How many of you can relate to hunting small tracts of property?  What about a micro-parcel of 10 acres of less?  The vast majority of deer hunters with access to private land can relate to this type of parcel, especially those that are chopped up in the Northeast.  While a Whitetail deer’s home range is significantly larger than the confinement of a micro-parcel, there is more that can be done in the off-season to improve the quality of hunting then most would think.  However, in addition to hard work, it takes a more methodical approach, and sometimes outside-of-the-box creativity to achieve these goals.  

This week’s episode of the Pennsylvania Woodsman we have Phil Holcombe share his experiences from the school of hard knocks.  Phil is a Pennsylvania native that is no stranger to hunting vast chunks of big woods public land as well as his own property of less than 10 acres.  We begin by understanding a little bit about his property and how he evaluates the qualities and setbacks of a micro-tract.  Phil explains how it’s important to “work with the grain” rather than against it – meaning take the qualities of the property and use them to your advantage.  The core of his principles mirror strategy on public land, but reducing the scale accordingly.  He also shares the importance of strategic stand location and access to allow the perception of zero hunting pressure.  There must be a balance of attraction and “huntability” – all the attraction in the world will not yield the results desired if the local herd is spooked every time you step foot on the property.  Whether you have a small property, or you’re pounding public ground, anyone can take away strategy from this episode!

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