Dead Space Hunting Land

[Ski]

Given that deer utilize land in specific ways and tend to congregate into pockets, how much of a given property is dead space? They disperse into bedding & browsing areas, food plots, etc., but in between these areas is fairly tightly contained travel routes that aren't much deviated from.

For example, you have a 20 acre property with a 2 acre plot on one end and a 2 acre bedding/browsing area on the other end, a classic barbell habitat design. Figure a long stretched out acre in between for travel corridors and random browsing. That effectively leaves 80% of the property dead, void of deer. My question is how much effective hunting can a person expect from a given property? Obviously some dead space is necessary for access, exit, roads, etc. But what ratio of dead space vs effective hunting could a guy reasonably strive for?

 

[BSK]

Everything depends on habitat. Big oak forests have little dead space. Mostly pasture land has a great deal of dead space.

 

[fairchaser]

If you figure the population to be 36 deer per square mile and you have 20 acres or .031 of a square mile. That habitat would support 1.11 deer. In other words it takes a lot of land to effectively deer hunt.

 

[catman529]

Nothing is 100% dead space, especially during the rut. But for the sake of the argument I'd say that huge open pastures, especially those with horses or other grazing animals, are probably some of the most dead space you can get.

Cedar glades look like they'd be dead, because there's no food growing under them. But deer love to use the cover of the cedars to travel silently and will bed in cedars as well.

 

[megalomaniac]

Great topic! But don't worry about dead space, focus on the bedding and feeding areas. Want to hold more deer, increase those.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Honestly I can look at 1000 acres and only find 2 or 3 spots that I would actually ever hunt. The properties that I've bought have been bought because of just 1 terrain feature that they each hold. Without those spots in this low density area, you wouldn't have much success on older bucks, IMO.

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

Over time The 20 acres of Land I hunt has changed a lot. The Land owner has grown a lot older. He used to cut the fields frequently. At least 2 or 3 times during the summer . His equipment and He has gotten a lot older. The land has become very overgrown. Thick with brush and Briars. It's harder to hunt but there are A LOT more deer. Those open fields that look so nice won't hold deer . Something to think about if you want less dead zones.

 

[Snake]

Over time The 20 acres of Land I hunt has changed a lot. The Land owner has grown a lot older. He used to cut the fields frequently. At least 2 or 3 times during the summer . His equipment and He has gotten a lot older. The land has become very overgrown. Thick with brush and Briars. It's harder to hunt but there are A LOT more deer. Those open fields that look so nice won't hold deer . Something to think about if you want less dead zones.

This is so true . Open pasture as BSK stated to me should hold dead space moreso than other properties maybe not all year but once human scent is in the air and that first shot is heard . Picked clean fields have only nighttime visitations during gun season but if you have a grown up field they will use it all year even bed in it . At times it will be difficult to hunt it unless you have a an elevated stand to see down into it . Prime example was our Lincoln Co . lease. Landowner sold his cows and started letting his fields grow up and this turned a good lease into a killer of a lease. Bucks would move through those fields throughout the daylight hours especially during the rut . I'm not much of a field hunter but once this happened I just about strictly become one.

 

[rem270]

Great topic! But don't worry about dead space, focus on the bedding and feeding areas. Want to hold more deer, increase those.

Bingo!

10 of the 25 acres I just bought is what I feel is dead space. The 10 acres is in crops that butts up to 60+ acres of open crop field that my neighbor owns. I know they come out of my 15 acre wood lot to feed but I'm not letting the farmer plant my part of the field next year and plan on letting it grow up thick and plant some oak trees for the future and will do a food plot. I really think that will take away some of the dead space and improve the deer population.

 

[Antler Daddy]

Bingo!

10 of the 25 acres I just bought is what I feel is dead space. The 10 acres is in crops that butts up to 60+ acres of open crop field that my neighbor owns. I know they come out of my 15 acre wood lot to feed but I'm not letting the farmer plant my part of the field next year and plan on letting it grow up thick and plant some oak trees for the future and will do a food plot. I really think that will take away some of the dead space and improve the deer population.

Check to see if you can put into crp program and get paid to do it.

 

[Popcorn]

I just added 19 acres of good bedding and a few oaks that holds a few deer. Its narrow and long, bordered by a homestead and cattle pasture on the east and row crop (beans long harvested) to the west. Its not really in a good travel corridor but that little family group of doe that reside there has the attention of several bucks during the rut and at that time they dont seem to mind the open pastures or the cattle since love is all they care about. Sometimes a dead zone can come to life, its up to you to get the timing right.

 

[Chief44]

I've got a property that has a large hillside field. I use to keep the field bush hogged year around but realized deer didn't use that portion of the property a lot. For the last several years I've let the field grow and just bush hog strips. I alternate the strips every couple of years to keep it under control. Deer use it all the time now.

 

[rem270]

Check to see if you can put into crp program and get paid to do it.

I'm going to check into the CRP or a tree program. CRP was paying $140/acre when I checked into it some years back for my other property. Around here these broke farmers cut and rape every piece of ground they get to get an extra row so I try to help out the wildlife by trying to have as much bedding and cover on my properties as I can.

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

This is so true . Open pasture as BSK stated to me should hold dead space moreso than other properties maybe not all year but once human scent is in the air and that first shot is heard . Picked clean fields have only nighttime visitations during gun season but if you have a grown up field they will use it all year even bed in it . At times it will be difficult to hunt it unless you have a an elevated stand to see down into it . Prime example was our Lincoln Co . lease. Landowner sold his cows and started letting his fields grow up and this turned a good lease into a killer of a lease. Bucks would move through those fields throughout the daylight hours especially during the rut . I'm not much of a field hunter but once this happened I just about strictly become one.

I cut shooting lanes though it with my Dixie Chopper about 6 years ago. A Great big X with ---- lines through the middle and the across the sides . Those Lanes are like a highway/ funnel for deer and other wildlife.. They use them for travel corridors .

 

[dhpro]

I'm going to check into the CRP or a tree program. CRP was paying $140/acre when I checked into it some years back for my other property. Around here these broke farmers cut and rape every piece of ground they get to get an extra row so I try to help out the wildlife by trying to have as much bedding and cover on my properties as I can.

uuu broke farmers!!! They utilize every inch of dirt so they can survive till the next harvest!! I'm sorry if farmers rather raise beans and corn for themselves how dare the greedy land owners!!yep I been raised in and around agriculture and livestock. I was informed one time deer ate 100 dollars each every doe i shot saved a farm that much. Just my opinion and thoughts on your thoughts.

 

[utvolsfan77]

This is so true . Open pasture as BSK stated to me should hold dead space moreso than other properties maybe not all year but once human scent is in the air and that first shot is heard . Picked clean fields have only nighttime visitations during gun season but if you have a grown up field they will use it all year even bed in it . At times it will be difficult to hunt it unless you have a an elevated stand to see down into it . Prime example was our Lincoln Co . lease. Landowner sold his cows and started letting his fields grow up and this turned a good lease into a killer of a lease. Bucks would move through those fields throughout the daylight hours especially during the rut . I'm not much of a field hunter but once this happened I just about strictly become one.

I totally agree and have made the same observations on the small 20-30 acre farms I've hunted over the past 20 years or so. Once the cattle are removed, nature reclaims it fairly quick.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Given that deer utilize land in specific ways and tend to congregate into pockets, how much of a given property is dead space? They disperse into bedding & browsing areas, food plots, etc., but in between these areas is fairly tightly contained travel routes that aren't much deviated from.

For example, you have a 20 acre property with a 2 acre plot on one end and a 2 acre bedding/browsing area on the other end, a classic barbell habitat design. Figure a long stretched out acre in between for travel corridors and random browsing. That effectively leaves 80% of the property dead, void of deer. My question is how much effective hunting can a person expect from a given property? Obviously some dead space is necessary for access, exit, roads, etc. But what ratio of dead space vs effective hunting could a guy reasonably strive for?

I understand what your saying...with any property there will be portions that you don't consider feeding or bedding areas. Or as you call them, they are "dead space".....So how much effective hunting can a person expect from a given property? I think that's going to vary greatly from property to property and is difficult to answer?....So for me, when looking at the property as a whole, the goal has been to make "dead space" useable space for a variety of wildlife....For closed canopy wide open forest?....Open the canopy and allow the sunlight in...For clean pasture ground? Allow it to grow up then rotate mowing strips to create more diversity....then if possible increase the area dedicated to food plots.
On our farm many of the areas that are not considered feeding areas are actually designated "sanctuary" areas where deer can go with zero pressure from humans.....basically our goal is too improve the quality of habitat on the entire property....but the actual area we hunt isn't that large percentage wise....but by working on the property as a whole the hunting experience improves.

 

[recurve60#]

I got rid of this dilemma. I bushog every two years now. I literally have deer like rabbits on every section anytime it seems.

 

[Ski]

I understand what your saying...with any property there will be portions that you don't consider feeding or bedding areas. Or as you call them, they are "dead space".....So how much effective hunting can a person expect from a given property? I think that's going to vary greatly from property to property and is difficult to answer?....So for me, when looking at the property as a whole, the goal has been to make "dead space" useable space for a variety of wildlife....For closed canopy wide open forest?....Open the canopy and allow the sunlight in...For clean pasture ground? Allow it to grow up then rotate mowing strips to create more diversity....then if possible increase the area dedicated to food plots.
On our farm many of the areas that are not considered feeding areas are actually designated "sanctuary" areas where deer can go with zero pressure from humans.....basically our goal is too improve the quality of habitat on the entire property....but the actual area we hunt isn't that large percentage wise....but by working on the property as a whole the hunting experience improves.

Of course we want to enhance as much of a property as we can to pack as many deer as possible. But at what point do we encounter diminishing returns? At what point do we box ourselves in to the extent that we can no longer access stands without blowing deer out, leaving scent that will keep deer away, or both? One would think busting one or two deer out isn't a big deal, but in reality it seems to have a lingering ripple effect, specifically with older bucks.

One caveat I've encountered was not having the forethought to realize hunting a habitat feature on a south wind does more harm than good if there's another habitat feature at my back to the north. Seems simple minded enough but I've been guilty of it.

Another one is ironic to be complaining about, but it's overflow deer. I call them overflow because they are no longer contained to the worked habitat part of the property. I used to be able to access stands from the peripheral edges of the property and hunt inward. This season it changed. I now have deer setting up camp not only on the dead space parts of the property, but also into the surrounding properties as well. It made hunting quite frustrating this season. On one hand it's rewarding to see deer numbers improving, but on the other hand I'm realizing that it's went too far that it's now adversely affecting the hunt quality. I need some dead space back.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Of course we want to enhance as much of a property as we can to pack as many deer as possible. But at what point do we encounter diminishing returns? At what point do we box ourselves in to the extent that we can no longer access stands without blowing deer out, leaving scent that will keep deer away, or both? One would think busting one or two deer out isn't a big deal, but in reality it seems to have a lingering ripple effect, specifically with older bucks.

One caveat I've encountered was not having the forethought to realize hunting a habitat feature on a south wind does more harm than good if there's another habitat feature at my back to the north. Seems simple minded enough but I've been guilty of it.

Another one is ironic to be complaining about, but it's overflow deer. I call them overflow because they are no longer contained to the worked habitat part of the property. I used to be able to access stands from the peripheral edges of the property and hunt inward. This season it changed. I now have deer setting up camp not only on the dead space parts of the property, but also into the surrounding properties as well. It made hunting quite frustrating this season. On one hand it's rewarding to see deer numbers improving, but on the other hand I'm realizing that it's went too far that it's now adversely affecting the hunt quality. I need some dead space back.

No doubt rewarding to see deer numbers increase....but I get what your saying....too much of a good thing could become frustrating.....without seeing the property it's hard to understand what options may exist? I know on one portion of our farm some of our improvements (enlarged plot area) made it difficult to enter and exit the stand site.....I've read about and considered growing screening material to conceal movements too and from stand.....also considered what JC recommended in another thread....using rock rake to clear path on logging road for quieter walking too and from stand....and lastly, there are certain stands I'll go into much earlier than others....it seems in some cases going in much earlier reduces the number of deer I bump.