Hypothetical Situation: Let's say you scout a piece of property and find a large number of deer bedding in the imidiate vicinity of their feeding area (for this situation, ~80 yards or less). How would you hunt this area? What tactics would you use when the deer move so little throughout the day? I am interested to see the responses. If anyone would like a aerial picture example of what I am talking about I can provide it.
Will, I hunt the same situation on my farm. The deer bed very close to my food plots, especially in the really cold weather. I like to wait for a wind blowing from the bedding area towards the feeding area. Then I hunt across the food plot from where the deer enter it. My field is pretty narrow for the most part, this may not be possible for you. I do this mainly because if you setup between the deer and the food, and you want to let does pass waiting on the bucks, the does will wind you in the food plot before the bucks get there. By setting up across the food plot the deer enter it and get pretty relaxed and move around freely. And I feel if the bucks see the does out there they might come out before dark too. Hopefully they will end up in front of me eventually. Also this way I don't take the chance of bumping them out of their beds getting into my stand.
Will, hook us up with a pic... Also, is it standing corn right now? I guess my question is will the food source still be a food source come October 1?
John, your situation sounds picture perfect as long as deer enter the food plot from upwind. Unfortunately this situation is nothing like that. The situation I speak of involves a small strip of timber that serves as a bedding area with large (100+ acres) ag fields on both sides. Dustin, yes it is standing corn that will be gone come Oct. 1 (atleast on one side). ill put a pic up on wednesday when I get some real internet access. I'm on the Blackberry for now.
Sounds good, or you can call me tomorrow and I'll post one. Scenario 1 - Standing corn Let me explain what I'm visualizing and maybe that will help. Let's say that the field that we called in the big turkey that you should have killed (:D) is planted in corn and where your ladder stand in the edge of the woods is where the deer are bedding. And lets also presume that you'll have a South or Southwest wind for the opener, as asnine as this sounds, come in through the corn. From the rise between the two fields you can walk extremely slowly, wind in your favor, fairly invisible, and not worry about the noise because of how naturally noisy corn fields are (especially when its windy like it always is there. Scenario 2 - Cut corn I'll finish this after I see the photo, but if they are bedding by the same ladder stand, you could get in on a S, SW, or W wind from the same way hugging the woodline. It's difficult to say what which other field you're speaking of, but I would either get there really early and sit in that stand, or for the evening set up off the bed in the woodline between there and the crops.
OK, at long last here is a pic. The aforementioned area is outlined in red. The area outlined in blue is where I have found alot of beds, and often see deer coming out of the timber to feed. With a dominant wind from the South in the early season....where do you hang a stand, and why? Thanks for any input. If you need any more info just ask. EDIT: Sorry it is so blurry for some reason. The green words say "Wheat" and "Soybeans". The yellow words say "Corn".
I don't have one, but I can promise you it is flat. You can easily see well beyond the bounderies of this photo (except for the trees of course) in any direction, in any spot. If there was a difference in elevation, it would be no more than a few feet, at MOST.
If the wind is out of the South, I'd try the red dots on the map. Catch them as they feed in your direction, or as they sneak thru the brush in the ditch.
Which of the three different fields will the deer utilize the most while you're hunting? Once the corn is cut will the soybeans be their main food source?
If I was to hunt your farm for 1 day.. I would choose the area of the Red oval. I think the reasons are very obvious.
John, your middle dot is an excellent spot that always sees alot of deer traffic. fatsbucknut, The beans will be what they want in the early part of the season. Once it gets cold, they will switch to the wheat. The corn will be cut within the next week, redering it useless for hunting season. duke, the red oval looks like an awesome spot that, for some reason, I have always overlooked (until now). I also like the black oval for a more aggressive startegy. GMMAT, gotcha
