[singinghills3]

We own a hunting camp in the TB zone. Our property has appx 600A that we have been hunting since 1939. The property consists of probably 200A of thick cedar swamp, 200A of hardwoods, birch, poplar, etc, and 200A of transition areas and fields. We do fairly well hunting but want to take our hunting to another level. This year we shot 3 8pt bucks and 1 6pt out of about 8-9 hunters. Deer sighting declined dramatically after the first few days of rifle season. Today we do plant foodplots, but probably not more than 8-10A which is not nearly enough for a property this size. We believe with some changes we could significantly improve the quality and quantity of our deer herd.

Here are some of the items we have planned so far to improve our hunting :

1. Tony Lapratt bootcamp (This is step one before we do much else)
2. Increase the quantity and quantity of foodplots (I am amazed and impressed by some of the foodplots I see on this forum.)
3. Harvest mature timber (already met with forester and have a plan for this winter).
4. Plant some apple trees (currently we have 1 apple tree on our entire property).
5. Shoot only mature bucks (we have been doing this informally for many years but we have formally implemented this approach for all hunters this year)
6. Limit property access (too many people driving and accessing the property before and during hunting season.

This is just a preliminary list that I know will evolve as we absorb some of the wisdom from Tony.

Any thoughts on this list would be appreciated.

 

[gunfun13]

Looks like you are on the right track for sure!! The only thing I see missing is the harvesting of does. The more improvements you make to your land the more important this will become. Also, be sure to protect your apple tree's...deer will overbrowse and kill them if given the opportunity.