if some of these would be obvious from the visual... Another consideration would be whether you intend to ever build on it. If so, I'd take that into consideration in building your master plan as you may have constraint from utilities, soil perk, terrain, etc. Apart from the above I'd also suggest factoring in things like prevailing winds, where you would park and how you can access the hunting spots, in addition to any water that may be on the land.
The open areas on the land surrounding it appear to be hay pastures but I'm not 100% sure what food they have planted near by
I would clear a 4-5 acre food plot toward the middle of your property for a summer plot, keep the deer fed during the summer, and dont plant anything on it in the fall. Then clear out some small plots for the fall and winter months. IMO this will keep the deer on your property and moving to area that you want during the season. Good luck.
I cant blow up the pic to see but i would make several 1 acre plots on the property. Dont make them nice and square stretch them out and curve the plot s if you can.If you make your plots to small the deer with destroy them in short order..30/40 YARDS WIDE and 100/200 yards long perfect !!!! Make sure you set them up so you can get in and out undetected !!!!
