Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

The 65 Project

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
I bought a property for our business this spring. Under 8acres with a 30x40 building on it. I bought it mainly for the storage space. The acreage and woods was a bonus. I bought it off a friend and have hunted it before. Not great, but not terrible. I killed my first archery deer on this property. Future plans are for nursery stock to go here.

Why am I posting this in here? I thought this would be an ideal property to do some experimenting on. The property is narrow but deep. It sits 1850' off the road at the rear property line. It was logged out at one point but I do not know how long ago. There are some remaining oaks and shagbark hickory which are mature. The mature trees are tall and straight up for the most part. Squirrels love the place! The property also has 4 producing apple trees in front of the building.

Tonight I took the boys over and rototilled a strip approximately 200yds long with the tractor tiller. I have 560 trees potted and ready to plant there. I am going to let the roots fill out the pots and plant them in the fall for future nursery stock. Future plans are a shooting range, more nursery stock, and some equipment storage. In the meantime, why not see if we can do anything to the property to improve the hunting? This is a perfect example of a small property which many "working class hunters" around here gain permission to hunt. It will be interesting to see if it is worth the effort to even put the time and money into a property of this size.

I will get a camera mounted and start a mineral lick there soon just so we can see what deer are frequenting the area. Generally it is a doe area and several years I have seen fawns and a couple fox. However, it is not far from where some big boys hang out. Could be interesting to see if someone can put a little bit of effort into a small property to draw in a big boy! For now, here are some pictures of the apples and what I tilled up tonight. In case you are wondering, the picture was taken from the top deck of my gooseneck trailer parked in front of the shop. Thus the semi-aerial photo overlooking the bullpen. Yes, I know I need to clean it up, kill the weeds, and get some used oil on the moldboards of the plows. We just got the place and have been busy with spring work since I took possession. lmao
 

Attachments

  • 5-18-12 tilled strip.jpg
    5-18-12 tilled strip.jpg
    69.7 KB · Views: 244
  • 5-18-12 apples.jpg
    5-18-12 apples.jpg
    136.6 KB · Views: 262
Last edited:

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
Looks great. got to love those apple trees. If you dont feed them all too the deer you should try to make some hard cider.

Good suggestion Tom. First priority is to use as many of the apples as we can for ourselves. Apples not making the grade go to the deer. Eventually (hopefully this fall) I would like to get a larger variety of fruit trees on the property for the benefit of my family and of course the deer as well. Probably go with larger trees. I have a line on a nursery no longer in business that is trying to unload their stock. All fruit trees and many too large to transplant. I have a tree spade, and I am not afraid to use it.
 

xbowguy

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
29,629
234
Licking Co. Ohio
Good Deal Hicks. If you do have does, there's a good buck lurking around, even if he's only trolling on your property. Good Luck and I look forwards to the pic's of your deer stock.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
Good Deal Hicks. If you do have does, there's a good buck lurking around, even if he's only trolling on your property. Good Luck and I look forwards to the pic's of your deer stock.

Rick- The does are a bit seasonal. The property currently does hold does. Once the season kicks in. . . they are pressured out of there. This is something I am going to work on changing. The trespassers come in and drive it. This is something else I am going to work on hard. Last weekend though, I saw plenty of tracks in there!

I have a secluded field at the west end of my property. It is surrounded on two sides by two different woods and a fairly thick tree line/fence row on the south edge of the field. This field draws deer in due to the security, but my property doesn't offer a ton to hold them. I have seen very nice bachelor groups in this field more than once in the summers. Don't get me wrong. I do not expect this to become some sort of mecca for the deer. It is what it is: A nice property for the deer, but just shy of 8acres. haha

I should add, my property is part of a larger woods. I simply own a slice of this woods. This is why I feel the property is a good candidate for some experimenting. What I would like to see happen is to find it IS worth the effort. The work I perform I will be doing with my tractor, skid loaders, and backhoe. HOWEVER, I feel the majority (if not all) could easily be performed with an ATV or a walk behind rototiller. If I only had a rototiller/chainsaw/hand pump weed sprayer/rakes, I would still tackle these projects.
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
Those apple trees are nice. My parents used to have several and I hate 'em mowing as despite pruning and chemicals they never produced good fruit, though we did make cider a few years mixing it with friends. Figures that we'd lose all the trees when I started bowhunting, but Adam did get a load of 'em one year!
 

Rutin

Senior Member
2,029
0
Ina Duck Blind
Looks like a great up and comer! Hopefully the needed changes you said can be put into effect and make it a sweet little hunting spot!
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I have access to hundreds of acres and my best hunting year in, and year out comes from the 10 acres behind my parents. Give them a reason to visit and things could get really interesting out there. Those apples are the shit for sure!!! Evaluate the needs and see what you can provide that no one else does. Small plots of ground can still be top-end producers...
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
I have access to hundreds of acres and my best hunting year in, and year out comes from the 10 acres behind my parents. Give them a reason to visit and things could get really interesting out there. Those apples are the shit for sure!!! Evaluate the needs and see what you can provide that no one else does. Small plots of ground can still be top-end producers...

Sorta what I am hoping Jesse. The old saying "I'd rather hunt the right 5acres than the wrong 500acres" comes to mind. I know there have been some dandies killed in the area. I have noticed in the past couple weeks a new series of "NO Trespassing" signs on every single telephone pole and tree for the property to my west. Hopefully my added presence and "NO trespassing" signs along with the ones on the neighboring property help a bit. Then again, it was always known they did not tolerate trespassers. They just didn't post it as well as it is posted now.
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,855
260
SW Ohio
Looks great Phil! Hope you can turn it into a great big buck hangout.

Of all the apples my late father had growing on his property, the número UNO best by far was not his Granny Smiths,Wine Saps but the Grimes Gold! Them things are so sweet,crisp and juicy you'll wish you had more. They're kinda hard to find in some areas but if you do, buy a shitload of em'. Youllmbe glad you did! I'll put my reputation on it! Lol

My bro has two Grimes Gold trees in his yard and alot of people out the ridge stop by asking where he got his and if he has any apples for sale.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
Thanks Ric. The township is hauling leaves tomorrow. They vacuum them up in the fall and are shredded in the process. They have been sitting since last fall. I talked to the Road Crew Supervisor tonight. Told him I have three different places they can haul them and dump for free. Supposed to call him in the morning. Those will be very nice to blend with top soil at our retail location. They will be spread on the fields at the farm. The other place is over on 65 to blend into the soil as we plant our nursery stock.

Ever see a pile of composted leaves after a few years of sitting? It is like powdered dirt. Great soil amendment. Helps if you turn them a couple times a year, but this only speeds the process a bit.
 

Boone

*Supporting Member*
833
96
N.E. O-H-I-O
It's aways good to pick up a new place, especially your own that you can tweak as you like. Some of my best urban spots are "right out the back door", especically the first few days of the season and during the rut.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
It's aways good to pick up a new place, especially your own that you can tweak as you like. Some of my best urban spots are "right out the back door", especically the first few days of the season and during the rut.

I honestly don't intend on hunting it much. Eventually I will have it set up so I can hunt with minimal intrusion. As it sits, the best hunting spot is at the rear of the property. Rear property line is 1/3 mile off the road. Makes it tough to "sneak" back in there for a hunt. Slide in during afternoon 2-3pm and sit til dark is the best bet. Then you just have to hope my neighbor to the north doesn't decide to take their nightly walk through their section of woods. Long term plans are to continue to increase cover in efforts to hold more deer. Once established, food plots in my open field area might allow me to set a stand on the eastern edge of my woods and catch one sliding in before dark.

The other option for this property is to hang out in the tree house all day to wait for trespassers. They roam the area and could quite possibly bump one onto my property. Not exactly what I think of as "hunting" but my presence and busting one or two of them for trespassing is about the only way to slow down the trespassers. If you actually press charges on one or two trespassers in the area, it seems like word gets around and they move on to another section of woods. Lot of work though just to preserve my 8acres for one of my hunting spots. For this reason, I will use the building for storage, use the open field for nursery stock, and any hunting which takes place will be a bonus. Don't take this wrong. I am still going to make improvements on the land to see if the small property can pull in more bucks/bigger bucks, but I am not holding my breath.
 

Boone

*Supporting Member*
833
96
N.E. O-H-I-O
I didn't think you were going to hunt it much being the big food-plottin' land baron you are...haha :smiley_crocodile: . If your camera shows promise, it can't hurt to pop in a couple of times during the year and try to catch a big guy by surprise. Keep us updated on your project.....
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,855
260
SW Ohio
Just thinking out loud here Phil, it would be killer to have a walk-in cooler in one of your buildings. Just a thought.