Just signed the purchase agreement on 40 acres of prime hunting land in Northern MN so I thought I'd start a post on this. In addition to being a bit of a play by play on my parcel, interested in what others are doing to improve the odds on their property.
My parcel is in the boreal transition zone, approximate latitude of Duluth. Current cover is largely pole sized jack pine mixed with aspen. Some scattered openings with abundant natural browse, some isolated stands of mature aspen, jack pine, black spruce, and white pine. Site is rather wet, soil sandy and acidic in PH. Heavy deer sign including rubs on large trees and scrapes left over from last fall. Appears to have been used by wintering deer, noting fresh and heavy browsing above snow line. A 10' wide ditch transects the property nearly in half East to West. Bounded by roads on 2 sides, hay field on North with no-access tax forfeit land to the NW, forming a swampy block of about 600 acres. Cover is very tight, should hold deer well, even with some activity. They tend to sit tight in this kind of cover in my part of the country. Deer movement is heavily concentrated parallel to the ditch. My wife and I primarily hunt deer with rifles, but may take up more archery hunting as well. More thorough scouting and timber survey will be done after closing.
Our long term goal is to maintain quality deer, grouse and woodcock hunting and manage for productive timber harvest and firewood/building poles as needed. Any suggestions?
My parcel is in the boreal transition zone, approximate latitude of Duluth. Current cover is largely pole sized jack pine mixed with aspen. Some scattered openings with abundant natural browse, some isolated stands of mature aspen, jack pine, black spruce, and white pine. Site is rather wet, soil sandy and acidic in PH. Heavy deer sign including rubs on large trees and scrapes left over from last fall. Appears to have been used by wintering deer, noting fresh and heavy browsing above snow line. A 10' wide ditch transects the property nearly in half East to West. Bounded by roads on 2 sides, hay field on North with no-access tax forfeit land to the NW, forming a swampy block of about 600 acres. Cover is very tight, should hold deer well, even with some activity. They tend to sit tight in this kind of cover in my part of the country. Deer movement is heavily concentrated parallel to the ditch. My wife and I primarily hunt deer with rifles, but may take up more archery hunting as well. More thorough scouting and timber survey will be done after closing.
Our long term goal is to maintain quality deer, grouse and woodcock hunting and manage for productive timber harvest and firewood/building poles as needed. Any suggestions?
