What would you do?

[Dawg]

Here's a map of the property I lease with approximate lengths of property lines on 3 sides. The road on the left is the property line for that side. This photo was taken late 08/early 09 so there is a bit more growth in some of the areas that look clearer here.

Most of the timber around us has been logged or thinned out. There's not any water source on the property.

Yellow: property line

Red: road

green: box stand location

blue: bow stand location

Would you do anything different with the layout of the stand locations?

Edited July 13, 2011 by Dawg

[dbHunterNY]

it's hard to tell. it looks like all timber and hard to see converging ridges, if any. with smaller parcels of land, you don't want to hike through there much if not at all. you don't want to "drive" off the timber and make the deer leave. some like to do "nudges". basically, hunters are posted on travel routes on along the down wind side of the property. a hunter walks the up wind edge of the property. this doesn't get the deer running, but makes them work toward the other side and right to the posted/stand hunters without spooking the deer on the property. you're not really setup to do that, but yea that's one thing you could change. don't know much about the area and there's no topo so that's all i got.

...not sure if that line to the west is a river or creek, but i'd have stands along any lower crossings if the land to the west is hunted much. that'd be setup perfect for it with a prevailing west wind.

[92xj]

I would hang stands where the red is and hunt the hard woods more. Plus, I would get a rack and go hand rack as much of the ground as possible where the green is and sprean a shade food plot by hand.

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

92xj - while not illegal in Texas, placing stands directly on or in very close proximity to property lines is generally considered rude and un-neighborly. That's why you see Dawg's current positioning like it is.

Dawg - what's the total acreage?

[wtnhunt]

Where are the food sources and where in relation to the property is there water?

Where I would hang my stands would depend some on where I figured the deer were moving to and from for food and water.

[92xj]

92xj - while not illegal in Texas, placing stands directly on or in very close proximity to property lines is generally considered rude and un-neighborly. That's why you see Dawg's current positioning like it is.

Dawg - what's the total acreage?

I didn'y say hunt their land. Those spots could make for some great bow set-ups. I have no idea how hunting your own land and not maximizing the space that you are paying for is rude and un-neighborly. Put their land at your back and dont shoot anything over there and they wont mind or say a word at all. And I would place stand somewhere in the area of the red dots, not exactly on them in every spot I marked.

[Dawg]

The nearest water source that I know of is well over a mile. Theres not any water on the plot I have leased.

Total acreage is somewhere around 130 to 140.

To the west is a dirt road that we dont have access to. I wish it was a creek.

I stay off the property line to keep any confrontations from happening. 2 years ago we had a guy that tried to sneak in on the SE side. He had a nice tripod feeder set up 50 yards on our side. We left a note explaining where the property line was and politely asked for the feeder to be moved. 3 weeks later we walked in to check and it was gone......and he pushed over and demolished a box stand we had there.

Food source is mainly on the east side of the property. Main source is white oaks. Majority of the place is pine so the oaks are scattered throughout. We throw out corn at each stand location also.

[Ethan Givan]

Ever thought of making your own water source? Maybe rent a dozer and dig a small pond or just dig a hole and put in a plastic livestock water tank and create a little water hole. If the closest water is a mile away, then just a small water hole on your property would probably become a deer magnet, and probably pull deer off all the neighbors properties as well.

[Dawg]

Ever thought of making your own water source? Maybe rent a dozer and dig a small pond or just dig a hole and put in a plastic livestock water tank and create a little water hole. If the closest water is a mile away, then just a small water hole on your property would probably become a deer magnet, and probably pull deer off all the neighbors properties as well.

I have considered that but haven't made the attempt.

I'm not sure if there is any water sources on the neighboring properties. From what I can tell (by using Google Earth, Bing maps, etc) there's not any. There very well could be. The closet source that I know of is over a mile.

[92xj]

I put in two small black plastic tanks in the middle of a field. There is no known water source for a mile or two around and the deer were drinking out of these tanks within 4 hours and placing them in the ground and filling them. I will get a picture next weekend when I get back up to the land for you. They are maybe 30 gallons each and I sunk them level with the ground. easy to pick up and dump put to clean every other week or so.

[dbHunterNY]

with the little water around, i think a small tank or two like Ben said would work great. if there aren't any regulations against it then i'd say go for it. i'd keep them toward the center of your property though.

on my parents farm we've got a couple sections of woods that are mainly pine stands with clusters of hardwoods. benches along pine ridges with oaks are really productive spots and then if you've got a cluster of oaks with a pine filled ditch running through them, you've probably got another. Those are some setups that work well from what I've seen. Although, there is another you might have. My dad let someone come in and thin out a ton of pines in this one area. it's turned into an open grown up brushy field looking area with a few pines in a row. all the trails (there's a lot) that seem to cross through there work there way past those few pines. seems like anywhere I hunt those setups are good spots as long as you can get to them without working across the whole property to do it.

[dbHunterNY]

92xj - while not illegal in Texas, placing stands directly on or in very close proximity to property lines is generally considered rude and un-neighborly....

yea that's pretty much anywhere. two of the neighbors do that around my parent's farm. I've watched a hunter on the neighbors walk right up the stone wall boundary, scoping out both sides. I'm sure he would've passed on a deer running right in front of him over to our side (being sarcastic).

[92xj]

Here is a more thought out plan. The stand locations near the road to the left are late season stands when the hunting pressure has been going on for a while, but only then. In the past 14 years of hunting our lease no one has killed a deer the last 2-3 weeks of season besides me. 50% of those late season deer have come from me climbing 50' up a pine over a 6 year old clear cut that is 7' tall of briars and bushes and I have shot straight down at them. The other 50% has come from hunting within a VERY close distance to a paved county road that boarders our lease. The deer travel parallel to the road in the late season using it, as it seems, as a safe area since no one thinks to hunt near a road. And yes, I was/am within legal distance of a public road.

The green blob on the left, I would hand rake and spread a shade plot and see what grows. I would also plant your dirt road and move your stand to the 45* corner with a feeder where your stand was. That way you look left down a long road with a foot plot and look right to the feeder.

I would do the water in a somehow central location that can be somewhat easy to get to to refill and clean when needed.

I would still set up stands somewhere in the corners of the property and for sure have a stand in the hardwoods. I love my climber and would use it in all the places I have marked.

[Rhino]

I understand why Ben suggested the 2 corner spots and why you don't want to get on the property line but there really doesn't appear to be any difference in the timber on your property and that smaller irregualr timbered tract on your SE side. It's an edge all along the property line, not a corner as far as the deer are concerned.

I'd walk the east edge with your map and make notes of every tral you see since there appears to be a crop field ~150 yards east of your line. I'd pay particular attention to the NE corner area. You may have a good stand area there ~100 yards or so inside that corner. As thick as the adjoining property is around that corner, I wouldn't be surprised to see deer work their way back and forth from that crop field inside your property line. Now back to the rest of the east edge. Chances are you'll find several trails relatively close to one another going in & out of the thicket. There may even be one preferred spot where they can move through the thicket easier than the rest. If there is, I'd back off ~100 yards from it for a stand site. I found one like that on our place where 4 trails went in & out of an overgrown tract that was a clear cut on the neighboring property. There wasn't another distict trail for over 150 yards. Other than that, I'd be checking around the edges where the hardwoods meet the pines. There may also be a topography feature that causes deer to funnel through a small area. That's something you can't tell from an aerial photo.

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

One other question - Can you enter the property on the road from either direction? Looks like the prevailing south wind will be a problem if you enter from the south side. Every deer on the place will know exactly when someone shows up. I try to plan my stand locations AND my approaches around the wind direction. I have some stands that only get hunted in a south wind, and others that only get hunted in a north wind.

[Dawg]

One other question - Can you enter the property on the road from either direction? Looks like the prevailing south wind will be a problem if you enter from the south side. Every deer on the place will know exactly when someone shows up. I try to plan my stand locations AND my approaches around the wind direction. I have some stands that only get hunted in a south wind, and others that only get hunted in a north wind.

We can only enter from the road that comes in from the northeast (marked in red). We are not allowed access to the road on the west side.

Here's some ideas I have come up with:

Blue: Bow stand locations (depending on scouting outcomes)

White line: Cut a trail and move box stand farther into the hardwood mix

Orange: Food plots

Yellow: Water troughs

Green: Box stands

Here's a different view. Shows more of whats around us. Parts of the land that is in the blue border was logged or thinned last year. Ours hasn't been touched so we have some of the last remaining timber in that general area. Our travel route comes in from the west.

Also note that the road (it runs into the dirt road we don't have access to) on the southwest corner is marked different on this map. I have it marked wrong on the others.

Edited July 14, 2011 by Dawg

[BamaTrae]

Ever thought of making your own water source? Maybe rent a dozer and dig a small pond or just dig a hole and put in a plastic livestock water tank and create a little water hole. If the closest water is a mile away, then just a small water hole on your property would probably become a deer magnet, and probably pull deer off all the neighbors properties as well.

My thoughts exactly, this is a no brainer, put some water out there and they will come.

[wtnhunt]

I would go with a couple water holes on that size property.

Think you are on the right track on your last map with the bowstand dots depending on the outcome of your scouting.

[Dawg]

Water holes are a go. I have obtained two small tanks. Now I will look into getting a bigger mobile holding tank to fill them with.

I have talked myself into going out tomorrow and scouting the southeast corner area again (where I have the white line on the last map). This area has only been hunted 3 times since we have been on the lease, which is going on 5 years now. I scouted it two years ago and I think it will be a great spot. Hoping to get at least a walking trail cut in tomorrow, then perhaps a wider trail will be cut later on to move the box stand down in there.

[Ethan Givan]

Water holes are a go. I have obtained two small tanks. Now I will look into getting a bigger mobile holding tank to fill them with.

I have talked myself into going out tomorrow and scouting the southeast corner area again (where I have the white line on the last map). This area has only been hunted 3 times since we have been on the lease, which is going on 5 years now. I scouted it two years ago and I think it will be a great spot. Hoping to get at least a walking trail cut in tomorrow, then perhaps a wider trail will be cut later on to move the box stand down in there.

Good luck with the water holes, I think they will work well for you. I have never had a good reason to put in water holes where I hunt just because water is so plentiful. There are creeks, and ponds everywhere.

[sskybnd]

I would go with a couple water holes on that size property.

Think you are on the right track on your last map with the bowstand dots depending on the outcome of your scouting.

looks good dawg, being the last remaning timber standing. and if its thick like you said, i would bet there using it for a bedding area also. id put a few more food plots in to try to keep them from wanting to brows on the clear cut, the bad part about being next to a clear cut is the other leases can see alot farther than you can,when the bucks start chasing. so i would try to keep the does on my property.

[Dawg]

Scouting trip was foiled by rain showers. Which I am glad it did, we need the rain. Put out the trail cam and mineral block.

Got back to the house and shot my bow.