New farm just purchased

GUYS,
I just recently purchased this farm. Main reason for the purchase was 100% deer hunting. Just don’t tell my wife. My portion of the AG ground is planted in all corn this year. The whole farm totals 30 acres. And the open areas used to be pasture for 3 horses. The neighboring land owner to the south is and retired farmer. He rents all of his ground out. But there are no neighbors to the South for over 3 miles of river bottom timber, which I have access to through my property. probably an additional 250 acres. FYI. across the river is IOWA.

I know there are giant bucks at this location, this is why I dove all in. Just seeing what you guys see when you look at this photo. What do you think I should do in form of food plots, stand locations, or just general improvement for deer. I can barely sleep at night brainstorming all things I want to do! This has been a dream of mine for quite some time. To hunt, manage, and farm for deer on my own ground.

Here are some shots of my land, and the neighbors ground.
Thanks
MD

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You know, it’s a great position you’re in and congratulations! You’ve got a great opportunity. I totally agree, it’s a dream come true for a hunter to buy his own ground and be able to drive instead of just riding along.

As a fellow new-ish hunting property owner, I can tell you a few things I’ve learned over the past 2-3 years.

1. Rome wasn’t built in a day. You’re embarking on a project that’s best talked about in terms of years or decades, not single seasons or months. It’s not always easy to remember, but we’re doing this for fun.

I often think of what my sons will experience in 10, 15, 20 years time rather than what it looks like today. I’m building a future and even though it gets frustrating some times in terms of short-term progress being not what I’d like, it’s helpful to look at the big picture.

2. Plan twice, plow once. Lay out your plans, consider them, get feedback on them, sleep on them, and only break ground when you’ve really thought things through. You don’t want to waste time and money doing something only to discover that you have to undo it later.

3. Think more about holding cover and sanctuary than you do about food. The idea with only 30 acres is to figure out how to keep deer on/near your property rather than having them just visiting for candy. Food plots are part of a bigger picture that you need to create.

The challenge with 30 acres is going to be creating habitat that isn’t going to be disturbed every time you visit the property. IMO, one of the things you’ll want to look at is how to screen the house/yard so you don’t spook deer that are nearby.

Grouse

Good advice Grouse.. Thanks for your response…

Given the nature of river bottom ground… I imagine that I will have high numbers of bucks cruising the timber on the river frontage during the rut… So alot more passerby’s than resident bucks. But if I can do some things to get them to linger around a little while………… That will be my overall goal.

I do know from experience in this area that there is a rather large “migration” if you will…. of animals from the west that head to the river once things get cold and all the food and cover is gone…I know because I have hunted west in the crop ground area for years, and they take off at the end of November and head to the river.. This river area is a wintering ground for VERY LARGE numbers of deer. So I am going to venture that Late November and December will be the best time of year at this location.

Whatever the case may be.. I’m sure that I will learn alot this fall, and have a better plan of attack next spring as to enhancements that need made. Pretty exciting stuff!

sniiiiiiifffffffff….ahhh, I love that new farm smell. Congrats on the new purchase.

Know the area… there ARE some dandies through there. Good luck.

Grouse and I think a lot alike when it comes time. I’m about 24 years into my farm, and I still have more to do. Things change, and you will need to adapt…and it all takes time.

#1 Don’t do anything significant for the first year or two. Use that as a learning curve to fully understand the natural patterns. Those subtle contour changes that really dictate where thew deer move through. Especially mature bucks Vs the rest of the pack.

#2 – Enhancements – Look for enhancements to do to keep two things. Keep does around and security. Deer need to feel secure to remain in the area. If they are easily spooked, they’ll always be on high alert making it tough.

#3 – longer term – determine an area that is truly a sanctuary. It may need to be 5 acres or 20 acres or somewhere in between. NO ONE steps foot in this area. Create bedding habitat, wintering safe grounds, plant some hazelnut shrubs… but most of all, leave this area alone. The long term is deer will learn to seek refuge in here when spooked. Its hard when you know deer are using it, but I can’t stress enough to stay the hell out of a refuge area. I have about 15 acres set up like this. Now that I’m 20 years into this, I have a section of land that ALWAYS has deer….which means does…which means every buck in the area eventually comes by. When neighbors spook deer, I watch them cross 200 acres to get to this sanctuary. This is a long term project and it takes years and patience.

#4 – Only after you figure out all the main routes, subsidiary routes, and escape routes to and from bedding areas, plan your food plots. I see so many guys go in and set a food plot in or directly next to a bedding area. Give a little distance. The most active plots will be near a bedding area that never gets disturbed while you enter or leave a hunting area. You want to be able to have multiple vantage points that enable you to position correctly between the bedroom and the grocery store without going into either.

#5 Remember, to set your land up for the long haul…it takes time and understanding. I’ve made the mistake of food plots in the wrong spot, putting stands too close to bedding areas, bad stand positioning, not understanding the relationship of deer movement to cover and countour….A LOT OF MISTAKES. Above are the key things I would focus on and set a 3 year, 5 year and 10 year plan.

Thanks Guys for the congrats and advice….. I will listen to every piece of game/land management you guys throw my way. This will be a huge learning curve, but it should prove to be very rewarding experience!

Congrats on the new farm!! I can’t add much more than what Grouse and Randy have said. I will add though that a sanctuary is a huge benefit. Look for a decent spot for one and add that to your “to do list” and put it on the top of that list. They are great to have on large acreage, but are invaluable on small acreage.

Will you be living there?

is this by Jefferson? Cool place, I’m thinking about the same idea, just more grass land. If there’s mulberry trees over hanging the river the old timers swears as they are ripe and dropping into the river you will catch huge cats, flats, blues, and channels. Again congrats!

Belletaine, Yes we will be moving there this month. It is an older ranch style house, detached 2 stall, steel sided large barn, and a MASSIVE 105×54 ft mortan building. Were doing a little remodel before we get in.

Chomps, No this is up north of there , I am SOUTH AND EAST of the Sioux Falls area..

Just got my first picture of a nice 4×4, (or for you minnesotans 8 pointer) on camera last night… Other than that… I can distinguish 4 adult resident does… and 6 fawns……. they are around the yard all times day and night.