Managing new deer hunting land

Ikantski

Ikantski

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Hey there, I couldn't find much for this online, maybe you guys can point me in the right direction.

Me and some other guys just bought a small piece of land, about 350 feet wide and 2km long with a large section of crown land on one side and private on the others with the intentions of hunting deer. It's in Eastern Ontario and is a bit swampy and thick but there's lots of potential and lots of deer trails. There aren't any human made trails through it at all. We have access to it from the north and south. It's pretty thick, there's a few pics in this album

http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/Ikantski/northern territories/

There's a mix of maple, cedars, pines and supposedly even a few oak trees in there somewhere.

Anywhere that we're on a road or trail... that's on our way there or back.

I've always hunted on farmland so I'm not sure how to go about this, obviously the first thing I'd like to do is cut a path from top to bottom to make it easy for scouting, stand building and eventually hunting. I can probably do this without cutting down any large trees but are there certain rules to that? I'm pretty sure I should keep the cedars and conifers for bedding/cover and the oaks for acorns. I won't cut down any tall trees because they provide the canopy. Further advice on that would be appreciated.

Are there certain things we should be planting to attract deer? The woodlot has lots of soy and corn fields within a km of it but if it's worth it, we'll try to plant something.

Are coyotes worth hunting? Does it really make a difference? We've seen a bunch of tracks and found at least one carcass with yote tracks around it.

I'm not too worried about pressuring them during the winter, there's plenty of the same woods on either side of our property. That's about it, I'm sure there's things I haven't even thought of so I would appreciate the enlightenment, thanks guys. This is our little slice of heaven:

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Planting a winter crop like kale or mustard on the back 1/3 of that lot might give you a great daytime feeding area. BTW, what the heck is up with the lot shape? I know that Quebec has some "long lot" areas, but that looks like a chunk of powerline right-of-way.
 
I am not an expert and have never done this. Just commenting because it is something that interests me.

Cover interspersed with food plots would be my general idea. Farm fields will probably provide the bulk of their food, but in my experience they will only go there after dark. If you can create small plots in the middle of the bush in between bedding areas, you will likely get some daytime activity.

Also, I wouldn't be afraid to clear cut a few sections - offset by a couple of years. That way you will always have a section with new growth.

Do some searches on managing woodlots for wildlife - I'm sure you will end up finding a lot of info.
 
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Pudelpointer said:
Planting a winter crop like kale or mustard on the back 1/3 of that lot might give you a great daytime feeding area. BTW, what the heck is up with the lot shape? I know that Quebec has some "long lot" areas, but that looks like a chunk of powerline right-of-way.
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That's the old feudal system - ranges (or concessions) and side roads.
 
First off congrats.How many acres would you say that would be?I just bought 160 in the Mb. interlake last year.We put up 4 permanent wood treestands last year,and will probably put up another 2-3 this year.Our first approach when we bought the first 80 (we bought the 2 parcels 8 months apart) was to cut a trail wide enough to get a quad down to drag game out on and access the stands easily.We were then going to cut 2-4 shooting lanes 15-20 ft. wide 100-150 yards long.After checking maps on google earth
I realized that there were swamps in the middle and back of the property.so it was just a matter of cutting a trail to the swamps.
As for food plots we are still debating it as there is a 25 acre hayfield on the property directly north of me and there is probably a 100acre alfalpha field to the east across the gravel road.And the guy directly west of west of me is suppose to be planting some kind of crop and me having 100 acres of mature bush I think I will hold off this year.Maybe wait a year until you can pattern the deer a little better,before jumping on the food plot,unless you already know the area and their movements already.Is that a rifle or shotgun area?Depending how many of you hunt there,I would cut a shooting lane down the centerand set up treestands accordingly.Thought I would share some pics of mine and my wifes hunt camp.first four pics are taken from the treestands we built.5th is a cutline along the propertys edge last is the huntcamp.
Enjoy your property.:)


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Often simply fertilizing existing vegetation will make your land more interesting to the deer.

Keep in mind as soon as you cut trails you'll have people using them!
 
Thanks for the links, they seem to have lots of articles, just the resource I was looking for.

Hey 7mm, nice pics. I'm jealous of all the open areas, easy to picture deer on the edges. Ours is about 44 acres I believe.
 
I actually got this guy he was crossing the middle of the swamp right to left by that tree in the middle of the swamp.:) A larger buck had crossed the swamp L to R at the very back 15 minutes earlier,it happened too quick and I was unable to get a shot.
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Very nice deer!

I pulled this off that site, I guess I won't worry about the coyotes too much

http://www.northcountrywhitetails.com/articles/QDMandcoyotes.htm
Do Coyotes Impact Deer Populations?

Dr. Bruce Leopold is a professor and the head of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries at Mississippi State, and he supervised the carnivore study. According to Bruce, the overall results of their 1990s research reflected what earlier research had concluded — deer are an important food source for coyotes based on how frequently deer hair is found in coyote scat. However, the manner in which coyotes acquire this food is important.

“Our study showed two main peaks for finding deer hair in coyote scats: during fawning season and during the hunting season,” said Bruce. “The rest of the year there wasn't much at all. One to five scats out of 50 to 100 that we were collecting per month would contain deer hair.”
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On the other hand, if you look at this probably NSFW pic of a deer carcass we found, the coyotes on my land don't seem to really like the hair!

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/Ikantski/northern territories/Image005.jpg

Edit: They might be going after deer a little more in my neck of the woods because of our fisher population decimating rabbits. I've seen exactly 1 set of rabbit tracks
 
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When cutting trails, you want to be careful you are not cutting them through bedding areas.

No sense walking in to your stand and kicking the deer out on the way in.

I just picked up some acreage myself in Southern Ontario. Not gonna do much other then clean it up a bit, until I can figure out how the deer move.
 
Waterfowler said:
When cutting trails, you want to be careful you are not cutting them through bedding areas.

No sense walking in to your stand and kicking the deer out on the way in.

I just picked up some acreage myself in Southern Ontario. Not gonna do much other then clean it up a bit, until I can figure out how the deer move.
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Where abouts?How many acres?Decent price?Useing it for hunting purposes?Is the price ridicously high in Ont. compared to Mb.per acre?Congrats.
 
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I think land here is likely more. But it depends where in Southern Ontario. In the immediate area around Peterborough, you can expect to pay somewhere around $1500/acre, give or take $500. Depends on zoning, area, etc.

My piece is 25 acres. Will be great for deer. Bordered by a 200 acre parcel and a 100 acre parcel that do not allow hunting. Road on one side and an 8 acre parcel on the other which guys hunt. Hopefully they are decent guys.

My land is less then 5 minutes from my house and I have permission on lots of other land in the area which I already hunt.

25 acres is not a huge chunk, but I can easily put up 10 stands. Nice mix of wetlands, cedars and hardwoods. Lots of agriculture in the area.

I hope the group that hunt the 8 acres aren't a "shoot em all" group, but I think they may be, which is the one downside.
 
yeah I'm up by Eriksdale Mb.I got the land for $100.00 an acre.which I thought was a awesome price,even if I am 1.5 hours away.Talked to one of my local neighbors up there and he said I paid about $5-10 an acre too much.
No whoopie,I'm happy even if I did pay a little more.:redface:
 
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