Small Wood Lots and Deer

[J-KID]

My friend got to old to maintain it so I lost access to a farm I've hunted for the past 15 years.  It was 200 acres with 15 acres of alfalfa fields.  I decided to hunt 5.5 acres we purchased 10 years ago to build on someday.  It's on the top of a hill with a view overlooking the Ohio River and Indiana.  I put a ladder stand up I got at Dick's for $49.00 at the edge of the woods near the back side of the pond dam I had dug right after we purchased the land.  All the adjoining lots are wooded from 15-60 acres. I can see two houses from my stand if the leaves are off the trees.  I didn't expect to see many deer, it just was going to be a place I could use for a quick hunt.

Was I wrong or what?  on my first visit to the stand during gun season (I had my bow) I had a small 6 point walk right under my stand.  On subsequent hunts I've had a total of 13 deer within 20 yards from my ladder stand and on one evening I had 7 deer pass by as they worked their way down into the corn fields of the Ohio River bottoms.  When I left and drove by the corn fields I counted over 30 deer in the first field and it was too dark to see the whole field!  I haven't seen any big bucks yet, however, I think If I do some scouting over the summer and get out at the first of the season I'll increase the odds of tagging a good one and it might still happen this year.  I never dreamed that small wood lot would provide me with so much enjoyment.  Maybe we won't build a house there . . .

Anyone else have small wood lot experiences they like to share?

[StandingStone]

Jay,

Go ahead and build on the land. I hunt behind my house no more than 75yds off the back porch. Like you if the leaves are off I can see some house from my treestand. I have lived here for 4 years now and I have taken a deer every year including the biggest buck I ever shot (8point 19" spread).

[Kingstaken]

Small lots are the best. Did a drive last weekend with seven buddies. Never been there before. First drive in what I would call a small lot of maybe a few acres where 3 of us sitters had to eneter thru a lot 75 feet wide between two homes and hunt the edge about 200 feet back. 14 deer including an 8 pointer and a 12 pointer which wouldn have scored around 150 came charging past around 40 yards out without any shots being fired. Needless to say where going back.

[Robert Warnock]

One of my best spots is only 38 acres.  It is owned by my wife's cousin and I am the only one who hunts there.

[Orion]

Deer take to the suburbs real well.  A small woodlot surrounded by larger ones really isn't small to a deer.

[ArrowAtomik]

I'll take 5 acres of good habitat/corridor over 200 acres of bad anyday.  I hunt in the backyard too... From my stand, I can even see the youngster in the highchair if its feeding time.  

I'll usually have half a dozen around when the apples are falling, but they really start moving in towards the end of winter, desperately searching for food.

I've seen over 15 at a time grazing a half acre suburban lot.  When they come night after night eating anything left thats green or alive, you can imagine the destruction.

[ArrowAtomik]

I'll take 5 acres of good habitat/corridor over 200 acres of bad anyday.  I hunt in the backyard too... From my stand, I can even see the youngster in the highchair if its feeding time.  

I'll usually have half a dozen around when the apples are falling, but they really start moving in towards the end of winter, desperately searching for food.

I've seen over 15 at a time grazing a half acre suburban lot.  When they come night after night eating anything left thats green or alive, you can imagine the destruction.

[jacobsladder]

Ive sat in a treestand and watched my daughter and her boyfriend play kissy face in the drive way while having deer right below me... talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place...lol

[deermaster1]

ive killed 8 deer, in 3 years, in a 5 acre woodlot not 70 yards from my back door. 5 were spikes and button bucks, 3 were does, one doe went 160 lbs, my biggest ever.  i saw my first real good chase, 3 bucks, a 10 pt or bigger, a six, and a fork, all chasing one doe, a 6 pt, a 4 pt, and a true 150" or better buck, all in this little woodlot in 3 seasons.  i have seen many red and gray fox, coons, and many other animals here.  i would love to have a big piece of private land, but this has treated quite well.

[J-KID]

My land does act as a funnel connecting many acres of woods to the bottomland fields.  I think the pond serves as an attractant to some degree, however, it's been frozen over for a few weeks.  When it got light enough to see last Friday morning there were five ovals in the snow on top of the dam where deer had bedded for a while.  They really like to walk along the back side of the dam where some debris was dozed into the woods when the pond was dug.  They also eat the rye grass growing on the back of the dam.

Steven,  I have four daughters and I've decided the deer can wait when it comes to them.  Most of their boyfriends are afraid of me.  I like it that way.

[Arwin]

Originally posted by jacobsladder:
Ive sat in a treestand and watched my daughter and her boyfriend play kissy face in the drive way while having deer right below me... talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place...lol

I would pack an extra "Boyfriend blunt tip" in my quiver,LOL!!!

[Ian johnson]

I hunt a small 40 acre old farm that is surrounded by houses on all sides, it has a suprising amount of deer

[BOWMARKS]

I hunt from an ATV about 75 yards from a road see deer on most days . Shot a button buck with in 10 minutes of parking this year . Deer get acustomed to us .

[J-KID]

I've also noticed that the deer are not as jumpy in my small wood lot.  I guess in the wood lots with houses/humans nearby they expect to hear and smell humans.  When I've hunted far from civilization, the deer seem to be much more adversely aware of human sounds and smells.  That's a plus for hunting near people.  

My nightmare scenario would be to shoot a nice buck and have it run into a front yard (or onto a front porch) and keel over dead!  I know a hit deer will most likely head for the woods and downhill, however, the possibility has crossed my mind.

[ArrowAtomik]

Deer are much more willing to brave an area despite a human scent or sounds in the suburbs, but it doesn't mean they don't know you're there.  They also still know that humans don't belong in trees.  When it comes down to the critical moment at bow range, deer are deer and they have all the senses to avoid the arrow whether in town or the boonies.  They hear the wrong sound and they're gone.  They hate to be surprised.

One trick I think I may try sometime in the early season though, this summer I found I could approach to within 10 yards on a spike if I had a running lawnmower in my hands.  Later the same night I crawled in my newly hung stand just to see how the view was looking and a mama doe busted me at 60 yards!  They know what is okay, and what is fishy and they don't hesitate about it.

Many people worry about a wounded deer crawling up to a local activist's front porch.  I've yet to have an issue though.  I think they always have their escape routes pre-planned when they are venturing into human territory, and that never involves going towards the humans.  Depending on where they are in the yard, I can nearly always guess which direction a wounded deer will run.

I did have the incident once though where a heart-shot doe left a trail across the road that looked like a paint bucket was kicked over.  That caused at least one neighbor to stop the car and ponder  

[J-KID]

I'll have to have some water handy to wash down any evidence!  Actually, the neighbors have no problems with hunting so a deer in the yard would probably be a conversation piece more than anything.

I did have a big doe spot me in my stand.  It's 15', but if a deer goes to the top of the dam I'm only about 10' up there.  I had just looked at my watch and it was 4:25 when she came out of the woods and spotted me.  I didn't move and she worked her way to the top of the dam, them back down and around behind me.  She did this three times.  I didn't move a muscle and squinted my eyes nearly shut so I wouldn't blink.  Two other does came out and stared at her as she pondered me and stomped every once in a while.  They didn't know what she was looking at.  Finally, she decided I must not be a threat and began to slowly feed on grass as she walked away.  I glanced down at my watch and it was 5:10.  I could have shot her right then . . . but I had already one that one.  I felt good but my leg muscles were a little sore the next day.

[D.Sheppard]

One of the best spots I hunt here in MD is a 11ac. block of woods and thickets. It is one of only two spots for miles where the woods and cover come all the way to the road on both side so the deer only have to be exposed for a second as they cross the road.