100 acres white tails too small?

^ Very well put, rral 22. It's a shame that so many deer hunters seem to equate a successful hunt with only one thing: a dead deer. Buck or doe, large or small, young or old, doesn't matter how the hunt was conducted...dead deer = happiness and success. No dead deer = disappointment and failure.

I'm not taking a crack at anyone with that comment, either. But just look through the thread, and see how many posts boil down to "we hunt this little patch like this, and we kill deer, so therefore we are perfectly happy".
 
On 100 acres I've had 5guys but a coulple hunted together( apprentice) but It gets really hard to keep your stand sites fresh. And the deer figure things aren't kosher pretty quick.. but we saw lotsa deer and killed a few bucks, passed a pile of does. if you hunt a small property do yourself a favour plant food plots, give the deer a reason to want to be there and plan your entrance and exits to your stands carefully, to alert as few deer as possible that they are being hunted, for as long as possible
 
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It depends on your tactics and having the right 100 acres. I hunt a fairly large chunk of crown, and there are large stretches in there that hardly ever see a deer during daylight. If you have a good spot, you don't need a lot of land. If you're planning on pushing bush, running dogs or have more than 2-3 guys, it's likely not enough. Farther south, in the shotgun areas, guys will run out a 50 acre patch of bush, but then jump to another property, then another after that. If all you do is keep hitting the same bush all the time, it'll get stale pretty quick.
 
yomomma said:
I guess it's all personal preference. I hunt because I like the taste of Bambi sausages ;)
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Agreed...... my first week is spent at camp with the guys (62 acre camp), with access to about 300 total acres and guys in camp running deer all around us.......

My second week is spent on my 10 acre wood lot near home......

Guess which one has seen me shoot more deer?

In the ten years I have been hunting my woodlot, I have seen many trophies that didn't present the right shot and caught many trophies on cam...... and have also harvested many meat bucks and a couple of does for the crock pot / sausage maker / barbecue.....

Just tailor your hunting style to your area and what is going on around you, and 100 acres is more than enough.....
 
During the 2016 Saskatchewan white tail deer hunting season I "passed" on 15 fawns (young of the year), 10 does/yearlings & saw 4 bucks, of which only 1 was mature (3.5 yrs old or older). I spent 35 hours actually hunting and walked about 40 miles in a 10,000 acre PFRA pasture.

I don't think I saw enough deer. Considering the time and effort involved to find 1 mature buck I would consider this to be a low buck to doe ratio. And the age structure of the herd was skewed too far to the young side because of the "if it's brown it's down" philosophy.

Without proper deer management principles and selection for age structure, a 100 acre stand alone parcel pretty well anywhere in Canada is too small to hunt successfully year after year without applying some degree of selective hunting principles.

In certain U.S. States, 100 acres can easily support dozens of deer and often do, however, supplemental feeding or planting of food plots is needed to support healthy, strong herds with all ages of deer up to 6+ year old animals. You will very infrequently see mature deer on heavily hunted lands. Heavily pressured areas will usually have only does and fawns because guys don't let the deer grow up to reach maturity. It is not the other way around as most people think...that is, because too many big old bucks are shot.

Indeed it is the taking of the oldest bucks that allows the age structure of the herd to reach it's most natural distrubution of nearly 50/50 buck to doe ratio with most of the herd over the age of maturity 3.5yrs old or older.
 
Guys out west telling Ontarians how to hunt. Driving to the farm we hunt we have to be careful we don't hit deer on the road. Where I live you can get 6 tags.

Really, I have shot 3 deer out of the same stand on one day. I have walked up to a deer to within 30 feet and shot it.

Really two different world's when it comes to hunting deer.

Don't really need supplemental food since we live right in the middle of farmville
 
yomomma said:
We have up to 8 guys on 100 acres. Lots of adjoining bush from other farms. Never have an issue getting deer.
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That seems a bit crowded. That's one hunter every 250 yards in each direction.
If you spend all day in the stand I guess you'd be okay. Not much space to walk about.

I guess in southern Ontario the deer density is higher, but in eastern Ontario, its about 7 per sq km. So about 3 per 100 acres average.
But if its working for you - hard to argue with.

One other thing for the OP to consider - if you don't get your deer on the first couple of days on a small lot, you'll likely want to give it
a rest for a couple of days.

I'd think about 4 guys max in stands on 100 acres - and I wouldn't hunt it more than every 2nd day.
 
100 acres is enough . Put out feeders and trail cams and you'll not only have deer but you can be selective in what you harvest .
 
yomomma said:
Guys out west telling Ontarians how to hunt. Driving to the farm we hunt we have to be careful we don't hit deer on the road. Where I live you can get 6 tags.

Really, I have shot 3 deer out of the same stand on one day. I have walked up to a deer to within 30 feet and shot it.

Really two different world's when it comes to hunting deer.

Don't really need supplemental food since we live right in the middle of farmville
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"Guys out west telling Ontarians how to hunt." Are like guys in Ontario telling Albertans how to hunt, or guys from all over the country answering questions about hunting regulations in other provinces. We will all help each other better if we take care to notice where the questions are coming from and thinking about that.

Is 100 acres enough? It depends on which 100 acres, and on other things, as several 'Nutz have mentioned.
 
TheTooner said:
"Guys out west telling Ontarians how to hunt." Are like guys in Ontario telling Albertans how to hunt, or guys from all over the country answering questions about hunting regulations in other provinces. We will all help each other better if we take care to notice where the questions are coming from and thinking about that.

Is 100 acres enough? It depends on which 100 acres, and on other things, as several 'Nutz have mentioned.
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Lol...I had to say it because I see it every time someone out west asks a hunting question and someone from ontario posts.
 
At the farm ( Ontario Prescott Russel), i have 2 little 5 acres woods, it produce deers and turkeys to fill our tag every year... JP.
 
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norlandgeese said:
Just to clarify, most the the time it will be just myself and one more hunter, never more than 3. So the usual hunter density will be 2/100.

Sarcastically, I would love to own land the size of Britain in southern/eastern Ontario, and see game a mile off and have shots with my long range precision rifle at herds of animals smiling and waving at me. But unfortunately us lowly non-elite Ontarians don't have that luxury. Just kidding.
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I can totally understand that people from Ontario are limited to hunting lands. If the 100 acres makes you content, I say go for it! Getting out and enjoying Mother Nature is the main thing for me, harvesting a big game animal is secondary. Hunters in the western Canadian provinces are most fortunate that we live in a hunting and fishing paradise. Good luck with your journey in finding your paradise.
 
track said:
I can totally understand that people from Ontario are limited to hunting lands. If the 100 acres makes you content, I say go for it! Getting out and enjoying Mother Nature is the main thing for me, harvesting a big game animal is secondary. Hunters in the western Canadian provinces are most fortunate that we live in a hunting and fishing paradise. Good luck with your journey in finding your paradise.
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Hunting land is only hard to find in Ontario if you limit yourself to within an hour from the 401..... For anyone that is willing to put in a small amount of effort, this province provides vast hunting opportunity.....

But, as has been said, if you just want a relaxing week with the guys at camp and some decent opportunity to fill the freezers, 100 acres hunted properly in this area should provide lots of great opportunity.....
 
track said:
I can totally understand that people from Ontario are limited to hunting lands. If the 100 acres makes you content, I say go for it! Getting out and enjoying Mother Nature is the main thing for me, harvesting a big game animal is secondary. Hunters in the western Canadian provinces are most fortunate that we live in a hunting and fishing paradise. Good luck with your journey in finding your paradise.
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Good for you friend. I wish someday I get to experience wide expanse hunting, when life doesn't get into the way as much :) I do have extended family in rural Alberta.
 
track said:
Indeed I find it very small....eh. However, I just noted that the OP is in Ontario....eh. I have heard that hunting land is rare to find in Ontario....eh. I'm most fortunate that I live in Alberta where hunting land is unlimited.....eh. Where my son and I hunt mature whitetails (our favorite big game animal) we have 200,000 sq. mi., not including private land....eh. Tell me what you think?...eh. My vote that it is to small....yes...eh. LOL!!!
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Ahhh, there is the arrogance we all came to know and love back in the days before you put on the tutu...
 
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