New property......should I clear all my property lines?

[13bonatter69]

I just bought 120 acres hunting property in Mississippi and want to doze a path all the way around the whole property so that I can keep it cleaned and disked. I will plant some of the path in food plots and have a "safe line" between me and my neighbors
for future burning of the property. My question, is should I doze the path right down the exact property line, or should I leave a "buffer zone" of say 20 to 30 feet between me and all my neighbors and let it grow up nice and think to deter tresspassing keep all the "lookie loos" honest? Thoughts?

 

[Afhunter1]

Managing a small piece of property is tough, you are not gonna be able to hold deer on it. I’d try to make the center of it as thick as possible with bedding cover and maybe 3 or 4 —-2.5 -acre plots. I like white clover in 3 and a brassic in 1. I don’t think I’d be dozing anything. My biggest success comes from fact that I NEVER go into the bedding area. I wait for them to come out. Usually we kill all our nice bucks in last 10 min of light as they pop out to look around the plot.

Biggest thing is don’t piss off your neighbors cause they will shoot all ur nice bucks at night. Ha ha.

 

[KenLee]

Two thoughts come to mind:
1. If you leave a buffer zone, the neighbors may treat it as it's theirs, acting as your road is the line.
2. If you don't leave a buffer zone and plant it, the neighbors may hunt the line.
Get to know the neighbors and find out what type folks they are. Also find out who they let hunt their property.
Then make your decision.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Good fences make good neighbors. 4-5 ft from the fence provides a good maintenance zone for tractors or quads. Beyond that is up to you.

 

[Billy Goat]

How certain are you of the property lines?

Even after a survey, it might get contested. I have seen it get messy, especially if timber is involved. It's not infrequent for a neighbor here to have something different for a property line, leaving several acres in limbo. When was the date of previous survey?

I leave buffers, but people start to think that's their property since I'm not using it.

 

[N.ID7803]

Get a survey, then clear right up to the lines. Offer to cost share the survey with the neighbors, best of both worlds. Surveyed lines are pretty cut and dry as to whose is whose….

 

[spike camp]

If you doze lanes, the deer will use them religiously.
I wouldn’t do it personally, if there’s pressure from your neighbors.

 

[Rich M]

Look at Jeff Sturgis’s stuff.

Manage land to keep deer on there so neighbors dont choot em.

 

[Amos Keeto]

If I had it to do all over again, I'd doze a trail along the boundary fence.
I'm not knowledgeable about any Mississippi landowners laws and rights, so take that with a grain of salt.

I would attempt to make contact with your neighbors. Most are okay, some are quirky.

The clearance along the fence is more to make fence maintenance as easy as possible.
Birds constantly light on fences and poop seeds that sprout and grow. Keep them cleaned up....ESPECIALLY if it's youpon! That stuff will take over a fenceline in a heartbeat.

As for the deer.
It's large enough to hold "some" deer. Since a deer's home territory is normally about a mile square (640 acres), they should frequent your property quite often. It's just a matter of using attractants.
Scratch out some food plots, set up salt licks and feeders if they're allowed.

The deer aren't yours. They belong to the state.

 

[Elite7]

Farms bordering mine have been surveyed through the years. Each end up being a few feet off from each other. I think dozing along the property line wuld be asking for hard feeling with neighbors from the start. I would give it a few years and see how thing play out then make that decision

 

[Doc Holliday]

What size parcels are around you, how long have they been there, do you know your neighbors, how much do they hunt and where do they hunt, do you live nearby or a long way away, historical deer movement, topography, is the boundary a bedding area, is there already a difference in habitat along the line, etc. I have different approaches to different sides of my property based on these and many other factors. You said you “just bought” it… my advice is to do nothing right off the bat as long as you have access to enjoy the property as is. Just hunt it for a year, try to establish contact with your neighbors and see if they are brown it’s down or managing for age structure. Is it leased or is it the owner that hunts it. Put up cams and get a feel for deer movement. See where the pressure is. I wouldn’t get too aggressive with anything until you get a complete picture, and then once you do, put a plan together that is based on your individual situation.

 

[eamyrick]

I was born and raised in MS and still have family with land there. If I could avoid clearing anything near the road I would. My family in Jones and Tippah County frequently find deer shot off the road. I grew up hunting in Tippah and frequently found signs of trespassing. If you want to make a shooting lane for your neighbors clear a wide line on the fence.

MS is great. Like mentioned before I would work on interior food plots but wouldn’t do anything inviting 2 legged creatures on the property line.

 

[Mojave]

If it is not fenced I would have it fenced. Not high fence, just some kind of cattle fence with t-post. 4 or 5 wires, barb wire on all but the top two wires. Prevents wildlife from getting caught in the barbed wire.

Another option is to put a post line down the property line and pain the post red or orange or whatever color so they stand out. Space post out every 50 yards. This is very common in the development ranches like the YO Ranchlands and I believe the Dominion, in Texas near San Antonio. Demarks the property line, without obstructing the flow of wildlife in anyway.

Talk to your neighbors. I would build permanent blinds, but I would not leave any of them unlocked. Unless you are living there and can get out on the property daily.

 

[Wheels]

Mojave just beat me to it.
By your post, it sounds like the property is not fenced off. That would be the first thing that I would do, fences let others know where to stop.

 

[Amos Keeto]

Mojave just beat me to it.
By your post, it sounds like the property is not fenced off. That would be the first thing that I would do, fences let others know where to stop.

Good fences make good neighbors!

In Oklahoma and Texas, it's tradition (?) that the neighbor share the cost of the fence as it also benefits them.
The two times I built fence to separate properties, the neighbor wasn't the least bit interested in assisting, physically or fiscally!

 

[Carr5vols]

Put fence on surveyed property line ask neighbor they may be willing to pay for some of it. Then doze all the way around leaving room for tractor and boom mower. And as someone else said. Thick as possible in middle with food plots near it.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I have to counter Mojave somewhat. If you don't have stock, I would go with three wires. Raise the bottom up about mid-calf to help the fawns cross. I use about 7 spaces between wires on the t-posts. It diminishes the potential for them to hook their feet between the top two wires when they are young and learning to jump. I have found a number of calf elk dead with their hind feet wrapped in the top two wires.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

Own 120.
Nothing better than a clear and visible property line.
I did most of mine with even asking neighbors for assistance.Alot of the time people will split the cost or labor.
Had mine surveyed and 3/4 mile 4 strands of Barb wire.Three would be plenty.

 

[Amos Keeto]

Own 120.
Nothing better than a clear and visible property line.
I did most of mine with even asking neighbors for assistance.Alot of the time people will split the cost or labor.
Had mine surveyed and 3/4 mile 4 strands of Barb wire.Three would be plenty.

If I'm going to the time, trouble and expense of building a fence, it will be bare minimum 4 strands, preferably 5 strands.
The two bottom strands will be barbless and the top strand doesn't have to be 6 feet in the air! LOL! Four foot is sufficient.
I don't worry about the deer. I'm building fence for ol' Bossy and Ferdinand the Bull and as a boundary marker.
A fellow I hunt on has a "10 strand" fence due to feral hogs.
I have seen deer go over, under and through like magic!
If a deer wants on the other side of a fence, it will go!

 

[Radford]

Getting a lot of advice you didn't ask for.

I keep a thick buffer with t post fence and trail on the interior. If people can see the trails they will come in eventually.