FL Plotter
Well-Known Member
I've only got 20 acres that I bought 2 years ago and I will eventually live on it, so my requirements are a bit different than if it were a strict hunting land but this is what I have learned. Keep in mind I'm in Florida:
- The way deer use my land after improvements is largely the way they used it before improvements. By that, I mean, their trails were through thick overgrown planted pines....I cleared 5 acres of those pines...they still follow the trails across the open clearing. I thought they would divert and skirt the edges. I don't think you can largely alter the way deer routinely use a property. I saw this on my hunting lease when they clear cut 100 acres right next to my food plot. Deer walked the trails across that clear cut just like it was still forested. I was really shocked by that. Same thing after a burn, their trails go right thru the ashes where they walked previously. We had a Cat 5 hurricane last year and there are trees down everywhere. Deer find a way to use those same trails.....amazing how a buck weaves his antlers through downed pines, jumps over some logs, and squeezes under others. They walk where they want to walk.
- Prevailing wind direction during hunting season. Plan your entry and exit routes around that. It's really hard to get this perfect on a small property.
- Food is king. I have a good herd that regularly uses my property because I have 2 acres of limed, fertilized groceries year round in addition to 2 corn feeders. The local area is largely pastures and cows, so I'm the best food source around.
- I cleared the perimeter because I want to be able to drive/walk my perimeter and check the fence. For a hunting property, I'm not sure I would have done that. What I did do was leave a barrier of 3 pine rows or more between my perimeter path and the rest of my property. This shields my 2 plots from being seen very well by neighboring properties. I don't know what kind of dog control you have in your area, but in order to keep neighbor dogs from harassing the deer on my property, I'm investing a lot of time and money on a secure perimeter fence. Deer can jump over it.
- I have only hunted my property a couple of times and have not yet pulled the trigger, but one thing I think about constantly is if I don't drop it, will it jump the fence and I have to track it on someone else's property. You have double what I have, but even a hard hit deer can leave 40 acres in a hurry. How will you recover your deer? Do you know your neighbors? For this reason, I will only use a rifle and will go for the shoulder shot to drop them. No archery.
- Don't get too attached to your bucks. They are going to come and go. Other hunters are going to get "your" buck you have been watching for year or more. That's just the way it is and no amount of worry is going to change that. At some point, nobody cares whether you have 2 or 10 big bucks on your wall -- take the buck in front of you if it's mature, not the buck that might come later (he may already be dead). What's in the freezer matter more!
- The way deer use my land after improvements is largely the way they used it before improvements. By that, I mean, their trails were through thick overgrown planted pines....I cleared 5 acres of those pines...they still follow the trails across the open clearing. I thought they would divert and skirt the edges. I don't think you can largely alter the way deer routinely use a property. I saw this on my hunting lease when they clear cut 100 acres right next to my food plot. Deer walked the trails across that clear cut just like it was still forested. I was really shocked by that. Same thing after a burn, their trails go right thru the ashes where they walked previously. We had a Cat 5 hurricane last year and there are trees down everywhere. Deer find a way to use those same trails.....amazing how a buck weaves his antlers through downed pines, jumps over some logs, and squeezes under others. They walk where they want to walk.
- Prevailing wind direction during hunting season. Plan your entry and exit routes around that. It's really hard to get this perfect on a small property.
- Food is king. I have a good herd that regularly uses my property because I have 2 acres of limed, fertilized groceries year round in addition to 2 corn feeders. The local area is largely pastures and cows, so I'm the best food source around.
- I cleared the perimeter because I want to be able to drive/walk my perimeter and check the fence. For a hunting property, I'm not sure I would have done that. What I did do was leave a barrier of 3 pine rows or more between my perimeter path and the rest of my property. This shields my 2 plots from being seen very well by neighboring properties. I don't know what kind of dog control you have in your area, but in order to keep neighbor dogs from harassing the deer on my property, I'm investing a lot of time and money on a secure perimeter fence. Deer can jump over it.
- I have only hunted my property a couple of times and have not yet pulled the trigger, but one thing I think about constantly is if I don't drop it, will it jump the fence and I have to track it on someone else's property. You have double what I have, but even a hard hit deer can leave 40 acres in a hurry. How will you recover your deer? Do you know your neighbors? For this reason, I will only use a rifle and will go for the shoulder shot to drop them. No archery.
- Don't get too attached to your bucks. They are going to come and go. Other hunters are going to get "your" buck you have been watching for year or more. That's just the way it is and no amount of worry is going to change that. At some point, nobody cares whether you have 2 or 10 big bucks on your wall -- take the buck in front of you if it's mature, not the buck that might come later (he may already be dead). What's in the freezer matter more!
