Property Landmarks

If you're a deer hunter, you probably know your property like the back of your hand.  I remember even as a kid, I spent enough time in my folk's woods to know where the Turk's Cap Lilies bloomed, the best route to bushwhack without getting my feet wet, and where to cross the fence because a fallen tree held it down.  I also knew where a crab apple tree was, the world's biggest poplar tree, and were the steam came out of a neighbor's rock pile in the winter because a critter was hibernating there.  I also found 2 huge antique Hi-Lex bottles and will always remember the 2 largest red pines.  While our parents cut firewood, my sister and I sat under those trees and constructed jewelry one loop at a time out of long needles. 

It's fun to hear what people use as landmarks when discussing possible stand placement with their partner.  Our most unique locations is the snowmobile hood.  Jason's dad actually remembers when that was left there. He found it amusing that it still exists.

Another huge help to our navigation is the drainage ditch.  It runs from town to a small pond, and is actually a property boundary.  It's neat that in the winter, the deer actually follow the ditch when other times of the year they have a few particular crossings.  This fall I enjoyed watching a spike buck drink out of it!

More commonly used landmarks are buck scrapes.  Check out this trail camera pick of a nice deer.  We have many scrapes that have been used for years.  It's fun to keep track of what day they actually start getting used in the fall. Then you know the hunting should start to get more interesting.

And who names their deer stands?  We have the "tall stand", the "far stand", the "wood stand".  Now my uncles and cousins near Cotton have terms like "north country", "outpost", and "K knob".  Those are a little more unique.

I'd love to hear what some of YOUR unique property landmarks are.