Hi All! New to deer hunting. Got hooked a few weeks back after going to the woods with friend who is a hunter. It is clear to me after hunting games lands, that the ticket to this is getting permission from private land owners to hunt their land. I have been lucky enough to get permission to hunt three different properties. Two are within 30 minutes and an hour from my home in Charlotte NC. The other is about 5 hours away near Jacksonville NC. With the background out of the way, is there info anywhere as to what I need to be doing, month my month starting JAN 1, to help make these private lands I will be hunting, be the best for me next year? The two close ones are 3 and 5 acres plots, ( yea they are small, but some land and better than now land right?) one has a creek running threw it. These two small ones are limited to bow and shotgun only. The larger track is around 20 acres and appears to have water and food there the deer are enjoying and is open to all seasons. I'm taking up a bow to reek as much of the seasons as I can. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Get out there and scout scout scout... get to know your land. Once you find good stand locations cut trails to your stands so you get in and get queit. just my .02 cents..
Start now for next season. Get the land owners permission and if allowed bait the area with corn/food/mineral blocks and have trail cams set up on that. Try and get an inventory of what deer activity you see and where they may be coming from. The issue you may run into with only having a few acres on the two set ups you have is hunting stand location. You dont want to set up right on the property edge and have a encounter where you take a deer only for it to run off your "allowed" property onto someone elses..... then it gets tricky going to ask other land owners if you can go onto their property and try and locate your animal. Could get hairy if they are not big fans of us wildlife population control specialist! Good luck.
IMO... 3-5 acres is too small for bowhunting... Too much chance of deer getting off your property after being shot unless you have permission to recover your deer from the neighbor's property. However a rifle should put them down pretty much on the spot. Neck shots really drop them in their tracks if you can pull that off, though heart lung is probably a better choice. If your funds will permit, you may want to consider joining a nearby hunting club. You will have experienced hunters to help you learn, to help when you need it and provide some great commaraderie. Shop carefully though, because there are some that may see you as a "Dumb Bunny" to help pay their lease fees. Got stuck in one of those once... miserable season. Depending on the land, try to find a club that leases about 50 acres per hunter. You can get by with less for bow only hunting. Also be aware that some clubs have large plots of open areas that are not necessarily huntable and you don't want to include those areas in your consideration. For instance, a club may have 300 acres of cow pasture and only 25 acres of woods. While some deer may use the pasture occasionally, most deer will stay near the woods. You would probably not want more than 1 or 2hunters in such a situation, depending on the layout. Also, many management areas are bow hunting only during the week so you may want to consider using one of those but only hunt during the week with your bow. That is what got me bowhunting initially. Finally many people will let you bowhunt but not rifle hunt. I have several farmer friends with cattle who like having me on their place because I help keep an eye on their cattle for them and fix any broken fences or gates I encounter. They also usually ask me to take out any feral dogs and or coyotes I see. I built such a good relationship with a landowner friend in S.C. that I actually helped him build his house and he tried to give me a deed to the land. You just never know. Good Hunting
Welcome fellow NC Hunter!!! I really don't have anything to add that has not been mentioned above. Just get out there ASAP and get permission and let the fun begin!! I am from Kenansville, NC. Is stay about 40 min from J-ville.
Ah good info from all! I have an update. Just today I talked up a guy to get permission to his property, 114 acreas!!! No one else is hunting it and he said just the other night he was out there and saw around 20 does! So now I have some real acreage close to home to work on, county restriction is bow only so I need to get one. Have spent some time at Bass Pro Shop and a small gun bow shop in Midland NC. Starting my research and hope to have a compound bow with in a few months!
Glad to hear your acquiring land! Its hard to come by these days! Check out S&S Graham Archery in China Grove... just North of you. Food Plots and Mineral Licks would be my first priority. Can't beat soybeans for the summer and early fall....then get oats....winter peas....clover in around October. Good Luck and enjoy the best mother nature has to offer!!!!
