As I started the 150-yard trek back to the cabin from the gate, I noticed something standing up on the small hill. It couldn’t have been more than 40 yards from the house. As I focused, I saw a racked buck – a rare sight on this piece of property. Realizing that just moments ago I must have passed by him lying in the brush bordering the yard area, I stood there amazed. The buck, though not real mature, looked to be a slick 8 pointer, sporting fairly long tines. I estimated him at 3 years old. He was too young to shoot, but had enough positive traits to make him a really nice buck in a year or 2. I watched as he finally darted across the road into a neighbor’s brush line. Being an avid bow hunter, I continued to think of the buck throughout the week. I rarely hunted this property, but perhaps I should rethink it.
Our modest 30-acre tract in the Texas Brazos Valley was typically used as a recreational property — a place to get away with the family. For years, I occasionally had kept feeders up, monitored trail cameras and even hunted. There were deer on the place, but certainly not a lot. Though it is rural, there are quite a few small tracts nearby, so there is certainly pressure from people. Further, it has always been evident that the area had its share of poachers and night hunters. To make it even worse, bucks are all too often shot well before maturity in these parts. Nonetheless, I couldn’t shake the vision of the promising buck. After all, with the current cost of hunting properties, the prospect of hunting this little diamond in the rough started to seem like a no-brainer. Yes, I now was invested.
Deer Sign and Hunting Potential
If I was going to hunt there in the fall, I needed to survey the property and come up with a game plan in short order. I needed to revisit tract’s deer hunting potential. I was familiar with it but decided to cover it more thoroughly to search for bedding areas, traffic patterns, rubs, and other sign.
Like many small parcels, this place mainly serves as a transition area with groups of deer intermittently traveling through. Nonetheless, there was plenty sign throughout the area. I had roughly 2 months before bow season started, so I filled the feeders and dusted off the game cameras. Additionally, I erected a tree stand and built a ground blind near the feeding area. The actual set up to be used would be determined by wind direction. I started putting out minerals and other deer attractants to further maximize traffic and would limit my entry into this area as much as possible – at most, every 3 weeks. Here are a few more basic tips for hunting small sections:
Try to Stay Optimistic
Don’t be discouraged if your scouting indicates that bucks very rarely live on your property, but travel through it at times. This can actually be an advantage, as they will be harder to spook than resident deer. This can change in a hurry and you may be glad to have an abundance of does the closer you get to the rut.
Don’t Wear Out Your Welcome
Sorry to insult your intelligence, but making the deer that visit your property feel secure is integral to success. To the extent possible, keep it quiet. If the property is used for activities other than hunting such as walking the dog and 4-wheeling, so be it, but just know that it will likely be
detrimental to your hunting success. Just remember that, unlike on larger properties, whitetails don’t have the needed space and buffers on small tracts. If you keep pushing them away, they may not return. You might even consider asking neighbors if you can enter your land from their property. Depending on wind direction and the layout of the land, this might help to avoid spooking your prey. If your goal is to shoot deer, that’s fine. However, don’t forget quality deer management. If you can stand it, be strategic about the number and types the deer you harvest.
Got Grub?
It stands to reason that you need every edge possible to draw deer to your little piece of the whitetail woods. If possible, provide food that is not found anywhere else in the area. A well-placed food plot is always a good idea, but if not, put out free choice protein feeders, roasted soybeans or protein blocks. This will not only attract free-ranging deer but will provide valuable nutrition for your herd, whatever the size.
Game Time
Once you’ve scouted your property and have at least a rough idea what deer are around and their travel patterns, it’s important to remember that deer activity on a small place can be extra fragile. Don’t forget to employ the basics you’ve learned in the past such as not over-pressuring your hunting area and controlling scent. With patience, proper planning and common sense your “ranchette” just might yield a buck to be proud of. No, I didn’t harvest a buck that season but enjoyed several enjoyable hunts, complete with deer sightings. I could certainly do a lot worse things with my time.
