How many acres?

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NorthStar
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How many acres?

Unread postby NorthStar » Wed Sep 19, 2018 7:46 am

When hunting a public marsh that gets hit by Duck, Pheasant, and small game hunters on a regular basis, is there a certain acreage minimum that you are looking for when deciding to hunt a new property? I understand how to read aerial maps to find potential bedding but I almost never find bedding/sign when putting boots on the ground. Most of the public marshes near my house are less than 100 acres. Is this just to small of an area for all of these hunters?


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Re: How many acres?

Unread postby bowhunter15 » Wed Sep 19, 2018 4:42 pm

I like the bigger, the better personally. If a marsh is big enough, you can about guarantee there will be deer somewhere, despite pressure from other hunters (deer, SG, waterfowl, etc). On a small on it's harder to predict because the pressure has more of an influence. Pressure could move them somewhere just outside of the boundaries. The bigger the land, the better the chance that the "somewhere they feel safe" is still huntable. I also don't think there's a minimum, even if the area does get hit by others. There are too many factors at play. Scouting is the only way to know for sure. On a small chunk like that, it's more feasible to leave no stone unturned and find any overlooked spots, which can be harder to do on some of the bigger areas due to the amount of land.
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headgear
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Re: How many acres?

Unread postby headgear » Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:18 am

I do have spots that are small swamps so try not to overlook anything and scout everything. With that said I like to key in on swamps that are at least 400-600 acres in size, the bigger the better really. The reason for that is you need a big mess of an area like that so some bucks can get some years on them. They just need these larger places to hide out, you need places where the rifle hunters can't kill every buck or make drives, that is how they are surviving to an older age class. Most high ground spots get pounded and the big bucks in my areas just don't touch them during shooting hours save for a hot doe.
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Thesouthpaw
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Re: How many acres?

Unread postby Thesouthpaw » Fri Sep 21, 2018 3:25 am

I prefer big stuff over little chunks, but sometimes little chunks can be overlooked. The problem is if one or two other people catch onto a small property, your'e screwed.
Anything worth doing, is worth over doing.
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Lockdown
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Re: How many acres?

Unread postby Lockdown » Fri Sep 21, 2018 6:50 am

bowhunter15 wrote:I like the bigger, the better personally. If a marsh is big enough, you can about guarantee there will be deer somewhere, despite pressure from other hunters (deer, SG, waterfowl, etc). On a small on it's harder to predict because the pressure has more of an influence. Pressure could move them somewhere just outside of the boundaries. The bigger the land, the better the chance that the "somewhere they feel safe" is still huntable. I also don't think there's a minimum, even if the area does get hit by others. There are too many factors at play. Scouting is the only way to know for sure. On a small chunk like that, it's more feasible to leave no stone unturned and find any overlooked spots, which can be harder to do on some of the bigger areas due to the amount of land.


My thoughts as well.
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Hawthorne
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Re: How many acres?

Unread postby Hawthorne » Fri Sep 21, 2018 7:49 am

I asked the exact same question when I was new on the beast. My travels the last 4 years I’ve learned the bigger the swamp/marsh generally the better.


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