First post - Intro and some questions

[PKC]

Hello!  I am in the process of purchasing a house in the southern portion of 407.  The lot is 20 acres and heavily forested for the most part.  It's been a goal to own huntable land and now after retiring from the Navy, I have my opportunity.  I am originally from Alaska and have been successful hunting moose but blacktail hunting will be new to me.  Some questions:

Do you think 20 acres in this area is enough to have realistic hopes of harvesting a deer every year?

I'm not a bowhunter...yet.  What are your favorite archery shops in the area? 

I've been reading the regulations...I'm sure I will have lots of questions about those.  Hopefully I can find someone to PM or talk to instead of clobbering the forum with dumb questions.

Thanks for reading.  I'm looking forward to hopefully becoming a contributing member!

[Oldguy]

What are you seeing in the way of deer or deer signs now?

[Stein]

Get friendly with your neighbors, I would say anchoring a deer with an arrow in 20 acres is not a high percentage chance especially since you will most likely not shoot it dead center in the property.  If the property is square, that's only 311 yards long, or a bit over 150 yards from the middle.

[Buckmark]

Get something to attract them and keep them interested all year, get out a few cameras so you know whats around and when, get a treestand and if your ok for guns a shotgun and slugs 
I am in 407 and have deer pretty much 24/7 365 around my place and can shoot if wanted to, but the deer are my wifes pets so they are safe from me, i drive 300 miles to kill other peoples deer 

[Stein]

Get something to attract them and keep them interested all year, get out a few cameras so you know whats around and when, get a treestand and if your ok for guns a shotgun and slugs 
I am in 407 and have deer pretty much 24/7 365 around my place and can shoot if wanted to, but the deer are my wifes pets so they are safe from me, i drive 300 miles to kill other peoples deer 

That's funny.  You should post and ad and do a house swap, cheap hunting and you can shoot each other's deer.

[Special T]

Depending on where you live in the 407...

Silver Arrow Bowmen in Mount Vernon has has 50 target walk through course. Join at the next business meeting and your membership will be good for the rest of this year and the next. $40 individuals $50 for families. 1st monday of each month 7pm

Riverside Archery is a great shop and big supporter of the club. You wont be sorry.

Knock point in Mt lake terrace is another good pro shop.

Search out the book Byod Iversons Blacktail Trophy Tactics 2. Its out of print as is the previous print. Many view it as the best book on BT hunting.

BT dont take to bait like other deer but some kinds of feed will keep them coming to your place. You might have enough land to put in some things they love to eat.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[PKC]

Appreciate the replies!  I haven't spent much time on the property yet - supposed to finalize the deal next week.  I have seen fresh BT poo and an old pile of bear scat.  I bought 3 trail cams - using cams will be a first for me too.  Can't wait to see what I see...even if it is a bunch of raccoons or coyotes.  I didn't see any fruit trees, so I want to plant a couple.

Talking to the neighbors is a good idea and I've already started researching who owns the property around me.

You might be on to something Stein!

[Fl0und3rz]

Thank you for your service.

[lokidog]

Plant apple trees ASAP, don't put it off. The best time to plant an apple tree is ten years ago. 

[Russ McDonald]

Plant apple trees ASAP, don't put it off. The best time to plant an apple tree is ten years ago. 

He is right they do love apples.  I know that first hand 

[PKC]

Update - We moved in just under a month ago.  The house was originally built in 1923 so I keep busy with projects.  My next major project is to plumb the unfinished (dirt floor) basement for a bathroom and then pour a floor.  If there are any plumbers on here looking for additional work, please let me know!

We have seen deer, coyotes, and a bobcat on the property.  I've got 2-3 different bucks on trail cam but the biggest is a forkie.  WAY too many coyotes.  Also found a trespasser's deer feeding station...and his thanksgiving turkey carcass placed 80 yards into my property. 

Doesn't look like there will be any hunting for me this year with how busy I've been around the house after work and on the weekends.  But that's ok for now - I'll eat venison next fall.

[birdshooter1189]

Thanks for sharing the update.  Do you plan to hunt the coyotes on your place? 

If you want to hunt them yourself, i'm happy to share some ideas that are working for me (I've taken 17 coyotes at my place this year)

If you don't want to hunt them yourself, you could probably find volunteers on here to help thin the pack(s).


If you haven't already, I'd put one of your game cameras on that turkey carcass, or move the carcass to one of your cams.

[OutHouse]

Get a metal detector in that basement before you floor it. Who knows what you will find. I grew up in a house built in 1912 and found tons of cool stuff in the ground.

[Bareback]

Congrats on your new homestead.

As previously mentioned plant trees asap. You will have to bear proof them. Unfortunately a bear will take down the whole tree for a few apples.

Research your trees and rootstocks. I would suggest an early ripening apple like a Translucent (august), Red Gravenstein, Wynooche Early or Akane. The later three are September harvesters. The earlier ripening trees will get the deer to frequent the property well before the season.

Look for an M111 rootstock, it will produce an 80% tree with self supporting roots that is highly disease resistant and drought tolerant. The dwarfing varieties (m27, Bud9) are a bit more temperamental to soil types and conditions and require supporting for life.  The advantage of dwarf rootstock is it creates precocious tree where a M111 takes a bit longer to bear fruit. The ideal tree would be an M111 rootstock with a Bud9 interstem. You’ll get the best of both worlds but they are tough to find and are bit more spendy.

Your going to be busy👍

[KFhunter]

Bait is the best way to get coyotes, from there you can get pretty creative in maximizing your kills.

I wouldn't even worry about calling on 20 acres.  I took a few calling, but it shut down after a few yotes the I went to baiting

Haven't seen a yote for long time, no tracks nothing.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk