What would be the first things you would do to your land to improve the whitetail/wildlife habitat? (Food plots, select timber harvest, clearing travel lanes/paths, mineral site(s), trail camera set up, planting of fruit trees) * Realizing that some of you have owned or currently own several acres. The reason I ask is I am in the process of buying 33 acres in IL. It's completly wooded accept for a half acre with a house and a barn. Just looking for help ok how I should prioritize - with so many things you can do to improve your land - what order and why would be very helpful to me.
My order and some may disagree, timber harvest if needed, create bedding areas, food plots and watering holes, have Allan and stick to it plan so you can take advantage of the bedding areas and plots. Keep it fun.
I would love to buy my own piece of land for hunting/management and have been looking into it for several years here in Georgia. Hell, if I could afford it I would buy land up north, fly up and hunt when I felt like it lol.
Scout it. Determine what it needs, determine if its capable, determine if you can afford to do above items.
Capable in what sense? Capable of producing big deer? If so, that's not a question. I don't need to scout this property to know it has big deer on it - it's first class hunting ground I'd be buying, wouldn't really be interested in it any other way. That said, scouting for purposes of movement, food, water and bedding - now that's a different story. I can tell you - the property has a small drainage creek that runs through it - doesn't stay flowing throughout the summer months though. Might sound like a dumb questions - but how do you create bedding areas on a property? This property has several steep hills and valleys - what would be the best way to create bedding areas given this? As you can see most of it is wooded.
i would pick a good size dru let it grow up @ stay out of it. deer will figer it out. try to make a small pond or two. along the creek bottom if pos. then what to find out ther traval. food plots are hard to mantan on vary hilly ground. hill tops dye in dry years. best of luck. just my vuw wish it was mine.
If the timber is all old growth meaning there isn't much undergrowth then the first thing I would do is some select cutting and hinge cutting. This will aid in creating a solid bedding area. Try to use the land and deer movement to tell you where that should be. Then I would focus on food. Beit food plots or what have you. Lastly water you said the creek drys in summer. I have a similar situation and found that by creating a larger pool (almost pond) within my drainage allows for at least minimal water year round.
What types of natural browse are existing on the property currently? Oak? Persimmon? Etc? These would help to make all my other decisions as well
I would have a 3 year plan. First I would cut the timber then I would doze where they cut and plant a food plot. You can only do so muck with 33 acres. Maybe put in some ATV trails if needed.
It looks like there is a bunch of ag fields surrounding your property so if it was me I wouldn't focus a lot on food plots. Maybe a small kill plot or something but other than that wouldn't try to do much. Try to make it more of a bedding or sancuary area. The land I hunt on is mostly ag fields with very little thick timber. Most of my opportunities are when the deer come to feed and a few highly used trails coming from neighbors to the food source. That's where the more heavily wooded areas are and I can only really ambush them on the smaller draws goin to food on my property. That would be what I'd try, make it a place they would feel safe to bed down and a staging area before they hit the neighboring ag fields for food. Good luck and enjoy managing your own chunck of land.
Call me crazy, but I wouldn't do a thing until I went though a hunting season and then the winter...after that I would decide what it needed.. Just looking at it...two things jump out at me... First is access into the property...looks like you got food all around you so it maybe a tough spot to access for afternoon sits. Next building in that idea, I would focus and enhance any staging area, cover maybe a small plot adjacent to major food sources. Your kind of limited to what you can do with 33 ac, so I would take a wait and see approach and decide after a full season of hunting.
I agree completely. One season of hunting will tell you more than any of us think we know. Let a hunting season dictate your next move.
I agree that with all the ag fields you probably don’t need big food plots, maybe a kill plot that is in a funnel area leading to the ag fields. The only other thing I would do the first year is determine where you want a sanctuary/safe zone for the deer to not be pressured in and enhance it as soon as possible. If you have 33 acres then 5 acres maybe all you can sacrifice to it’s in the way of size. Then I’d stay out of it as much as possible, and make it a no hunting zone. Once that is established you can figure out stand locations and entry routes to them. I see a lot of potential with your acreage with all the funnels to the ag field shown on your map.. Congrats on your new place!
My biggest goal would be to befriend your neighbors/landowners around you. See in they have any management plans working already. Maybe you could work out some agreements that would allow you to hunt the food sources on the edges of the property. IMO when managing such a small tract of land the neighboring properties are just as important as yours. Just a thought.
best advice was given already, and i'll chime in from my experience. i bought 40 acres last September. don't do anything first year....except put up a mineral site with a trail cam to see what you have out there, scout it, hang a few stands....and this first year is a learning year, don't expect to much venison in your freezer from your property!! like another poster said, there are food sources all around you, you are buying the bedding areas, (which is great) maybe maybe a small kill plot, but i think a mineral site will save you all that work and provide the same results. this upcoming winter after the season, do your hinge cuts to make thick thick bedding areas, and also clear your pathways for access. i wouldn't set up inside the woods to deep, but rather on the edges, let the deer feel safe in the woods, and no pressure. I would set up multiple stands on the edges of all sides of your property for different wind directions. you could be buying a gold mine!!!!! if its done right!!! all i have done to my property was make a few hinge cuts, added 2 mineral sites, and a feeder. i don't have the money for farm equipment for food plots yet, so the feeder does the job for now. and this fall im a little nervous i only have one buck tag and 2 doe tags....i have them patterned extremely well. we saw a lot of deer last fall but were never in the right spots, so we used it as a learning year. and learn i did!!!!
Great feedback from all - thanks for taking the time to respond. A lot of good ideas here. I've already decided that I am going to have a select timber cut - going to try and avoid taking out trees that are going to attract deer to my property. I figure during the timber process I will probably have some sort of "logging road/paths" formed and maybe I can form an entry/exit strategy around those for this first year. The safe zone idea is solid and I've got a couple areas in mind. Would really like for someone to expand or post a link on how I can go about doing this in mostly wooded property??? Going to likely hold off on food plots for the time being. Will add a couple mineral sites and set up a couple trail cameras. Thanks again - you guys are awesome!
What's happening around you? Maybe don't do a thing except hang a few stands. Let your property be the Santuary if their hunting around you. Just cut the trails and shooting lanes youll need then just leave it alone. Even cameras could be a bad thing. IMO Congrats though. Nice land.
Mowing trails through the timber creates travel highways for deer. Find some good stand locations and mow trails by them. Water holes is good advice and the most important in my opinion is leaving a large section of the property as sanctuary. Dont even go in there during hunting seasons unless you must to recover a deer.
