OK, folks - I'd like some input from those of you who have "taken the bull by the horns" with your property. This is our property. We love this place. Lots of funnels, and hunts well with the W winds that come with Fall. It borders a 640 acre of property that is SUPPOSED to be not hunted. But it is by a few trespassers.... 125 acres, 93 of which is tillable (CRP). We get 10% for food plots. We have that in clover right now, it used to be in a mix of turnips and other stuff from Biologic. How do you think we could/should increase the bedding cover out of what we have? I'd love to have 10 acres of 9ft switchgrass, but we want the dollars out of our CRP. :D The property rolls high to low from N to S. The deer bed all over the damn place. Some in the CRP, most in the wooded ridges to to the west. The middle finger in the property is very brushy and thick. Solid bedding area, and a hot spot during the rut... Next year, we'll be putting in corn and beans and also hope to plant some apple trees. To increase buying power. What would you do with this piece? We have good deer numbers, and the mature deer are there, but we'd like to increase their existence on our property (duh!) Also, I'd be interested in seeing where you'd put stands on this place... Sorry for you topo guys, I don't know how to overlap one on this picture. The darker shades in the CRP fields in the middle of the picture, represent heavy slopes...down (or up lol).
From what I've seen when I was there, I'd put your stand on the back porch and shoot them as they walked by.:D Seriously, with all of that CRP you have there, I bet you have more deer bedding on your property than you think. They just never move out of the grass before dark. I know you like to stay out of the wooded strip in the center, but if you could get in there undetected early morning it should be a killer spot. Your main problem is it's so open and the deer can see you traveling around.
Hinge-cutting is cutting a tree about 7/8 until it falls, but is still attached to the trunk. This gives the leaves for food and cover for deer, increasing bedding and thickening cover. Dan, I'll get a picture. Thanks.
#1 thing you need is more bedding cover, just MHO. I'd focus on making bedding cover in the center of the property, and then food sources on the edges. Maybe planted pines, or switch grass? Is there a CREPS program where you could take some of that CRP space and plant it in trees and still get paid for it?
This is a picture taken of the middle finger, thick and nasty. You can see the CRP is somewhat matted down, but in the summer months and for a good part of October, it is very tall and thick cover for the deer... This is the hidden field in the middle of the picture. It's in clover, and close to the ridges that they bed on. This picture was taken 2 January's ago. This view is from the S line, by the creek.
Yeah, the CRP is not nearly tall enough for good bedding. The new property Johnny and I are hunting has a 15 acre patch of CRP in the middle with 4 types of grasses growing in it..... Little Bluestem Big Bluestem Indian Grass Switch Grass I would estimate the height of the grasses to be around 6-8'. This patch of grass is the ultimate bedding area and is the main reason the new property is so good. One morning Johnny watched 15 does/fawns and 9 bucks enter it to bed. So, if possible, I would be planting yourself some high quality bedding area. Looking at the picture again, if you had tall grass around that strip of trees in the middle, you would have a hell of spot to sit during the rut when the big boys are out scent checking for does.
Here's a picture of the CRP on our new property. Not the best, as I took it with my phone, but you'll get the idea.
Here's one more picture of it from the side. Thought maybe the deer would give you an idea on the height of the grass.
Dan, thanks very much for that, and for your input. I agree completely. My problem is trying to find a place to put the bedding cover. Here is a picture of our stands, for reference. Thoughts? The middle finger is a great spot, I agree. But it is pretty visible from the barn, and throughout most of the property.
Everything I've read about creating bedding cover says to keep the cover in the middle of your property, and then food sources on the outside edges.
Got a little bit bigger picture of the surrounding area? Would be interesting to see what's to the south. Gotta go shopping with the fam.....I'll mark it up when I get back.
would standing corn be an option? cover and feed at the same time.. I know a lot of deer that I hunted last week were bedding in the corn and then before dark moving into the timber.. and vice versa in the mornings
CRP stands for conservation reserve program. It allows land that is rolling and eroding to have monetary value to landowners. It is planted is an assortment of grasses, and landowners have often have a percentage to put into food plots. Here is a further picture. The pink to the East is CRP also. Green is soybeans, and yellow is corn. Water is blue
I would agree with Matt's assesment of putting the bedding area in the middle of the property. I believe putting in a good mix of tall CRP grasses in the locations below would create the best bedding in your area, even well beyond your property. I also am a firm believer that guys spend more time worrying about planting food plots to draw deer to their property than they do about keeping them there. The bedding area is just as, if not more important, than the food plots themselves. Good luck and let us know what you do!
Thanks Dan for the pic, and I do really think that would help. I'm going to do some research as to what varieties can grow the tallest, and keep their height. I do however think that this exact placement would make it tough for us to access the lower 1/3 of the property. Thanks again!
