Alright y'all. I acquired some new land to hunt this year (talked about it in another post) and I have come to find out it holds some very nice deer that I believe are mature enough to take. I placed a trail cam last weekend and already have near 100 pictures of different bucks cruising this fence row that connects this property to surrounding trust lands. So I know I'm in the right spot, but the majority of these pictures are all from 4AM to 8 AM. And alot of these deer stay in that same area or those 4 hours (constant pictures minute after minute)I'm trying to decide whether to go sit in that stand tonight or waiting until the morning and going out very early to beat the bucks out..Whatcha think?
well if your getting moring action....seems like if you can get in the mornings is the time to be there
How early do you have to get in there? Think you'll bust 'em out if you wait until 45 minutes before shooting light?
well I wouldn't go in there this afternoon, you ain't getting them on camera in the PM...Go in early in AM and let it settle and see what happens.
Not looking forward to sitting in the dark and cold for that long but if that's what it takes, it has to be done!
I think if I'm not in there by 4 or 5Am that I would spook em. It's a 1/2 miles walk back through logging trails to get to my stand and the scrape line that these bucks are hitting is 40yds past my stand
Dont tempt me. My wife would be very unhappy....of course me waking up in the wee hours of the morning and waking her up probably wont fare well either
You gotta get on that deer's schedule, better to get there a couple hours before shooting light than to sit a whole day and not see him.
I put little to no stock in night time trail cam photos other than the fact that they tell me the deer is there when I can't kill him. So toss the 4 am photos in the garbage. That's hours before shooting light and he's likely long gone before then. The 7:30 one tells me he's likely bedding not too far away as they're not typically moving long distances this time of year once it gets light. Keep in mind not too far for a deer may still be 1/2 mile. But anyway - if you're going to hunt mornings try to be there about an hour before light and try and stay away from areas where the deer may be feeding during the night. Typically this means crop fields here in the Midwest. I can't see your photos too well but it looks like that may be CRP in the background? If so, there's a good chance the deer are bedding in it. I've always had my best luck hunting CRP in the mornings so you may be on to something. Good luck!
Thanks for the feedback, Justin! That is an 85 acre plot of turnips, brassicas and other winter forage actually.
The solution to that problem is simply have your wife sleep on the couch...in the basement. Oh, and let us know how that works out for ya. Sent from my RS501 using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
She's actually more upset that I didnt hang a second stand in this area for her to hunt out of as well. She is determined to shoot a deer before me this year, and this is her first year ever bowhunting
Couldnt get crops planted in that field this year so just put out some sodbuster seed. Mixture of turnips, sodbusters and other big leafy plants. Not worth anything but makes for a good deer plot I think?
It looks like a tough spot to hunt on a morning - especially with a short crop planted that isn't going to hide your entrance. You'll likely bust out anything in the North side of the field on your way in, and may bust the South end when you get into your stand. I'm sure it can be done, but you'll have to be awful quiet and careful coming through those woods. I had a stand setup similar to this years ago and I would clear the field next to the woods every time I went in. Eventually, I stopped hunting it in the morning.
I would avoid walking through the woods and if possible come from the south... Looks like a quick quiet approach.
I dont have access to the fields from the south. The woods was just logged this summer and very clean trails through the woods all the way back to my stand.
