Me and a few friends hunt private family land in south western Ohio, we have 50 acres which is a mix of field and woods. And while we see quite a few deer I really want some advice on what we can do to increase our chances and make it more welcoming to big bucks. Here is a rough picture and plan of the land. KEY Yellow: Parking Staging Area Red: Entrance Green: Stands Orange: Cams Brown: Feeders Blue: Bedding Areas Purple: Known Travel
A very open ended question, and you've got a head start on attractants with the feeders. At the risk of sounding obvious, keep does on the property (limit doe kills), add mineral blocks, keep hunting pressure to absolute minimum, stay out of bedding areas, add corn or other food plots to the fields, plant apple or other appropriate fruit trees, add water sources...
Agree with above. I would also add stay on the edges. Your not dealing with a large area, if your constantly walking all over the property you may be pushing them out. Make the interior a sanctuary. I would move all stands to the edges and cover the corner by the travel corridor better. You can always go in to make the kill if needed but i like to let the deer feel secure.
What's in the field, beans? Farmer won't like it at all but a 50' border strip of native grass blend around that field and a wider secion from the pond east, cutting out that small divot of field will give you extra grass next to that pond. That will help a great deal. Move the one feeder over on the other side of the farm near the pond and add a mineral station. I can clearly see a deer trail going from the north brush across the field to the pond, you could add a second water source in the northern block of brush. Aside from that, timber management.
