I recently today acquired a new piece of property to hunt on. It's nothing big or special. 26 acres of land with about 1/3 being farm land and the other being wooded area. Where should I start?
Scouting! walk the entire property looking for signs. heavy trails, prints, bedding, ect. granted these may change once the leaves start to fall but you gotta start somewhere. hang some cameras over heavy traffic areas to see what you have in there.
I actually did a little of that today and found a couple nice areas but this is only my second season hunting and I'm trying to learn how to break down a new piece of property. So I figured I'd start small. Is that a good idea or wrong cause it limits my resources?
Find the hub of the property and make it you center point of attention the first year.... 23 acres will have some funnel/hubs somewhere.. hunt them on a favorable wind and watch and learn---
The hub is where multiple trails meet... or where multiple habitats come together.. for habitat hub it could be a creek along a bluff boarded by an ag field.... Or where several ridges or drainages come together
No problem.. The key is to keep adding pieces to your 23 acre puzzle together until you get the picture done.. Once there -- hang your stands and wait on the right wind!
See the land owner said I could plant two food plots where I would like. Should I do one back in the woods and one out in the field or both out in the field?
It depends.. this late in the season I would concentrate on hunting it and plan food plots for next year.. you should learn where they need to be after hunting it this year. Food plots that work the best for me need to be where the deer feel safe going and coming to them and have water close by. I try to have some screen cover along the outside of the plot.. makes the deer feel safer entering and feed in the plot
have you looked at a topo map of the land yet? I would suggest doing that, maybe posting it up with certain stuff blacked out (town or road names) and we can get the ball rolling with you!! I do not suggest walking the entire property this close to the season.. we'll help you E scout and point out potential key areas.
When does your season start? I would be cautious of walking all over this property right now. "If" something you want to kill is living there then I wouldn't go blowing them out just to hang a camera that more than likely your going to want to check every week or two with it being a new piece. I would keep cameras on the outskirts so they are easy to check and whichever camera gets the most attention I would do a hang and hunt around that area. Watch the deer patterns from the stand and if you need to move then relocate. If the deer are just passing through this area and not bedding there then I would hang a stand as close to their bedroom as possible and wait til the wind is good for them and okay for you. Most mature deer aren't going to move much in early season unless they have the wind to their advantage, but its obviously still got to be okay for you. Your entry and exit of this property will be crucial!!! 26 acres isn't enough land to constantly hunt without the deer patterning you and then they'll just turn nocturnal or stay off it. Hunt smart and I think you'll do just fine, best of luck!
