small farm management

[qdmdr]

The best thing you could do is form a Co-Op in your neighboorhood. Any QDM Branch will be more than happy to help you with this. My branch here in the Thumb Area of MI will even pay for the flyiers announcing the meeting,where and when. We also pay for the food and drink,Hamburgers,Hotdogs,Soda. We bring a power point presentation of what a QDM Co-Op is and how it works. We have put together a booklet called QDM 101 and QDM 201. We are in an all Ag. area with small 10acre bush lots. In the past ten years of our branch I have seen the bucks go from spikes to 170 class. We also had a very very bad problem with nobody shooting the Does. It was common to see 30 Does in a field with one buck!! Things have changed for the good here in the Thumb due to education. It's the key to everything. Have fun this fall and stay safe;Jeff

[EatDeer]

I agree with Shaman!

I had better luck tilling and letting maples and fox tail seed in a few patches of would be food plots.

Another dozen 1/2 acre brush spots on my 20 acre pasture and I'll have every buck in the county bedded on my land.

You got to take the limiting factor and capitalize on produceing more of what the deer really need.

This need could be protective cover ( heavy brush areas), or food plots, thermal cover (planting conifers), water sources, etc.

Only you know what is missing on your hunting tract, when you find the limiting factor, you will produce the best hunting on your land.

[Deep 6]

Like everyone has said with food, water, cover the deer should prefer your spot to others. Just make your spot more intising by putting in work ie food plots big enough to sustain deer threw winter.

[gjs4]

simply put- best money i ever spent
tonysulm.com

[pschuh32]

In a recent article in deer and deer hunting magazine they had an artical about the three strikes of trail cameras. It stated that he would access the camera spot three times, the third time he accessed the area the camera was pulled. I used this idea this year with stands, I would only allow myself to hunt from the same tree three times throughout the season. This accomplished a few things for myself, it kept me out of my best stands until the best times, it made me think harder about wind and scent control since I only had three chances, and it made me think of new areas that I didn't think of hunting in the past. I didn't put any bone on the ground this year, but not because of a lack of sightings. I had five encounters with 150 plus inch bucks, one resulting in a non-fatal hit. I also had many encounters with non-mature bucks. I may not have harvested anything but I can say it's been my most enjoyable year bowhunting to date. This has all been done on two tracts of land consiting of 40 acres and 80 acres. Its an idea to add to what everyone else has stated

Paul

[SolocamXtreme]

Ill tell you this my friend. ignore the neighboring hunters. they can hunt the border. if there tree is facing their property or sideways. you cant do anything. one thing you can do is if his stand is facing your property. call the game warden. but anyways if you know that. id recomend hunt that property by year. to balance everything. plant alot of food plots. its a benifet for qdm. never plant corn or hunt if you have corn. theres a huge disadvantage with corn. id recomend soybeans over corn. in the summer time beans is the deers crop of choice. but for the fall corn is the deers crop of choice. one thing I made a huge mistake this year. Never hunt when theres corn. less activity compared to beans. they didnt show up to the food plots during daylight until the corn was cut down. for beans in sept they turn dry. then they look for another green source. then they target your food plots. another thing most important. create a water source. in the spring and summer provide the deer with hunters specialties vitarack 26 vitamin mineral to rack em up and kill the ticks off the deer[:)]

[Bob Olsen]

My Dad had a "Masters Degree" from the street. He said if you want something there are three things you must know:  1. What do you want; 2.what are you doing about it and 3.is it working!
He also told me to only worry about myself (mind my own business) and I'd be happy.
Are your neighbors meat hunters? Are they Macho Men who shoot lesser Bucks just for the sake of bragging about shooting a Buck? Try to talk with them, Offer them your tagged Does'. 120 acres is more than my 68 and I do okay but I'm just a Deer hunter. If I get a shot at a Monster, that's another story. If all else fails be grateful for what you have, try to create more cover, plant fruit trees and create a sanctuary.

[Bob Olsen]

Wow, I wrote about small farm management only two weeks ago and now I have another volume to add. Since my last entry on this subject, I met a man who has taught me so much and brought my enthusiasm about Deer hunting, landscaping my 68 acres, and hunting strategies to a new level that I almost pee'd my pants when I saw his "Management Plan" in my mailbox today. 
First and foremost, you must have a "Sanctuary". The bigger the better. I have 68 acres and Don Higgins showed me how to have about 65 acres of "Sanctuary". I was walking down the center of my property before and scarring the Deer onto the neighbors farm. I had apple trees in the middle and a nice 4 acre clover field in the back, so they'd dine and dash if they sensed any trouble. So I'm in the process of cutting down my apple trees that produced many, many big juicy apples and discing up my field of clover. I plan on planting a few three row shelter belt's under the "WHIP PROGRAM" with the help of Don Higgins, after all this is what he does. You can find out about the "WHIP PROGRAM" by connecting to this link. www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/whip/ or by contacting Don at www.higginsoutdoors.com. Don is very familiar with CRP, WRP, CReP and the WHIP programs and can steer you towards financial assistance to help you reach your goals of a "Deer Hunting Paradise". I'm well on my way.I'm also planting "Native Grasses" of Big Blue Stem, Switch Grass and Indian Grass. I've been reading Deer hunting, Habitat books and magazines for about 15 years now and I was blown away by how much more I learned from Don in one day and a few e-mails. If you are unable to get him out to your future "Paradise", then you owe it to yourself to read his book. When you get his book,check out the Bucks he has on the front cover. His farm was a cow farm a few short years ago and in Eastern Illinois. Not exactly in the heart of big buck country. He built a "Sanctuary" and stays out of it.   

[dtk913]

There are a lot of great ideas and practices listed on this thread. The one thing I think a lot of people don't do enough of is keep a very detailed hunting journal. The things you can learn when you keep track of all your sighting and the natural conditions surrounding those sighting is unbelievable. We have been doing it on our farm for years and now with the emergence of the Non-Typical Whitetail Journal it is getting even better. Check it out! http://www.stepaheadoutdoor.com

Dan

[Bukmastr]

I have an 80 acre farm that I hunt and help manage. Its surrounded by "brown its down" mentallity. I have been able to get larger bucks on the property with a good plan. It ain't easy, and the big bucks are not going to flood the place with all the neighbors shooting everything. But managment can be done.
I really don't agree with the "sanctuary" theory... The only way I would make a sanctuary on a property is if I had others hunting the property that I could not control, or it was for an outfitter that can't take new hunters into the bedding areas each week.
Mature bucks ( 4 1/2 or older ) reside all over the areas we hunt but rarely get shot. Don't believe that? Just put out a few trail cams and see what roams thru at night. Once bucks reach an age of 4 1/2 or older, the reason they rarely get shot is because they rarely leave the security of there bedding area and they seek out places people don't go. The sanctuary theory says thats a good thing cause you leave the sanctuary alone and the buck stays on your property. I say yep he stays there all right and stays in the area you don't hunt until its to dark to shoot.
I have watched many big bucks rise from there beds and move off to feed. The overall majority of the mature ones I have observed rarely get more than 200 yards from there bed before it is to dark to shoot...
Does this mean you should camp out in there bedding area? No.
If you do they will leave. It means occasionally when the timing is right, the weather is right, moon phase, etc.. Make your move.
Sanctuaries keep mature animals from being killed.
Another thing about sanctuaries, guys generally section off a big piece not knowing where the buck beds are. Some of the area would not even be effected if you passed thru or set up.
Remember, coyotes, dogs, trespassers, etc... occasionally go thru your sanctuaries. Is that it? A coyote went thru your sanctuary and now the bucks will never bed there again? Nope. They tolerate a certain amount of intrusion. Occasionally a hunter needs to slip in, or he is not even in the game for hunting "truly" mature animals.
What is needed on small propertys is good buck bedding cover. Your land can only hold as many bucks as it has spots for them to bed... The second main ingrediant is low pressure. The 80 acre farm I hunt only gets hunted once per week. Access roughts are well thought out so as to do the least amount of damage. We NEVER drive deer. Food plots are place centrally to keep deer on our land.
I hunt almost every day of our season. But I do most of my hunting on public land to keep pressure off the private. Cameras can be placed over food plots that have access without spooking. You can moniter the camera and stay off the property till a shooter shows up.
The key in having a small property work is to have the best food, the best bedding, and the least pressure.