PHASE I
Developing a rough farm into a trophy deer hunter's dream
PHASE iI
New hunting farm upgrades
PHASE iIi
Proving the farm
PHASE iV
From woods to tillable fields
PHASE V
Finished project tour
12 strategic food plots created
Every plot was laid out in areas that made sense from a terrain and deer movement standpoint as well as access and overall farm flow. On a micro level they were developed to include hunt-able trees for different wind directions and shaped to funnel bucks through them as they cruise to see does in hidden areas of the plot.
The brush from clearing was stacked in walls forcing deer to enter the plots in strategic locations and block visuals on the entire plot from any one spot. Many of the bigger plots were planted with brassicas on one half and cereal grains on the other which creates a natural transition line to congregate does in front of the main box blind or stand locations. Treecoys were added in front of these hunting locations to concentrate bucks even more and offer shot opportunities.
New tillable cleared
During the first month of owning the farm, we reclaimed 109 acres of tillable that had been neglected, growing up in volunteer shrubs and cedars. Year two of the excavation, we cleared almost 30 acres of woods which was put into tillable production as well.
The brush was placed to strategically allow the deer in and out of the crop fields where they naturally wanted to, strategically in front of huntable trees. These gaps are incredible for trail cam inventory, ingress, egress and hunting. They are like fabricated feathered edges with funneling characteristics. We also put in a couple sweet pond water holes during the excavation phase.
Miles of trails put in
After careful scouting and design we laid out miles of trail systems so that all parts of the farm are usable and huntable.
When laying out trails we make sure all areas of a farm can be accessed by UTV and flow through the farm in a way that makes for low-impact hunting access. Our trail layout is also used to guide deer into bow range at stand locations.
Our largest development project to date
This was a special farm to us, it may be one of the most over the top developed hunting farms in the country! The Cass Farm started as a blank canvas of over 600 acres. A 60 acre tillable tract and a 135 acre recreational tract were sold in year one of the project. The remaining 450 acres was sold in early 2021.
Proving the farm
Since it took two years to complete the transformation, we got to hunt it. We had a heck of a 2019 deer season where there were multiple 5+ year old bucks killed. We killed most of these mature bucks in the gaps we built and within a few days of hunting those bucks.
The turkey hunting on this place is sick! I invited good friend TJ Jordan from Dirt Nap calls out for turkey season. TJ is working on killing an eastern bird in every state and is literally a turkey hunting FREAK. In his words "this is the best eastern hunting farm I’ve ever been on!" It truly is un-real.
