I started out buying 12 acres and had one food plot. An insane amount of bucks would visit that plot. I bought an adjacent 38 acres and added two more plots. The number of bucks visiting my ground did not increase. Then I bought 78 more acres and added a couple more plots. Still the same number of bucks then bought forty more acres - still same number of bucks. A couple years ago, bought another adjacent 140 acres - and finally, get some pics of bucks on that ground that dont show up on the original ground. My property is long and skinny - 1.5 miles between the two furthest points. As I bought more property my buck density dropped as my acreage increased. I also bought a sixty acre property, eight miles away - all new bucks - and again, a high density. If you want lots of bucks to pick from, two 100 acre properties miles apart will probably provide more individual bucks than 200 contiguous acres.
Interesting View on bucks per acre?
- Thread starter Buckbuilder
- Start date
Buckbuilder
Member
Good points there. You know how it goes though, if an adjoining property comes up for sale you got to figure it would be better for you can I have it then someone else
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
I have been guilty of that four times.
Old saying, "I don't want ALL the land, just that next to me. "
Gator
Well-Known Member
nothing else needs to be said. That alone is the gold mine!
farmhunter
Well-Known Member
If the hunting area is un-hunted - generally - the young bucks will still want to disperse at 1.5 years old even some at 2.5. So you'll have a lot of transient deer looking for a home. The buck numbers can seem real high. Go back and see how many "disappear" especially 1.5 year old - and how many show up - and hoe many just pass through - Some years I've seen almost a 100% turnover - I think on most grounds its probably 67% or at least 2/3 of your young bucks will relocate - usually more. this happens usually at velvet shedding -in my opinion - and you can end up with a lot of one timers - especially in an un-hunted per se population.
Interesting topic my buck per acre is horrible on my 1at property thats 35 acres . It's frustrating I have a few doe groups that use my property as a travel corridor. My property seems to only have 3.5 + age class bucks on my property for 1 week during the year. It stinks because I can't build a history with bucks, and i am left with the question should I pass decent bucks when I see them not knowing what's out there. The property do es normally give me a decent shot at a nice buck every year and it has good pinch points on it. I ended up purchasing another small property to increase my options.
Buckbuilder
Member
Are your woods thick? Why do you think it is lacking?
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Congratulations on the land purchase. For me the question of what size to shoot is easy, I prefer to wait for a nice buck, or do without. Shooting an immature buck for bragging rights to say I got my buck is a fleeting thing, getting a trophy lasts a lifetime. But some hunters are waiting to shoot a size deer that doesn't exist, so it's important to at least have an idea what's out there. Even if you only see the 3.5's one week out of the year, you should be able to get some game camera pictures of them before, those mature bucks have cruised the area at least several times before the rut.
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
My criteria for a "shooter" changes per the property I hunt. Here at home, 85 acres, most of the bucks come from the neighboring property, although that might change somewhat as my place is getting thicker because of timber cutting I had done a couple years ago. When I see a decent buck 3.5 or older, I might shoot him, depending on the contents of my freezer.
It's somewhat the same on my lease, 400 acres, because the deer density is fairly low, but getting better since I introduced food plots and the owners thinned timber in '16 and '17.
Another property I hunt, a 2500 acre parcel out of 16,000 acres the criteria goes up. Nothing less than a 5.5 year old buck, regardless of antlers, is encouraged. I've let a dozen or more walk in the last three years that I would have taken in a heartbeat here at home or on my lease. In fact, I've not shot a buck on that place since I've been hunting it because that "jawdropper" just hasn't shown when I've been there. I hunt by invitation there, doesn't cost me a dime, but I do a lot of mowing of roads and openings as a way to kinda pay my way. It's two hours away, so I don't hunt it as much as I do the other two places.
It's somewhat the same on my lease, 400 acres, because the deer density is fairly low, but getting better since I introduced food plots and the owners thinned timber in '16 and '17.
Another property I hunt, a 2500 acre parcel out of 16,000 acres the criteria goes up. Nothing less than a 5.5 year old buck, regardless of antlers, is encouraged. I've let a dozen or more walk in the last three years that I would have taken in a heartbeat here at home or on my lease. In fact, I've not shot a buck on that place since I've been hunting it because that "jawdropper" just hasn't shown when I've been there. I hunt by invitation there, doesn't cost me a dime, but I do a lot of mowing of roads and openings as a way to kinda pay my way. It's two hours away, so I don't hunt it as much as I do the other two places.
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