I just secured some new hunting property, which is great. Only problem is i have never hunted pature ground before. Does anyone have any advice, or pionters that can help me out. this pasture is a quarter section of ground with 2 ponds, and deep wooded draws. this property is neighbored by pasture ground, except for one corner is neighboredd by crop field. any sugestions would be very helpful. thanx in advance. BTW this is in Kansas.
What county? What kind of crop is in the neighboring field? Can you post an aerial shot (like from Google maps) without giving away the location? Have you scouted it to see if there is any recent sign? Do you have any cameras out yet?
it is in cloud county, and no i have not been able to make it down there to scout yet, or put out cameras, or see what is in the crop field. i think the crop is wheat.
I would start in the draw, obviously. Is there a bunch of cedars anywhere on the property? Seems like a bunch of deer bed in cedar patches around here, especially with tall grass and on top of a hill. Any oak trees with acorns? That is the ticket right now for me.
yeah they are hitting the acorns around here pretty hard right now. i would do a quick walk of the property line and anything that looks worth checking out and start hunting the most fresh sign you come across untill you can invest more time to learn the property and resident deer habits better.
This sounds like very similar ground to what I hunt in Woodson County. I agree with ihunt, acorns will be the ticket right now and a good thick stand of cedars is going to bed a lot of the deer on a property that size. Its no secret deer are edge creatures, the mature bucks bucks even more so. My advice in this location would be to hit that bottom timber you mentioned, look for acorns, rub lines oughta be popping up right about now, and get settled in on some fresh sign. Once some estrus gets in the air anything can happen, but I'd focus my efforts on the cedar thicket waiting for does to pop. But I wouldnt totally count out that bottom timber, a lot of cruising bucks will use this on our property to move to and from different areas of the farm checking for hot does. Great luck, it sounds like you found yourself a sweet little piece of God's county to hunt.
FInd where all the draws meet or get in between the ponds and youll see deer. Draws and and small tracts are all i hunt. If there is a deer camping out in there it wont take long to see it. During the rut try decoy and rattling. very easy to draw them in close in smaller timber peices.
