Your Hunting Land Description????

[Sligh1]

Describe the land you hunt. NOTHING specific like an exact location or even a county. How many varieties of situations do we have here???

-How many acres do you hunt, how much is timber/cover or crops?

-Do you have food plots or does the owner not allow or too much hassle?

-Do you OWN the land, have permission, lease it, public land, etc?

-Giant bucks? Lots of deer? Too many, not enough???

-Do you put immense hours into stands, foodplots, scouting, cameras, etc, etc. OR do you more show up for the hunt once season hits?

-How many treestands, blinds or spots do you have?

-What's the hunting pressure like on the land and in the neighborhood?

-How do you feel your hunting land stacks up against other pieces in Iowa or elsewhere?

-How long have you hunted the land and have you been satisfied with the hunting?

-Hunt it with buddies, alone, with family, etc?

Anything else you'd like to add, you can answer one or all of the questions. Like to see how the situations vary amoungst us "serious" hunters?!?!?

 

[letemgrow]

I have 140 acres almost in IA It is about 2-3 miles from the line and there is 100 acres of white oak/red oak timber intermixed with very thick patches of swamp white oaks, honey locust, and hickory. There is a good sized creek that runs from the NW corner to the SE corner of the property. My farm is stand hunt only there are no deer drives ever!! All the neighbors do the same and most of the deer taken are 3.5 or older except for the newbie and they can shoot whatever they want.

I have owned the farm for 5 years now and planted several trees on it including 3 small apple orchards close to selected stands. American Chestnuts and a few hybrid chestnuts to added mast production when oak are not dropping. I usually have 6-7 standsites and may switch 1-2 around per year. I do not do any scouting since the movements have not changed much. It makes it easy to figure them out so to speak when you own the land and hunt it regularly.

I would say I border on having too many deer overall. There is plenty of food, but any seedlings I plant sure get hit hard and they do not miss a one!!

The farm is mainly for family, but I do sell a few hunts to help pay for all the habitat improvements and we average 3-4 3.5 or older bucks on the property every year. My cousin from IA that hunts the farm some calls it,"Mini Iowa" because of the deer he sees and movement. I would like to see more mature bucks, but will take what I see as it is better than most places in MO. The family is tickled with 3.5 year old bucks so I give them the green light on them.

I leave about 40 acres of the thickest part, shingle oaks, cedars, honey locust and an assortment of shrubs as the sancturary and we never hunt in that area. I have stands set up all around that part and we either catch them going in or out, but that is it.

 

[SouthernIowa]

I have a few places,all in south central iowa. The piece I hunt the most is 520 acres my dad owns. Its consists of about 150 acres of over grown pasture with a small stand of timber in it, 150 acres of row crops, and 220 acres of CRP. There is a large draw with many fingers coming off it going through the CRP.
I have 7 stands on the property, most are over pinch points where large fingers connect to the draw but I also have a couple over food sources. I have taken a 140 inch eight pointer and a 145 inch ten pointer there, they were both 3.5 year olds. There are many mature bucks there, I have pictures and sheds of a buck that has to be 8.5. He is a huge bodied deer. His sheds from this year scored 165 with a broken brow and g2 on his left and a broken g3 on his right.
I am the only one that hunts there except for a group that does one drive late season. I have 2 trail cams out right now and have been getting many pics so im pretty pumped for next year.
I also hunt a 160 acre field to the south that has a draw going right down the middle with a few fingers off it. I have two stands there, I'm hoping to just kill a few does there early season to keep some pressure off my dads land.

 

[SaskGuy]

I have quite a few different chunks that I hunt but only a few that I hunt seriously. I'll break it down into individual landowners b/c they all pretty much but up against each other making it a verylarge tract.
Favorite place.
1300 acres give or take a few, about 400 acres aflalfa, 800 acres boreal forest. River borders the entire east edge.

I do not have a foodplot, the alfalfa is the food obviously.

I don't own the land, it belongs to a friend/neighbor, just handshake permission.

There are lots of mature bucks, some I'd call giants, I did stack up about 620" on 3 bucks in 3 yrs from the same tree. Lots of does as well, possibly too many.

Lots of hours into glassing field in summer, running cameras and piles of hours on snowshoes looking for sheds.

I've only got a few treesatnds on it, a couple pop ups, mostly natural blinds.

Hunting pressure in archery season in pretty much nil, muzzleloader season sees more, but in reality, almost nil. Most of the pressure comes in November rifle season, same with the surrounding areas.

Oops...just realized this was directed at Iowans,..oh well, in comparison to anywhere on earth in the world of property not managed for deer,...I'd almost dare someone to show me a better chunk of property.

Have been hunitng the property for 7 yrs, immensely satisfied. Hunting aside, it could be my favorite piece of property anywhere just due to the beauty.


I hunt it alone.

I guess maybe I won't be breaking it down any further as I never noticed it was directed towards iowans, Oh well, there you have it, my #1 choice.

 

[Sligh1]

Not for just Iowan's!! It's just as cool to hear from folks in other states or other countries for that matter!!! Great stuff from the above posts!

 

[deerhunter93]

Well I wish I could go on and on about how great our land is, but there is just one problem, we dont own any. I turn 16 in July so I am going to try to knock on some doors when I get my license. If that doesn't work I will be hunting some public land around here, but I have heard it gets hunted a lot.

The main place we have had good luck in the past is my dads uncles place south of here about an hour. It is a pretty good chunk, 160 acres maybe. It is mostly timber with a couple draws going into a CRP field. We always have a treestand in the same tree every year. It is on top of a ridge where three other ridges come and meet. That stand is where I have shot all 4 of my bucks from.

 

[SaskGuy]

Not for just Iowan's!! It's just as cool to hear from folks in other states or other countries for that matter!!! Great stuff from the above posts!

Cool! I'll go my top 2 I guess.
Landowner #2
2000 acres give or take a few, 600 acres alfalfa or alfalfa brome hay fields, 1400 acres boreal foest timber, bordered on the west by the same river as place #1.

No food plots.

Again, don't own, just handshake permission access from a friend.

Lots of mature bucks, good age structure, seems to be less does on this property than the above property.

Trail cams, long range glassing of alfalfa in summer. Don't shed hunt the property much due to winter migration more to proprty #1.

4 or 5 stands are left up yr round on the property, again a couple popups and a few natural blind settings.

Same hunting pressure as above property, nil except for my self in September, a couple other guys occasionally in October, some for moose others muzzleloader whitetail hunting. Most of the pressure comes in November rifle season as in all surrounding areas.


Have been hunting it for about 5 years, very satisfied with how things have went. In terms of properties in the surrounding say 200 square miles it definately ranks up there as one of the best chunks due to abundance of food, cover and water.

I hunt it alone.

My last 2 bucks have came from this property, am starting to learn more about it each year and amhoping one day soon to find the perfect killing tree as I have done with property #1.

 

[Sligh1]

2 quick responses to Saskguy and Deerhunter93 (ok little longer response for deerhunter93)...

Deerhunter93-I am about 14 years older than you. The next 14 years of your life will go SUPER FAST!!!!! When I was 16 I got a car and could hunt quite a bit. Right before that, my mom used to drop me off to hunt almost every day after school. I hunted 2 pieces that I BEGGED the folks to let me hunt- they did. It was over-run with people BUT I didn't care. I had almost zero money (I made minimum wage) and struggled to pay for bow, arrows and stands. All permission hunting but I was willing to work to find places to hunt! You'll find something!!!!
Now, when I got out of college, I saved like a maniac (thankfully I worked through college and graduated with only $3,000 in college debt and put myself through school) and saved so hard-core that i was able to buy a small farm. I kept building and saving and now own more. I love the land and so thankful I was able to buy something. My point is- don't get frustrated you have to struggle for places to hunt. Put in the work on finding places to hunt now BUT also put in hard work to get through school, get a job you love AND you could buy a piece of land in a relatively short period of time IF that's what you decided you wanted. Great story and situation because I was just there and i am sure a lot of other folks here can relate!!!

Saskguy- man, any place other than IA I would love to hunt is Canada- either Sask or Alberta! Awesome situations in both examples. IF you have posted any of your deer in the past, I would love to see them!!! If not, no big deal. That just sounds amazing and thanks for sharing!!!

*I think TONS of guys on here DO NOT own land, that's what a small point of the post was made for, to get an idea of that and other aspects.

 

[Grasshopper]

Since Sask opened the gate, I'll jump in as another non-Iowan.

I am on the north side of 40, with two great kids, a lovely wife and a job that's just good enough to help us get by. Like most, I dream of owning land, but that window has pretty much shut for me...unless my once-a-year Powerball ticket pans out or a rich uncle I don't know about leaves me a pile!

I'm completely OK with that. My family is everything, deer hunting is a passion, but still a hobby. I indulge my fascination for deer on a mix of private land that my neighbors are gracious enough to hunt, and public land that I share with other sportsmen. The big-buck potential in either is limited, for obvious reasons. I'm OK with that, too. As I've earned some frosting in my sideburns, my definition of "trophy" has mellowed some.

I do the food plot, trail cam, stand-prep deal on a couple of properties and I adore it. But its weird, too....I'm getting more and more of a kick out of hunting the public stuff. That's where I earned my bowhunting stripes (the few I have) and I'm enjoying a return to that challenge. I like snooping around in the off season, reading deer sign, figuring out who lives there and where they hang out. And, of course, what that deer is gonna do when other hunters start sniffing around.

Last year I added the big woods of northern Wisconsin to my stomping grounds. Getting a real kick out of figuring out what those deer do far from roads and farms, where they stand as good a chance of getting whacked by a wolf as they do me.

Hope I didn't make your thread veer too far off course, Sligh. I admire your passion and determination very much. If I'd have been as smart and driven as you when I was 30....

 

[Liv4Rut]

I kind of hop all over the state to hunt mostly public land. I don't know what it is about hunting public land that I like, but for some reason I do. I think mainly because it is a challenge, and there is a lot of ground out there. I can be found either in the rolling hills of Winnishiek / Allamakee / Fayette county, or I may be down in Boone / Dallas County, I could possiby even be down in Monroe, Davis, Appanoose, Van Buren County, or I may also be close to my parent's home in Muscatine, Cedar, Louisa, and Des Moines County.

At one time or another I have just about walked every piece of public in those counties. Its all an adventure right now. My parent's own 250 acres and my grandparents own 220 acres that are great hunting too.

 

[DannyBoy]

My favorite spot is around 600 acres, split by a gravel road.... 400 to the north, 200 to the south. The south part is bordered both on the south and east ends by a river and is a mix of grain crops, timber draws, and tallgrass. This south end is heavily pressured by a bunch of idiots. The north end is bordered on the east by a VERY large section of timber, which ends at a river on the east end. Of this section of timber I can hunt about 60 acres. Other than that, there is a north 30 (kind of a timber island) of timber and the rest is a mix of pasture, two rotated grain fields, and one annual alfalfa field. The surrounding properties are more heavily pressured during most seasons, but doesn't seem to affect my hunting. The deer find the large, unhunted timber to be a sanctuary and don't venture much onto surrounding properties. Basically, it's like I'm hunting different deer.

I've been hunting it for four years or so now, and have really learned to PLAY THE WIND. It's overrun (understatement) with does, I've had as many as 65 deer in front of me. I mostly hunt the north end due to theft issues and morons hunting the south.

I do not own the land, therefore the only food plots I hunt are whatever the farmer decides to plant. The amount of scouting I do depends on the year, but regardless of how much scouting I do, I'm always confident that there are several good shooters in the area. Many of you read my post(s) about bowhunting heartbreakers, and this place is the setting for most of them. I really like to glass the hayfield from a distance during the summer as often as I can. I run one camera also.

I think it's one of the more unique spots out there. It seems if I get really picky about only hunting the best possible conditions (wind, time of year, etc.) that I have a good chance at beating the odds. Because I cannot hunt the big timber I'm forced to hunt the edge habitat only. BUT, the does ALWAYS show up in BIG numbers.... So if I'm able to remain in the shadows with the does and get them comfortable, the bucks will eventually show up.

I run 3 stands and two blind settings for bow and muzz hunting both. It's basically mine and a friends alone with bow, but it gets pounded pretty hard during gun season, although most guys just still hunt and it seems the constant pressure really hinders movement. It usually takes them until about x-mas to show up in pre-gun numbers again. We share the property with another couple guys during muzz, but there's plenty to hunt and we're all on the same page.

Because the BIG timber isn't hunted by anybody, I feel the bucks have as good a chance to reach their potential as anywhere. Mix that with good genetics and you have the right potion to produce giants, and they are definately out there. Lucky for me, I hunt their closest and best food source, unless they want to travel great distances or across the river. I've hunted some of Iowa's best trophy destinations like south-central and extreme northeast, and I have yet to find a place truly better as far as growing giants, it's just a matter of getting them out of the "bermuda timber" within legal shooting hours, which is tough, but doable if you stick it out.

I am extremely satisfied with my hunting experience on this property so far. I have one of those stands that we all dream of finding, where you can literally shoot a good one year after year, and it just so happens that this stand is amazing for both bow and muzz hunting. I've seen countless shooters from it, hit two that I never found (heartbreakers), put one on the ground last fall with my bow and one down the previous muzz season, as well as dozens of does. I missed a super giant just about 200 yards to the north of it as well.

I hunt other spots that I like as well, might share about them if enough people post. Also picked up some new land last year that i'll be concentrating most of my scouting on this summer to see what it's like. Regardless, it should be an exciting summer and upcoming bowseason!

 

[SaskGuy]

Skip, I've posted pics of the bucks on here before but if you haven't seen them here the last 5. I never took up bow hunting until I was 31, 07 season, so the first 3 are smokepole kills from early October.
04

05

06

Quick reply only allows 4 pics so I'll follow up.

 

[SaskGuy]

First ever bow kill.
07

08

I have one of those stands that we all dream of finding, where you can literally shoot a good one year after year

Likewise, all 3 muzz bucks came from the same tree, I passed this buck upfrom the very same tree this year while bow hunting.

I've got a pile of other land to hunt but I spend most of my time on these 2 chunks. If the wind is Nw I hunt one, if not I hunt the other. They're a stones throw from home and truthfully, I'd have to see a place firsthand to believe that I could find better action anywhere,..literally.
I could kill moose on the properties, bear as well. Both landowners are friends, neighbors, and teammates on a local softball team. Sure I'd love to own the land but realize how fortunate I am to live where I do. Each and every day I feel I'm living the dream.

 

[kurtish]

Great topic! I've enjoyed reading about the different types of ground you fellas get to stomp around on.

I hunt on multiple pieces of ground but the majority of my time is spent on my fathers land (115 ac) and ground that is owned by the company that I work for (roughly 4000 ac of which I can hunt about 1200). I live and hunt the drifless region of Wisconsin, which is made up of steep ridges and has probably a 60/40 ratio of timber to farmground.

We maintain small foodplots on my fathers ground. This piece is basically a large ridge with finger ridges coming off of it. It is bordered by CRP ground to the south and strip cropped farm ground to the north. The main ridge was clear cut 6 years ago and only has a few pockets of mature timber. We have a section of timber on the north side of the clearcut that is made up of a mixture of hardwoods with scattered whitepine and a springfed creek at the foot of the ridge.

We have good numbers of deer and shoot somewhere between 3-8 does every year for table fare. The company land that I hunt on is under strict management and thus produces Booner class bucks every year although I have yet to get within bow range of one. The quality of the bucks we see on my fathers land has improved every year in the last 5 years that we have owned it. However we have only killed a handful of antlered deer off of it.

I'm nuts about the whitetail and probably spend too much time foodplotting, running cameras, shedhunting, glassing etc.

We have 6 stands and one popup blind that are basically in the same spot every year and I tend to hang one or two stands on the fly throughout the season to test out new spots or to try to correct for changes in the wind. The wind can be extremely fickle on this piece of ground due to the topography so it's really been a trial and error system of finding stands that work for catching deer headed to feed in the bottoms in the evening. Our morning sits tend to work well with this property as we can catch the movement up high where the winds are stable and we can remain undetected.

Pressure during the bow season is pretty light on the surrounding properties but the gun opener brings the orange army and it's safe to say that there is at least a hunter or two for every 40 acres on all of the surrounding properties. The only pressure our land receives by anyone other than myself is from: my father whom isn't really a hunter....he just sits in a tree occasionally and happens to carry a bow to look the part , and my brother in law who comes up every weekend throughout the bow and gun season.

I've been satisfied with our ground as it has brought our whole family together and gives my father and I endless projects to work on together. We haven't killed any giants and maybe never will but the bonding time we share there is worth a whole lot more than a rack on the wall.

 

[Sligh1]

Awesome reads and varieties of sitations!!! Anything is game!

Saskguy- oh my gosh! Yeah, I never did see those pics before somehow. Truly amazing!

Great reads so far about all your passionate situations of where you hunt! Keep em coming!

 

[nacho2770]

Wow!!!

I would wet myself if I even saw a buck of that caliber!!!

I have seen very few bucks in my life that would even go 170 inches..

I get very excited if I see a 140 inch buck.

Also we don't see non-typicals around here very often..

Most of the land I hunt is farm land and CRP..There are very few trees up here, except in some of the larger draws....My family owns 1,000 acres, but about 600 acres of that is farm land (wheat stubble). The rest is CRP, shallow draws with thorn bushes and about 40 acres of deep draws with scattered oaks. Most of the land is wide open with a few exceptions..

I own 11 tree stands, but almost all of them are on the 40 acres that has some trees on it...the rest is only huntable from the ground.

 

[nacho2770]

Also will add the land gets little presure during bow season, but tons of presure during the rifle season in November......Lots of road hunters and all the roads become highways for 3 weeks...Lots of deer getting chased around during that time... That have few places to hide since it is so open, so msot lazy hunters just drive around and lob bullets at deer off the road... We also have roads every mile up here, so there isn't much safety for the deer during that time of year..

We don't do any drives or still hunting during the rifle season....mostly rifle hunt like a bowhunter and just sit on stand and wait...

 

[Shovelbuck]

I have access to around 2000 acres of private land owned by three different people. All gained by a handshake and years of trust. They aren't just landowners anymore, they are friends.
About half the ground is narrow river bottom surrounded by cropland. The past few years, deer numbers have been lower than I'd like to see but that can change quickly. Big bucks are a rarity, and the largest taken was a 160 incher.
I rarely hunt from a commercial blind, much preferring to use a natural deadfall or whatever is available. With this type of hunting, I can usually find a place to set up no matter what the wind is doing. I've been hunting these grounds for thirty or more years and know the deers habits, paths, and little quirks well.
This photo shows 200 acres or so of my favorite spots. The green circle on the inside corner of that shelterbelt has produced more deer than I can remember for my son and I. The green X's have also been great producers through the years.

 

[Bow Ben]

Wow!!!

I would wet myself if I even saw a buck of that caliber!!!

I have seen very few bucks in my life that would even go 170 inches..

I get very excited if I see a 140 inch buck.

Also we don't see non-typicals around here very often..



You are lucky. I am from Michigan. I get excited to see a 40 inch buck!!

 

[SEIowaDeerslayer]

Spot #1

-Spot #1 is 80 acres, southern Iowa, 18 acres of it are in crops and 62 acres are in timber.

-I have 3 1 acre food fall plots in cereal grains and brassicas.

-We own the land.

-Giant bucks, but it never used to be that way. We used to have way too many does, but for about 6 years now we've shot anywhere from 4-8 does each season and we're starting to see more and bigger bucks using the property. From trail camera photos from last year, we think that the buck to doe ratio on OUR property is near perfect, but due to the fact that whitetails range out to areas much larger than 80 acres, we'll continue to do aggressive doe harvests.

-The last couple of years I've put a lot of time into the food plots. I have 12 stands on the property which I take down after the season. I can get them all hung in a couple of days.

-12 stands.

-Minimal hunting pressure except during 2nd gun season.

-Quality of bucks, one of the best. The problem is, its a hard property to hunt and 40 acres of it is a bedding area. Making your way to the proper stand is the most difficult part of the hunt.

-I've hunted the land for 15 years.

-I bowhunt it alone. My dad hunts it during gun season.

Spot #2

-Spot #2 is in northeast Iowa, 120 acres, bordering 600 acres of public land.

-No food plots.

-In laws own 80 acres, neighbor owns 40, state owns the public.

-Decent bucks, nothing huge, way too many does.

-I put 3 stands up every year on major funnels. The trees up there are pretty straight so I have a climber that I utilize if I find one area is better during the season.

-3 stands, climber just in case.

-No bowhunting pressure whatsoever. During gun season, the pressure is immense, and everyone pushes everyone's land. Some of the neighbors will only shoot bucks, regardless if they're small.

-It needs a lot of work and proper management. There are some giants up there, just not every buck getting popped out has booner potential.

-I've hunted this land for 3 years.

-Bowhunt it alone, I haven't seen any other bowhunter on the public land, which is rare, but cool!

Two totally different spots but they're both a boatload of fun to hunt!