You can't manage deer on 30 acres not when they have square miles of other home range beyond you. All you can do is put out a plot or food sour he maybe make bedding for them to hold help Them
But manage I don't see it being Possible. Plus having bedding and the perfect 20 yards is all
Ya need haha

 

Someone just recently posted that they had Jeff Sturgis from Whitetail Habitat Solutions come out on their 30 acres. You can manage deer on 30 acres for sure. I can't find the thread but it's possible.

 

We lease 64 acres. Its prob 60% woods 40% percent over grown x mas tree fields. There are 2 houses that boarder the lease on the right and left sides. When we are in the stands we can hear the people out in their yards cutting wood, talking, ect. The guy who owns the land mows some lanes in fields, but I'm not sure how often he does it. Also 2 of the local kids are allowed to fish in the pond that is on the lease. It was written up by the owner that way. Not really sure why. Maybe they look after the land or what not and the landowner lets them fish it. Any way, we always see a good amount of deer on it, and some big bucks too. I think it's more about having an area where people don't go. Parts of ours is pretty thick and pretty hard to get into, so no one goes in there poking around. The deer will get use to the house noise. They will also get use to mowing/quad riding once they realize it poses no real danger to them, but once you get of the trails and into their area they won't like it too much if you get what I'm saying. I would say 50+ you'd be fine as long as you don't intrude on their space to often. 100 or so would prob be perfect. Just leave an area where the family isn't allowed to go.

 

I decided a long time ago that the property was there to enjoy. I'm not going to 'not enjoy' it for the 8 months of the year that I'm not deer hunting just on the off chance I might bump Mr Big to the neighbors. My kids like hiking in the woods, camping at our place, 4 wheeling, etc.
Guess what? I still get pictures and see some pretty big ones for our area.

 

Exactly! The 10 family acres I will be hunting this year sees activity year round. With a livable pole barn filled with toys and a camper on there year round the property years and years ago had a company come out to blaze trails in the woods for 4 wheeling. Well the deer don't seem to care much. The neighbor actually tried putting up a row of pines to block deer from leaving his property and wandering onto this 10 acres but they travel through every day. Not sure if they bed there, it will be my first year hunting it but they see deer every day, even when they go up there to do some 4 wheeling, when they get back near the property, they see deer coming through. Putting minerals and trail cams up in a few weeks. I'll see in August what is there.

 

Well, we are getting somewhere. would like to have others weigh in too. I am not just asking for me, but for anyone else thinking about trying to buy land to hunt on. I mean you can hunt on less then 5 acres if you want to but i would like to know how to really grow and keep a good deer herd going. i know i cant manage them in reality as deer are free to go where they please, but you have to have a starting point some where. to give you some context about me, i grew up on a 110 acre dairy farm, but never really saw any deer because it was a working farm without a lot of woods. my parents now live on 30 acres and have about 5 acres wooded and there are more deer, but they tend to filter in from other farms around them. So to me it not about acreage but rather about the geography of the area and how often you disturb the deer. just trying to get a general knowledge of what people should keep an eye out for when looking for property to hunt. what will draw deer in, what will push them away, what can you do to draw deer in. let have a good discussion from the land owners and would be land owners about what works and what didn't so on and so forth.

 

I live on 80 acres of crp, sloughs, trees, and willow and cattail lowlands. Years ago is was just... land. But I have let many parts grow up, I have put a lot of work into a variety of food plots and mineral, and most of all I have become very strict about keeping some areas "off limits" and about the deer we shoot.

I basically keep the back 40- 50 acres for hunting and "more serious" activity. The front 30 we shoot on and play and yell and kind of do whatever. I have 2 young girls and we ride atv on it at least 3-4 times a week checking traps and crops and cameras, mowing etc.

Its a unique piece of ground as I can see almost all of it from where my house sits. I love it. I am now a believer that you can "manage" small acreage. Maybe not a lot, and your neighbors and neighboring property makes a big difference too. I typically see many different bucks over the year and I am convinced that several of them use my place as a refuge. Obviously whether you have 30 or 80 or 160 acres you cant keep all the deer on it all the time. But you can provide a place that, when they need it, they KNOW they will have food and security... that's the key!

Ive been fortunate. Its great to have land you can live on and enjoy with your friends and family. And its an incredible feeling when youve worked hard on your land and then get to watch bucks grow up and then are lucky enough to harvest one or see youre kids or friends do it. Everyday, I look forward to sitting on the deck with a beer and watching. If you can make it happen you will be glad you did, whatever the size!

 

Don't know that there's a right answer to your question. I'd guess at least 75 acres for all the things you want to do. We own 200 acres that we manage for the sole purpose of hunting for the family. We limit our ATV use and gun fire to a minimum as to not disturb the deer too much. Our property was owned by a logging company and we purchased it for a steal after they harvested their crop. Good roadways already cut. Two 1/2 acre ponds. Put 7 food plots out. I feel ya on the dream. Love having a place where we can do our thing and I can teach my son as he grows.

 

Op
The amount of land is an important aspect of managing your deer herd but it is not the only factor. I see so many deer every year that I don't remember from the previous season and the opposite is also true. About the only thing you can do is manage for age structure and hope your neighbors do the same. That being said, I believe the extent of being able to "manage" your farm is exponential according to the amount of land you have. In other words, the more land you have will dictate the level of influence you can exert on the herd. I have over 900 and I know I'm just a pawn in the big scheme of things. Now, if I had 2000 acres together then the story would be different

 

We have 520 along with decent neighbors. I definitely recognize deer from year to year. Just my 2 cents.

 

I think managing land and managing a herd are two very different things. You can manage 40 acres in such that your providing food and cover and taking only mature animals, but none of those deer are living their lives on your land only. I am a relatively new owner of 40 acres and my goal is to provide food and cover/sanctuary. Hopefully I can make the deer feel safer within my sanctuary than elsewhere......and maybe some good bucks can spend shooting light hours inside my lines. I don't have kids or use my land for anything but hunting.

 

This pretty much sums it up. You can manage your property, but your not managing the deer herd unless you have a bunch of land. We have property spread out with 1-5 miles between them. Youl will get pics of the same deer on different properties, and they crossed probably another 3-4 owners to get there.

 

I couldnt agree more with Maxemus and you'll find hes a pretty smart dude. All you need is the right 5 acres or so to be able to hunt successfully. For years, my brother and I have had a few places to hunt on the family farm in IN. One block of timer thats about 17 acres, a 5 acre chunk, and a couple other 5-10 acre tracts. Really not much land for 2 guys to hunt at all. But that one 5 acre piece is better than all the other spots combined. It serves as a connecting point between two larger wooded acreages and though it doesnt hold any deer, almost every deer in the area travels through there at some point and we've been able to take several good bucks 130" plus. Now the deer herd has declined a lot in our area in IN, but the principal still holds true. So keep that in mind when looking for land to hunt on. Plus to be honest, its kind of nice to not feel like you HAVE to go out and put a ton of work into the land... the deer will come through either way. The bad part is, you sometimes have to deal with neighbors and so on, but you have to live within your means, and not everyone can have 40 or 100 acres or more. Also you never know, you may be able to get permission on your neighbors land....

 

you better have at around a square mile(640acres) or more....100-200-300 acres and all you'll do is grow bucks for your neighbor to shoot, yes you can kill off of smaller parcels, but you cant keep 'em on it, put pressure on it and they will be gone, hunt the wrong winds, to many hunters, etc......... you can manage less for yourself, but holding the deer on it is another question, you might keep some doe units around, and a few lessor bucks, but as the rut comes, the adults will move off the place looking for does.... the smaller properties better have good surrounding land and neighbors who wont kill every thing they see....... imagine a deers travel pattern like that of a rose petal, the middle is the core area and the petals are the area they move in and out of in eliptical circles...thus the rose petal theory....the more open the land the farther deer will travel.....

 

I think 100 to have any impact but 1000 to have a serious impact and 3-5000 to be able to fully manage a herd

 

We all act as managers when we decide to shoot or let walk. If by "manage" you mean to have control over what gets shot, you really need to control the entire home range of several bucks, which would be 1000+ acres depending on where you live. On the other hand, if you mean manage in the sense of making a positive difference on the herd where you live, even an acre could apply.

 

Well said! Too many guys shoot first thing they can because "they don't have enough land to manage and make a difference".....

 

I think managing land and managing a herd are two very different things. You can manage 40 acres in such that your providing food and cover and taking only mature animals, but none of those deer are living their lives on your land only.

...you better have at around a square mile(640acres) or more....100-200-300 acres and all you'll do is grow bucks for your neighbor to shoot, yes you can kill off of smaller parcels, but you cant keep 'em on it, put pressure on it and they will be gone, hunt the wrong winds, to many hunters, etc......... you can manage less for yourself, but holding the deer on it is another question,...

If by "manage" you mean to have control over what gets shot, you really need to control the entire home range of several bucks, which would be 1000+ acres depending on where you live. On the other hand, if you mean manage in the sense of making a positive difference on the herd where you live, even an acre could apply.

These three quotes pretty much sum it up.

 

According to one of my wildlife management professors, Dr. Shaw, you need a minimum of 2000 acres to have any effect on herd management. But, I'd say you could do a lot of what you want on maybe 100 acres, depending on what surrounds it.

 

To give a number of acres needed is totally impossible.
It depends on so many factors.
The size, shape, topography, plants, trees, roads, water, bedding areas, the total deer herd in the area, predators, neighbors, risk of poachers and lots more.

In some cases 30 acres might be plenty and in others 3000 acres might not be enough.

It is all about buying the right acres, not necessarily as many acres as possible.

 

A buck's natural home range is about 500 acres. This of course varies during the rut and can get much greater, but generally, if all needs can be met (cover, food, water, does) then this is the general size you would need to manage your "own herd."

I've hunted 20 acres my whole life and each season I'm surprised at what is there. The deer aren't mine, but I have food plots and stands up. The deer rover through my property and I can help them by offering some food sources.

Anything from 10-1000 acres should be huntable and "manageable" on different levels. Good luck!

 

O

Something else that a lot are missing....

A buck's home range is roughly a square mile, give or take, and dependent on a few factors.

So some are saying you need that much space to keep that buck on your property.

That is only accurate if the center of his territory is also the center of your property, and that he roams only that certain radius in each direction to keep him inside your borders.

If your property is square, but that buck is living in and running a valley lengthwise, he could actually use much less than the stereotypical square mile, but be walking off of your property on both sides.

Where are you guys coming up with these numbers. I know around here a bucks range is bigger than that, because I get pics of them in woodlots that are separated by more than that distance. We are mostly farm ground with scattered woodlots. Are you talking a bout big woods area?

 

As I see it, on 2000 acres I could "manage" to where say, for example, 20 bucks could survive from one year to the next.... on 200 acres maybe its 3 or 4..... with 20 acres maybe 1 deer would call my little piece of paradise home.

Truth is, whether its 1 buck or 20 its all relative, but the feeling of accomplishment is the same when you see that "ONE" that made it. Whether its because of your land or not, you will feel like it was! And its a great feeling!

 

To have a real impact on the age class of bucks, which would really be the only way to impact the average buck/rack size, I think you would need 1000's of acres in most scenarios or an agreement with neighbors not to shoot young deer.

 

I own 640 acres. It is good habitat for that area of the country. It is managed dokey for wildlife. I run game cameras Sept to March.
Every year I think we have a good accounting of what's svailable to hunt. Then come Nivember we see a lot if new bucks.
So I think they come to this property searching for does.
That I believe is relevant to your question.
Deer can move around a lot and even large tracts will have deer move of for on them.

 

Depends entirely on your definition of manage!

Joe

 

well said!

 

We just purchased 115 acres.I did buy it for the purpose of hunting.I do plan on trying to "manage" it.I realize its not enough to hold deer year round.What I hope to do is improve the habitat to encourage deer and turkey to spend more time on my land then if I did nothing to improve it.I think that's all I can really do.But in reality I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to finally have my own land!Even if it is "only" 115 acres.I never thought I'd have this opportunity!

 

Congrats Rocklab.

 

Something else that a lot are missing....

A buck's home range is roughly a square mile, give or take, and dependent on a few factors.

So some are saying you need that much space to keep that buck on your property.

That is only accurate if the center of his territory is also the center of your property, and that he roams only that certain radius in each direction to keep him inside your borders.

If your property is square, but that buck is living in and running a valley lengthwise, he could actually use much less than the stereotypical square mile, but be walking off of your property on both sides.

 

thanks Maxemus!I appreciate it.

 

I will say 20 is enuff to make a man go insane trying to keep it up and do what he wants to get done with it haha not to mention the money it takes to have a tractor and atv and what not to work and enjoy it

 

That's no joke. Improving the habitat costs lots of time and money.