I have a question hopefully someone can help me out! The place I'm hunting has soybeans and corn. The guy that owns the land farms it also he's an elderly man that does it just to keep himself busy. I know his combine is broken, and there is no telling when he will get it going again. The farm is about 300 acres, I would say 100 is corn a 100 is soybeans and the rest is very thick woods! Last year the same thing happen his combine was down and he wasn't able to pick the corn until the middle of the season. I hunted the place almost every evening and only saw 2 deer until he picked the corn...then they were everywhere! The pics I get are all at night, even in the soybean field you never see them in the evening time. Do any of you have any tips or tricks for hunting a situation like this? And attractant that you think would draw them out of the corn? I'm located in south Ga.
Not much you can do in my opinion if they are in-fact daytime bedding in the corn. obviously not every deer is living in the corn but I have hunted very similar situations and is incredibly frustrating. Try to find their travel routes in and out of the field and hunt mornings and evenings until the corn comes down. or keep your scent out all together as your odds of killing a big buck after he has found your scent every night after you leave are very slim. Many guys will not go near their best stands until late October/early November because of this. I would focus on the beans while they're still green then find those access points to the corn and be as careful as possible getting in and out. The farm we hunted in Northern Missouri still had standing corn for the first few snow storms last year, farmer was waiting for grain prices to come back up, Sure makes for tough hunting! good luck.
Kevin, I have faced the same situation. Rumor has it that human hair will scare the bejesus out of those critters. Likely your local barber will be more than happy to unload a few bags of hair. As a farm hunter, I tend to think the deer will move during the normal dawn/dusk hours if they aren't overly pressured. his makes sense, as it's hard to imagine the deer spending 24 hrs a day in the corn.
I don't think deer bed in corn as much as we like to think. With standing corn adjacent to thick bedding they'll bed very close to corn and may be difficult to setup without spooking. They'll bed in drainages, transition lines, but during daylight in corn, not as likely as we chose to believe. Early season 4 years ago I watched 3 bucks, 2 shooters, bed 100 yards from standing corn after 1st light. I had a setup that put me within 50 yards of their bed and between them and corn and water. Went in at 2 in the afternoon mid September and kicked both shooters out of the corn. I set up anyways and watched the 3rd rise from his bed and walk under my stand. If I didn't see them bed that morning I may have assumed they were bedded in corn, but in reality they were on their feet feeding midday.
Are there any white oaks in the brush? If you have any acorns that drop early, set up on those and try your luck...for some reason a lot of times they'll ignore all else to hit acorns, especially if they are white oaks. The funny thing is that acorns aren't particularly high in food value so I have no idea why they ignore all else to go to them but they often do. Something to try at least, otherwise it's pretty hard to compete with a corn field.
Same reason us lazy humans eat at McDonald's. Very little, if any, nutritional value. Apparently, it tastes good and is convenient.
You can still hunt the corn. The wind has to be right but you can walk cross ways in the rows and look down the next row before stepping into the next. Ideally you want a decently windy day so the wind will cover any noise you might make. If you see a deer slowly back up ten rows or so and sneak on them. When you get close you should be able to take a shot.
Is there water close to you? If not, we put a 50 gallon plastic barrel on its side and cut it in half. Deer come in every day to drink. Although it at my dads place and we have the ability to add water pretty easily.
I tend to agree with this. I have stands that are ONLY good when the corn is good because they are drainage ditches and creeks that run right through the field. When the corns out, it provides very little cover and I make my way back up into the woods.
I agree, I have seen corn grow mold because the deer walk right past it to eat acorns when there is a good acorn crop. I'd find a spot among the acorns, if there are any, until the corn is cut. Good luck.
