8 replies to this topic

[soshock1]

A friend of mind just bought a 15 acre farm which has tons of woods around it.  It looks terrific on Google Earth although I haven't seen the farm in person yet. It should have deer on it. My question is how many of you hunt small tracts of land and what advice would you offer for hunting small farms in general.  If you hunt small tracts of land, how small are they?   Thanks

[briarpatch]

soshock1, on 10 July 2011 - 04:35 PM, said:

A friend of mind just bought a 15 acre farm which has tons of woods around it.  It looks terrific on Google Earth although I haven't seen the farm in person yet. It should have deer on it. My question is how many of you hunt small tracts of land and what advice would you offer for hunting small farms in general.  If you hunt small tracts of land, how small are they?   Thanks

I hunt a couple of 20 acre pieces....sometimes...small tracts hold very big deer.  To me, hunting small pieces is not much different from hunting big ones.  I still look for travel routes, pinch points and transition areas.  I'm a big fan of the transition area....swamp to cedars to oak flats for example.  Try to identify where the deer are feeding, especially now.  Summer feeding patterns lend themselves to predictability.  Scout some of these farms from a distance, if possible.  Take note of entry points, and use aerials to locate set up spots based on early season wind direction.  When you say 'farm'...what type of farm?  What's grown there?  The surrounding woods...are they oaks?  Are there any water sources nearby...especially important now....deer will bed nearby beacuse the air is cooler....

[IL Padrino]

Hi
I hunt in SE PA where the only access I have right now is in my neighborhood.  Between me and my 2 neighbors who graciously let me hunt I have 10 acres.  This is only 10 of 100s that it boarders.  I have about an 300 acre of farm on the one boarder and all other sides are housing developments with lots of woods.  I grew up in NE PA and hunted the big woods for 25-30yrs and I wouldn't trade my current spot on 10 acres for any other spot up-state.  Pattern the deer, do what you can to improve habitat (food plots etc..)keep the wind in your face, and stay put in your treestand while hunting the rut.  Good luck.

[Hardawaypoints]

I have a 300 acre lease and two horse farms to hunt that are 100 acres and 88 acres respectively,  The lease is a tree farm that has many roads & paths with lots of young cutover that is tricky to hunt at best.  The horse farms have a good amount of pasture to each of them, but those pasture fences serve as very good funnels that direct deer movement through specific areas.  I haven't figured out the 100 acre horse farm yet because I just got permission to hunt it this past Spring when the leaves were already out.  

You have to be extra careful with your entry and exit to small woodlots because you don't have that extra buffer of more woods working for you.  I have had great success by using barriers like pasture fences and ponds that force deer travel through a specific area, then position myself where the prevailing winds carry my scent harmlessly over open water or pasture. It also helps to have roads, paths, and horse trails to get in & out of the woods easily and quietly, they also make dragging deer out easier too.

Jim

[Guide Girl]

What I've learned is even on large tracs of land, we seem to only hunt a small percentage of it. One lease where we hosted the CrossbowNation hunt is only 100 acres, but we only hunt about 25 acres of it. That's where all the action is. With it being so thick in brush country, we can actually set up 5 different stands within that area without it bothering each of the other areas. The deal is, there are two dry creeks. One runs North and south, and the other thru the property east and west. All the game uses these dry creeks for a travel corridor and we've hunted this small place for 8 years and it has produced over 30 recordbook entries for us including the Number 1 Bobcat, Coyote, Javelina, Wild boar, Rio Grande turkey, and has won us titles like Crossbow Hunter of the Year, North American Hunter of the Year, and Huntress of the Year. So, yes, in some cases, small property can be better than 100's or thousands of acres depending on the terrain features.

Urban Legend shot a Javelina on film there that's featured on the Facebook page right now.
While he was doing his video finale, we were at another stand being attacked by a Javelina another member shot, having a full fledged rodeo in the brush. They never heard us, and we were within 250 yards of each other, but it is very thick vegetation there. We had been on the property for less than 4 hours and had just set up those 5 pop up blinds before putting the hunters in them. Two of the 5 scored. Not bad odds.

[SPECIALIZED]

We are blessed to own a small farm of approximately 60 acres, of this there are three parts separated by a dirt road and a 2 acre track with a house occupied by a tenant, only about 25 acres are woods.I alone hunt the property.
ON two areas there are many pinch points of woods with shooting lanes between bean and corn fields, there is a large, thick deep ravine about 50 yards wide that runs the length of one of the properties along our fence lines, super deer producing areas.
My favorite hunting area is our bottom field of only 12 acres that is planted yearly in many favorite deer and turkey browse and plants.
The 12 acres are strung out along a beautiful wooded, flowing creek bottom that is bordered by a conservancy area for several hundred yards, where no hunting is allowed.

I really figure effectively I am hunting about 150 acres or more by drawing Game from the adjoining property.

I keep a log of several items concerning my hunting area and in the last 4 years I have Taken 28 deer, 8 Turkeys, and 13 coyotes all with the bow. Seems like every one in the family loves Venison but no one else hunts.

I think the point is, you have to be aware of what it takes to draw game to a property make the best of whats available and it is possible no matter how small.

[Branchboy]

I have a 12 acre farm cabin  here in Central Wi. I'd say only about 2 1/2acre is huntable. I get some good deer movement and also some nice trail cam pics on just this small tract. If your not in good with the neighbors just don't put you stand or blind to close to property line. Both farms on the 2 sides of me are both over 100ac tracts. These little places like mine can be a goldmine and I'm sure your's will be to. time to put out a couple trail cams and see what your working with.

[BigBowMan]

Like Specialized said it's about knowing your property and surrounding properties. Keeping track of movement, food supply, water source, etc... i'm disabled and can't walk too far, most of my best deer have come on a 5.5 acre wooded lot right behind our house. Good Luck and Happy Hunting!  

[Digging Fool]

My place is 90 acres, and I mainly hunt the swamp and hardwoods. I'd say that if a small farm has the correct habitat, a few acres is good enough.