WEBVTT - Ep. 1055: Back 40 - Finding the Best Place on A Property That has Had Little to No Improvements 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.360 All right, folks, welcome back to another episode of Back forty. 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.840 I'm Jake Hooefer and this week we're starting a new 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:11.200 batch of guests. Our panel has been updated with some 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:13.760 really awesome guests that you guys will get to hear 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:18.960 their insight and intuition and advice for one single topic 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:22.120 each week leading all the way to October first. So 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:23.919 we're going to be talking about a lot of things 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:24.959 here in this next. 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:26.120 Batch of Back forty. 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:30.520 In this batch, we have Bill Winki that really needs 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:35.160 no introduction. We have Adam Keith with Land and Legacy, 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:38.639 We have Aaron Warburton from the hunting public, and we 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:41.559 have Jeff Sturgis from White Habitat Solutions. So we have 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:45.120 a little bit of diversity here throughout the Midwest talking 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:47.640 about things that will be applicable likely no matter where 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:51.000 you hunt white tails, and what problems you might be facing. 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:54.040 And to kick things off, I often feel that the 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.560 best spot on the pharmist sometimes can be pretty obvious, 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:01.640 if the property has been improved over the years, or 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:03.560 maybe you have some experience. But I wanted to go 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:07.160 back to the ground level, very beginning stages and principles 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:09.880 of finding the best spot and what does that mean? 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.199 What are the potential terrain features, what are the key 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:17.240 habitat items to keep in mind? And ultimately this should 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:21.759 hopefully have you relook at an existing piece and understand if, hey, 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:23.760 this I think is the best spot, but maybe after 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:26.399 listening to this episode there's some other areas that might 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:27.440 make more sense. 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:31.440 Or number two, if you have just got new access and. 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.560 You want to create your quote unquote best spot, you're 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.880 going to have a jump start here with this episode 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:40.520 of Back forty. To kick things off, let's go ahead 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:49.120 and start with Adam Keith with land Legacy. All right, 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:53.560 we have Adam with Lane Legacy and we're jumping into this. 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:58.040 And what I think is interesting because when people listen 0:01:58.080 --> 0:01:59.480 to like how to find the best spot on the farm, 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:02.320 a lot of times the answer is geared towards well, yeah, 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:04.000 you put in this food pot, you do this work, 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:06.920 you do all these different things. But imagine you're either 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.359 going to a piece that you just got, you just 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:10.720 got at least you just knocked on the door. 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:11.880 Nothing's been done to it. 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.639 And I want a kind of a step by step 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.760 process of finding the best place on a property that 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:20.800 has little to no improvement. So there might be some 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:24.919 existing infrastructure like row crops, there might be some sort 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:27.360 of a creek system, there might be an old cattle pond, 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:30.360 so like, I'll give you the canvas to paint on 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.480 it a little bit. But it's not like you have 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:36.160 this bullproof set up and that's the best spot. Like 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:38.960 that hasn't been constructed and won't be constructed in this scenario. 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:42.000 Yeah, you know, it's very exciting. Thanks for having me back. 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:46.280 I think this is this kind of these questions always 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:49.359 make me look back, you know, going back to pre 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:53.880 landing legacy, pre my career and going okay, I got permission, 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:55.720 or I'm going on this new piece of public ground, 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.919 what am I even gonna do? And I think primarily 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:02.239 the first and foremost question is trying to figure out 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:05.720 where they're going to be daylighting on this property, and 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:09.400 that means where are they betting or close to betting. 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.400 The betting may be just adjacent, but for me, the 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:15.959 whole principle of success is figuring out where they're betting, 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.000 which means where they're at in daylight hours. So I'm 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:22.200 looking at the property just diving in with with that 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:22.799 in mind. 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:27.400 So let's run through a scenario. I'm gonna make this 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.840 harder each step of the way too. The betting. The 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:33.760 betting is you found a real thick area and it's 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:37.000 on the very back part of the farm. There's row 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:41.360 crops I'm picturing, you know, a square and accesses from 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:45.040 the south for this example, and the best betting or 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:47.840 where you would deduct where they would be betted, is 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:48.960 on the very far north side. 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:51.000 So you have to go through everything to get to that. 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:55.760 Yeah, So I'm trying to figure out a travel corridor 0:03:55.840 --> 0:04:00.640 in between. So let's just imagine it's uh uh, it's 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:03.480 got some terrain features. So I'm trying to figure out 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:07.080 those little side slopes or shelves or little steep draws, 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:12.280 maybe highly eroded draws, like I'm thinking southern Iowa or 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:16.240 Ohio portions of Indiana where it's like it's too steep 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:18.680 for deer wanna they want to go across it. So 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:22.760 I'm looking at Okay, there's the betting area. Now where 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:24.880 would they be going from that betting area to the 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:30.119 crop fields or whatever the crop of choices at that time, 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:33.400 whether it is still standing corn or it's standing beans, 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:36.880 or it's early season, it's alfalfa. I'm going from point 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:38.840 A to point B and trying to figure out since 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:41.800 I likely can't get all the way back there, I'm 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:44.159 trying to find that terrain feature that gives me that 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:47.880 bottleneck to get in there with the appropriate wind and 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:48.960 capitalize on it. 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:53.719 Yeah, so with it sounds like number one step one 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:56.760 is where do you think they're betting? And for step 0:04:56.760 --> 0:05:00.080 two would be some form of terrain feature that you 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:04.840 can utilize with that because imagine, imagine you know, someone's like, oh, yeah, 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:06.360 I think they bet over here, but I don't really 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:07.800 know how to hunt it or how do you pick 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.880 the spot? Is a downwind of that betting area on 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:12.760 a terrain putre, like what's what are some ways of 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:14.800 sweeten the pot to hopefully increase. 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:15.840 Your odds pretty much? 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:17.560 And then I'm of course looking at the weather trying 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:19.480 to figure out the day that he is going to 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:22.279 likely be moving in daylight hours, Like I feel like 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:24.839 there's so many different pieces or boxes that you have 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:27.440 to check to make it happen on a mature buck 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:30.960 that it's like, oh, he's in a spot, he's actually 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.600 on me, Like, first and foremost, he has to be 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.239 bedded close enough that I can get him in daylight hours, 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:39.039 and I feel like that's that's something A complete one 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:42.480 eighty to what I did as a young man was Hey, 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:45.760 I planted this beautiful food plot. Well that doesn't mean 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:48.000 at all that he's going to be there in daylight hours. 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:51.160 And so you're like, Okay, I've got this beautiful food 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:53.599 plot and he's not here in daylight what am I 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:54.119 doing wrong? 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:55.480 Well, I'm not going. 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:58.440 Back to the foundation, which is where is he laying 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:01.279 in the middle of the day to get him to 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:03.360 this food block. He may be here at night, and 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:06.560 so for me is going I'm looking at that betting 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:09.960 as first and foremost, trying to trying to identify that 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.679 because if he's not betted on the property or close 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.839 to the property, I don't have much of a chance 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.080 except for wait for the rut when he's up moving 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:21.200 a lot during the day. Yeah, which is a frustrating 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:22.719 game plan, if you even want to call it a 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:23.120 game plan. 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:23.839 I've been there. 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:27.200 I know it's fun, but it's not fun, you know. 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:29.840 As a young man, I love the rut. As I've 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:32.719 gotten older, I hate it because it's like, throw the 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:36.120 plan out, because you're just you know, you can have 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.119 a pretty good plan, but a hot dough runs across 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:39.800 the county road and runs him out through the middle 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:41.760 of a wide open field, and all of a sudden, 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:44.800 a gun hunter rows him down. Like it to me, 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.960 it's like as private land managers, which is what I 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:51.360 usually am dealing with in my consulting business, and then 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:53.680 as a private landowner, it's like, huh, I want to 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:56.880 kill him long before the rut comes in, because that's just. 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.880 The rut is chaos is chaos. 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:03.320 And every day that you don't connect with that deer 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:06.280 you've been thinking about all summer, there's another day that 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:08.520 it could get killed by car or something. 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:11.120 This is something real, silly. It's like that elephant in 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:11.480 the room. 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.840 It's a giant stop watch, and each time it clicks, 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:15.640 you're like, oh, it's. 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:17.440 Closer to the US, close to the closer. 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:21.440 The rut it makes you gets you your anxiety raises. 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:25.160 For sure, I want you to think about all how 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:26.480 many farms do you think you've been on over the 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:28.920 years now, like ballpark hundreds? 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:30.200 Oh yeah, for sure. 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.680 I think we're between Matt and I and a handful 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:37.520 of other consultants, we have. We're somewhere in between two 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:39.880 hundred and fifty thousand and three one hundred thousand acres 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:42.360 that we've covered in roughly ten years. 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:46.320 Okay, so so think of all the different pieces of landscape, 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:50.880 different habitat everything. Yeah, what how often is the best 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:54.720 spot on a farm? Just it was how the earth 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:57.320 was made? Like, how often is that really when you're 0:07:57.360 --> 0:07:59.120 on a farm and maybe the guy he's like, man, 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:00.920 we've had this farm for a while for whatever reason, 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:03.360 this spot seems to be the best. And then you 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:04.760 talk to them and you're like, oh, I can see 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:07.640 why that makes sense, But like, how often is the 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.760 best spot already there from a terrain feature or something 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:13.360 else and you enhance that, or how often is it 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:15.160 the best spot needs to be constructed? 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:20.280 Does that make sense? Yeah? I mean maybe I won't. 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:23.440 I won't answer it in direct sense, but I would 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:28.840 say there is usually always great spots on the farm. 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:30.880 And I'll just say on average, we're working two to 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:36.960 three hundred acre size forms. That's probably the average size 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:39.520 when you add it all up, and I would say 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:43.560 there's always going to be a couple of really good spots, 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:47.960 meaning you can tell that there is a buck who 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:52.200 frequents the area, and that is almost always, in my opinion, 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:56.000 based on terrain. When I roll in there, it's like, wow, Okay, 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.360 I can look at the topo I'm scanning on X 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:02.440 and I see that little feature or it could be 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:04.760 throw on light R and I'm looking at the little 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.920 bend in the creek and it's just a few feet 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:11.120 higher elevation. Walk in there and sure enough you can 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:15.559 see a perennial bed, a bed that's used frequently, and 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:18.040 you can see old rubs and new rubs, like okay, 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:25.240 this is this is awesome. Those are typically there. But 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:27.760 I'm always with the mindset we can always make it better. 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.360 Yeah, So it's almost like figure out what the best 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:33.400 spot is, and then beyond that, it's like, okay, how 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:35.160 do we enhance that? Do we need to improve the 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:38.200 habitat in the adjacent area or access or whatever the 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:38.839 case may be. 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.520 But or hit copy paste twelve times over and make 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:43.960 that spot throughout the property? 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:45.240 Yeah. Interesting. 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:48.120 How often are you on a farm and you know, 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:49.960 you obviously look at it where you get there and 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:52.199 then you have boots on the ground. How often does 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:54.360 the landowner say, you know, you find the spot that 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:54.760 you think. 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:57.160 Is really good, and they're like, huh, never really thought 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:57.360 of that. 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:02.360 Yeah, okay, so it does happen more often than yeah, 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:05.360 not that that happens a lot where it's like you 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:08.559 find those little spots. Typically, just trying to train the 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:11.720 guy to understand that we're we're looking at this backwards 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:14.360 and what he's probably used to where your Yeah, your 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:18.720 food plots are okay, they're great, they're whatever. But let's 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:22.280 go and figure out why you hired me, which is 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:24.720 because you're not getting this success you wanted. So let's 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:27.960 roll in, let's look at the let's find these betting areas, 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:30.160 and so we just try to look at the topo 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:33.120 features or look at maybe changes in the in the 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:36.360 structure that have a ten structure of the canopy and 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:38.720 roll in there and oh, there's deer beds. Okay, now 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.960 I've convinced you that I do know some lot of 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:45.000 what I'm talking about, and so let's figure out what 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:46.520 makes this so good and see how we. 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:47.280 Can replicate it. 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:51.480 Okay, and just to put a bow on it, you said, 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:54.240 typically it's in relation to some form of terrain more 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:56.000 than likely where this best mood is going. 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:56.959 To be for sure. 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:00.480 Yeah, And I would say that to to kind of 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:03.880 piggyback on your last question. One of the more common 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:06.680 things that I run into is not the Okay, this 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:09.400 is a great spot and you knew it. It's more 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:12.080 of you think this is a great spot, but your 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:16.040 access is horrible, like, oh, this is your favorite spot. 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:17.880 We roll in, I can see the stand, I can 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:20.240 see the old stand, I can see a blind that's 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:21.120 now placed here. 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.319 What is making this? Like? Why why is there so 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:24.920 much honey? 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:25.079 Oh? 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:27.480 This is our favorite spot on the whole farm. 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:32.080 Well, your access is horrible, like what what? 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:33.120 What are we thinking here? 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:36.080 Without hurting the guy's feelings that that's probably the most 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.160 common is you roll in, you find a spot that 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:40.600 the guy just absolutely loves, and you've got to convince 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:42.439 him that it's not so great. 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:45.480 And that's just based off of riskers rewards. So like, 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:47.320 let's say he had the discipline to say, you know, 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:50.560 I only come in here when the time is right, 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:52.840 and here, Adam, look at this last year year before. 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:54.680 I guess I'm probably not calling you if that's the case, 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:57.960 but you know last year and then four years ago, 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:02.400 like yeah, I mean, what is that conversation, like, because 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:05.199 I feel like everyone everyone, no matter what the farmer's like, 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:07.000 there's this spot that you want to go into so bad, 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:09.760 but it just I can't wrap my head around it. 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:12.320 And it's like maybe it's good once or twice, and 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:14.520 then after that it's truly diminishing returns. 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:17.120 Very rarely am I dealing with the guy who it's 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:18.679 like repetitive success. 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.400 You know, if he's having that, he's not hiring me. 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:25.360 And then at that point it's like, okay, so that 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:29.600 guy's irrelevant to me just from a working relationship. 0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:31.400 So you've got the guy who's had success. 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:33.920 Usually it's his favorite spot because he's killed the biggest theories 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:36.320 ever get on his farm and it was ten plus 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:38.680 years ago. Yeah, and he's like, I just wish I 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:42.520 had more, you know, more consistent success. It's like, yeah, 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:46.440 I wish you did too, So we need more consistent 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:48.000 access because. 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:49.439 I feel like they're giving something up when you have 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:51.920 that conversation, like I'm giving up this spot or do 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:55.440 they see the ROI of making that decision. 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:59.720 Basically I kind of take it with the approach of hey, 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:02.880 I'm know you really like this spot. This is obviously 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:06.240 your favorite spot on the farm, and everything else feels 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:08.640 like a gar hole, So why don't we go and 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:11.240 make a bunch of spots that feel really great and 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:12.360 less gar holes. 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:13.400 And with that. 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:16.320 Approach, it seems like they're way more receptive of it. 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:20.320 And then we add in a couple betting areas. I 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.319 teach them how to run trail cameras, and all of 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:25.040 a sudden, they've got big deer on the farm walking 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:25.520 in daylight. 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:28.840 No, now they're a believer. Yeah that makes sense. 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.480 Well, Adam, we're gonna have you on back fordy Here 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:33.960 a couple more times in the coming weeks. But where 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:35.760 can people fallo along with what you have going on? 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:37.000 You have a lot of great content. 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:40.440 Yeah, thank you social media, Land and Legacy. You can 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:43.040 check out our podcast as well. Just search Land and 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:45.760 Legacy and all your major platforms are there. 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:46.120 You have it. 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:50.760 That is Adam's insight. Always appreciate getting a variety of 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.480 different opinions, And you know, I think it's pretty interesting 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:56.720 hearing that oftentimes, even when he goes to a farm, 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:00.160 the best spot might not be as obvious to the 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:01.600 to the current landowner. So I think that is some 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.440 great insight for the next part of this episode with 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:06.080 Aaron from The Hunting Public. 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:06.760 Here we go. 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.040 All right, Aaron, welcome to a new season of Back forty. 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:12.280 We're gonna be running you through a bunch of different 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.440 questions and dilemmas that will help people building up all 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:17.200 the way to season, all the way to opening day, 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:21.320 and this one I think will be very unique to 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:25.400 you because a lot of these guys almost hunt primarily 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:27.520 on private land. I know you hunt on some private land. 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:28.800 I know you got a little bit of private land, 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:32.280 but you have obviously the hunting public, and that's almost 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.920 two different animals in my opinion. You could say otherwise, 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:39.400 but this here is to help folks that either are 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.600 over complicating things and they just simply want help finding 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.120 the best place on a property that has little to 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.280 no improvement. So something that doesn't have a food plot 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.200 and a blind and it's real obvious, Hey, that should 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:52.720 be a pretty good spot. What is the step by 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:55.440 step process to find quote unquote the best spot on 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:56.800 any given piece of property? 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.560 In your opinion, first. 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:02.280 Thing I'd be looking, and that's pressure whether it's private 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:05.760 or public, or small or large properties doesn't matter. So 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:10.160 if I'm going to a property. In consulting with the 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.280 people that hunt it, just use forty acres as an example. 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:14.640 I'm going to ask. 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:18.640 Where are you hunting, where are your tree stands at, 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:20.880 where your blinds, and how do you get to and 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:24.200 from those, how frequently do you hunt them, what wind 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:27.080 directions do you hunt them on, at et cetera. 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:29.120 So I'm going to take a map. 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:31.240 They're going to show me all that information, and then 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:33.240 I'm going to cross off about ninety percent of that 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:35.680 map from where they've been and where they leave scent 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:38.000 and where their camera is that they go in and 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:40.480 out of to check all the time or whatever it is, 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:44.760 especially if they have like two or three favorite stand 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.880 locations that they hunt like every week or something. I'm 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:49.560 just going to cross off all that, and then I'm 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:52.160 going to I'm gonna make it very simple. A lot 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:54.760 of times we go right to that spot and boom, 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:57.880 that's where the big buck sign is. That's either where 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:01.040 big bucks are are bedded or or that's where they're 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:04.280 traveling through because it's the one place they can kind 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:08.120 of maneuver through the property to check dose and other 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:12.520 deer and whatnot without being detected. You know, Eberhart Eberhart 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:15.120 says it, well, you know when he talks about that, 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:19.400 it's like, you're he's trying not to be found by 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:22.040 the deer. He's trying to play, you know, if he 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:24.040 can go to an area on that property where he 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:29.000 can hide from other human beings. I guess that's what 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:31.280 he's trying that I should back up. He's trying not 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.000 to be found by people. So if you if you 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:36.680 perform that exercise in your brain and go to the 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:39.720 area of the property where there's no people, where would 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:41.680 be very difficult to find you if you were a 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:45.920 person looking out there, that's usually where we find the 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:51.360 best locations. That's not necessarily true everywhere, but I mean almost, 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:53.880 that's like the number one thing that I've looked for. 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:57.080 Does that ever shock those folks? They're like, holy yeah, 0:16:57.240 --> 0:16:59.120 we never go over here. This is what we've been 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.400 miss all the time. Time, Yeah, all the time. Yeah. 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:02.400 It's like, yeah, we never. 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:04.960 We'd never really hunt the backside of this ridge for 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:07.560 one reason or another, or it's really thick in there. 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:10.639 There's you know, the wind's always swirling down there, so 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:13.240 we never go down there. Now, I mean, that's another 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:15.679 challenge in itself. You know, you find these areas and 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:19.040 then they they are just difficult to hunt for a 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:23.800 variety of different factors. But that is also consequently where 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:28.480 most of the mature buck movement happens that we've seen. 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:33.639 So in that scenario, I picture two different likelihoods, and 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:35.239 you would have more experience to tell me, but one 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.120 of them would likely be not far from maybe their 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.359 house or off the road where they just completely avoid, 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:42.719 so that one has really good, easy access, and then 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.359 the other, you know, level of that is something real 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:47.800 far back where the access is real bad. So the 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.840 next step in that conversation like, all right, eron, Yeah, 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:52.679 this is where the bucks are. Okay, now how do 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:54.320 I hunt? How do I hunt it if it has 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:56.520 bad access or if it is way back in the 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:58.359 back of the property and that's why we don't go there, Like, 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:01.439 what's the next step to point them in the right direction? 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:06.760 If they haven't been having success doing whatever program they've 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:10.960 been using. I'm always a big fan of just kind 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.160 of throwing spaghetti at a wall to see what sticks. 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:15.159 Just try a bunch of different stuff. 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:18.320 If you've been coming in to this property like it, 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:21.359 for example, if you have a gate in a road. 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:23.840 You know, on the forty acres that you're hunting, and 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:25.840 you pull into that gate and you walk in from 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:29.720 that gate every time, I would do everything in my 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:32.679 power to try to access that property a bunch of 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:35.199 different ways. You know, maybe you can only come in 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:40.160 from it from one road, but you can park there 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:42.600 and swoop way around a fence line and cut all 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:45.920 the way up your boundary you know, of your property 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:49.360 and hook in from the back. That just something different, 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:51.400 a different way to get in and out of there. 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:53.280 That would be the number one thing that I'd start 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:57.720