I got stationed in Great Lakes 1.5 years ago, and I quickly set out to get permission on a place to hunt. I got permission on a small 75 acre farm (70 acres crops, 5 acres thickets/creek bed/tall grass). I shot a nice doe on Halloween last fall, and had about a dozen deer sightings in the first 2 months of the season. The deer winter on a different property though, so it's dead once the snow hits. Started running cameras late this summer, and I got pictures of a 140" 11pt in late september, coming in to a small secluded apple orchard. There's a runway that comes from the neighboring property right into the apple trees, and that is THE ONLY sign on the property. I have a blind there, and stands in 3 other locations throughout the farm on brushy fingers. The stands are set in what looks like it would be a good area, but there's no sign, and I haven't physically seen a deer yet this fall. To say the least, my confidence is pretty diminished on every spot besides the apples, which are starting to really hit the ground. I have 2 weeks of leave in November, and I'm thinking I should hunt the apples now, while they're dropping, and save the stands in the fingers until chasing really starts up. What do you guys think though? I'll post a pic of the property when I get out of the woods tonight. Thanks for the help!
When the chase is on, all bets are off. If apples are hitting the ground, I'd definitely set up over them.
I'm on the same page as you Vendetta. Ive been in the woods since 11am today, and I was hunting the main wooded fencerow along the property line. Haven't seen any
Sorry...didn't mean to press send! I hadn't seen anything there and the wind was swirling pretty bad. I checked the apples on my way in, and the ground was tore up pretty good. I decided at 2pm to use the noise of the wind to my advantage, got down and moved to the apples. We'll see if it pays off.
I've been doing sequences of doe grunts all afternoon, every hour on the hour to pass the time. Planning on doing some light rattling as it gets closer to dark as well.
WHERE are the deer bedded? That is the key. If they are bedded on a different property, how do they access the property on which you hunt? If you have a map, mark up where they bed and the outines of your property.
If you want to keep your confidence, Stay out of the woods in Oct. November is when all the action is. I only hunt maybe 2-3 day in Oct. I wish there were 2 Novembers. The first two weeks are the time to be in the woods, after that all the Bucks are servicing Does and are not moving around as much until the 20's of Nov. If I wasn't retired, I would take my vacation from Nov 1 to Nov 10 and live in the woods. Best of luck.
Last light rolls around tonight, and the wind is in my favor to make a little sneak along the property line to glass the neighboring cut corn field. There's an overgrown parcel that juts out into his field, and this is where I think the primary bedding area is. Looking along the edges, I had just enough light to catch a little buck pop out the north side through my binos. I'll post property pics tonight or first thing tomorrow to pull all these details together...having a little me & the wife time!
Alright guys, as promised, heres my aerials of the property. The first is an overview of the property, labeling the property lines and bedding areas. The second is the details of the property, identifying stand sites and visible runways on the property. The small buck I glassed last night came out on the North end of the Primary Bedding area. The green lines are visible trails. -The Creek Stand is where I shot my Halloween doe last fall. Great looking spot that Ive found bedded deer in before. -The Apple Blind is where I got pics of the big 11 (named him Takeo) in late September. I hunted here opening weekend and all movement was well before shooting hours. The apples are dropping now though, and the ground here is destroyed! -The Ditch Stand overlooks a ditch that runs through the middle field. Filmed a small buck walking down the ditch and making a rub last fall. This spot was used WAY more when there was corn instead of soybeans. -The "Outlook" Stand is my newest spot. I had a theory about that primary bedding area, and I wanted to be able to keep tabs on it, and basically everything else. Added bonus that it happened to be in a fencerow funnel. Another spot Ive hung my Saddle and hunted was the triangle of trees on the fencerow, just to the NNE of the Apple Blind. I saw a lot of deer hitting that corner last year. Honestly, I know my best bet is to keep stands fresh until November, then play the wind and wait it out. The issue with that is the deer dont hang around for long after the corn is cut, and they work their way over to the wintering area to the West, so Im on a timeline of sorts. Something Ive considered also, is having my wife "push" the abandoned farm. I know thats where the deer primarily bed, and I think if she took a walk through there, it would push them to either the creek bottom bedding, or straight across the field into the fencerow on the property line. And by the way...heres Takeo...
ttt...as you can see from the aerials, I have the property well covered, but I'm always looking for some additional inputs and advice from the guys that are consistently scoring.
