Aerial Photo..

[cornfedkiller]

Alright I figured I would post up some aerial photos of my hunting land and see what you guys have to say about it. I have alot more questions, and Im working on watching the movies, but being so busy with school is slowing the process a little. Im hoping that the videos answer alot of my questions, but Im sure I'll still have a few. I'll save the questions for another time, but I figured I'd see what you guys have to say about the aerial photos. I live two hours away from my hunting land, and usually have something going on during the weekends, so my scouting is unfortunately extremely limited, but I'll be heading there in a couple weeks, so hopefully you guys can give me some pointers as to where to look when I go back.

The blue lines are trails (my uncle seems to think its necessary to get to every square foot of the property with a wheeler or jeep, as he really doesnt care about hunting much).

The pink are food plots. Ask me about anything you are unsure of and I'll be sure to answer them..

Thanks alot fellas..

This first pic here is a photo of the whole land..


I'll post more pics after this if this one works, but it isnt showing up right in the preview, so we'll see..

[cornfedkiller]

Alright I guess it worked, so here are some more photos..

Here is a topo:


another topo:


Here are some zoomed in views of the northwest and northeast parts of the land. I usually concentrate most of my hunting efforts to this part of the land, as it is generally sees much less "hunter" activity.

[dan]

This is a hard property, especially when you throw the ATV into the mix. There are a few good rut funnels, but again, the ATV kind of makes you unsure of what to expect. I would scout the entire farm for buck bedding, but would expect some of the mature bucks to be in marsh or just off the property where ATV's don't go.
Red dots are where I would expect buck bedding.. Yellow dots are likely ambush spots.

[cornfedkiller]

This is a hard property, especially when you throw the ATV into the mix. There are a few good rut funnels, but again, the ATV kind of makes you unsure of what to expect. I would scout the entire farm for buck bedding, but would expect some of the mature bucks to be in marsh or just off the property where ATV's don't go.
Red dots are where I would expect buck bedding.. Yellow dots are likely ambush spots.

Thanks..I'll agree that this is a tough property. The ATV isnt something I like, but since my uncle is a half owner, I dont have much to say about it. The rut funnels in this place would be phenomenal, and the neighbors kill good deer every year, but unfortunately we have to deal with the ATVs and non-hunters who use this place as "ride-my-fourwheeler-around-all-day-and-all-night pleasureland". Scouting the entire farm would obviously be the best thing, but its 320 acres, so I was just hoping to get it narrowed down a little as to where to look hard..I'll walk around the edges of the marshes and see what I can see next time Im out there..

Thanks again!

[BackWoodsHunter]

What did you ever uncover when you walked the edge of those marshes??

[cornfedkiller]

What did you ever uncover when you walked the edge of those marshes??

Never got to..By the time the snow melted and I was able to get back into the land, I was back at school. Then I got really busy on the weekends and never got a chance to get out there before green up

I only hunted there two or three times last season, and never really got to walking around too much to check out those edges

[Bucky]

The ATV and acitivity are killer.... If I were you I would find something closer to school.. what part of the state are u in West/East/North/South? East along the river should be some prime stuff, if you are in the cities I would work on looking at some of the special city limit hunting, North towards Duluth is really good from what I hear - again city limits hunting. West would be a little tougher but across the border in N Dakota looked good to me the few times I have been there...

How far away are you from your property... I assume once the snow flies the activity ATV wise and family slows down... again I would have to look at MN laws but maybe I would focus on buiding a late season food plot 5-10 acres (bigger would be better) in size, then plant something for late season activity = soybeans or brassicas (turnips/rape/radishes). You would likely have it all to yourself?!? Late season activity on food plot like this in good deer country can be phenomenal... better than the rut

Sometimes you have to think outside the box even on your own property

[headgear]

Anyone else thinking about those 3 islands in the south central part of the property? With all the atv traffic I could see a buck holding up out there until after dark.

[cornfedkiller]

Thanks Bucky..

The ATV and acitivity are killer.... If I were you I would find something closer to school.. what part of the state are u in West/East/North/South? East along the river should be some prime stuff, if you are in the cities I would work on looking at some of the special city limit hunting, North towards Duluth is really good from what I hear - again city limits hunting. West would be a little tougher but across the border in N Dakota looked good to me the few times I have been there...

Yeah Ive kinda started to do that, but I also dont have anything scouted around here either.. For school im in the cities, and the land in the aerial photo is in west central MN..an hour west of the cities.

How far away are you from your property... I assume once the snow flies the activity ATV wise and family slows down... again I would have to look at MN laws but maybe I would focus on buiding a late season food plot 5-10 acres (bigger would be better) in size, then plant something for late season activity = soybeans or brassicas (turnips/rape/radishes). You would likely have it all to yourself?!? Late season activity on food plot like this in good deer country can be phenomenal... better than the rut

Sometimes you have to think outside the box even on your own property

Like I mentioned above, the land is an hour from where I am. You are correct, the ATV activity really slows down later in the year..actually after slug season, the land is pretty much vacated. Problem is that I have hunted there in the past, and in the late season, we see absolutely nothing. Ive done many all day sits in December set up over food without seeing a deer. Granted I have never hunted beds before, but the land just seems to turn into a ghost town after slug season (except for nighttime activity).

The food plot thing is a good idea, but my uncle (very long story) doesnt want me to put in any more plots. I have about 1.25 acres of plots in right now, but he wants the rest of the land left "natural". I agree that a 5 acre soybean plot would be awesome though!

[Bucky]

You would need a min of 5 acres in beans....but 3 acres or so of brassicas - purpletop turnips + rape etc might be enough to pull deer until mid Dec. Here in WI mid Dec with such a food source makes the best of bucks show in daylight.... they have to eat or die mid Dec. I really would give it try, esp seeing that the land is distrubed most of the fall.

I know what you are going thru by the way... finals right prior to Xmas was always killer. Soon enough though your efforts in school will be well worth it

[cornfedkiller]

You would need a min of 5 acres in beans....but 3 acres or so of brassicas - purpletop turnips + rape etc might be enough to pull deer until mid Dec. Here in WI mid Dec with such a food source makes the best of bucks show in daylight.... they have to eat or die mid Dec. I really would give it try, esp seeing that the land is distrubed most of the fall. /quote]

I would if I could - I just dont have the means to do it..If my uncle would let me turn 50 acres of the property into food plots, I would..but he wants it left in its "natural state"..

I know what you are going thru by the way... finals right prior to Xmas was always killer. Soon enough though your efforts in school will be well worth it

Thats the plan man...Thanks for the words of encouragement!