Has anyone researched and done habitat improvement for a small (20-30 acre) property? My son recently bought a house with 26 acres that we’ve been hunting this fall. The prior owner killed some really nice bucks on the property in the past but all we’re seeing are does and a couple of immature bucks on the trail cams. There are other hunters on adjacent properties but the pressure doesn’t seem significant.

Compared to other areas I hunt the ground cover is kind of sparse, there is no bedding area, no water, and the mast crop is spotty due to a fairly low percentage of oak trees. There is a stand of hemlocks in one corner of the property that would offer shelter in heavy snow and the property on the uphill side adjacent to his was logged about 10 years ago so there is bedding cover there. The deer seem to pass through his property but don’t stay or feed there.

The obvious improvements would be to create a bedding area, increase ground cover and put in some additional food sources. I’d like to find a book or website that details how to layout, plan and execute these types of projects. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Bill

Bill,

I bought a small 46 acre place near my house last year for hunting since I have some young kids and my camps are 75 and 135mi from home. Needed something close to take them as much as possible when they get old enough to hunt. Anyway, the property has a couple of creek bottoms with plenty of oak and the rest is pine. The timber is large enough that there really was no bedding areas on the property, but some of the neighboring timber land has been thinned through the years and has abundant undergrowth for bedding. The first year I hunted the place(last season) I saw a few doe and a bunch of young bucks. Saw a couple of deer I probably should have shot, but held off. Throughout this past summer I set up more stands, planted a few acres of plots and ran corn feeders and trace mineral year round. The combo of the additional feed drastically improved deer sightings and is holding an abundant amount of doe on the property. Before the naysayers go off on baiting game, let me just say the plan worked and it's perfectly legal here. I didn't do it to shoot deer with their head in a bait pile, I did it to hold and draw doe to my property. I've seen as many as 19 deer in a day this season on the new place and it's common to have 10 doe in one pic on the trail cams. What those additional doe brought in is obvious, more bucks. I'm getting pics of some nice bucks this year. I once again held off shooting anything because the neighbors have killed their fair share, but it's certainly nice to go out and see deer just about every time I go.

I'm not sure what type of plots would do best in your area. Here in the South, pretty much anything grows well when we get adequate rain. This year I chose Plot Spike wheat, Austrian winter peas, and rape. The deer absolutely devoured the peas in short order and have continued to browse the wheat all season. I rarely see them at the feeders, but get enough pics to know they hit them well at night. They also love the trace mineral in the summer months.

Hopefully you guys can do some similar enhancements on your new place and draw more game.

I'm also consulting with a forester and intend to do some thinning at some point to establish some viable bedding areas.

Good Luck,

loder

At least around here, food plots with clover and turnips have worked really well for us.

I would recommend ordering a copy of

https://www.amazon.com/Quality-Food-Plots-Better-Hunting/dp/0977710416


Like a good skin flick, I have read it a bunch.

Unless numbers are totally in the toilet, food, water, and cover will bring them in.

Water is a huge thing in our area during the summer... once we had the pond enlarged to about 3 plus acres and down to 20 feet, we retained water all year long and thus also retained deer all year.

Yes. A 12" precip zone here. Toss an ice cube out in a desert camp in the summer, and within minutes birds will be standing by to capture drops as they form.

Cookie keeps a supplement tub with water immediately behind our house, and we have mule deer within 150 of the place almost constantly. All manner of birds as well.

I can figure out what to plant. It's more about where to plant and how big a plot we should have. Same for the bedding area. The land isn't level either and it's all wooded so whatever is planted will have to be cleared and tilled.

Loder, I like the idea of the feeders. I'm going to get him a feeder for xmas to put down near the house.

We did have a fairly significant winterkill here 2 years ago and the herd is down a bit across the state. It will probably take several more years to recover if we don't have another severe winter.

I will try to get a sketch of the property up showing how things are located to get some feedback.

Thanks!

Here's a satellite shot of the property on Huntstand. I really like this app for this feature.



There is about a 200' elevation rise from the house to the ridge which is on the bottom of the pic. That's where most of the deer traffic is and the bedding cover. There is a stand of hemlocks on the left side of the property on the ridge and to the left of the house. There may be some water in that valley. We need to check that out and see if we can find anything there.

I have 20 acres surrounded by a lot of woodlands. This year I planted turnips and clover and had a bunch of does come in. I also have a thicker area that I leave alone until the rut. Missed one there in archery and shot one in rifle. If you get does, you will have bucks during the rut.

I didn't look at the pic but a glance....

But comments, I put in a number of food plots rather than a big one on our 100 acres. About 7-8 acres in total. 8 plots in total basically. Spread around.

Protein feeders all year but only filled with protein in the months they need it. Self gravity types. Mostly 55 gallon drums with holes slit in them.
I use non medicated calf creep pellets, 14% and thats a decent price. Read that they just waste higher amounts of protein than 16% or so.

Water is a thing with us, but may not be you, but its never a negative for them to find cover, food and water all on the same tract.

I have my plots scattered enough that we have some on the edges and some in the middle of the property. The deer move freely, and if one side is noisy or whatever, they roam over to the other plots to use as needed. Its not that they don't leave, but they have the options to stay around as best as I can make it for them.

Oats in winter, peas in summer. Sometimes soybeans in the summer.


IMHO year round feeding and supplemental minerals and a water source is a must, you want them to live there, not just travel through in the fall a few times to get blasted....they learn and teach younger generations where the best stuff is....

I had things to do tonight, so I just glanced by saw 3 legal bucks and some does at a glance. Last night it was 5 legal bucks including a 10 point, and some does around. Just where I could see, not even going looking at the food plots...

More good can be done with a chainsaw than could ever be done with a plow. Read that over and over till it sinks in. I have owned several small wooded properties and helped improve many more. Small, strategically placed food plots are much better than large ones. Build them in the interior of the property with wind direction and entry points in mind. The rest of the property should be thickets with only mast trees left. Hinge cut any Hemlock or cedar to create both browse and cover. Big, beautiful, open hardwoods rarely if ever make the best habitat. Make your property a sanctuary. A place for deer to come and hide.

Hinge cutting is the ticket. Cover and food. Looks ugly but sure helps hold the deer

Great comments. Keep it coming...

Food plots don't have to be really big. Some of ours are as small as 40x80 feet or so, some as large as 1.5 acres

In my experience, food plots double the deer sightings (at least) even in country with good habitat.

Plant food they like and they will come to it. Here they will come to wheat. If there are competing food plots on the surrounding lands you have to plant better quality foods or fertilize yours better. Animals will come to the best quality food sources. They figure out the best food for the least amount of work. And if you have does coming regularly the bucks won't be far behind.

bill

check with your game dept.

here in missouri we have private land conservationist. they work for our game dept and are assigned to counties. they will come to your land and offer suggestion on improving your land for your management goals. ours also offers share cost for timber stand improvement, controlled burns and such.

call your county game warden or biologist and see if they offer programs for private land owners.

also a chain saw is your friend, open the canopy to encourage new browse growth and help the deer's preferred acorn oaks produce more acorns

How mature is the timber? You likely need a management cut. Leave the tops and slash. The deer will move right in.

Thanks guys. I did find out about a local program that trains people that own large parcels in how to manage it and improve habitat, bedding cover etc. The training is sponsored by the state and participants are obligated to help owners of smaller parcels do the same. So I'll check into that and see if we can get someone to come out and walk the property with us.

IME the more land looks like a briar-infested hellhole, the more whitetails like it!

Leave one tree in the middle for a stand

There is a lot written about this. The property is too small to hold deer year around but you can really increase the visitors. Plant mast and fruit trees in thickets for cover.
Plant native feed crops they are a lot easier than cultivars as they will self sustain. Feeders and minerals will be an instant draw if legal.

Aim for around 30%+ cover with lots of edge habitat. Just running a plow or disc around can greatly improve forage.
Burning if possible will help a lot.

A large oat, clover, alfalfa field with brassicas, chicory and amaranths will be a huge magnate. Make it big enough so the deer don't eat everything before the season.

in some areas on our farm, i have started using access trails as shooting lanes & seeding them in winter grains in the fall.

the one in the pic is about a 1/2 mile long; we disc it and plant a 20' wide strip seeded with 60/40 wheat/rye, and overseed with clover...it does well in shaded areas, and is a good draw for deer that might otherwise be hesitant to come to our large plots in daylight.

if you plan on putting in access trails anywhere, this would let you utilize them as shooting lanes & provide easy access around the property.

we also plant 8-12 smaller plots rather than any large ones, with the small plots 1-4 acres ea.

feeders are good draw, water is a must...

Food plots year around keeps them on your place

Food plots year around keeps them on your place