#1879511 - 04/10/10 07:27 AM
raped land.....................
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Bottom Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 15480
Loc: Hatchie Bottoms
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let's say that a piece of property (200 acres) is hunted very hard for quite a few years. By "hunted very hard" I mean that every legal deer was taken from it every season.....no actual numbers are available......You decide to buy it for hunting.
The land is 75% wooded and 25% setaside.
Now, the land around it is hunted moderately. There is some pressure on it throughout the season but hunters seem to not overly hunt it.
Since you now own the land, and since it's not a huge amount of acreage, what do you do?
Would you consider NOT hunting it for a couple of seasons and let the deer filter back into it from the other properties around you. They may indeed decide that your property is a sanctuary and 'fill it up" very soon. Do you hunt a smaller portion of it and leave some for a sanctuary?
Or, do you hunt it like you normally would hunt and just be a bit more selective and take fewer deer off it than the previous hunters did...?
It's my thought that if you totally eliminate pressure on that land for at least one season and maybe two, that the deer would quickly gravitate to it from the surrounding properties, using it as a major bedding area.
With only 200 acres, you will be dealing with that fact that deer may indeed walk off your property, BUT if you are careful enough and do your best to place as little pressure on the deer as possible, even after you start hunting it again, then maybe you can turn this "deer depleted" land in to a great place......
If the surrounding hunters put just enough pressure on the deer to keep them bedded until just before dark, and if they choose YOUR ground to bed in, then your late afternoon hunts might just be great!! the deer might get back in to their beds before daylight so it may be best to slip in there about midday and huntuntil dark and leave the mornings alone.
When the rut kicks in, your bedding zone and thickets may explode with midday and afternoon activity. You may need to obtain an aerial photo and plan you approach very carefully, but once your in there, it might just be the best place you've ever seen......
But, it will take some restraint and some patience to work the situation to best benefit you.
Do you think you would have that kind of patience or do you think that once you have the land, the temptation to hunt would be too much......
do you think it would even matter in your success?......
please discuss....
Bh
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#1879519 - 04/10/10 07:47 AM
Re: raped land.....................
[Re: Bottom Hunter]
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Mr.Bro
8 Point
Registered: 08/02/09
Posts: 2350
Loc: Hendersonville Tn.
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Leave about a 25 acre sanctuary in the middle.
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#1879528 - 04/10/10 08:08 AM
Re: raped land.....................
[Re: Bottom Hunter]
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tndrbstr
16 Point
Registered: 10/06/05
Posts: 12157
Loc: knox co tn
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Or, do you hunt it like you normally would hunt and just be a bit more selective and take fewer deer off it than the previous hunters did...?
do you think it would even matter in your success?......
Unless there are some kind of physical barriers restricting movement, many of the deer being harvested there were residual animals from surrounding propertys anyway. With that size of trac, and taking into consideration the size and shape of many deers core areas, I don't think that is likely to change much..jmo...
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#1879561 - 04/10/10 09:18 AM
Re: raped land.....................
[Re: tndrbstr]
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Mike Belt
TnDeer Old Timer
16 Point
Registered: 03/26/99
Posts: 16929
Loc: Lakeland, Tn.
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A void doesn't stay void very long. Deer will move back onto that property and if there is adequate cover and some food sources and if hunting pressure is light they may very well prefer that property to the surrounding areas. If it was mine I'd set it up as just that type scenario.
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#1880131 - 04/10/10 07:38 PM
Re: raped land.....................
[Re: Mike Belt]
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Football Hunter
18 Point
Registered: 10/22/07
Posts: 24550
Loc: Wilson Co/Perry Co
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Id improve cover and food quickly,then start a camera survey,and be VERY selective
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#1880965 - 04/11/10 09:17 PM
Re: raped land.....................
[Re: Football Hunter]
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Boone 58
16 Point
Registered: 06/23/04
Posts: 13533
Loc: Food Plot
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Hunt with the same regulations i use now and create a sanctuary as suggested above. Limit the total numbers as it relates to surrounding properties and make sure i kept a balanced herd as much as possible.
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#1881384 - 04/12/10 08:35 AM
Re: raped land.....................
[Re: ]
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megalomaniac
10 Point
Registered: 10/28/05
Posts: 4887
Loc: Mississippi
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It only took me 3 years to kill a 146" buck off a property just like that. Of course that was the first buck I killed on it.
The first year I owned the property, I must have seen 15 yearling bucks and one 2.5 yr old. I passed on all bucks and took 5 or 6 does (the previous owner shot almost all bucks, very few does).
The second year, I saw one 3.5 yr old, several 2.5 yr olds, and a multitude of 1.5 yr olds. Again, no bucks, and killed another 5 or 6 does.
The third year, I killed the 146" buck, he was 4.5. Passed up 3 different 3.5 yr olds, 6 or 7 2.5 yr olds, and a multitude of 1.5 yr olds. Only took 1 doe due the extreme drought and no rut.
So, in essence, if you're after little bucks, it'll only take 1 season for them to be there. If you're after 3.5 yr olds, it'll take some time for them to age.
If you're after mature bucks, sell the property or get more acreage. 200 acres just isn't enough property to produce mature bucks in TN with any regularity.
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#1881386 - 04/12/10 08:35 AM
Re: raped land.....................
[Re: ]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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Buy the land, create thick security cover, and provide sanctuary from hunting pressure in that thick cover. Deer move around a lot more than originally thought and they will "shift into" areas that have what they want most (security).
The only patience needed is the time to grow the thick security cover (probably a couple of years, depending on the technique used).
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"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#1881620 - 04/12/10 11:53 AM
Re: raped land.....................
[Re: megalomaniac]
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BigWes50
10 Point
Registered: 03/04/07
Posts: 3207
Loc: Chattanooga, TN
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It only took me 3 years to kill a 146" buck off a property just like that. Of course that was the first buck I killed on it.
The first year I owned the property, I must have seen 15 yearling bucks and one 2.5 yr old. I passed on all bucks and took 5 or 6 does (the previous owner shot almost all bucks, very few does).
The second year, I saw one 3.5 yr old, several 2.5 yr olds, and a multitude of 1.5 yr olds. Again, no bucks, and killed another 5 or 6 does.
The third year, I killed the 146" buck, he was 4.5. Passed up 3 different 3.5 yr olds, 6 or 7 2.5 yr olds, and a multitude of 1.5 yr olds. Only took 1 doe due the extreme drought and no rut.
So, in essence, if you're after little bucks, it'll only take 1 season for them to be there. If you're after 3.5 yr olds, it'll take some time for them to age.
If you're after mature bucks, sell the property or get more acreage. 200 acres just isn't enough property to produce mature bucks in TN with any regularity.
I agree and good management story!
_________________________
Just as the deer can suddenly materialize in the woods, "Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (Matthew 24:44)
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#1881622 - 04/12/10 11:57 AM
Re: raped land.....................
[Re: megalomaniac]
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mathews338
10 Point
Registered: 11/05/09
Posts: 3983
Loc: jackson co.
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So, in essence, if you're after little bucks, it'll only take 1 season for them to be there. If you're after 3.5 yr olds, it'll take some time for them to age.
If you're after mature bucks, sell the property or get more acreage. 200 acres just isn't enough property to produce mature bucks in TN with any regularity.
yep and most hunters are probably hunting less than that and can't afford anything more
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