IMO, the area should be large enough so there is little or no chance that you will not be able to retrieve a deer without trespassing on your surrounding neighbor's property.

From a more ethical standpoint, it would seem the property would be large enough to support and sustain the deer you will be harvesting. Otherwise, you're just leeching off your neighbors.

The right small acreage can be productive, know one guy that had 7 acres in Lampassas county that got his deer every year, no one hunted very close to him and his one stand looked down into a draw so he was keeping bullets on his place for any shots.

On a 32 acre place I have taken over 40 deer in the last 30 years with most of those on just 2 acres of it. Location, location, location.

Main thing is keeping it safe on what ever size place and know the adjoining land owners and be on good terms with them, incase you ever need to go there to recover an animal. Good to ne good neighbors anyway.

This all comes down to what type of wildlife steward you decide to be. Many small landowners contribute to the overall good of their wildlife population.

However, many choose to take all they can without consideration of the long term effect. I remember earlier this season your post about all the deer your in laws have killed this year on that 10 acres. Yes, it is true that the state owns the deer, not the neighbors. If we all own the deer, we should be managing them as if there are no fences or boundaries. We should look at bedding and feeding areas, food sources, water and population of the big picture, being the amount of acres that we are hunting that support the local/core area of the deer herd that lives there.

Sadly, this rarely happens. It turns into this is all about me and what I want. I own this land, it's the states deer and I'll shoot as many as I legally can, even though most or all of the deer I'm shooting don't live on my land, they just briefly cross it or feed on it.

It's this attitude that has resulted in the majority of landowners deciding to high fence their land. I can assure you as long as this trend of small land ownership continues and the owners hunt like your in laws, high fences will continue to expand their range.

IMO the biggest risk to small land ownership besides the safety aspect is being high fenced out for these reasons .

This all comes down to what type of wildlife steward you decide to be. Many small landowners contribute to the overall good of their wildlife population.

However, many choose to take all they can without consideration of the long term effect. I remember earlier this season your post about all the deer your in laws have killed this year on that 10 acres. Yes, it is true that the state owns the deer, not the neighbors. If we all own the deer, we should be managing them as if there are no fences or boundaries. We should look at bedding and feeding areas, food sources, water and population of the big picture, being the amount of acres that we are hunting that support the local/core area of the deer herd that lives there.

Sadly, this rarely happens. It turns into this is all about me and what I want. I own this land, it's the states deer and I'll shoot as many as I legally can, even though most or all of the deer I'm shooting don't live on my land, they just briefly cross it or feed on it.

It's this attitude that has resulted in the majority of landowners deciding to high fence their land. I can assure you as long as this trend of small land ownership continues and the owners hunt like your in laws, high fences will continue to expand their range.

IMO the biggest risk to small land ownership besides the safety aspect is being high fenced out for these reasons .

Too many factors to be so black and white. I've hunted 10 acres that was more huntable than my 300 acre lease, due to the shape of the properties, neighbors, etc.

I hunted 10 acres last season and next season I will be hunting 15 acres, as long as everything goes well I will be closing on the 1st of March. I know a lot of you say this is way to small to hunt and instead you have to be on huge acreage leases. I've never been a fan of leasing, whether it be my house, car, or land, I would much rather own. So for that reason I hunt what I can afford.

What do you guys think the minimum safe amount of land to hunt is? When hunting small acreage what would you do to minimize the chances of a ricochet, trust me this is a concern of mine and I will have all my shots set up to where they go in the direction of other wide open acreage.

It is far too easy for a bullet to leave the property at 10 or 15 acres when you are using "wide open acreage" as your safety.