Just got this new property a year ago, so this year is the first year for us to hunt it and manage it. Have done a bunch of work all year, plots are looking great, deer numbers seem really good, lots of bucks of all sizes/age, good sightings while hunting especially over the last couple of weeks, trigger has only been pulled twice, one was a accident button buck and the other was a 7 point that was too young by a guest. The whole property we are hunting is about 440 acres.

We have this one plot that is much bigger than the others, total size is around 5 acres and have around 3 acres of that planted. I thought for sure this was going to be a really good spot, but it has turned out to be the spot where there are the fewest sightings while hunting. Getting some night pictures at the feeder, but doesn't seem as consistent as the others, not as many doe groups visiting. You can visibly tell the plot has not been eaten down like many of our other plots. Soil tests were done and limed/fertilized accordingly, planted with same mix of oats/clover/brassicas as all other fields. You can see the box stand in the top center portion of the area and entry is at the very top/northern part of the stand...north is basically the way the view is looking.

What can be done to improve this area? I was thinking maybe we should let a big chunk of it grow back up naturally, just try and keep sweet gums out of it, make the planted area smaller and move the stand accordingly. My theory is it has something to do with the proximity to the pond on the property, that if that was a big chunk of woods south of it, it would be much more productive. Hard to tell from the pic, but the creek feeding the pond gets very close to the plot edge at some point, it looks like it would be a good pinch point, but I don't think it's being used like that b/c there are easier places to cross that creek/swampy area. Interested to hear what others have to say.