cant help to think

[Geno C]

how this years season will pan out. Now that i live upstate i will be hunting the properties the i only came up to hunt during gun season. Now, ill be hunting them Bow/Gun and very minimal Long Island hunting. On the island in a few of my spots i have some very big bucks in my areas now coming up here i feel like i have to start all over again, scouting and taking inventory on whats out there. I set some higher standards for myself so i dont know what is around in my area up here during bow. Could be a good thing, could be a bad thing? I dont want to hold out for a certain inch deer when my land or area may not hold that size. i do know there are some very big deer in this county, there out there. Its just different for me now having this feeling like im starting over and have to formulate a whole new standard here. 

 

To up things i will be planting quite a few food plots, which is something i couldnt do on LI... finger crossed! i know the season just ended but die hards are always thinking a head. i went out a few weeks ago and there is this really nice hill side and ive known bucks to mill around in there from gun hunting in the past, would make the perfect staging area once some food plots go in. but when i walked one side there just was NO signs of deer what so ever. seemed they were funneling around this very thick cover and briers and walking through on the high side and not from the side. i decided to carve out a little path leading me to a beautiful tree if i accessed this staging area from the back door and i continued a little path all the way up this ridge to the main trail into this timber. (that was in the snow) the snow since then melted and a few fresh inches came about a day ago. i decided to walk to that spot and another funnel area coming off a bedding area and that spot i carved out looked like a deer highway. they were using it perfect. So today i decided to carve another path past a tree i will be hunting at about 15-20 yards, i carved it all the way to the bottom of this bowl and made 2 other paths that come into this one that goes right past my tree. Hope they use it during the season, im glad i did some work today on it. i got stabbed with 2 huge thorns in my fingers so that sucked.

 

i have 3 stand locations and food plots mapped out on this one farm. now when i get a chance ill do it on the other farm, where i shot my biggest buck.

 

 

[Lawdwaz]

Where did you move to?

[covert]

WTH?  I thought you were going to buy my place!

Edited January 22, 2014 by covert

[Geno C]

Where did you move to?

Chemung county... Horseheads

[Geno C]

WTH? I thought you were going to buy my place!

Lol how much!?

[bluecoupe]

Best time of year to try and figure out a new area.  Tracks in the snow don't lie.

[First-light]

Geno,

I'll keep your tree stand seats warm down on the Island. Really you should have me checking them every weekend ok?

[Geno C]

Geno,

I'll keep your tree stand seats warm down on the Island. Really you should have me checking them every weekend ok?

That won't happen lol

Unless you have some cash in your pockets

[First-light]

Cash works

[Doc]

What an opportunity. You will be making your hunting all new again. All new challenges. All new experiences on all new land. I think it's great. Things like that have a way of rejuvenating the whole thing for you. Good luck on your exploring, scouting and new hunting activities.

[Geno C]

What an opportunity. You will be making your hunting all new again. All new challenges. All new experiences on all new land. I think it's great. Things like that have a way of rejuvenating the whole thing for you. Good luck on your exploring, scouting and new hunting activities.

I must agree on this. After being so stealth mode on the island and not going into my spots with snow on the ground in fear of other wondering hunters finding my spots and such, I have to say it feels nice doing this recon and not worrying about who will find me since I'm practically the only one hunting these farms for bow and then gun is when my step dad and little brother come up. I've been putting in time with property layouts from the county site, google earth and topo overlays. I have constructed 3 aerial images of each property and studying potential bedding areas, funnels, entry and exit routes. It really is fun, at the moment I have a lot of free time while I wait to close on a property for my business so I'm using it to poke around in my timber. I have another farm to put work into and it's more then double the size. I think the food plots will be a huge factor and huge drawing card considering there is no surrounding AG and no one here really does food plots. Very few but. No one that I know of in my surrounding area.

[growalot]

Have fun!   don't get overwhelmed with projects...the first bow season will really educate you on future projects ...how big an area are we talking in plot size?..

[phade]

Slow and steady that first year. I'd opt to not change much so you can better understand natural movements before trying to manipulate deer beyond ambush sites for this fall.

 

 

[Geno C]

yes thats what i was thinking, this season will be the learning curve for future seasons. but ive been hunting these properties for some time so capitalizing on a nice buck is in the cards i want to play. im still going to go out and set plans to get a nice one down.

 

on the 100 acre farm i can go as big as 20-30 acres in food plots but i think ill be doing roughly 5-10 acres in plots, in various locations.

 

on the near 50 i will be doing just 2-3 acres at most, biggest one being and 1- 1.5 acres. i can go bigger if i want to tho. I dont think ill get overwhelmed with it. all that stuff is so fun for me that i enjoy every bit of being in the timber. And i have been dieing to do food plots again. years back i used to hunt private property where I could do food plots but due to my buddies marital status changing our hunting access did as well...

 

I have to lay it out on paper what blend i will plant where. i know where my planting will go, i am just debating what to plant. i have PTT, corn incredible and biologic maximum now. I want to get maybe winter bulbs and sugar beats, Deer Radish and maybe Soy. i will be creating a few foot wide screens around a select few plots using either corn or switch grass to make deer feel more comfortable coming into them where they dont feel so exposed in the open..

 

 

[Geno C]

Slow and steady that first year. I'd opt to not change much so you can better understand natural movements before trying to manipulate deer beyond ambush sites for this fall.

well its not total virgin ground for me, these properties i have been hunting for the better part of 16 years. The only stipulation is i have not ever hunted it during early bow or bow in general. So early season movement is foreign for me in these spots. i may have access to bigger deer then i think and im willing to bet the deer movement is way better early season then the usual time when i get up there for opening of gun. usually if i dont get one knocked down opening day of gun or by the second morning it becomes HARD hunting... so bow season will open a new door for me in these properties. all the pre season scouting,  trail cams and field glassing and  inventory of the properties is where this is all Virgin for me. im hoping it turns out better then i think, i dont want to hold out for deer that just arent there, thats where i start comparing it to LI where i DO know i have big deer in on the properties i hunted there. im thinking positive tho. Even tho i have hunted these properties for some time, after looking at the topos and other aerials i have made changes to stand placement and accessing so i think that will be a big factor as well. i never really studies the land before like im doing now since it was only gun hunting for just a few days i did there.

[growalot]

hows the water situation on the farms?...and hard mast?

[phade]

That's ALOT of food plot acreage you are talking about for a first year plot plan.

 

Whatever you decide to do, hopefully you find that balance with time investment vs. payoff. Food plots are great, but spending the time to do so overwhelmingly vs. setting up for the kill on a handful of top-lot bucks on those properties is a balancing act.

 

Generally, people get caught up with plots than actually killing the deer. Some people get the enjoyment out of it, and that's fine. But, the lowest hole in the bucket isn't food plots in most cases.

 

I'd think any scouting you do post-season that will reveal most of what you need to bank on come fall, will be impacted by the plotting, either via movements, changed bedding habits, etc.

 

I'd want to select offer a couple plots in locations that are clear winners, but not do so many that I wasted my scouting. Plus, I think with a full season under your belt with the bow season and growing season, you'll better understand natural deer movements and bedding at that time of year to better place stands and plots, etc.

 

Sounds like you are eager to get out there. I'd inventory now, having every game camera out there to see what is in the area and then do the same in August and watch to see what doesn't disperse. Take the top handful of bucks and make that your target goal to ensure you are not holding out on something that doesn't exist.

Edited January 22, 2014 by phade

[Geno C]

That's ALOT of food plot acreage you are talking about for a first year plot plan.

 

Whatever you decide to do, hopefully you find that balance with time investment vs. payoff. Food plots are great, but spending the time to do so overwhelmingly vs. setting up for the kill on a handful of top-lot bucks on those properties is a balancing act.

 

Generally, people get caught up with plots than actually killing the deer. Some people get the enjoyment out of it, and that's fine. But, the lowest hole in the bucket isn't food plots in most cases.

 

I'd think any scouting you do post-season that will reveal most of what you need to bank on come fall, will be impacted by the plotting, either via movements, changed bedding habits, etc.

 

I'd want to select offer a couple plots in locations that are clear winners, but not do so many that I wasted my scouting. Plus, I think with a full season under your belt with the bow season and growing season, you'll better understand natural deer movements and bedding at that time of year to better place stands and plots, etc.

 

Sounds like you are eager to get out there. I'd inventory now, having every game camera out there to see what is in the area and then do the same in August and watch to see what doesn't disperse. Take the top handful of bucks and make that your target goal to ensure you are not holding out on something that doesn't exist.

5 acres of planting on a 100 acre farm is a lot of food plot? i dont see it that way? i may not even go that big, i may do two 2 acre plots... in a 2 acre plot i can split and plant 1 acre PTT and 1 acre of another blend or even add a third type in. I dont need to plant 20 acres, in all honesty i dont want them to travel deep into the plots. i want shots to be some what close. i get what your saying tho, i have thought about changes to deer patterns but bedding areas i dont see changing much with the layout of the 100 acre parcel . It doesnt give the deer more options for them to bed other then what they have. their is a big bottle neck with fields on both sides, we have some big fields on our side with roughly 50 acres of timber up top and 20 acres of thicket down below with a beaver pond. funnel area from thicket to timber. Spills into the Big funnel of timber that traffics deer up top then a larger wooded funnel with our side being the "3rd of the way" on predominantly the leeward side with a doe bedding area about 100 yards off the field edge and then maybe 500 yards or so away is the U in that 3rd which is where another bedding area would occur and prior hunts over the years have led me to believe that and after looking into the topos it would pretty much confirm that. (on our property) if i want anything to change its maybe pulling some deer off of neighboring properties that offer bedding and perhaps draw them to bedup or frequent my farm more. to early for me to start running some cams with deer loosing head gear. it would be rather hard to take inventory based on that for shooter deer. i ran a cam up until about 2 weeks ago on the 50 and got a bunch of mature doe and a few smaller buck. but id like to see my cards im dealing with once plots are implemented and i can fine tune with what im working with. i love making plots and miss it and im very much looking forward to putting some in. Ill have food and i have water sources so if i can draw and keep on nice buck and try to capitalize once the season kicks off id be happy. Just concerned with having a few shooter deer sticking around come that time. i think with what you were saying will effect the 50 more then the 100 when it comes to layout and such. what you said is something to be considered for sure. but i wont be going with huge food plots all over on there either. i had given a lot of thought as to where they would go and why.