Property Descriptions

In order to make sense of some of the things I'll talk about in my hunting log this page will describe the two main places I'll be hunting. This will hopefully allow you to understand each entry and envision what type of terrain, habitat or conditions I'm hunting in.

The Swamp Property

This is a new parcel of ground my father and I just recently picked up. We cannot stop envisioning this season as this property has immense potential. We've gotten some great pictures of some awesome bucks, and now there are even others we haven't captured on film yet.

Here is an overall image I created of the property's main chunk we'll be hunting:

Stars=location of main stands.

The black dashed line shows the border of the property...well at least what I put on the map. The hay field to the East extends further east off the map but doesn't show all of it. The small woodlot in the SE corner is the only chunk of ground we cannot hunt, as the landowner's nephew's is hunting it; it is a 5 acre chunk which is surrounded by crops on all sides (hay to the north and corn on every other side).

The property's Southern cornfield extends farther south to a dirt farming access road which runs east/west. On the southern side of this road is large chunk of state owned (non-hunted) wildlife refuge, which is basically a swamp; hence the name of the property.

The central woods is where our main focus is going to fall, as the deer coming off the northern and northwestern marshes/canary grass/thickets are "easier" to target and get after. All the trails you see are trails which have been on the farm for years and years, and most are wide enough we can just slip a truck down them; however some are becoming overgrown. The green patch located in the middle of the woods to the south is a food plot which includes all of the following: winter peas, winter wheat, winter rye (edges), kale, rape and purple top turnips.

We have total access to the this property save the small woodlot during all of early archery season but have to back out during gun season. However, once the farmer is done in gun season he will give us a call and we'll be back out hopefully this time just doe hunting, as we plan on getting a buck early. My father and I will be hunting this property for the very first time, but with all the walking/scouting and even a trip in the field with Bill Vale I have a feeling this could be a magical season here.

One other important thing is that this property is littered with oak trees, and I mean they're everywhere! While they're 90% red oaks, the deer are sure to have a food source even if corn is picked early.


The Homestead Property

I'm calling this the Homestead Property because it's where my parents live and is where I grew up hunting! This is where every single buck I've dropped has taken place here (this year this could change though...see Swamp Property haha!). My parents own roughly 9 acres and over the years we've gain access to roughly another 10 acres worth of parcels which surround the property. This has allowed us to hunt the edges of our property which almost helps create a safety zone out of our own property.





Before I describe the property in depth like the Swamp Property here's a topographical image, as this property unlike the Swamp Property does have changing elevation that causes us to hunt it differently. The map is marked to show the property we own and operate as we wish (food plots, cuttings and such), shown with the dashed yellow lines. The property we can hunt though is shown by the  solid yellow line.

Click to enlarge.

 The next map shows our stands so far (stars), estimated location and size of food plots (green areas), bedding area on our property is labeled (others will be describe after picture) and also the creek that runs our property is drawn in.

Okay so I know I don't show it but I'll explain why this property is in a way a funnel in its self. If I were to zoom back you'd notice that to the West is a 40 acre chunk of woods which receive very light if any hunting pressure during the year; which is then bordered on its western edge by a county road. Just on the other side of this county road lies over 100+ acres on a county park which is strictly recreational in the sense that absolutely no hunting can take place. Not to mention it is beside a 40 acre swamp...so needless to say bucks can come from the west without crossing a roadway or at most one road, which isn't bad because they can do so from cover to cover. Now to the North is nothing but houses as you see and a county road...however across that county road is a river which has a great river bottom as far as cover goes (you may have or will see me exploring the property my dad has to hunt in these bottoms). So again deer come from the North with ease as they can cross just one road and be in our neck of the woods. When you start looking East and Southeast is when you begin to realize this property's natural bottle neck feature. To the East one can travel miles before hitting a country road and there are crop fields all over. Then if you head Southeast you will meet up with some big woods, which up until one year ago was un-hunted (since sold and split between 4 buyers). Here is a map zoomed way out showcasing how a deer can walk from the far SE woods all the way through ours and to the park with only crossing 1 road!!!

Click to enlarge.

If you follow my blog you know pretty much that our woods have many food plots, some oaks and plenty of browse (hinge cuts and briars) for the deer to feed on...but we don't provide a primary food source, we just try to get deer to hit our place before heading off to primary fields and hit our place last before bedding.

So that is the two main places I'll be hunting...hopefully as I progress through the season you will learn something from my entries or at the very least be entertained from day to day throughout the season.

Good luck out there everyone!