# 12 acres enough to hunt on?



## Stub (Aug 13, 2013)

With traditional gear, I'd like your guy's opinion about hunting on just a 12 acre plot primarily for deer. 

Family and I bought this place about 6 months ago. I see about 1 deer a week, often times just looking out my kitchen window. I explored a lot back in the woods and see many game trails and tracks. There is 3 creeks running on my property, one being a large (60' wide ish) county creek running along the boarder of my property. Previous owner mentioned 27 various nut trees planted 30 years ago. Walking through the woods I found a lot of shot gun shells and some rifle shells (30-30?). 

What do you guys think. Too small to be hunting deer on? I'll add a picture of my property so u guys can get an idea what I'm talking about. Sorry for the professional edit job, was a little iffy about showing my house and street names . But the red line is my property and the blue lines are creeks. As you can see my property is surrounded by farm fields. I actually met the guy that owns the field south of me. Very nice down to earth guy. It ment a lot to me that he came by to say "hi" as we are "new" here. Sadly, at the time I didn't think about asking him if he cared if I had to track onto his field. The Field to the West I don't see myself needing to track into. With a 60' ish creek and fencing about 6' tall I think I'm Ok.

Anyways, just want your guy's opinions. With only 12 acres- would you hunt it? Stick with public land?









Also keep in mind. No guns, just trad bows. Following all state laws and only taking what I and family would eat.


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## guyver (Jan 3, 2012)

I'm not sure why it wouldn't be. If your only desire is to hunt deer, and you have deer, only thing missing is the you with a bow and arrow.

Talk with your neighbors, let them know you will be bow hunting and see if you can get permission to track deer if need be, may lead to gaining their permission to hunt on their property.


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## drawemback (Dec 6, 2006)

I have been hunting my property of 8 Acres for many years. Having descent neighbors helps when an animal crosses to another property. Getting permission to recover an animal says a lot and no one has ever objected. 12 Acres is a plenty for me.


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## Cladinator (Feb 28, 2014)

You definitely have room to hit a deer.


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## JParanee (Oct 13, 2009)

First off congrats on a beautiful piece of property 

That is plenty to hunt and because it is surrounded by farm fields you are in heaven  

Put stands up in game funnels and in inside edges 

Do the stands now 

End of summer put some cameras up and see what you have moving thru 

When the rut comes different bucks will show up 

If you can pattern the does the bigger bucks will come 

Go buy some. Fruit baskets and deliver them in person to the neighbors introduce yourself and make a point to be friendly and offer help 

After you build a relationship ask if you can track on their land if need be, slowly build the relationship 

In time they will learn to trust you and you will gain even more access 

This is what I did 25 years ago around my house and I now I have over 100 acres of prime whitetail habit that I have access to

Do not wait till you need to access their land to ask permission 

The good neighbor policy is key


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## jwilson48 (Apr 1, 2009)

i say go for it. looks like the very sw of your property is a natural bottleneck. hunt there! also depending on what the surrounding fields have in it, you could plant something very attractive in the little opening directly south of your house that could draw deer in during the day, and they will feel secure as it is surrounded by woods. do get permission to follow any deer that run off your property. i sometimes hunt on 5 acres


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## hooiserarcher (Feb 20, 2011)

12 acres is more then enough. Maintain good neighboring relations and enjoy your hunt.


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## Mandango1 (Dec 3, 2012)

JParanee said:


> First off congrats on a beautiful piece of property
> 
> That is plenty to hunt and because it is surrounded by farm fields you are in heaven
> 
> ...



Well said and some great advice..Has lead to me having land to hunt and owning little..Good luck to the OP, good looking piece of property


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

Stub said:


> With traditional gear, I'd like your guy's opinion about hunting on just a 12 acre plot primarily for deer.
> 
> Family and I bought this place about 6 months ago. I see about 1 deer a week, often times just looking out my kitchen window. I explored a lot back in the woods and see many game trails and tracks. There is 3 creeks running on my property, one being a large (60' wide ish) county creek running along the boarder of my property. Previous owner mentioned 27 various nut trees planted 30 years ago. Walking through the woods I found a lot of shot gun shells and some rifle shells (30-30?).
> 
> ...


You can find deer in half an acre, never mind 12. I'd certainly hunt it because 12 acres isn't the only 12.... :grin:


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## tjd60449 (Jun 30, 2012)

Sounds like a deer haven to me. With a few small food plots and low pressure you will do good.


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## Stub (Aug 13, 2013)

Thanks guys. 

Was questioning my property from what I was reading on the web about minimum acreage to hunt on. Some say its too little and say its fine. I value the information here and very much appreciate your opinions.

The guy that owns the land South of me; I'm really not sure how to get in contact with him. I don't think he lives near by. I could be wrong though. I'll have to ask around and see if I can get a hold of him.


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## rickstix (Nov 11, 2009)

Sure...it’s doable...but I’d be making a large investment of time in a game plan. I moved onto 15 acres a few years ago, so I’ll offer something of how I approached the matter.

Around here the law states that written permission is needed to be on another’s property (...and even locating the owner of the land can be problematic). Also, I visited the local DNR headquarters and, after commenting about some very nice buck mounts adorning the walls, was told that they were all confiscated...so I considered that pretty much the writing on the wall regarding permission.

On the more practical side, I usually follow a rule of thumb on public or private land, which is to stay 100 yards minimum from property lines...because even a double-lunged deer can travel that distance in the couple of seconds it takes to expire. So, mindful of that condition alone...when it came for me to decide on a more specific area to set-up, the total acreage was cut in half. And another factor to consider was that I’ve found it to be more common for panicked deer to bolt back in the direction from which they came so, an after the fact “avenue of retreat” was something I also plugged into the equation when I started to investigate movement patterns.

In my case, I quickly recognized some of the limitations...but moving here also brought me close to public lands, so for the first couple of years I was a very low impact hunter on my own property. I learned more about local deer movements and the presence/absence of other hunters in the area. I started taking better care of the property than had been the practice in the previous 10 years which, in effect, makes a substantive statement to my relatively few neighbors. After the first neighbor introduced himself, word spread quickly about “the new neighbor”...and others approached me, offering any assistance I might need. The “neighborly” thing, being respectful of other’s choices with their land-use, and any back story about their land strikes very much at the core of rural living.

Sooo...how things played out was that prior to the 3rd hunting season here, the neighbor who borders me on 2 sides offered me exclusive use of 200 plus acres to hunt. I didn’t ask or even drop a hint (if you don’t count the block target on the front lawn)...but I could match his knowledge of deer movement in the area, even though he had a 30 year head start. Plus, by then, I’d helped him with castrating a few young bulls, locating a young calf he didn’t know was missing and building a 7’ tall stone retaining wall...to mention the top of the list. Ben Franklin said you don’t buy a home you buy your neighbors...and when it comes to neighbors, I wouldn’t trade him (...just kinda wish I hadn’t gotten him addicted to venison jerky).

Well...that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. My advice would be to set some anxiety aside and plan for the long term. Worked for me...tagged out 2 seasons in a row...definitely been worth the wait. Enjoy, Rick.


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## ChrisK. (Oct 23, 2009)

I have killed several deer off of my property, I only have close to 5 acres. A lot of times when I am hunting property I am only using 20 yards at a time!


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## Stub (Aug 13, 2013)

Yeah I agree with you guys. I wont be doing any hunting, at least for deer, until I get to know the neighbors first and they are fine with me tracking into their property. I'm just hoping they will be alright with the idea. I'm also hoping when I mention bows only, they will feel more comfortable with the idea. 

I called Kansas Department of Wildlife and got most of the info/regulations I need to hunt-own-land. So I have a good understanding so far. 

Again, thanks guys!


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## DeepFried (May 15, 2009)

Make them want to be there.


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## J. Wesbrock (Dec 17, 2003)

I've shot some of my biggest deer on properties that were less than ten acres.


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## Nekekal (Dec 25, 2012)

If you want to ambush one from a tree or blind, 12 acres is plenty. Deer are very much creatures of habit and follow the same trails most of the time. You can clear a few free fire zones to help you out. 

I have read that white tails live mostly in about 1 square mile. 640 acres to the mile, so 12 is a small fraction of their range.

But I agree with the other posters. I have 10 acres, my closest neighbor has 40 acres and we use each other's land. The other neighbor has ten acres and I have gotten to know him well enough to cross his land if need be. The 80 acres behind me was posted but was sold last year and the new owner came by, introduced himself, said he was going to log the land but we were welcome to use it. That gives me access to 160 acres which butts up to state land going over the top of the mountain. There is only one public access road into the state land on this side of the mountain. It is nice. Just think long term, be nice to the neighbors, and piece together a hunting area.


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## wseward (Mar 7, 2013)

Lucky guy.


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## rodshoyt (Nov 28, 2013)

yes I agree with everyone else its enough land just form strong ties with your neighbors and be careful not to over hunt or over pressure the land .


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## JParanee (Oct 13, 2009)

How will you be hunting it ? 

If you plan on sneaking around stalking mature whitetail they will vacate your land quickly 

Find some good trees and watch the wind 

Set stands to hunt in any wind condition and never hunt a bad wind 

Deer learn quickly


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## Stub (Aug 13, 2013)

JParanee said:


> How will you be hunting it ?
> 
> If you plan on sneaking around stalking mature whitetail they will vacate your land quickly
> 
> ...



Personally, I really have no idea yet. Never hunted with a bow before, will be my first. I have scouted out some good spots to put stands into and I also thought about just creeping in on the ground. Sometime soon I plan take the advice here and scout SW to the "choke" and see what that area is like. I walked by there a couple times but wasn't thinking about a hunting spot. Only hunting I have done in the past is with a rifle. Or a slingshot when I was young 

Rodshoyt; Thanks for the advice. Besides small game and if everything works out- we will only be taking 1 deer a year. Will be plenty for our small family


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## FORESTGUMP (May 14, 2008)

JParanee said:


> How will you be hunting it ?
> 
> If you plan on sneaking around stalking mature whitetail they will vacate your land quickly
> 
> ...



I agree with your recommended method of stands but, not the vacating part. Especially if they learn that goodies are usually available in that area. The deer around my house don't seem to mind sharing the space with people and I often see one watching me from a hundred yards when I'm outside. I could kill deer regularly from my deck with a rifle if I wanted to.
The OP has a great spot there if all the surrounding land is farm fields, it's the best hiding place around with nice food plot possibilities.


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## submarinokotbw (Aug 8, 2011)

I have hunted 1 acre of parcel land for the last three years and have harvested over 10 deer. Albeit, it is a 1 acre parcel located on a funnel, in an area with 30-40 deer per square mile. But size should not matter if it is the right geographic location, play the wind right, don't over hunt it, and get your share of luck.


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