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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2020 22:58:35 GMT -5
In the process of purchasing 10 acres, about 6.5 of it is currently farm ground that will not be come next year.
My question is how should I go about converting this ground to whitetail habitat to draw some of the surrounding deer to the property?
** I will attempt to upload a pic **
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2020 23:00:59 GMT -5
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Post by esshup on Jun 17, 2020 6:33:38 GMT -5
One thing that immediately popped into mind was to plant a 30 yd wide strip of trees diagonally to connect the top woodlot to the bottom wood lot so the deer can use that as a travel route and not be out in the open.
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Post by freedomhunter on Jun 17, 2020 7:08:05 GMT -5
Your probably going to need more acreage to get any help from DNR, I think minimum is 10 acres for crp type stuff, now. If they are even doing it at all.
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Post by featherduster on Jun 17, 2020 7:21:21 GMT -5
Try and purchase the wooded lot next to you so that you don't have any neighbors hunting on your fence line.
Freedomhunter is correct in saying you will probably need more acreage, EXAMPLE; in La Porte county you need a min.of 2 acres with a certain amount of road frontage in order to build and in order to put land into the Indiana habitat program you needed a min.of 15 acres so you would need at least 17 acres.
Even if you don't add on to your property everything you can do to provide wildlife with a home is a great thing.
GOOD LUCK!
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Post by steiny on Jun 17, 2020 7:53:30 GMT -5
Do the north and west perimeter of that field area with a double row of white pines or arborvitae to create a vision screen so neighbors can't see in and deer feel secure in there. Let the existing east fence row grow thick for same reason. Fill the rest of the field with native prairie grass and you will have awesome bedding cover within two years. Maybe a food plot near center at south edge of field area, north edge of woods.
Good luck and have fun with it.
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Land Help
Jun 17, 2020 8:02:48 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by lawrencecountyhunter on Jun 17, 2020 8:02:48 GMT -5
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Post by parrothead on Jun 17, 2020 8:18:01 GMT -5
You need to contact throbac.
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Post by jbird on Jun 17, 2020 15:01:26 GMT -5
I would put in perimeter access (because wind and your access is going to be super important to hunting such a small piece) and then put in a visual screen (however you can) all the way around it. Then you promote the inside to provide some seasonal food in key spots you can access cleanly and hunt and the nastiest cover you can create. Talk to the local FSA/NRCS office/USDA service center where the property is at and see if they have any programs that may be of interest to you. Some programs require a certain amount of land some may not....it never hurts to ask/look. The trick is going to be to set-up very smart hunting locations and only hunting it a few times....over hunting or sloppy hunting will kill a spot like this in a heart-beat. I would suggest low maint foods if you can...the less active you are here the better. I would look into planting fruit trees and shrubs that provide mast and browse for the deer during the time you like to hunt the most. A perennial plot of clover or the like is fine....but again...you have to get in and get out as quickly as possible. I would avoid annual plots that require a lot of work and upkeep....that all just adds to the disturbance of the deer.
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Post by tynimiller on Jul 6, 2020 9:50:10 GMT -5
I would put in perimeter access (because wind and your access is going to be super important to hunting such a small piece) and then put in a visual screen (however you can) all the way around it. Then you promote the inside to provide some seasonal food in key spots you can access cleanly and hunt and the nastiest cover you can create. Talk to the local FSA/NRCS office/USDA service center where the property is at and see if they have any programs that may be of interest to you. Some programs require a certain amount of land some may not....it never hurts to ask/look. The trick is going to be to set-up very smart hunting locations and only hunting it a few times....over hunting or sloppy hunting will kill a spot like this in a heart-beat. I would suggest low maint foods if you can...the less active you are here the better. I would look into planting fruit trees and shrubs that provide mast and browse for the deer during the time you like to hunt the most. A perennial plot of clover or the like is fine....but again...you have to get in and get out as quickly as possible. I would avoid annual plots that require a lot of work and upkeep....that all just adds to the disturbance of the deer. jbird and I, as is typical it seems, are thinking the exact same. Also those claiming you need more acreage (unless strictly for certain plans) are wrong. Grew up on less than this, the better and smarter you attack and design the habitat and execute SMART hunting tactics you can see success here (no matter how you measure it...unless you're a booner or nothing type...could be tougher than). The first few years I'm focusing on perimeter access/entrance trails along West and East boundaries...and I'd see if I could garner walking rights from neighboring to East and North/West as well. The other focus would be breaking up your piece of the field from the rest of the field, through any type of planting of trees/miscanthus/shrubs or a combination of the such. You don't need huge food sources for summer or early fall (ag fields will have this covered, don't try and compete). What you need to provide is food for that late morning, mid-day and prior to visiting destination foods in evenings that are SAFE and SECURE to ensure daytime movement. |
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Post by freedomhunter on Jul 6, 2020 12:42:14 GMT -5
We were talking about minimum acreage to enroll the ground in a program.. my initial thought was to let it grow thick for bedding. Be hard to hunt but you'll have the deer.
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Post by tynimiller on Jul 6, 2020 12:55:18 GMT -5
We were talking about minimum acreage to enroll the ground in a program.. my initial thought was to let it grow thick for bedding. Be hard to hunt but you'll have the deer. Yeah, I believe most did mean the plan which is why I included that caveat. I concur, until I learn the property more over the first year or two I'm probably allowing the majority of that field to just be fallow and herbacious vegetation of who knows what to explode. There could be some rather incredible goodies waiting to explode in growth there suppressed by the farming. I'll add a tick more for the OP in the way of thoughts. If I were to even think of planting anything it could possibly be an upside down "raindrop" shaped plot no bigger than a 1/4 of an acre that narrows at the woods and fattens towards it's north dead center of the northern edge of the woods. Longterm this small plot could be that transitional food deer leaving encouraged bedding in the woods (accomplished over the years with logging, hinging and proper TSI) and the northern encouraged bedding (different type) in fallow field growth, grasses or shrubs encircling this plot. Then the northern edge of your property secure with plantings and sight blockings you could have a half acre to no more than a full acre plot that solely focuses on late season food offerings. This creates a depth to your property few accomplish...but the deer may tell you differently as you learn the property. Sometimes we as land managers overthink stuff and force deer to change due to our improvements instead of merely enhancing what they already desire to do by our improvements. |
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