Do you have access to only a postage-stamp-sized hunting property? No worries. Whitetails spend much of their life living in a similar fish-bowl world. Wildlife biologists have long established that most whitetails live in an approximate 1-square-mile home range. Inside that home range lies their core home range. They spend 50 percent of their time there and that sliver of domicile bliss could be less than 100 acres.
Sure, the rut and even regional variances change that home territory, but unlike elk that abandon homes permanently without a second thought, whitetails return to eventually sleep in their own bed.
The home-body nature of a whitetail gives you hope that small property hunting could work in your favor. I’ve experienced it and know several bowhunters consistently anchoring big bucks on fewer than 100 acres. One bowhunter I know hunts a 10-acre property with success on bucks from 180 to 190 points. If you have access to only a small property, quit whining and analyze it to take advantage of every benefit it might offer.
The Right Stuff
Every small property doesn’t have the right stuff for you to launch an arrow. Properties with no cover or even too much cover curtail hunting opportunities. Those anomalies aside, scrutinize the property for details that deer appreciate. Keep it simple; focus on food, travel corridors, shelter and maybe water in arid zones.
First, consider food as it lures deer and keeps them nearby. An acre of food on 50 acres has big attraction, and the more the better. If you can plant a food plot, use seed mixtures or partition your plot, but plant several varieties to appease palates before and after the frost season. Early season deer are drawn to browse options high in protein. As winter’s grip increases, deer transition to carbohydrate-heavy and high-fat crops.
Even without a food plot, a handful of oak trees might scatter mast enough for several months of deer desirability. And regardless of what you feel about baiting, if legal, it alone could be the magnet for deer to bypass onto a small property.
Travel corridors also have an impact on small properties. Your tiny piece of heaven could be the link between a cedar-choked ridge, bedding cover and a soybean field. Study all surrounding properties and put that hunting app to work looking for possible travel routes, funnels and pinch-points. It amazes me how often I see an obvious (but originally missed) passageway on a property while looking down on it with my HuntStand app.
It seems as if food plots and feeders exist on every 120 acres, but off-limit areas do not. Consider making most of your small property a refuge and, whenever possible, make noticeable improvements to that sanctuary setting. Start by establishing off-limit zones where you and your friends do not venture. These should be in the most secluded, densest and roughest country on the property. Think coulees, wetlands and overgrown forest areas. For properties lacking in any refuge criteria, add it.
Planting crops such as sorghum, Egyptian wheat, corn or even landscape reed grass can create a sense of security for deer. It also proves worthy in veiling your arrival and exit after the hunt (more on that in the next section). When Mother Nature fails and farming is a no-no, get handy with a chainsaw. Felling dead timber, gathering downed trees and pushing them into piles creates windbreaks, and blocks for wildlife including whitetails. It also provides another wall of cover for you to use as a cloak while hiking to your hunting ambush location.
The scent of other deer also boosts the confidence for more whitetail visitors. Establishing mock scrapes with drippers, misting scent in your shooting lanes and dispensing scent via wicks all add an atmosphere that a property is the happening place. Switching scents systematically from a dominant buck scent to Special Golden Estrus and other scents keeps deer curiosity levels piqued at the faux visitation.
