Improvements/New Tactics/Changes

[benehunter]

What are you doing this coming season to improve your hunting property as well to increase your odds at harvesting deer?

I will start this with saying that I will be hunting my new property for the second year. Last season was a year to learn patterns, movements, examine ratios, locate food sources and learn how many trespassers visit my land.

Based on that, the first thing I will be focused on will be to implement two mineral sites, create 3 food plots of may be rye (not ryegrass), red clover and/or buckwheat; also fence the road frontage to include 2 gates on each of the access trails, buying a atv, hang a few stands of which one will be in the same spot as last year and one in a different area I already located; keep clearing the spot I selected for the future Bene's Hunting Cabin, replace my peep and bowsight and buy a new winter suit.

Last and most important: practice, practice, practice.

There are probably a few more that will come to my mind later:).

What about you?

[ASTONECOLD1]

good luck with your food plots . have you thought about some turnips ? you may have to pitchfork them up in fall but they really liked them where we were hunting in guernsey .

[deerhunt45]

I will be adding at least 2 more stands this summer and moving 1. I've been hunting this property several years. The property has/is maturing which is creating some new patterns and opportunities...always plenty to learn and do!

[coonskinner]

well nothing new unless i buy some land...just scout new areas,theyre ready,if i am...:D

[benehunter]

good luck with your food plots . have you thought about some turnips ? you may have to pitchfork them up in fall but they really liked them where we were hunting in guernsey .
For my first ever food plots with limited equipment on areas that have never been planted before, I want to focus on building soil matter and fixing nitrogen levels. For that I chose red clover for its ability to be frost seeded plus it is high protein food source for deer, an insect attractant for turkey poults and naturally fixing nitrogen at the same time. Buckwheat for working as a weed inhibiting green manure and soil building properties. Fall rye grain (like winter wheat) will grow under deplorable conditions with little or no fertilizer or lime and provides all winter feed.

Maybe I will rotate to some turnips in the years to come.;)

well nothing new unless i buy some land...just scout new areas,theyre ready,if i am...:D
Coonie I thought you were putting up some cameras. Did you change your mind or just don't wanna share?:confused:

[bowhunter1023]

Diversification and mobility...

I am hunting smarter spots in more places with stationary stands. I will have three wooden platforms with ground blinds on top built for all day sits and gun hunting, and Lone Wolf sticks paired with a Millennium hang-on to make adjustments based on observed movement. I have been fine tuning for a few years and it seems I pick something up each year. My good buddy Greg showed me the importance of mobility this year and I learned to diversify my hunting areas on my own. Two good lessons that will warrant changes in my hunting approach this year.

As for big projects, I have one planned on my parents 11-acre parcel. Actually hoping to kind of walk everyone through what I am doing as I go along. New mineral site, feeder, new food plot, wireless camera set-upcam, two man treestand set, and a 10' platform with a ground blind on the top. I want this to be a project for a spot I can use for the kids. I am hoping to have a bow set hung on one-side in an area I won't touch outside that. On the opposite corner, I will put out the minerals, feeder, camera, platform, and food plot. Minerals go out soon. I'll feed from January to September. Plant a turnip mix in the food plot and build the ground blind about 40 yards away over looking this set-up in the bottom. Should be a great spot for guests, the kids, and my wife. I'm excited to get started...

[benehunter]

Diversification and mobility...

I am hunting smarter spots in more places with stationary stands. I will have three wooden platforms with ground blinds on top built for all day sits and gun hunting, and Lone Wolf sticks paired with a Millennium hang-on to make adjustments based on observed movement. I have been fine tuning for a few years and it seems I pick something up each year. My good buddy Greg showed me the importance of mobility this year and I learned to diversify my hunting areas on my own. Two good lessons that will warrant changes in my hunting approach this year.

As for big projects, I have one planned on my parents 11-acre parcel. Actually hoping to kind of walk everyone through what I am doing as I go along. New mineral site, feeder, new food plot, wireless camera set-upcam, two man treestand set, and a 10' platform with a ground blind on the top. I want this to be a project for a spot I can use for the kids. I am hoping to have a bow set hung on one-side in an area I won't touch outside that. On the opposite corner, I will put out the minerals, feeder, camera, platform, and food plot. Minerals go out soon. I'll feed from January to September. Plant a turnip mix in the food plot and build the ground blind about 40 yards away over looking this set-up in the bottom. Should be a great spot for guests, the kids, and my wife. I'm excited to get started...
1023, do you have any instructions on how to build those wood platforms? Maybe some pictures to show me? That sounds like a good idea. I always wanted to have a comfortable place to hunt from for the late season.

[bowhunter1023]

1023, do you have any instructions on how to build those wood platforms? Maybe some pictures to show me? That sounds like a good idea. I always wanted to have a comfortable place to hunt from for the late season.

Not just yet. I have an idea in my head, but I need to sketch it out. Basically I will be taking 6x6 posts and setting them in concrete to make a 7'x7' platform 8' off the ground and set up my monster Big Game Deluxe ground blind. I can get 3 people in there easily. It will have a railing, a ladder, outdoor carpeting on the floor, and we will brush it in real nice. I hope to do this in April or May. I will be starting a thread for this project I plan on documenting everything I do out there this year. I thought it would be fun to share with everyone and hopefully I can help some other people get into doing some of this stuff. I know there are guys out there that want to do these kind of things, but for one reason or another, it never gets done. Maybe this would help peak their interest to get further involved in their passion.

[Bowhunter57]

I'll be improving my tactics...by shooting more deer. I didn't get any last year. :cheeky-smiley-022: I was waitin' on "bullwinkle" and ended up eating tag soup. I'll be returning to my original tactics of shooting the first sizable deer that walks within my range. :cool:

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

[Thunderflight]

I'm planning on hunting the same property I always do. Unless something drastically changes I don't forsee the deer not using that corner, but hey you never know.

My other plan is to mooch off the hard work of friends who spent all Summer planting food plots, scouting, making mineral licks, and so on. So who wants to be the friend to let me hunt with them in November?:bouncy::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy:: bouncy:

[coonskinner]

For my first ever food plots with limited equipment on areas that have never been planted before, I want to focus on building soil matter and fixing nitrogen levels. For that I chose red clover for its ability to be frost seeded plus it is high protein food source for deer, an insect attractant for turkey poults and naturally fixing nitrogen at the same time. Buckwheat for working as a weed inhibiting green manure and soil building properties. Fall rye grain (like winter wheat) will grow under deplorable conditions with little or no fertilizer or lime and provides all winter feed.

Maybe I will rotate to some turnips in the years to come.;)


Coonie I thought you were putting up some cameras. Did you change your mind or just don't wanna share?:confused:

oh boy do i have a plan but its top secret for now...:D

[jbrown]

Not just yet. I have an idea in my head, but I need to sketch it out. Basically I will be taking 6x6 posts and setting them in concrete to make a 7'x7' platform 8' off the ground and set up my monster Big Game Deluxe ground blind. I can get 3 people in there easily. It will have a railing, a ladder, outdoor carpeting on the floor, and we will brush it in real nice. I hope to do this in April or May. I will be starting a thread for this project I plan on documenting everything I do out there this year. I thought it would be fun to share with everyone and hopefully I can help some other people get into doing some of this stuff. I know there are guys out there that want to do these kind of things, but for one reason or another, it never gets done. Maybe this would help peak their interest to get further involved in their passion.


I like the idea for the ground blind platform... similar concept to the traditional shooting house, only yours will be better since it'll be brushed in to disappear.

The duck hunting must've really influenced you this past year, Jesse. :mischeif: A ten foot tall duck blind for shooting deer out of... nice.

[jbrown]

My plans for the upcoming season are similar to 1023's. Mainly I want to diversify. I'm finally starting to settle in now in Medina County and so far I've gotten permission to coyote hunt almost 1500 acres. I'm hoping to work into turkey hunting, and eventually deer hunting some of these properties. I think having multiple options available is the best way to increase the odds of success. More than likely, I won't be allowed to conduct any habitat management on these properties, but I will be doing some on my step-dad's 80 acres in Carroll County.

Currently, there are no food plots or mineral sites in place down there, so I plan on implementing those this spring. Two, maybe three, .25 acre food plots and a couple mineral sites will do the trick. I also plan on doing some selective cutting, creating some bedding areas, and routing some sneak trails. I would really like to have 3 or 4 cameras set up but my funds just won't cover it... so I'll make due. This property isn't really in deperate need of work because its already got a little bit of everything. But it definitely won't hurt and it will give me something to do.

Jesse, you wouldn't happen to have that mineral recipe still would you? I'm sure a mineral thread is bound to pop up soon anyhow.

[bakerboy]

I need a serious dog removal program. Honestly, they completely ruined things right after gun season. I suspect they were collected all fall and turned loose by the "neighbors" for gun season. I really hate the idea of just shooting dogs, but this is rediculous.

[fishforfun]

I will be putting a cpl mineral licks on some new property.I will also try a food plot also , but really don t know what to plant up here in northeast ohio.I have been thinking a mixture of beans and some kind of biologic. I am going to try trail cams for a first time also looking forward to that.....Oh yes and alot of practice from 35 to 40 yards....

[Gordo]

For this upcoming year I'm going to concentrate more on a good friends 200+ trac of land in meigs county, and less time on my smaller 30 acre tracks. His land has every kind of habitat imaginable. Open Fields, huge oak flats, lots of water, prime bedding areas, funnels, hollers. There's so many options I'm kind of overwhelmed at this point, but am already starting to put the time in to figure out the lay of the land. We found the first spot to drop a ladder stand in and are giong to blaze a nice small trail to it for easy access sometime soon. It should be a sweet spot that is in the bottom of a holler with a nice creek running through it with alot of scrub. Were hoping to have 4 or 5 stands hung ready to roll for the start of season. I'm looking forward to having more options to rotate through to keep the hunting fresh and not get burned out on the same areas.

[Nimrod]

I'm gonna drop more trees (cottonwoods, maples and a few beech). This is to encourage oaks to flurrish. I also need to thin some of the beech trees to allow shooting lanes. Of course the downed trees will help provide nesting/bedding cover. I have public land very close to my Golden Oaks property. I plan to hunt it a bit more as it has grown up nicely from a field years ago and now shows a great abit of deer sign.

[jackalope]

I have chosen about three sites that I'm going to place minerals, these are out of the way sanctuary spots that nobody hunts on the lease. I figure the deer will use it all through the summer and fall but when deer season rolls around it's rarely used after that so it shouldn't hold deer in un-huntable areas but will give them a good area to take minerals without being molested and they can feel secure.

I have about 3 ambush sites that I want to set up one is a spot that is a small hollow that runs up a good ways to almost 200 acres of 15 year old pines, there are pines on both ridges that come about half way down the sides. But in the bottom it's just overgrown saplings and brush about 40 yards wide and 400 yards long. There is one spot that we call the sage grass bowl that is clear. I'm going to back up the side of the hill from that bowl about 20 yards and build a blind in those pines with a shooting lane going down into that sage grass.. It's the perfect ambush site as the deer use that small hollow to come out of the pines down into the main hollow, the feel secure because if they think anything isn't right all they need is 3 good bounds and they are back in the 200 acres of pines... There is a mud trail leading right through that grass and a nice 5pt shed with 12 inch G2s was found in it durring muzz.. Nobody hunts it on the lease because 1. it's a good walk and 2. it would take some prep work.

[bowhunter1023]

Jesse, you wouldn't happen to have that mineral recipe still would you? I'm sure a mineral thread is bound to pop up soon anyhow.

Mineral thread is in the works. Look for it next week complete with recipe. Its about that time...

[TheCream]

I think the biggest change or difference for me and my hunting buddy next year is going to be hunting a few "new" spots we had never really hunted before. One of the spots I hunted twice in the last week of season and saw 14 deer, including a shooter 10, in the last week. Not bad for late season hunting. The other locations we uncovered while shed hunting the last few weekends. We were a little shocked to see how much traffic a few spots were receiving and how much buck sign was there.

Outside of that, it's just more of the same. We may try to expand plot areas a little more, keep planting where we have been, and keep sticking to our management plan. This will be Year 3 and we're already seeing great results. Should be a great season! :biggrin:

[hacksack]

After hunting the same property for two years now (with those being my first two years I have hunted) and this year my goal was so get out and learn the property like the back of my hand. In doing so I found some awesome stand sites not only for bow but shotgun/muzzle loader. So hopefully I will be able to get the stands up in the sites I'd like to and everything will be good to go. And then there will be the little things like getting a nice pair of binoculars, a rangefinder, a jacket and pair of pants. Hopefully everything goes has planned trying to balance college, work and hunting.

[benehunter]

My projects are on a good start. Last weekend a buddy and I cleared about an acre field full of brush. Also, I planted a couple of very small food plots in red clover just before the rain hit.

The fence should be up in the next week or two and when I go back, I am planning on putting out two mineral sites once I find Dicalcium Phosphate.

I will put up pictures when I get a chance.

[deerhunt45]

"You put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in"

Sorry, when I read "the fence", that lyric just popped into my thoughts :coco: :dizzy:

From your first post, I understand what the fence is for ;) :D

You guys worked your tails off clearing an acre in a weekend!

One of my chores for this offseason is to shoot some groundhogs off the hays fields for my landowners. They are thick and playing hellz on the farm equipment and I must do it before the hay gets up too high...I promised :D

[benehunter]

Here are some pictures of the land cleared before and after and then a couple of the plots.

Before
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P3190015.jpg
After
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P3280141.jpg

These are some of the plots I planted in red clover (deer and turkeys will love it):shhh:
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P3280150.jpg
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P3280155.jpg

[Hoytmania]

Looking nice there Bene. How many acres you got there to hunt.

As for me and the boy we have a total of 5 different properties that we can hunt on. I am going to give the food plot piece a try this year and start learning more about that. I think that will be a primary spot for my son. I really want to get him on a nice buck for the bow season this year. One of the properties I have never been to yet. But I know the area and it should have no problem producing deer. It is just a matter of doing some due diligence and finding out when and where they move through this property.

I would like to build a nice solid blind. My wife has said that she would like to give it a whirl. She just doesn't want to be cold or up in a tree(scared of hieghts). I know alot of you are thinking she wants her cake and eat it to. But I figure there will probably be some days when I wouldn't mind being a little warmer. I saw a real nice blind that wouldn't be to hard to build down at the expo.

There is some land that is right up against the property where I killed my buck last season. It is only 15 acres and mostly field that is right up against the 3 acres that I can hunt. If I get permission this will be the secret spot. That gets some stands hung and isn't touched until the first week of Nov.

That what I'm getting going this year.

[benehunter]

Looking nice there Bene. How many acres you got there to hunt.

As for me and the boy we have a total of 5 different properties that we can hunt on. I am going to give the food plot piece a try this year and start learning more about that. I think that will be a primary spot for my son. I really want to get him on a nice buck for the bow season this year. One of the properties I have never been to yet. But I know the area and it should have no problem producing deer. It is just a matter of doing some due diligence and finding out when and where they move through this property.

I would like to build a nice solid blind. My wife has said that she would like to give it a whirl. She just doesn't want to be cold or up in a tree(scared of hieghts). I know alot of you are thinking she wants her cake and eat it to. But I figure there will probably be some days when I wouldn't mind being a little warmer. I saw a real nice blind that wouldn't be to hard to build down at the expo.

There is some land that is right up against the property where I killed my buck last season. It is only 15 acres and mostly field that is right up against the 3 acres that I can hunt. If I get permission this will be the secret spot. That gets some stands hung and isn't touched until the first week of Nov.

That what I'm getting going this year.
My piece of paradise is 40 acres, all wooded with the exception of a couple small fields, most less than half an acre in size. And yeah, I've been thinking about building a nice tree blind (1023 style) to avoid the cold days sometimes.

It's important to say that the red clover plots I planted, I just used a spreader for the seed and did not plow, mow or spray the soil. I'll just wait and see the results.

[Hoytmania]

I'm clearing a corner out of a woods on the one property. Leaving the edge trees there. It should be in between 1/4 to 1/2 acre plot when it is all said and done. Right now i;m doing all the cutting. I was hoping to be done with the cutting by now but just haven't had the time that I want to put to it. Oh well I'll just do what I can and hope for the best.

[benehunter]

I'm clearing a corner out of a woods on the one property. Leaving the edge trees there. It should be in between 1/4 to 1/2 acre plot when it is all said and done. Right now i;m doing all the cutting. I was hoping to be done with the cutting by now but just haven't had the time that I want to put to it. Oh well I'll just do what I can and hope for the best.
And when you finish this job, there will be something else to do. In other words, this is why I love to work on my farm; there is always something to do and I will never get bored.:D

[benehunter]

My red clover plots are starting to come up. These pictures were taken 2 weeks after planting. I will be putting a couple mineral sites this coming weekend and hopefully shoot a turkey too:D.

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P4110209.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P4110200.jpg

[benehunter]

I am going to my property tonight. I will be checking the food plots, hunting some turks and spend a well deserved weekend;)

[benehunter]

Red clover plot 4 weeks after planting.

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P4250269.jpg

[bowhunter1023]

Diversification and mobility...

I am hunting smarter spots in more places with stationary stands. I will have three wooden platforms with ground blinds on top built for all day sits and gun hunting, and Lone Wolf sticks paired with a Millennium hang-on to make adjustments based on observed movement. I have been fine tuning for a few years and it seems I pick something up each year. My good buddy Greg showed me the importance of mobility this year and I learned to diversify my hunting areas on my own. Two good lessons that will warrant changes in my hunting approach this year.


Good thread bene. I want to add or expand on this some...

Greg and I were down at the river last night talking about this bow season. We talked about what to do on one farm, to ignore another, and add a couple more and it got me thinking about the mobility thing some more on the way home. The more I think about it, the more I realize how much not being mobile has screwed me that last 4-5 years. I had my first full bow season in 2001 and it was probably my best in terms of big buck encounters. I hunted very little in 2002 and then in 2003, I picked it up a little and had another good year. I lost two shooters in that time to rookie mistakes, but perhaps being a rookie is what made those encounters possible.

At the time, all I had was a climber and I used it where I could get it and where I was seeing deer. I made more moves early on based on observed movement. Over the last few seasons when I have been lazy hunting the same stands on the same farm, I have severly limited my oppurtunities. I thought I was hunting smart by playing the wind and hunting good stands on one farm, but I was an idiot for not doing that on a larger scale. Who knows what I missed in that time?

This year, I will hunt smart based the conditions, but I will spread it out over all the properties I have to hunt. Hunt the best stand location no matter where it means I have to go. I need to start working harder during the season and get away from the thought that working hard before the season means I can relax and hunt during the season. Fixed position stands can produce, but I will be using most of them to observe this year and I will make my move and do my killing from the LW sticks and the Millemnnium. It makes sense now, so I hope it works out in the end.

[NKhunter]

I am going to do a better job or rotating stands. I know we had a couple burn out last year. I became complacent and kept hunting my good ol reliable stands instead of adjusting to what was really happening with food sources and trespassing problems.

[benehunter]

I used old barn wood to build this outhouse. It sits on two 6ft logs with hooks for easy moving.

Finally!!!:D

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P6150431.jpg

[benehunter]

These are pics of my red clover plot.

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P6140412.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P6140414.jpg

[bowhunter1023]

I used old barn wood to build this outhouse. It sits on two 6ft logs with hooks for easy moving.

Finally!!!:D

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P6150431.jpg

Is that a ground blind?!? :biggrin: LOL

[Full Rut]

I used old barn wood to build this outhouse. It sits on two 6ft logs with hooks for easy moving.

Finally!!!:D

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P6150431.jpg

Would be proud to take a dump in there. Looks great! :D

[TheCream]

These are pics of my red clover plot.

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P6140412.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P6140414.jpg

That's good stuff. :D

I should have snapped a few pics of our clover plot last time I was there, I have one on my phone. It was about 13-14" tall and THICK, needed another mowing. :bouncy:

[benehunter]

Is that a ground blind?!? :biggrin: LOL
I thought about it. Actually I designed it so you can have the door open while I take care of business and there is enough space to have a gun or bow in there just in case.:D

Ohh did I forget to mention I used an old deer shed I found at the property as a door handle?;)

[dannmann801]

Would be proud to take a dump in there. Looks great! :D

Yes it does...very cool...I'd PAY to take a dump in there...

[bowhunter1023]

I thought about it. Actually I designed it so you can have the door open while I take care of business and there is enough space to have a gun or bow in there just in case.:D

Ohh did I forget to mention I used an old deer shed I found at the property as a door handle?;)

There is a guy on another forum I frequent that built a ground blind out of an old Port-A-Pooper and it is pretty cool. He has a bad arm and cannot shoot a compound and I guess he has killed a few deer out of it with his crossbow. It will make you laugh, but it is very ingenius!

[benehunter]

I had a chance to do some work this weekend and ended up mowing one of my red clover plots and planted in buckwheat as a cover crop to get the field ready to plant some winter rye in late August/early September. Also I cut some trees and clear some brush to make it bigger to about maybe a 1/2 acre in size.
I am so bad taking pictures I forgot to take one before but anyways it took me a lot of sweat and hard work to do what I did with a weedeater and a chainsaw:D I did leave a camera there so see what's going on in the next few weeks. My stand is behind the camera I took the picture from and I love hunting this stand because there is a lot of activity during the day and also the wind is almost always good.:biggrin: I hope it pays off.

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P6280457.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P6280456.jpg

[benehunter]

New pics of my first ever buckwheat plot.:D

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P8010015.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P8010016.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P8010018.jpg

[benehunter]

It's been a week since I mowed my buckwheat plot so yesterday I went to get some winter rye seed and broadcasted it on the same plot. I think I went a little too heavy on the seed as I used almost one bushel for this plot which I believe to be no more than half an acre. Got some really good rain today so germination shouldn't take long.

Also I hung a new stand in a very secluded location, not before I spooked a bunch of deer from this area. Ohh well they should be fine. I am planning on hunting this in November anyways.

Then I replaced the batteries on my cameras and moved them from the mineral site to a different location. On one, I threw some apples I picked up from the ground under a tree in my neighborhood.

Got two more stands to go and possibly putting another winter rye plot in the next few weeks.

[Siman08/OH]

For the first time in my hunting career, I cleared out some "old" deer trails to funnel the deer to my stand setup today. A nasty hedge tree had fallen over one trail and the deer had ceased to use it, and another one was so thick that a buck couldn't possibly use it, so i cleared them both, and then it down-poured :mischeif:

I wont be back into these woods until season.

[benehunter]

Well I haven't posted many pics lately of my work but I'm pretty much done going in the woods until the time is right. Plots are in, stands are up; time to get the clothes ready and mentally prepare to stay up in the trees for hours at a time. Here are pics of my latest double stand set up overlooking the rye plot. Pics taken 2 weeks ago.

Before
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P9050096.jpg

Can you see it?
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P9050102.jpg

The view from above
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P9050097.jpg

A closer look
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P9050104.jpg