Just want to throw this question out to everyone. I live in northern Illinois, and, with the wet spring and wet fall, I'm guessing crops will be up very late this year. What are your thoughts on whether hunting is better or worse while the harvest is taking place? My initial thought is that less standing crops=less cover and thus more deer movement. Friends of mine suggest that the noise and movement caused by the machinery used in the harvest equals more pressure on deer and they lock down. Thoughts? Thanks in advance and good luck!
My vote will always be hunting will be better while harvesting is taking place. I can confirm from the amount of deer I see in the tractor/combine every year. Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
Also, deer aren't scared of farm equipment. Equipment running now is like a dinner bell to them. Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
Exactly what @greatwhitehunter3 said. Same with a chainsaw, it's like a dinner bell. Growing up in Missouri we always hunted bottom land by the river after/during harvest, always great
I agree, deer couldn't care less about machinery. What they don't like is woods full of hunters walking around where deer are not used to encountering human scent.
No worries the deer are used to it. I would love to sit on top of a combine cab with a gun or bow in hand.
Heck, I drove within 100 yards today of 6-7 deer feeding in a weedy field with a John Deere dozer. They seen me coming for 400 yards.
I for one love the harvest, all but a few fields are silage. Silage = barren grounds nearly no stubble or spillage. Then out goes the soybeans . This get those buck moving they'll head to gullies and swamps pines and places doe and fawn have been secure all year. I had an encounter with a huge deer many years ago. Went to the local gun shop and saw his picture. 2 wks after I saw him he was shot 3 miles away as the crow flies. They will head toward, chestnuts , white clovers and brassicas. Dropping acorns, apples and female companionship. Unfortunately this has been a alfalfa/ corn/ grain year. They won't travel quite as far. We have WW next door this year but so much alfalfa and clover just a few miles away.
Over this past weekend i would drive my dad to his blind in the morning and in the evening because he had to cross a green field to get to it. Within 10 min or less of me leaving he had deer out in the field. No chance of that if they saw us walk in. Sent from my SM-N920P using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
