ohiohunter3303

Im 18 and I hunt on 20 acres left to me by my grandmother. I am the only person hunting this ground. The terrain is hilly with revines. Their are deer on the property and I have seen some nice bucks. However the deer seem to just pass through and dont use a pattern that much. I want to know it there is some type of forage or antyhing i can do to improve the size of deer on my property and attracht bigger deer. I dont have alot of money to spend on managment but i can spend $800 not much but its better then the 0 I spent this year. Any advice what so ever even if its negative would be much appreciated.

Criggster

Althought 20 acres is not much land it can be improved for wildlife. If you are limited on funds you could try to improve the native vegetation that is already there. One of the most important things people overlook; especially with small properties is placement. You should place any improvements so that you can hunt them with out disturbing the deer's pattern.

If you really want to plant a food plot then cut the trees yourself to save money and hire someone with a bulldozer to clear the stumps. Also, what other foods are available on your neighbors property? If there are big agricultural fields nearby you may be wasting your time with a small field of your own.

RonM

Doesn't sound like that bad a deal , deer passing thru , maybe going from food to bedding. Just work with what you have, try to get a little clear spot in there for sunlight and plant some clover, keep a little undergrowth present for feeding and maybe stick a salt lick near a trail,keep people and pets out of there as much as possible...

Tree climber

you may also add some extra feed for them ("a feed station")clear a small spot in the middle of the 20 and put up a feeder with corn or some supplemnts,or a feed tray with a top over it.check with you local feed store and see what they have as far as deer feed.build a tray 2' wide and 4' long with a top that sticks out on all sides to keep the rain out.then put somethin like a cornmsweetfeed mix in it.don't put a lot to start with.it may take a while for them to start to eat it.then you can add more and more.

if there is farm land around you,then it will take a while,and you may want to plant some honeysuckle for them to have thick cover.a place to hide and bed may be more what they want.
good luck on whatever you do.

Dan O.

Ohio; you're young enough to make full use of planting Sawtooth and White oak trees on your property. Apples aren't a bad choice either.

Dan O.

ohiohunter3303

Thanks for everyones input i sure need it. The neighboring properties are mostly woods however there are some grass fields and a couple corn fields towards the back part of my property. I was thinking about getting a feeder possibly the one from tecomate. I saw some type of seed blend from them which was called stand by has anyone ever heard of it or possibly used it? i have a couple apple trees down by my grandmothers house on the property but very close to the road so when deer eat the apples its always at dark. As for other food they use on my property acorns is about it. When winter months come they eat the bark off of trees. So can someone put a list of the top three best things to do to improve deer managment on my property for me and tell me how hard it will be to plant or do those things.

ohiohunter3303

Thanks everyone for your input. However i know very little about managment and if you could explain to me why you think I should use those things that would help me out also on my decision.

RonM

The reason you should do these things is to keep the deer movement patterns the same as they are now, or improve their patterns, if they dont eat, they move somewhere else...

ohiohunter3303

RonM to plant clover in the woods would I need to cut down trees and bulldoze the stumps? IF so would a bobcat work? So far I think im going to try to do that plant some clover i dunno maybe a quarter of a acre then put a feeder in. Bedding ill just leave that alone. My place is going to be logged in the next month weather permitting so that should help me out some. Is clover hard to plant and have successful growth? How would you go about planting the clover?

ohiohunter3303

Also what do you mean improve natural vegitation and how do I do that?