hunting small land?

[brent73]

I been hunting on 10 acres at my house (In town). The house sits right in middle of it. We see deer ALL the time so i stuck a ground blind out off to the side at wood lines. On the 1st morning i killed a nice doe (Oct. 31st) after that i have seen deer but not as much. The other day i seen a BIG buck walking by but did not get a good shot on him so he walked. After that have not seen any sign of deer. Now the lad has lots of oak and pine trees .
Sometimes i just feel silly sitting in my back yard but have no where else to hunt. This is my first year hunting so not feeling good to go to public land.
Should i just hang it up till i see deer again or keep going out every morning? Anyone else hunt on such a small amount of land? thanks for any info on this, just wondering if i spooked them all off after shooting that doe..

[brent73]

sorry, there is 100 acres raps around the 10

[Big58cal]

Look around and see if you can find some other areas around there that they're using. Ain't nothing wrong with making due with what you've got. You just have to find a way to make it work for you.

[brent73]

thanks for the reply! I'm thinking next year im going to talk to the guy with the 100 acres that raps around our 10 acres and see if i could hunt it. I don't use guns only crossbow so that might help. I can go and track the deer on his land but have not ask to hunt yet. Also, we have a LOT of acorns on the ground and im thinking thats what they or eating, but as of late the acorns have gone.. that might have something to do with it too. Guess im a little worried cause i kinda thought i would have more meat in the freezer.. Oh and the doe i shot Oct. 31st i lost, by the time we found her something had got to her first.. waste of meat...

[rayman]

I don't know if it is legal to put out corn in Ten. If it is, that is a sure-fire way to have more close encounters.

You can hunt out a small place. In other words, your scent and so forth can run the deer out of an area for a while. Shooting a deer and not recovering it is a very good way to run the deer out of a small block, not to make you feel bad. I don't like to hunt a spot real hard. Like to have multiple stands and not just hunt the same spot over and over and over. I'm sure others will say different.

[Crossbow225lb]

Just curious ...what broadhead did you use?

Thanks
Crossbow225lb

[brent73]

oh i recovered her and dropped her off at a butcher shop and they took care of her. I try to cover my smell some but have read where if you hunt close to houses that your not to cover your smell. The smells from the houses is what there used to..could be wrong though

[brent73]

im shooting a Vortex with Firebolt and X-Act Mechanical Broadhead

[Crossbow225lb]

Thanks! I'm not hunting on alot of land either...that's why I wanted to know what broadhead youb used because I want somthing that puts them down fast!!

Crossbow225lb

[new2xbow]

I can tell you i have 100 acres at my disposal, it is an active farm so scent control isn't a big issue.

That being said between me my brother and a couple of others we have taken about 20 deer from a 3 1/2 acre section in the past 3 years, and i am the only one that has done any archery there and that has only been this year.

Pretty much we just keep about an acre covered with white and ladino clover ($25 a year in seed from southern states) regular salt blocks like for horses, and then corn starting in september (light amounts to get them accustomed then heavier once acorns are gone)

I have actually seen the deer come into the field when they hear my truck leave from putting out corn. Deer can be trained, why do you think they have feeders you can set when it feeds, Pavlov had it right!!

But i have to say i have some bad habits in the stand, smoking, don't carry a spare bladder not very good at sitting still. What we are good at is playing the wind, spraying the spot the deer dropped with DDD to cover the scent of blood,

And most of all we study lunar feeding charts!!!!

http://www.deerfeedingchart.com is a good one.

Or if you have an android phone get the app called "time 2 hunt" i heard about it from either hallowed ground or respect outdoors facebook page. There are 2 versions Free- which only shows you for the gps location you are currently at, works if you are at or near your hunting grounds. ot the paid version which allows you to put in a location you want to check. I can tell you this thing has been awesome for me and my brother this year. for example the day i got my 11 pointer, and my brother got 2 thast evening, it gave that morning a 89 out of 100. this weekend had like a 30 and we saw nothing.

My 2 cents

[vixenmaster]

Small plot of land with home in middle & using a ground blind. 1st try to find out which direction yer deer usually come from. As in where do they come onto yer land leaving the 100 acres. Also where are they going to & where do they leave yer land. Those spots should have a hang-on stand or ladder stand of which you can climb into. Once deer locate a ground blind they tend to watch fer movement in it as fer as they can see it before coming to & passing by. Thats how they survive, dumb deer get killed 1st couple yrs they're alive & i love dumb deer, i eat well.

[DuckHunt]

Since 2005 I have taken 43 deer on a small patch of land in Virginia. The landowner has 20 acres, but more than half of that is taken up by his yard and buildings. The true hunting zone is only about 5 acres. Like your situation, it backs up against a 63 acre lot of hardwoods. The deer tolerate some human scent, since there are 7 houses and a winery within a half mile radius. With so little space, there isn't much room to play the wind and only one way to walk in and out. I do try to set up on the downwind side each time, but that is about all I can do short of hunting high.

Many of the deer I see are just passing through the property. It is just a matter of finding their pattern and being set up in the right place at the right time. Good luck.

DuckHunt

[brent73]

thanks for ALL the info.
This is the first year im hunting so all i had was a ground blind, but by next season ill have a few stands in the mix. There is less then 3 weeks left in the season so im not going to try to set something out now..
The deer cross from one side to another and you know, the last few deer i have seen was from my porch which means they would have had to go around my blind. I was thinking to place the blind and leave it, that way they would get used to seeing it . Im thinking i might go out to day and move it to other side and spray it with sent block again. I also hunt in the morning more then the afternoon so will try to go in the after noon more... Thanks again for all the info!!

[j.krug]

On small properties it's best not to overhunt the area. Twice maybe three times a week at most. Overhunt it and it wont take deer long to figure you out and avoid the area.

If it's legal put a little corn down to give them a reason to come by once in a while. They'll hit it regularily once the know it's there.

[brent73]

Checking on the corn. Ill just pick up the blind and not hunt rest of season. Next season i will be better set up i hope. Again thanks for all the help