Posted: 7/8/2008 7:22:56 PM EDT
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A couple buddies and I are going to share a 100 acre lease for one year, and I was hoping to get some info/tips from those in the know. I only started hunting about ~ 2 years ago, but it was in the jungles of Guam, and most of it was done sitting on the ground (or a tree stump) and waiting for deer / hogs to come in the feeding area. This is my first time to hunt in the U.S. and my first lease. We get the lease on the 15th or so of this month. Soon as we can we are going to go and scout the area. The lease is about 30-40 min S/W of Fort Worth, I don't have the exact location just yet, so I'm unsure of the exact lay of the land, but that area is mostly wooded. I know now is the time to plant a small crop of food, but I don't know what to plant. We were looking at deer stands the other day, and I decided I could build my own, but I would like to find some plans so I can get an idea/work off of. Not even sure what else I need to be doing. Any info/tips would be appreciated. Gene |
| Check out the Quality Deer Management Association, they have a wealth of information about managing a deer herd, and will be able to tell you what will work best for your situation, in regards to planting food. Make sure and scout as much as you can now, as the deer will forget about your presense in long before the season starts. Follow their routines, learn the land, and make maps plotting their bedding areas, water and food sources, and travel routes. This will help in selecting stand locations. Also keep in mind hunting pressure in the area during the season may cause the deer to change their behavior. They usually won't leave the area, but will find the thickest nastiest cover they can, and only come out when necessary to eat or drink, so don't overlook those types of areas as well. Good luck with your new lease, it definitely beats hunting on public ground. |
Bad idea. Buy
Plant solar powered feeders on a timer. Fertilize them with Purina Deer Chow.
Shoot hogs. |
| Get a aerial map from USGS. This can really help finding natural funnels, travel corridors and goegraphical changes that can dictate deer movement. As far as food goes, find your local Parks and Wildlife biologist. He/she can make planting, harvest and many other recommendations. |
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Wow, that's a bunch of good info right there. Just found out that my our boss want's in on the lease (that makes 2 of the 4 that will pony up for the cost of the lease, but will only hunt once or twice all year), and he has offered to buy a couple deer stands (or actually, the company will buy them  ).The property belongs to the friend of one of our customers from work, that's how we found it. Thanks, Gene |
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If I'm scouting new land I bring my GPS and just wander around and create a way point anywhere I see deer sign (tracks, rubs, droppings, beds, etc). I just keep moving and plotting away while I give the way points names like track 01, scat02, bed01, etc. Get off the footpaths and follow deer trails or just make a big loop of the area. Then I go home and hook up my GPS to my PC and run my old Delorme Topo software and let the 'puter plot the way points I entered onto the map of the area. Once the way points appear on the map it's pretty easy to see where the deer's travel routes are. Then I try to figure out why they take the routes they do and why they are travelling. What are the food or water sources and where they are bedding, if I can find either. Sometimes I'll also upload the GPS data into Google Earth (you have to subscribe to do so) for a clearer idea of what's in the area. You probably won't be able to hunt in the bedding area (I start hunting in the AM and have never, ever been able to sneak into a bedding area without disturbing the deer) so you'll need to plan an ambush somewhere along their travel route. My method sounds like cheating but I assure you it works and is a big time saver. Of course you can use a game camera to confirm your hunches. A game cam will also let you know if it's a trail that's being used during legal hunting hours. If there's a farm nearby a food plot won't be as effective. It's hard to compete with a farm but you may get lesser bucks hanging around your lease if they are run off the better food sources. All you need to do to get and hold deer on your lease is to have it more appetizing than anything else in the area. Figure out if you can compete with what the land off your lease offers and take it from there. Get a good stand and use it. It's so helpful to get your scent up off the ground. It also allows you a lot more movement without being "busted" by the deer. There's nothing wrong with a homemade stand as long as it is safe. Just keep in mind that someday it will have to be replaced and be sure to maintain it and inspect it periodically. A new place to hunt is always exciting. Have fun learning it and seeing what it holds. |
| You can get these treestands and make wooden ladders if you want to be cheap on treestands.I have had 4 of these and they work real well.I haven't replaced one in about 3 years. |
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1) That is too many hunters on 100 acres. If just the four of you hunt and kill two deer each then the land will be overhunted. If what normally happens, sons, daughters, wives, friends etc., start showing up and wanting to hunt then it will be shot out quickly. Decide now if you are going to stick to four guns only or if guests are allowed. Write it down and have everyone sign it. This is very important. 1 hunter for 100 acres is about right. For Quality Deer Management 1 hunter for 200 acres would be a lot better. 2) Use 55 gal. barrel feeders with 12v timers and varmint cages. Anything else is a waste of your time and money. Corn is nearly $7.00 a bag, and gas is $4.00 a gal. to go fill the feeders. Don't waste it. Start with one feeder per hunter. 3) For the first season use pop up blinds. They work just fine and are easy to move. Every time you go to the lease you will learn more and more about the game movemement. By the end of the first season your ideas of where stands need to be may be totally different than where you guess they need to be now. Pop up blinds solve this problem. When you get everything figured out then build permanent stands. 4) Kill every hog you see. Find an out of the way place to drag dead hogs that you are not going to eat. It will not take ling before your freezer is full of hog meat and you are really tired of skinning hogs. But they all still need to be shot. 5) There may be only one or two trophy bucks on your 100 acre lease. That means that each of the four of you will not shoot a trophy buck this year and no body will shoot one next year. With four hunters on 100 acres all wanting to kill a deer the size of the racks will steadily decline until it gets to the point of "any rack is a good rack". The last hunters on this property may have already done this for you. Decide now if you are going to hunt only trophy bucks and be prepared to not kill a buck this year or if you are going to be happy with any buck and not get mad at your buddies for killing young or small bucks. Decide this now. Write it down and have everyone sign it. 6) What happens on the lease can affect what happens at work if the boss is one of the members. |
Ok. That's a lot of stuff I never thought about, esp. the part about the boss. More for us to consider. Thank you, Gene |
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I lease a 32 acre parcel close to my house with 3 other guys. This is in a very residential area so we aren't really worried about shooting too many deer as there aren't very many places in the area where hunting is allowed so there are lots of deer. 1 of the guys did not hunt it at all and 1 guy bow hunted it 2 evenings so it wasn't crowded at all. Personally I feel that sitting over a pile of corn is unethical but I know other guys think differently and that's fine. This is the land of the free after all! Check out the Whitetail Institute for more food plot info. You might want to start another topic just about food plots. If this will be long term, apple trees are great! In addition to having clear guest rules and harvest rules, make sure you have a way to communicate when people will be hunting and where. No sense in getting shot because your buddy didn't know you were out there too or finding someone sitting 25 yards from you when the sun comes up. Also make sure you discuss with the landowner the rules in regards to cutting shooting lanes and altering the landscape. |
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I'm no hunting expert, but I quit using elevated deer stands about 5 years before I had to stop hunting altogether. I killed just as many deer (usually 1-2 a year) sitting on the ground as I did in elevated stands. Just be still, reduce your scent as much as possible, use a cover scent (I liked non-estrous doe pee), use an attractant scent to divert the deer's attention away from you. No risk of falling and breaking your neck. |