Matson1854

I've hunted whitetail for a few years now on a friend of mines property and finally decided to get a Lease this year. I intend to bowhunt and I know absolutely nothing about where to place stands or what to plant in my food plots or really anything. In my past years my buddy n them didn't do any plots and it was a lucky day to even see a deer and we were hunting with rifles. So any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

iowa whitetail

describe what it is how many acres is there crop ground timber draws tell more about it. also what state

Matson1854

Its 5,000 acres a lot of pines. I've only been once. Its in south Louisiana on the northshore of lake Pontchartrain

Topgun 3006

That's a lot of acreage that could be real good if there is a mix of terrain/vegetation on it. On the other hand, if all it is is big pines there may not be much to work with if you're just leasing it for hunting rights. We really need to know a lot more about it to really offer suggestions. Are there enough open areas of various sizes that could be made into food plots if the land owner consents? Does the understory have feed and bedding cover or is it all just big pine trees that really don't benefit deer because sunlight can't get through, etc.?

Matson1854

i won't really be able to get out there to check it out in detail for another week or two. The other members have plots and stuff i know for sure so i know they have some space other than pines. I just saw pines when i was there myself. Looking at the property on google maps seems to me there is enough open place to lay down plots. They keep records of deer killed and the last few years their stats have been pretty good

Wilcam47

my suggestion would be to find you some good "deer highways" and find a good place to put a tree stand in. Clear some good shooting lanes and put some inexpensive deer corn feeders in. Since its leased you should be able to bait on there...unless the owner doesn't allow it... But be advised since you are baiting there will prob be hogs getting into your bait...ask the owner of the lease what size if any of trees or brush you can cut to make your shooting lanes. a cheap gravity feeder can be made like in the pic. Its just corrugated rain gutter pipe...tied to a tree..

fastetti

There are a lot of factors that would go into it. You would really have to describe the make up of the land (pines, open, march, etc) as well as give us aerial maps as well as topo maps to really get a feel for it. To start, I would spend a day just walking and checking different elevation features, even as little as 5 feet. Then I would go through as much of the bedding cover I could find. If there are deer there, you are bound to find game trails if you put in enough time. Do you have access to trail cameras? A few good trail cameras are worth their weight in gold if you don't live in close proximity. I started with one and now run up to 10 at a time since I can't go out and spot deer at night. If deer are tough to find on the land, I would start with an area far away from where the current people hunt. They probably don't move stands often and are creatures of habit. Find a secluded area and really dissect that area whether its 20 acres or 500 acres. If you spend enough time, you will find where the deer are moving. I'd either throw a camera where you think the deer are moving and let it sit for a month or so. If no good pics, move it to your next spot. If you can afford a couple cameras even better. If you have a map of the area you are looking to hunt, post it up and I'm sure we can help with spots. Good Luck!

Deepsouthdeerjunky

Pine timber land can be tough... I hunt alot of it in west alabama and it always seems that deer are just harder to hunt when they live in areas like that. My lease is probably 80% planted pine and cutover with the remaining 20 being deep hardwood bottoms or SMZs (stream management zones) I feel the most efficient way to find deer in areas such as this is to be on the edges of that 20 percent. Most of the time, the pine thickets will not provide alot of forage for deer, save your green briar and honey suckle, but they will provide one thing all deer want, thats COVER. The deer will feed on the edges of these hardwoods so that they can be close to the safety of the pine thickets. OF COURSE, since you are in louisiana the deep hardwood bottoms are not really an option, but i would be willing to bet that there is some wet area or some other places that whoever went in there and planted those pines didnt want to take a skidder to cut down all the old hardwood trees first. Find that area and you should be on deer.
As far as food plots go, they can be really lethal in a pine plantation area. if you have access to the equipment needed just find an area that gets plenty of sun and is not to wet, expose the dirt and plant something basic like wheat, oates, clover or any combination of the three. Most of the stuff you see on tv (ie brassicas, beans, corn etc.) will not grow well at all in the acidic soil you find under pines. keep in mind the dominant wind in your area and set up stand locations AND INTRANCE/EXIT ROUTES accordingly
I hope this helps, Im sorry it was so long winded but i could talk about the struggle of hunting deer in the south for days!

GTOHunter

Sounds like the other Hunters there could give You help on what food plots to put out and where to put them.If legal some Salt and Mineral Licks would be nice to put out there also.As far as stand placement and where to Hunt would depend on Deer travel routes,where the rubs and scrapes are and where good cover is for the Deer to hide in or bed down in?



5000 Ares....Wow,thats a very large area to check out and try to see where everything is and whats there?I would invest some serious money in a few good trail cameras to help see what caliber of Deer are there and how much they are moving.Moultrie has some really nice new style "Black Flash" trail camera's that would good to start out with so You don't start off spooking the Deer and letting them know they are being hunted.

I have Relatives down there in Louisianna in the Metairie Area (spelling?) just across Lake Pontchartrain....beautiful scenery down there.....I envy You getting to Hunt such an Awesome Area!

Matson1854

yes i am very pleased. the owner said they killed more than 60 deer the last 4 years with a lot of good 8-12 pt bucks in there so i am anxious to get into it. i will be out there tomorrow so i might drop a trail camera down there