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Thread: Small tract of land hunting, new to this and got questions

  1. #1
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    Default Small tract of land hunting, new to this and got questions

    I am in a lease with another guy in Calhoun Falls and we see a lot of deer there and really don't shoot much at all. He has 3-4 others tracts of land he owns and hunts them as well. We let a lot of stuff walk, no restrictions just the way we hunt . Couple other clubs around us that do same thing


    Now this year I finally put a stand up near my house on a small tract of land my Son in Law owns(he and Daughter live there ). Actually was bushhogging his old grown up pasture and for him since friend dropped his tractor off there for me to use. As an after thought I found a nice spot for food plot and thought what the hell let me try it.

    Put a pre built box stand up there thinking maybe see a deer or 2 in evenings and wife might go sit in stand with me.

    Well first hunt there I saw small 6 pt and thought well at least I have seen a deer here, next hunt I saw 18 does and five bucks and shot a pretty good tall racked 9pt that had a tine broken off from fighting (185lbs 17" spread ). Also shot a big boar hog that hunt too


    It appears to be a good pm spot, have hunted couple am's but only saw couple does then. Most afternoons I see any where between 6-15 deer and some very big does in the bunch . Have corn out as well as pretty good size food plot, even made it bigger right after I shot first deer. Buddy was out there working on his tractor and plowed big area and top sowed wheat while he was at it for me.

    I have not scouted the property at all, it is surrounded by other farm land, grown up fields and mature hardwoods. Just typical rural property and does not appear to be a lot of hunting around

    My question is when I am seeing same typical number of does each time is it safe to assume these are the same deer ?? Several very good sized does

    For those that hunt your own small tracts of land do you harvest many does, I am not against shooting does just have not shot any in few years. My buddy with the tractor has 2 young boys (11 & 13) and thought about asking him if they wanted to go shoot a couple of them

    Is this detremental to small tracks of land in terms of deer numbers. Not planning on taking any does until last week or so of season but fine if I do not shoot any .

    Don't see a lot of bucks but do see a few small 18 month old bucks over the course of the season so far, only 1 shooter and I shot him

    92 does 8 bucks is what I have seen in the 11 hunts I have had out there this year (only 2 of those hunts are am hunts ) That is for 11 times in the stand
    Last edited by tprice; 11-26-2017 at 11:31 AM.

  2. #2
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    Most likely the same does. I'm infested with them on the small tracts I hunt as well and usually take out a few in December every year. Let the younguns wack some does. Hell shoot a few yourself. The less mouths in the woods the better for over all heard health.
    "George Washington didn't use his freedom of speech to defeat the British, he shot them."

  3. #3
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    So your doe is almost an 11 to 1 ratio to your bucks? You should thin them out. If you have less does, the bucks have to walk more
    when looking one, at least that has always been what I have heard.

  4. #4
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    I hunt our little 40 acre tract more than I do the club that I'm in. Mainly because it's 5 minutes from home vs. 40 minutes to the club. I haven't shot a doe off of it in at least 5yrs, but I've been seeing the same little family group of does almost every hunt. They bed in the same clear cut, and walk the same trail 90% of the time.

    I'm pretty positive it's the same deer every time. This year there's six in the group, but that number changes from year to year. Never had any luck trying to pattern a buck out there, but those does bring a good one to me just about every year.

    I'm not seeing nowhere close to the numbers you are either though. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot some does either if I was seeing that many every afternoon.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by socoz71 View Post
    I hunt our little 40 acre tract more than I do the club that I'm in. Mainly because it's 5 minutes from home vs. 40 minutes to the club. I haven't shot a doe off of it in at least 5yrs, but I've been seeing the same little family group of does almost every hunt. They bed in the same clear cut, and walk the same trail 90% of the time.

    I'm pretty positive it's the same deer every time. This year there's six in the group, but that number changes from year to year. Never had any luck trying to pattern a buck out there, but those does bring a good one to me just about every year.

    I'm not seeing nowhere close to the numbers you are either though. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot some does either if I was seeing that many every afternoon.

    Lot of same similarities, this place is about 10 minutes from my house where as the leased land is 45 minutes

    You are dead on, can almost tell you what time the deer will come out and always seem to be on same trails as well

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by ecu1984 View Post
    So your doe is almost an 11 to 1 ratio to your bucks? You should thin them out. If you have less does, the bucks have to walk more
    when looking one, at least that has always been what I have heard.

    What a couple of my friends that are into QDMA have told me


    Just I am new to this small tract of land thing to be honest, just don't want to screw it up

    I do agree buck to doe ratio seems out of whack but I do have a new 20 cubic foot freezer that has plenty of room in it right now lol

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    Almost certain same deer ,no pressure ,just come and go ,no set patterns ,same here at my house same 8-10 does and everone thinks i got a doe problem

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    Now if see 35 at once then we got a deer problem

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    Does don't roam very far. Not like bucks. I know my does on specific parts of the farm. Shoot some does this December. It's not just food but it will also make the bucks have to work harder to find a doe and help your rut be more predictable. Too many does means does are getting bred in December and January.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ffr View Post
    Almost certain same deer ,no pressure ,just come and go ,no set patterns ,same here at my house same 8-10 does and everone thinks i got a doe problem

    Thanks, I think this is what is happening here as well. I have seen them so much I can almost tell the does by their size.


    Quote Originally Posted by ffr View Post
    Now if see 35 at once then we got a deer problem
    Most I have seen at one time is 18 does



    Quote Originally Posted by uga_dawg View Post
    Does don't roam very far. Not like bucks. I know my does on specific parts of the farm. Shoot some does this December. It's not just food but it will also make the bucks have to work harder to find a doe and help your rut be more predictable. Too many does means does are getting bred in December and January.


    Thanks for the help as well, may take at least 1 or 2 late season for the freezer. Honestly will not get to hunt much at all next couple weeks anyway

    I do have a few bags of corn on my truck and thought about taking a trail cam or two(have a couple that I just don't put out because I always forget to check them out on a regular basis ) out there and maybe that will give me a better idea of what is there . I know it is late in the season but I figure I have this spot to hunt for a long time, they are eventually going to build a house on this land . Land currently has a nice horse barn with a garage apartment above it and this is where they live.
    Last edited by tprice; 11-26-2017 at 08:24 PM.

  11. #11
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    You could have just said "I hunt a small tract of land and see a bunch of does. Should I kill some?"
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  12. #12
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    You need to increase your propertys carrying capacity by habitat enhancement and nutrition supplimentation. This isn't squirrel hunting.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by willk View Post
    You could have just said "I hunt a small tract of land and see a bunch of does. Should I kill some?"
    Well I didn't, you gonna throw water bottles at me LOL.

    Like I said this small tract of land is new to me, never done this before

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sportin' Woodies View Post
    You need to increase your propertys carrying capacity by habitat enhancement and nutrition supplimentation. This isn't squirrel hunting.
    Working on a plan for that, Son in Law has told me to do whatever I want with it.

    Have a client that is one of the top dogs at Clemson in Ag department, have talked with him about it .

    He is going to take a look at it for me, soil samples and all and point me in the right direction

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by tprice View Post
    Working on a plan for that, Son in Law has told me to do whatever I want with it.

    Have a client that is one of the top dogs at Clemson in Ag department, have talked with him about it .

    He is going to take a look at it for me, soil samples and all and point me in the right direction
    Be sure to have him check the soil nematode level as well. Thats often an overlooked part of the deer management equation. I believe Sportin had found an excellent nemoticide a couple years back but can't recall the name of it. Maybe he will chime in and give you the name.

  16. #16
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    We had good success with aquatic nematode control using decomate brand nematodicides but have been catching hell trying to control trematodes (tree born nematodes) due to excessive cost (around $2,000 per tree). Summer burns are helping I think, bc we have killed most of the trees. (Juvenile trematodes rely on "chloroplasts" to reach their final life stage) since you didn't major in forestry like I, tree are eat slap up with "chloroplasts". You're gonna need a spring and summer protein feed regime (we feed 6lb per deer per day) using bigJ brand like micheal waddle.
    To sum it up:
    No nematodes
    No trematodes
    No trees
    Protein
    Chloroplasts
    The end

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sportin' Woodies View Post
    We had good success with aquatic nematode control using decomate brand nematodicides but have been catching hell trying to control trematodes (tree born nematodes) due to excessive cost (around $2,000 per tree). Summer burns are helping I think, bc we have killed most of the trees. (Juvenile trematodes rely on "chloroplasts" to reach their final life stage) since you didn't major in forestry like I, tree are eat slap up with "chloroplasts". You're gonna need a spring and summer protein feed regime (we feed 6lb per deer per day) using bigJ brand like micheal waddle.
    To sum it up:
    No nematodes
    No trematodes
    No trees
    Protein
    Chloroplasts
    The end
    Solid advice. Because I majored in forestry i havent had any issues with trematodes, so I’d completely forgotten about them. Is it possible that my wildlife biology minor helped/continues to help as well, even though trematodes aren’t necessarily “wild” by nature?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sportin' Woodies View Post
    We had good success with aquatic nematode control using decomate brand nematodicides but have been catching hell trying to control trematodes (tree born nematodes) due to excessive cost (around $2,000 per tree). Summer burns are helping I think, bc we have killed most of the trees. (Juvenile trematodes rely on "chloroplasts" to reach their final life stage) since you didn't major in forestry like I, tree are eat slap up with "chloroplasts". You're gonna need a spring and summer protein feed regime (we feed 6lb per deer per day) using bigJ brand like micheal waddle.
    To sum it up:
    No nematodes
    No trematodes
    No trees
    Protein
    Chloroplasts
    The end
    DAMN, that went right over my dumb ass head LOL

    Seriously,THANKS

    Son in law actually was in some type of ag major at Clemson but changed to business.

    He probably would understand what you told me

  19. #19
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    The buck to doe ratio is not nearly as important as the doe to fawn ratio. If you are around 0.8-1.2 fawns per doe you are pretty healthy. With the significant yote predation of fawns in some areas of the state, one can’t assume that a large number of antlerless deer means a whole lot, in and of itself. The neighbors might be shooting only bucks and plenty of them...regardless of what they claim they are shooting. I have seen some clubs claim they are only shooting quality bucks in hopes that you will reciprocate and leave more bucks for them to shoot. It is hard to imagine an 11 to 1 doe to buck ratio without a whole lot of buck killing.

    The fawn/doe ratio needs to be established before doing much doe whackage. The numbers that you are seeing is encouraging though from a quantity standpoint.

    The problem with taking a lot of does before knowing the fawn recruitment is that you can quickly get into trouble before you realize it and it is hard and slow to recover. Odds are that your fawn recruitment is OK but I know how our herd plummeted in just a few years due to the (unknown at the time) increased yote influence, all while the hunters continued doing what they had always done. Guess I am sensitive to the issue.
    Last edited by CWPINST; 11-28-2017 at 05:05 PM.
    If it ain\'t accurate at long distance, then the fact that it is flat shooting is meaningless.

  20. #20
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    I hunt a 40acre spot right behind my house and see the same 15 - 20 deer every night. I consider this to be a bedding spot b/c there is a great deal of activity in the PM and not much in the AM. I have seen a few big bucks on cameras and found a few sheds but have yet to put an arrow through one. In years past of have tried to take 3 or 4 does but this season, I have only killed one buck. Most of the does have twins and I have always heard that you shouldn't shoot a doe with twins.
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