I've got 20 acres in upstate ny, what would you suggest to improve it?

[Beagle1]

We bought 65 acres in Central GA back in 2020. The farm has produced at least 1 mature buck every season, with the possibility to kill more (if more people hunted it & with rifles).

#1 Hunting / Human pressure has to be minimal to the back portion of the property.
#2 Access has to be wind dependent. Whatever your prevailing wind direction is for October/November make sure your access to stands is ideal for it
#3 Thick bedding; think native vegetation. DO NOT plant oak trees. That will do the opposite of what you want. Think native shrubs, grasses, forbs.
#4 Kill plots; Plants 1-2 small kill plots in there. On the edge, think 1/4-1/2 acre at most. Clover, cereal grain blends
#5 Water Hole; think a 100-200 gallon stock tank dug into the ground. Setup on the edge of a food plot with a camera & tree stand in close proximity.

I HIGHLY recommend you research Dr. Craig Harper, Dr. Grant Woods (Growing Deer TV), Mississippi State Deer Lab, University of Florida Deer Lab on YouTube & Google for information.

If anything, please understand that less is more. Less impact, cutting, planting etc the food is there. Provide the bedding and you will kill them.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any further questions. I do enjoy talking “strategy” & habitat management for whitetail deer.

Here’s a couple random pics of the farm and 2 of the bucks I’ve killed out there
View attachment 724086View attachment 724091View attachment 724092View attachment 724094View attachment 724095

This about covers it. Nothing will hurt your hunting on a small parcel quicker than hunting pressure. I own 20 acres in NY and once the deer know they are being hunted they are gone. Thick brushy habitat is what you want, forget the hardwoods. I would add some fast growing crab apples there too. I would only put in a 40 gallon water tank. That’s what I have on my property and it never goes dry.

I would hunt the rut hard but smartly during bow season. You will get lots of nonlocal bucks cruising through then. Hunt the first few days of gun season. After that most of the deer in the area will be nocturnal. Late gun season into muzzleloader season the hunting will pick up if you haven’t over hunted your land. Secluded food plots are the key to success then. Make sure your plots have some late season forage.

I would also runs lots of cell and non cell cameras on your land. They will tell you how the deer are using your land and what you can do to improve the hunting there.

 

[knehrke]

I own several 50 acre parcels in Western NY, and as stated access is your number one priority. I can't speak much to hunting pressure, as the reason I purchased is have a place for my friends to hunt (with me). We do kill decent bucks nearly every year, but my definition of decent is 140+ and might be different from others.

I will say that we've spend inordinate amounts of time on habitat improvement, planting over 7000 stems (shrubs and hardwood) and over 80 fruit trees thus far to complement the 60 or so volunteers. We have some plots, but also lots of adjacent agriculture. I doubt any of it has made a difference to the deer or to the hunting. It's been fun and made me feel good though.

The thicker it is, the more the deer will use it. During the rut, there will be bucks. If you know how they travel, you will get your opportunities, so long as you can get into a good set undetected. And that's really the gist of it. Food will get deer to hang around, particularly doe, which is good for attracting buck, and particularly during the late season if you have the best meal on the block. But nothing trumps access.