how many acres
 

i saw on another thread about someone buying 50 acres or so.... i have been in the market for a while now for something like 150 or so acres..... never thought about a smaller "ranch"..... but after seeing that fifty acre one with so much packed into it i got to thinking that a smaller property really makes sence... less upkeep not to mention less money.....
my question is can you get quality deer on a smaller property or do you need something with a larger buffer.... any input is welcome ..... thanks

RE: how many acres
 

I would like to think bigger is better but I shot my last deer on 10 acres of private property. The problem with anything less than 200 acres is unless you have cooprative neighbors managing deer is not going to happen. I think if you wanted to manage deer and truely meet goals and see your efforts pay offyou'd need at least 300 and some cooperation but if you just looking to hunt and see deer you don't need much.

RE: how many acres
 

How about 150 with everthing packed into 50 right in the middle:D

I'm sure you'll know when the right thing comes along..... depends on what your after quality or quanity.

RE: how many acres
 

If you can find 50 acres boardering public land, that raises the effective size of you property, or if you have 50 acres next to other people that manage their property well.

RE: how many acres
 

Not sure I completely agree with this one. My buddy and I have one spot we hunt that is only 13 acres and we passed many small 6s last year and only killed a few does and scrub bucks. We've already seen 4 shooter 8s...3 of which were wall worthy! It's all about the area you hunt and what/who is around it.

RE: how many acres
 

150 or 50 or 500 you are still going to have the majority of your bucks leave the property throughout the year and go where someone else could get after them. As far as just making appealing habitat that will tend to hold more deer, 50 is enough if done properly, but 150 is better because you have more room for various appealing things to deer. The big 3 as far as I am concerned are security, food, and water. Honestly, it has been my experience that security is #1 by far. They can travel at night for food and be back before light. If they feel safe, then they stick around.

RE: how many acres
 

I hunt on actually a lot less than 50 acres. BUT.....caveat is....I have a 15 acre tract in the middle of the actual 70 I hunt that no one hunts.....and over 200 that my hunting land abuts that is not huntable (legally). It's what makes my hunting land what it is........(huntingson is correct in my book).

RE: how many acres
 

Sure, but there's millions of public ground acres in huge tracts that you don't have to worry one wit about. Whytake on the hassle of owning one?Buying a piece and dealing with people who can't stay out is not my idea of living.

A friend owns a good piece of ground in a killer whitetail area of Ohio. No one really hunts it that knows anything although several do. He was in a neighboring town. While in a hunting store, he overheard the guys who runs the place making arrangements with a client to hunt HIS PLACE. I have personally run into belligerent idiots there. No permission at all. Her doesn't do anything because he fears they will burn the house down we use on the property.

No thanks not the way I want to live.

RE: how many acres
 

I'd rather hunt the right 50 acres, than the wrong 500! You can manage small tracts of land, you just have to do your homework. Provide year round food, cover, water and manage your buck to doe ratio, and you'll be well on your way to your own whitetail paradise!

RE: how many acres
 

Im not saying a small farm cant be excellent hunting, I know it can. If your going to get into serious QDM a larger farm that holds deer through out the season is easier but if you can get the neiboring land owners to get into the managment with you then the small farm is perfect. Like mentioned before the only problem with a small farm is the deer tend to leave and go to the neibors more so than a larger one. Once they do that all your time and hard work passing young bucks could be wasted. I hunt a 775 acre farm and still have deer go on to neiboring property but I also have deer that stick around all year which makes it easier to manage them.

RE: how many acres
 

I agree with the other guy above....if you can buy 50 or so acres that is adjacent to gov't/state/private land, you've just effectively increased the size of yours.

That's what I did only with 27

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RE: how many acres
 

great input .... thanks ..... i think all make valid points and i have to sit down and re think my stragies....... thanks

RE: how many acres
 

I agree with Ohiobuck. The right property is a hell of a lot more important than the size of the property. You can hunt a 25 acre tract of thick woods with houses on three sides and a nice 500 acre wooded property on the forth. The deer will wanderinto your smaller tract (Provided you don't put preasure on them) seeking a quiet bedding area or safe zone. You may in fact take the big bucks off the larger property. If you are looking for hunting property, pick a thick safe area for deer and cutYOUR trails in it to hunt it affectively.

RE: how many acres
 

People mention being adjacent to public land as a good thing. I used to think that was great too. But really it isn't! Land adjacent to public land has more tresspassing problems and the deer are pressured way more. Who wants to spend tens of thousands of dollars to hunt the same deer that everyone else gets to hunt.

If the small parcel is in an area with big land owners or land that just isn't hunted very hard then you'll be fine. If everyone has a 40 and invites 3 friends with them to hunt then you're sqrewed.

Just my two cents.

RE: how many acres
 

I think it depends on a lot of the things others have said here, plus one or two others (at least). My wife and I own 98 acres with a fair amount of deer on itthat we share (own together) with my hunting buddy and his wife. That can be a nice situation to have, sharing costs and maintenance, etc. with a good hunting buddy you see eye-to-eye with.

It’s a beautiful piece of mostly wooded land (pretty even mix of evergreens and hardwoods, mostly oak and hickory) with several small ridges at the foot of a mountain with a small amount of pasture at the bottom and (other people’s) corn fields about two hundred yards below it.

But the real key to its success as a great deer hunting habitat, IMO, is the public land behind it. It’s George Washington National Forest (over a million acres), with no public access points (other than private landowners like us) for 6 miles in any direction.

The deer get some pressure from a neighbor who hunts year round (illegally), bagging 20 to 30 deer per year, according to a couple of his cousins, who I know. Luckily, he mostly hunts with a bow out of season. So the deer are always somewhat wary, but they’re huntable with a bow in the national forest until rifle season, when it becomes much tougher to hunt in the national forest. Then I hunt with a bow on our land, which then becomes a “safe haven” with all the noisy activity going on in the national forest.

By the way, we are selling this piece of land after this hunting season, if anyone is interested. We’re going to build a house on a 40 acre parcel near the top of a high ridge (also borders on national forest with no public access nearby) and need to sell this parcel for the cash to build.

RE: how many acres
 

I agree with you on the neighbors if your next to public land then your in trouble when it come's to managment. I maybe different were your from but up here in Minnesota managment hunters are the minority, most hunters especially public land hunters aren't going to pass up anything with horns.

RE: how many acres
 

Jellio where are you looking for land in MN?