Winter plans - Hinge cutting/ tree downing

[Dingler]

 

quick pic of my hunting spot. Red lines are property lines of the area I have control over, blue is neighbors property that I have permission to hunt (but no land mangement), yellow lines deer trails, yellow stars my stands, white lines my access, black star is other neighbors stand and his access, brown area old field growth (8+ years) green area is mix of pines and hinge cuts I've been working on. Top is north. property slopes down hill towards the creek, with the steep ridge on the west side, that flattens out at the top. 

Edited January 11, 2016 by Dingler

[growalot]

DINGLER..I have to be honest...I don't go by all that ,you must avoid your woods before season advise...That said, you have to know your land,herd,surrounding land use. Some places that advise does hold true. For here at home...not so much..with exception.those being when the buck groups break up in Sept.and they are looking for doe. By Oct. I'm hunting only..so movement is limited anyways...but I blow off trails even during season.

Now camp is another story...very little human activity in the area in general. The deer spook if cars slow down...probably why the guys have limited success...they show up just before opener to check and fix stands..drive 4 wheelers to pack trails target practice...Why I only turkey and bow hunt there.

Here is the key..make your place the absolute best property for DOE. Doe do not travel to buck...Buck travel to doe.study up on doe behavior and likes keep the doe on you year around. Don't worry too much about the buck...they will show up...you will have buck on your wall

Edited January 11, 2016 by growalot

[Dingler]

I do have 2 bucks on my wall, and let others walk. I guess I'm just trying to make hunting more reliable. My girlfriend started hunting a couple years ago (gun) and she has yet to fill a tag. I do bow hunt the spot but "try" to leave it unpressured as much as possible. She says the best day of hunting is opening day then after that it's a waste of time. I know small acreage is tough to hunt. Just looking for ways and ideas to make it better. 

[growalot]

Smart thing to do...From the aerial that is a nice chunk of property you have to hunt. ...with quiet a few deer trails. From what I can see not a bunch of houses, so I assume little pressure within the woods most of the time?...If that's the case then staying out unless working and setting stands way before season is the smart thing...also making your going in a quiet thing...If you get them use to the sounds of engines and saws...blowing debris off trails in the fall shouldn't be an issue. As you can see in pics, I plant nearly all my trails and have them connect in the center of the property....I do many small plots mainly in the center with many brush pile fences and huge brush pile ground blinds...places I can tuck into is I glass deer in front of me.  the ridge that flattens out on top should see good travel...so food there would be smart...I love the side of steep hills going to water...here it's bedding especially in winter...Now You may have seen, I want the doe and don't care much if I see buck in summer, but my doe went nocturnal...Well they are just over the line in the neighbors Golden rod...If you have even a small area not far from food  and a stand set...try to encourage golden rod or even a switch grass/ grain sorghum spot...the golden rod would be preferable  ...do to it being all natural, so no one needs to be in it...holds well in winter. She has a huge field of it. I told her to mow paths through...the paths grew clover in them and the deer bed/feed in the golden rod during the day...travel to me for the "candy" at night...but I do get midday/dawn /dusk traffic... I also plant feed corn...pics are on the site...low cost and they hang in that..You will hear guys say low acreage won't work..Well I plant less than an acre with great success for what I want...and if you set up food sources properly they won't completely devour the corn until late season.

 

I have to say even though I use equipment during the year...nothing is on the property during hunting ...unless I get a deer... Hunting is walking access only..let everyone one else around me drive those 4 wheelers and ATV's...I know for a fact it drives deer my way.Biggest problem I had last year...that neighbor that drives their gator all through those trails all summer and fall...found out they pushed deer to the guys behind her(she has a profound dislike for them)...so refused to use the land for anything during deer season last year...Well it kept them from leaving her land nearly at all...Hey, she's just growing the herd...lol

Get to know your area deer and gleam as much info...with out divulging much.... from those hunting around you. Have fun doing anything you choose to do and spend wisely... IE..more cash to soil improvement over seed

 

[dbHunterNY]

with the farms i don't care so much about doing work later into year just before season.  however, with small properties I'm much less of an influence on behavior than the neighbors.  i don't know how they and deer are dealing with each other throughout the year so i limit my work to the antler growing season.  as soon as antlers harden they tend to change ranges and preferred sections of cover and are much less accustomed to people activity so i stay out from then on.  noticed that access cuts trails you're hunting right next to.  I've seen an old doe walk across my boot tracks intersecting a trail and then back pedal slowly.  she sniffed the air with no luck, so she then turned around and left with her two little ones.  other doe might keep walking but i know they can tell i just walked through.  a big buck is a buck that's been pressured and shot at he'll act the same way.

[Dingler]

I believe that's one of my problems right now. I have to cross a deer path at some point to get to a stand. Would like to know how to change that?  Also is bedding even worth trying on such a small property?

[dbHunterNY]

bedding on a small property can maximize their stay and improve your chances of taking a deer so yea.  even when hunkered down they tend to get up browse around a little then lay back down.  just trickier the closer you access or hunt near it.  I would put more options for bedding east within that green area than west.  screening cover of some type for access might be needed.  don't know how far you or they when bedded can see.  also the crossing of trails is tough but sometimes there's no way around it.  any reason why you don't hunt the creek crossing of 5 intersecting trails?  those are usually hot spots.  if you haven't put a camera there I would.  sometimes to can steer deer to go parallel with a trail but closer to you.  food to pass by, cover to travel, or making a spot hard or uncomfortable for a deer to get through can all steer deer travel but only if destination is the same effort to get there isn't much different.

[growalot]

Personally I walk trails here all the time..Then again our herd is "different" I walk among these deer year around and everyday...I am just part of the woods... When  I'm with in yards of them and I'm spotted I keep my eyes low and never change my pace...They will allow me to walk past with in feet. If I stumble upon them and want to watch, I stand perfectly still hands at side and eyes half closed...they will stare...feed stare and eventually move off. I do these things to get them use to me...especially with the fawns all summer..I do not wear perfumes and scented lotions ...so they become familiar with my scent... But I am a stickler about scent control...hunting boots are just that hunting only and I always have them on a drier when not in use during the season. Really cuts any funk I may leave in them. I avoid all the commercial conditioners to maintain them...good old mineral oil is all that touches them.. all hunting clothes I wear remain outside on an open porch...and yes they get dang cold sometimes..but that also controls bacteria that makes one smell...I never miss a chance to goo them up with a fresh pile of deer dung as I walk in. All that but as db and I both stated...care is taken to limit all things when "horns harden", for you have new guys unfamiliar with the activity/scent roaming...looking for those doe you are trying to keep.

 

Yes bedding can be great even on a small place...I still hing cut  and make spread out bedding spots...NO I do not avoid them for I plant trails around some...have plots near some and blinds(brush) /stands...Yep against what guys say...but I know the times I can and can't enter areas and I also know where to access for good "glassing" of said spots. Unfortunately deer really are smart and they tend to bed right under stands in front of blinds and actually in, my brush blinds... So I learn what to do in those situations...I shot the buck in pic after spooking him from under my stand  in the dark predawn hours. spooked called him back while half way up the ladder spooked again...it got day light and he came right back to me.

 

I suppose I'm saying there are a lot of things to learn to get what you want out of the land and hunts you do...everything is connected...trial and error. At my age,  you can bet I have had a lot of error before getting to this point...but the best time doing it...Read, Read,Read! Then tweak what you read to what you experience first hand...you'll never go wrong

[LET EM GROW]

Dingler, check out www.whitetailhabitatsolutions.com and or www.qdma.com,  i actually subscribe to qdma and they send magazines as well. (i like that stuff ) they have taught me a TON, in different ways to provide for our deer herd and help ourselves be a better hunter.. i frequent these pages often. especially if trying to picture all the good info from these posts.. Very cool sites.. 

[growalot]

Better yet...Dr Woods(deer biologist) at http://growingdeer.com

Now he manages extensive, lands...but if you watch, you'll notice they set up relative small areas around those properties...a wonderful source of information. Not only does he have degrees in this and spent his life doing it...but he has interns working with him that are going for their degrees.

Edited January 12, 2016 by growalot

[Dingler]

First off, db, I don't hunt that spot because it is a low spot, I've had a stand there before and got busted by deer coming down the hills toward me. One of those looks good on paper but tough to pull off, why I moved that stand up the creek more and on top of that ridge. Second I am a qdma member and have also the same pic and questions posted there. I also look forward to every monday morning videos from the growing deer tv team (also follow them on facebook). I have read many forums as well on qdma, kinda what got me thinking and started on the ideas of land management. I posted this as I understand that no 2 properties are the same and just looking for ideas.

Gowalot that is a cool story about that buck! amazing the stuff they will do at the rut time of year!

One thing that I do have going on is that I do see deer every bow season and have a lot of fun bow hunting. It's just come gun season I don't see them as much or at all. Is it cause the put up with me till then? Is it a lack of cover after season starts? It's just like a switch was flipped and they are gone. That's what I'm trying to fix. I've read about hinge cutting for bedding, blockades, funnels, edge feathering, ect. Just don't want to screw up what I have going on early season, to make late season better. Thanks for everything so far. Please keep the ideas and suggestions coming!

[LET EM GROW]

I'm in the same boat as you. Unless we own a ton of land and can keep pressure off deer, this will happen every year. It's pressure that keep deer from being seen, cover will help always but planning entry and exit routes from stands and knowing where deer typically are in that time frame when your getting into a stand.. and not over hunting areas, I'm basing all my hinge cutting this winter on entry and exit routes.. to make sure if they do(and hopefullydo) start bedding in these areas, I can slip in and out of my stands with the right wind direction, and then never knowing I'm there. It is near impossible most of the time to keep the neighbors from ruining this for us but I feel it's a good start. One step at a time.. i think we're looking for the same in all aspects here..

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[growalot]

Well the gun season  compared to bow...more than likely just means the guys around you are mostly gun hunters...so the area is probably getting a lot more activity towards the end of bow season...happens here every single year...I am blessed to be between two bedding areas on one side of the road and a feed/bedding area on the other...with swamps being two of those bedding areas...we own one. but they still bed in the open wood on us. normally my gun bucks are taken within the first week of gun season and always one the edge of our property..I avoid the inner parts...and it is those areas they are either coming out of or going to mid morning having been push by other ppl off their lands... people make fun of all the stands and blinds I have every where...but I never get a chance to over use any of them they don't get to pattern my movement ..unless I walk the road too often to get to different areas...the buck love bedding near the road...which really stinks...lol

[Dingler]

Added pressure is for sure by me. I talk with the neighboring hunters starting with gun season, mainly to see what was harvested. The surrounding 150-200 acres goes from just me bow hunting to 8 guys gun hunting. I like the idea of backing stands out of the woods and giving deer most of the woods. Also believe that more cover is need. I like the idea of clearing more area next to the old growth field, hinging,cutting. Also more cover near the road in the green area. Then maybe a stand on the east edge of the woods between the 2 with a possible planted trail to connect them. What do you guys think? Then maybe work on that ridge top to the west that the neighbor who lets me hunt, see if I can get in there and cut a couple of junk trees or girdle some to thicken it up, and leave as a "sanctuary" of sorts?

[LET EM GROW]

i only have a few stands in the woods, and only hunt them seldomly.. (rut, mid days, etc..) and try to stay on or closer to the edges for the most part. leaving the woods to be more of a "safe zone" for them. but a sanctuary is always good. it limits your hunt-able acres, but it will also pay off to just incorporate this sanctuary plan in your other stands.. i have 4 sanctuaries in and around my piece within 1/2 mi radius... it definitely helps.  

 

you lost me a bit there,.. but more cover is always good, but i think id shy away from doing all that work near the road, and focus more away from the road, near the overgrown field, or the center of your woods, and or edges of your fields.. As for cover on ridges, heck yea.. i will be doing the same.. thickening up 2 different ridge tops(saddles) .. but im a rookie at this as well..  

[Dingler]

That spot next to that old growth field is a saddle, just seems like a natural spot for bedding, but it is open and could use a little work. I just don't know if it will hurt that southern tree stand? It is tough already, can't get to it in the morning (deer in that hay lot) tough in the evening (deer coming in to the hay field) and I get spooked easy. I hate the idea of loss of hunting land but maybe worth it long term. Why do you say stay away from the road? the road to that woods is a 6-8 foot bank along the road/ditch. during the rut there is a highway that runs up that bank into the woods. It is a natural funnel from wood lots to the north and would like to find away to take advantage of that. My only worry about the how close to the road for a tree stand placement and a hit deer and have it run into traffic! It is thick there now but could use some screening from the house/driveway, and the more you head south onto my property the more the woods opens up and deer have no set path so they seem to just wonder into what ever way the wind is blowing. 

[LET EM GROW]

it sure looks like a perfect funnel where they cross the rd, but id add cover further into your property and not on the edges, for the sake of possible road hunters or people just stopping to see deer from the road.. plus you want to hold more deer on your property and not the neighbors.. place cover towards the corner of your field and/or further left from there so you can hunt around it(wind providing) or between the food and bedding. and cut them off..  id make cover away from your access points too, not sure where they are.. thicken up the area below your green spot in the middle of those trails and along the blue and red line .. where maybe a doe group will bed down, and you can cut the bucks off when they cross the road on their way to check that new cover/bedding area for doe in the rut. 

 

Thicken anything up along where the red and blue lines meet would be a good start i think...

 

just dont let them watch you leave the house heading to a stand,  

[Dingler]

All great ideas, thanks. Another question is water, I picked up a free 70 gal rubber tub I was thinking about using. Anyone ever done something like this? I've seen and read about them just never in ny. I have the pond and a creek on the property, so there is water. The creek is seasonal at best, heavy rains, snow melt. But I thought if I had a little hidden spot of water with a stand it would help? Let me know if anyone has done it and if it hepled hunting. Pics would be cool too!

[thphtm]

I dug a little hole with my bucket loader in the woods on one of there travel paths, 5' x 6' x 1-1/2' deep . Fed by a wet weather spring. Set up a cam. and have pictures of all types of animals and birds hitting it, In the summer the deer go so far as to walk in it.

Quite a few people us the plastic water tanks from TS and they work also.

[growalot]

That is another thing I've talked about and posted pictures on...I use watering tubs at everyone of my plots  and they are heavily used...They are bath tubs sunken and not(sunken ones rear hundreds of frogs each year)....they are koi ponds....large and small cattle tubs My bath tubs...I have gotten by asking remodeling sites and  just off the side of the road... koi pond was given to me from a yard remodel...and the cattle tubs I had for the animals. If sinking dig hole deep enough to allow tub to sit on blocks...it makes draining and cleaning a breeze.. but if you do not want frogs,they really dirty the water and once eggs are laid they have the tub the entire season. I now keep the tubs above ground...You can camo the out side and use rubber roofing on inside to keep down algae,make cleaning easier and allow it to blend in...I use to use a camo tarp...which worked well when lined with flat stones...but a pain to clean...You can go with small amounts of dunk, a solar water fountain to avoid the skeeters and fountain or barley mats for algae. All animals use them until the freeze over...rain helps to replenish and clean them. To avoid fall leaf drop...take that PVC deer fencing and cut a pies 2 1/2 x's the size of the tub...sink it with rocks tuck the over hang behind branches.....when leaf fall is heavy pull up netting and dump leafs.

I'm on the run ...some pics on here but I'll see if I can find them later and re-post...

Edited January 15, 2016 by growalot

[thphtm]

The little water hole is frozen there not going near it, but the hinge cut trees are getting hit when they travel threw the area.

[Dingler]

Is there other water spots on your properties, such creeks or bigger ponds? Or is it that deer just like the smaller hided spots? Also do you hunt over your water holes/tubs? Seems like if you did they wouldn't as effective year after year. I'm def. going to do it and see how it all works out, just wondering how others have used them.

Thanks

[growalot]

I am above a swamp on one side...the neighbors and his streams open up 50ft off our line...right in front of my new blind(where I took my gun 8pt  this year)...I have water tubs just yards in front of both blinds and stands. Then on our other parcel, I have 6 spring/streams that  open on our land and run down hill to our swamp... I have stands set up all along the middle streams and the edge of swamp.( where I took my archery 8pt this year)

Edited January 16, 2016 by growalot

[LET EM GROW]

Never tried making a water hole yet, always wanted too.. especially seeings how a lot of my property has underground springs.. may try making one this spring as big as my cubs 4' bucket will dig... right in the middle of a plot im thinking... 

[thphtm]

2 Things they need Food and Water.