Purchasing a small hunting property has been one of the most rewarding decisions I’ve made. Not only is it nice to occasionally hunt right out the back door, but being able to implement changes to the habitat and seeing deer and other wildlife respond to those changes has been extremely fulfilling.
I’m now over four years into ownership of 15 acres in Georgia, and have learned a lot along the way, both in regards to managing and hunting the property. I’ve been fortunate enough to harvest three decent bucks during that time, including the 3.5-year-old buck pictured above, and the hunting should only get better as I work to improve every acre.
In this article, I wanted to share a few of those key lessons I’ve learned along the way to hopefully help some of you who also own or hunt a small property.
Hunting Pressure is Magnified
The biggest challenge to hunting a small property is minimizing the impact of your hunting pressure as much as possible. The science is clear that deer react very quickly to hunting pressure. No, they don’t abandon their home range, but they will change when and where they travel within that range. And when you’re hunting a small property, even a slight deviation in their travel patterns can put them on the neighbor’s property more than yours.
I’ve noticed on my place that even when I get into my stand cleanly and don’t knowingly bump any deer during the hunt, that just having been there seems to disrupt their patterns for at least a few days. And there’s been a time or two when just going in once after a specific buck resulted in the deer disappearing from my cameras for the remainder of the season.
Keep in mind, I’m just working with 15 acres. If you have a larger “small property,” then one hunt may not push the deer completely off your property, but it very well could push them out of sight from a specific stand location.
To combat this magnified impact of hunting pressure, I highly recommend very targeted hunts, particularly if you’re after a specific buck. Watch your cameras — provided you are using any — and wait until the deer is making regular daylight appearances before hunting the area.
And when you do make the decision to hunt, make sure the wind is just right for your stand location, and that you can get in as quietly and discreetly as possible without sending your scent in the direction you expect the deer to come from.
Fortunately, hunting pressure is manageable, even on a small property. What you can’t manage, however, is what happens beyond your property lines. That’s where neighbors come into play.
Neighbors Matter
While I think way too many hunters use neighbors as an excuse to shoot deer they normally wouldn’t or to explain why they aren’t seeing a certain quality of bucks, it’s true that neighbors can have a significant impact on your small hunting property. The fact is, no matter how well you manage your small property (we’ll talk more about the importance of that later), it is very unlikely any deer is going to spend all its time within the confines of your property lines.
Deer home ranges vary widely in size, but they are rarely less than 100 acres, which is my definition of a small hunting property. Most deer home ranges are going to be much larger than this. That means one or more of your neighbors are probably seeing the same deer on their cameras, and how those neighbors manage and hunt their properties will impact your success to some extent.
Good relationships with neighbors can lead to shared goals, such as passing young deer, coordinating food sources, or even working together on predator control. Open communication can also prevent conflicts—like someone unknowingly placing a stand right on your property line or accessing their land in a way that disrupts your hunting.
Even if your neighbors aren’t interested in deer management, it’s still beneficial to have a good relationship with them. If a wounded deer crosses onto their land, being on friendly terms makes it much easier to get permission to track. A simple conversation or occasional gesture, like sharing some venison or keeping an eye out for trespassers, can go a long way. Ultimately, you can’t control what your neighbors do, but understanding their habits and fostering good relationships can significantly impact your hunting success.
Neighbors can also have a positive impact on your small hunting property, even if unintentionally. If they are putting too much pressure on the deer, there’s a good chance the deer will spend more time on your place, providing you are doing a better job of limiting hunting pressure.
If your neighbor is engaged in Quality Deer Management, letting young bucks walk and managing for older age-class deer, that may benefit your management efforts as well, as some of those older bucks will likely wander onto your place during the course of the season, particularly during the rut.
While you can’t control your neighbors, you can control how you manage your own land. And on a small property, maximizing every acre is essential to keeping deer around.
You Have to Make Every Acre Count
When you own a small hunting property for deer hunting, you need to make every acre count. The good news is that it’s not a monumental task when you only have limited acres to work with.
As we discussed above, you’re not going to keep a specific deer on your property 100% of the time, but you may be able to hold some on there most of the time.
Deer researchers often refer to a deer’s “core area” as a place where that deer spends 50% or more of its time. Those core areas are typically only a fraction of the deer’s overall home range. If you can manage your small property in a way where the deer feel secure and can meet all their nutritional requirements, then the tract may be able to serve as a core area to one or more deer.
My property is still a work in progress. The end goal is to have the entire tract in young forest and early successional habitat to provide good cover and year-round food. There are a couple ways to go about this, depending on what you’re starting with.
If your property is all or mostly wooded, like mine, then you can create young forest cover by removing trees from the canopy to get sunlight to the forest floor. In my case, I’m thinning hardwoods on the back half of the property as well as my young pines on the front half.
In the hardwoods, I’m leaving scattered white and red oaks to provide mast in the fall and winter, while removing less desirable species for deer like sweetgum, poplar, hickory, and a variety of non-natives like privet and callery pear.
If you already have open areas on the property, you can simply let nature take its course to develop good early successional habitat. That is, unless those areas are currently in a monoculture of non-native grass like fescue or bermudagrass. If that’s the case, then you will first need to kill the grass with one or more herbicide treatments before quality native vegetation will be able to regenerate.
It Takes Time
While optimizing every acre on a small property is much more manageable than doing so on a large tract, it can still be a lot of work. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or resources I once had when I managed large tracts of public land for a state wildlife agency. So, I have to be patient, pace myself, and I’ve broken my property into several smaller units. That allows me to chip away at the overall property by improving just one unit per year. Eventually, I will have improved the entire property, then it will be time for annual maintenance!
Did I mention you never really finish habitat work, no matter how small the property? Without maintenance, it will gravitate back to poor deer habitat over time.
Final Thoughts
Owning and managing a small hunting property comes with unique challenges, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. Every decision you make — from how often you hunt to how you shape the habitat— directly impacts your success. Hunting pressure is amplified, neighbors play a significant role in your deer herd’s movement, and every acre must be optimized to provide the best possible habitat.
While I’ve learned a lot over the past four years, I know my property is still a work in progress. Managing land for deer isn’t a one-time project — it’s an ongoing effort that evolves with each season. Whether you’re working to improve your habitat, fine-tuning your hunting strategy, or building relationships with neighbors, the key is to stay adaptable and keep learning.
At the end of the day, the most rewarding part isn’t just tagging a big buck — it’s seeing the results of your hard work pay off, watching the wildlife thrive, and knowing you’re making the most of the land you have.