I've got 15 acres to hunt.. where to start?

I asked earlier and some of the pros in this forum said that 15 acres was plenty to hunt deer on.. I thought it was really small, but I am taking y'alls word for it. Now I need to begin spending time on the land, watching and making a plan for gun season.

Here is a topo map of the land. The main field to the West has an old barn on it.. the tree line that runs top to bottom has a nice spring fed creek running through it and its pretty much forest all the way up to the hill on the south side with one small field on the eastern border. I have seen Does munching in the that field before..

Any tips on where to start?

I don't know if anyone mentioned it or not, but meet with the landowners of the surrounding property. Make sure it's ok to go onto thier land to recover a deer if needed. I like the layout of your property. Are the trees hardwoods? Nice.

Originally Posted by wd-40

I don't know if anyone mentioned it or not, but meet with the landowners of the surrounding property. Make sure it's ok to go onto thier land to recover a deer if needed. I like the layout of your property. Are the trees hardwoods? Nice.

hmm. I think they are.. they are pretty old and tall! (Im no expert.. can you tell? ). Here is a pic from the North field looking south




Most of the surrounding land is pretty empty.. .I'll try and call around and ask the owners about tracking deer on their land. Thanks.

I would start by looking in the tree line near the creek for some sign. That is a natural funnel the deer should travel and feel secure to get to the fields. Those horny bucks will be looking for the does when the rut gets going, so if possible I would set up where I could shoot both fields come gun season. If you can't shoot both fields I would walk the edges and look for scrapes and rubs and hunt the field with the most sign, but during the rut you never know where they will be. Good luck and let us know how the season turns out for ya!

Sharpshooter is right on track. The wooded areas between the fields would be my first choice. It should give the deer a secure feeling. If the land is yours, I would plan on a small food plot for spring planting. Nice looking property.

hmm.. I might be able to get up a stand in near the creek to hit both fields.. not sure though. trees get pretty thick in there. I was thinking about shooting from the barn as well.

Could you cut a couple of shooting lanes to shoot both fields? How wide or how many yards from one field to the other is the tree line in the creek? A good pole pruner is what you need to thin the tree limbs or a chain saw if it is too thick. Heck I would cut a trail from one field to the other and add a salt lick in the middle of the trail and that will only help ya. The deer will start to use your trail. I definatly like the food plot idea for next year if that is possible for ya. If all else fails try the barn.

Originally Posted by sharpshooter01

Could you cut a couple of shooting lanes to shoot both fields? How wide or how many yards from one field to the other is the tree line in the creek? A good pole pruner is what you need to thin the tree limbs or a chain saw if it is too thick. Heck I would cut a trail from one field to the other and add a salt lick in the middle of the trail and that will only help ya. The deer will start to use your trail. I definatly like the food plot idea for next year if that is possible for ya. If all else fails try the barn.

funny you shoud say that sharpshooter... I was looking at some other photos.. and it looks like there is an old creekbed or game trail that already cuts east/west through the tree line. That might give a nice vantage point of both fields. Ya think?

I would for sure look at it, it looks like a good starting point to me. It looks like it might be hard to watch alot of both field but you could watch part of both with a little trimming. If you can plant a little something in and on both sides of that cut through it will help draw them to that spot instead of just browsing the whole field and I would definatly put out some salt/mineral this spring and get them use to hitting that.

ok.. ill look into that.. do i need to wait for spring or can I start prepping the creek now? what about planting?