Property Layout Question

[Matlax]

Hi, I'm not sure if this belongs here or in the habitat management thread but I'm looking input from hunters. Been following the site and property tours for a while and finally joined.
I’m looking for feedback on what I’m thinking about doing with my land. I’m in upstate NY (near Syracuse). It’s 75 mostly flat acres with no significant food sources (farms) around. It’s a mix of pines, hemlocks, soft maples, cherry, and oaks. I’m finishing up a selective cut now where most of the property will be thinned out. Before the cut it was all mature (but not huge) trees with essentially no undergrowth due to the thick canopy. The logging was overdue. The deer trails passed mostly N-S through the property and were pretty unpredictable although I would find doe beds occasionally under pine trees in the snow. The solid black lines are existing logging roads and the dashed lines are where I expect the roads to be when they’re done. The blue is swampy land although it’s not quite as wide as shown on the map – I made it bigger to show where the tractor can’t go. The swampy part is thin due to all the overhead cover from the trees. The parking area and barn are on the right (EAST) side of the property. The red triangle is where the skidder got stuck even though it doesn’t look very soft – must be a spring of some kind in there. There are two “bridges” on the trails so I’m stuck using them. The winds are usually from the west but will sometimes come down from the NE. I’m not a huge fan of putting the north plot right on the border but I’m trying to buy that property and it’s really the only area I can put that large of a plot because it’s high ground plus the owner doesn’t really hunt it anymore. The two half acre plots to the west are to hopefully create some predictable paths to and from the larger plots. The two small plots to the east are really just there because there are clearings and there’s so little food in the area so I figured I’d use them. I don’t live there but I’m there at least every other weekend with the tractor or UTV when it’s not deer season. None of the plots (green shapes) are currently existing. The N & S borders are .7 miles long and E & W are .2 miles long roughly. I plan to use a mix of perennials and spring and fall annuals so there’s always food there. Some things I’d really like feedback on (along with anything else you can think of):


Deer will hear or see me accessing the land when I pull in to park – am I hurting myself with the two small plots to the east or is it worth it just to give them some food? Again, there’s hardly any food in the area.


Will the 0.5 ac plot to the west hurt me since it’s near where the trail fork is? I wouldn’t take the UTV back that far but I’ll probably be within 75 yards of the edge when I’m walking on the trail.


How far do you guys like to keep your smaller plots from larger plots?


What else am I missing?


Thanks for the input! Can’t wait to start the property tour page in the spring!

 

[Native Hunter]

Welcome to the forum. Here are my thoughts:

• Food plots near property lines are an invitation to fence setters shooting deer off your property and ruining your hunting. I prefer to have food plots away from the property lines and have screening along property lines to deter people on the outside from being able to look in.
• You can successfully hunt deer that bed and feed on surrounding properties, but it is much better if they are bedding and feeding (mostly) on your property. The ideal situation is to hunt them between the bedding and the first food source they go to in the evenings and between bedding and the last food source they visit in the mornings.
• Unless you are rifle hunting and can see all food plots from your blind, having scattered plots might not be good. Movement will be less predictable. Consider things that will create predictable lines of movement.
• Nothing is more important than being able to access stands without spooking deer. This is especially true for hunting mature bucks, but even does will soon get on to you if you continually hunt a place wrong.
• With those plots scattered all around like that, you could possibly be running deer off your property as you go to them to do work. You need sanctuary areas that have a good depth of cover between them and where you will be working. I would recommend setting aside sanctuary areas where you seldom get near (except to shed hunt in the spring and to do necessary spring habitat maintenance). The bigger the better and the more remote the better.

Good luck, and I hope this helps.

 

[Buckly]

I had this same problem of a rectangular property. I can tell you this, if you use access down the middle of the property your hunting will never be very good. You can still shoot deer but you will run most deer away from your property going down the middle. On a scale of 1-10 your access would be a 2 or 3. What I would try and do is create as best you can defined bedding areas mostly toward the interior. Then put your plots. ( .5 acres or less out toward the edges. Then try and figure out some outside access. Walking maybe the only option to reach stands but that’s not much of a problem on 75 acres. You can use interior roads to do plots and maintenance but not hunting. This, as you’re probably figuring might be a lot of work. And in some cases you just have to go with what the terrain gives you. Create some good interior bedding with trails to your plots then hunt the edges. Where terrain won’t permit that, use the one and done strategy on some questionable stands during the rut.

 

[Matlax]

Thanks guys...great food for thought and exactly what I was hoping for! Looks like I’ll need to make exterior access trails a priority for getting to stands. Any thoughts on how planting some Egyptian grass in the interior may do for developing a sanctuary area while I wait for the undergrowth to start coming up? I’m hoping the logging helps some of those wet areas firm up when the sun starts hitting the ground. That would open up a lot more options for access. Thoughts on the Egyptian grass for sanctuary? Any other thoughts? Thanks again!

 

[Native Hunter]

The problem with "Egyptian Grass" is that it's an annual that must be planted every year. It is used more for screening a food plot or a road rather than in sanctuary areas. If you are planting in a sanctuary, it is no longer a sanctuary because of your human presence. For screening a sanctuary a good option would be hinge cutting trees if that is possible. Go to Youtube and watch some of the videos on hinge cutting, but be careful, because it can be dangerous. If you can find someone with experience to help you, that would be a great idea.

 

[Matlax]

The problem with "Egyptian Grass" is that it's an annual that must be planted every year. It is used more for screening a food plot or a road rather than in sanctuary areas. If you are planting in a sanctuary, it is no longer a sanctuary because of your human presence. For screening a sanctuary a good option would be hinge cutting trees if that is possible. Go to Youtube and watch some of the videos on hinge cutting, but be careful, because it can be dangerous. If you can find someone with experience to help you, that would be a great idea.

 

[Matlax]

Thanks Native! I'm familiar with hinge cutting but with the thinning from the logging, I'd like to avoid taking any more trees down, even if they stay mostly alive. Any tall growing perennials you've had luck with. I'll also be doing some tree and shrub planting so I'll be looking for some fast growing species that can handle wet soil.

 

[Elkaddict]

FWIW, I don’t believe you can have “too thick” for a sanctuary. Just as important for your location, I don’t think you can have enough browse given the lake effect snow you likely experience. I personally would be n a mission to hinge cut those maples. You will be amazed at the draw of “mineral stumps.” I believe it will put more tonnage within reach sooner than allowing regeneration. I’ve played with both and there is no contest. To be clear, I believe both are important.

 

[Native Hunter]

Thanks Native! I'm familiar with hinge cutting but with the thinning from the logging, I'd like to avoid taking any more trees down, even if they stay mostly alive. Any tall growing perennials you've had luck with. I'll also be doing some tree and shrub planting so I'll be looking for some fast growing species that can handle wet soil.

Call Roundstone Native Seeds and ask them the question about wet ground. They may have some ideas. Some species of shrubs might work well - especially gray dogwood and red osier. But these won’t be fast, easy or cheap.

 

[Matlax]

Thanks guys! Any thoughts on how large the sanctuary area should be? Obviously bigger is better but I'd like to concentrate the deer a bit, leave myself spots to hunt, etc. Would it make sense to put it in the far NW corner with the idea being I have the best food in the area and they'll move from there inward on my property? I really appreciate the info!

 

[Matlax]

Regarding the last post, I'd need enough of that area to be on my property so pressure from the neighbor wouldn't negate it.