OVER BOARD

I have some property in upstate NY and we are trying to plan out where we will plant some fields for deer management. I attached a satellite image and outline of the property. The green line is acreek that cuts through the property. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to plant some new fields?

USFWC

What I think you need to do is widen your travel corridors leading to the crop fields that you already have in place and give them some 2-3 acre patches of cover at various locations along the way forbedding cover. It will make what you have a lot more attractive.

OVER BOARD

Come on guys, awfully quiet in here. Should I just create small food plots in some of the thicker areas over to the right side. I have those two fields to the right, the one that is shaped like an upside down L and the one next to it, which have been disked and ph tested. I was thinking about making those like two main feed plots, one clover and one clover and chicory. Please just give me a quick overview of what to plant and where to plant, and some possible stand suggestions. All of the corn fields rotate from corn to soy bean on a year to year basis. It seems the deer are found in the greatest consistency on the far left and far right of the property.

USFWC,

How do you recommend widening the travel routes and to what size? Thanks!

TROPHYHUNTER25

i would make smaller plots in the thick stuff

USFWC

You have treelines separating your fields, which I assume are fencerows. You can widen these travel corridors 2 different ways...by planting them with trees or by reducing the tilled area and letting them grow up naturally. The latter will require less expense, but it will take years for the natural regeneration to fill in the way you want it to do. Widening these areas to 50-75 yards should increase the number of deer utilizing your property significantly. If you plant trees, make sure they are adapted to your area...and preferably produce a beneficial mast for your deer/other wildlife.

I would leave the brushy areas of sumac alone forthe most partas they provide some very good cover where there is not much...you may consider brush-hogging ~15-foot-wide paths in those areas and seeding them to something likea clover/chicory mix...with those paths directing them to other places on your property where you have stands/food plots/cover.

OVER BOARD

Those are stonewalls, the thicker ones you can see have trees growing around the wall and the thinner ones are those which it is just the stone and brush. I like the idea of growing those bigger.

What about making those two unused plots into large feed plots to hopefully up the carrying capacity. Any suggestions on stand location if I make these modifications. What about down near the creek?

Thanks guys!

USFWC

Carrying capacity of Illinois farmland is already sky-high, so planting a food plot in that kind of situation is not really affecting that so much. You stated that you mainly see deer on the 'ends' of your property...look at what they have ready access to on both the east and west sides...cover. I'd plan on increasing cover, especially in the center of your property, to have a better hunting property in the long run. Food plots are a great attractant, but they are also a money pit. I'd try to minimize the total acres of plots you put in annually to no more than 3-4 acres...and limit those to ~1/2 acre 'hunting plots' in strategic locations next to cover and areas where you can have stand locations where you may hunt on any given day no matter what the wind direction.

As far as stand locations go...inside corners, 'fingers' that jut out into the fields and intersections of the corridors that I have pointed out are all excellent locations...as well as along the creek. I'd place a stand just inside the treeline east of the corner of where the sumac/brush area and the winter greens field meet...which would be just slightly north of the creek. You should have a shot at anything going down the creek as well as anything using the sumac or greens fields.

mauser06

usfwc is right on. you see the deer on the ends of the property because thats where the cover is. you got alot of fields and food. the deer use it im sure...but youll see more if you add corridors and cover. looks like about 3/4 of the property is open for the most part. sure you feed alot of deer....but i wouldnt say a large number live on your land...and the ones that do feed on your land most likely do so under the cover of darkness for the most part...

how large is the property?? just tryin to get a size idea...

i definently like the idea of adding trees...though that would be pretty costly anyway youd do it..unless your state may have programs that would help out...i know my game commission will give you 500 free trees a year if you own 50arces or something like that. and sell them from their nursery really cheap. and theres other programs out there to check into..like letting the fields go..or cool season grasses etc etc..id contact the game commission and talk with them...

that east side of the property looks like it should hold deer if its not pure mature forest..as well as the creek bottom..

OVER BOARD

This property is in New York and the surrounding areas have high hunting pressure so Im sure our property could hold more deer. The total acreage is about 350.

The stuff to the east is pretty thick nasty stuff and it is actually a big ridge (hard to tell from the pic) The top of that ridge is part mature pine and part hardwood. Would you recommend cutting an opening on the top of that ridge to place a plot and would this plot be a hunting plot or more like a clover feed plot? Surrounding that creek is mature pines.

Thanks for all the help!

USFWC

I don't know where I got Illinois...I was probably going back and forth between here and the QDMA site and got the posts 'integrated'.

Any cutting or clearing of timber should not be done in haste, especially for a food plot. It should be a part of a forest management plan that helps you reach an objective. Thinning is usually a good idea, but none of us on here are in a position to tell you to cut since we have no direct knowledge of your property. If you are considering that, you really need to talk to an area forestry consultant, otherwise, you could wind up cutting some valuable timber and receive nothing for it.