Curious to hear others thoughts on this if they've experienced this. Our farmer cut (not picked...cut) the corn on my parent's property last Saturday. It's the earliest it's been cut in years (typically comes out in late November or early December...just used as silage). It's the first time in about 6 years it's been out in archery season. That year I had decent action in the cut corn for a few days, but nothing to write home about (I'm not a big large field edge guy). Fast forward to Tuesday evening. I sat in a bottleneck by my go-to main brassica and clover plot. I have pictures of deer in here all season (including the doe I shot early this season). Even a week ago, there were pictures of some 2.5's chasing in the plot. Tuesday it was like a dead zone. One lone fawn and then a doe and fawn at last light. I walked out and in my lights, there were tons of doe in the cut corn including a nice 3.5 year about 40 yards out. Have you had much success setting up on cut corn? I just hate field edges of this size, and getting back into the timber on these fields is hard now (I don't really have any stands setup of entry/exit as the corn is almost never cut during archery. I know most of you midwest guys have had corn out a while back now, but if anyone has experiencing cut corn this late, I would love to hear your experiences.
Out here they will pound it for a while after it's cut. Tons of stuff spilled everywhere they will focus on. Usually in Northern IL, they are cutting the corn right about now. It's more of the central/southern area that has it out early. I'd also say that the cut corn in an area like this can be an awesome setup for a decoy. I'm planning to bring one with me for my week long trip next week.
Honestly, I look forward to hunting the edge of a cut cornfield every year. Anything can happen. The deer will be on that corn, over any other food source in the area (at least here in central MN). You get a group of hungry does on a cut corn field, during the pre-rut, sign me up.
Interesting. Never had much of an opportunity. Maybe I'll give it a shot. Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
My entire farm consists of large fields with hollows that run throughout. I like 3 things when it comes to AG fields. Inside corners, pinch points created by narrow spots in the field, and topographical visual screens. Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk
I prefer it to be cut than not; provides too much cover for the deer. I like to set up on the edge of the field to catch whatever is coming out of the corn. We still have several hundred acres of standing corn and temps in the 70's during the day so I think I know where the deer have been!
Hunt the cut corn edges. May take a couple of days to see where they are entering the field but it can be a benefit for sure.
In my situation for about a week you will have does like crazy out there feeding 1/2 before sunset till morning. Personally I stay 20 to 30 yards in on a trail they made watch them feed and hope to catch them in and out plus less moving of the stand for later. Good luck!
THis time of year I don't believe you can have a better situation than a cut corn field if you are going to sit a food source.
What is cut corn opposed to picked? Serious question. All but one of my stands are on field edges. They are 100x better when it's corn (combined or not). This year all but one are bean fields and sightings are down significantly.
Chopped corn is for silage. It is usually done when the plant is still a bit green. It is the first corn to go. The fields are cut real short and there is not much left for the deer. In Wi, this happens in late Sept. or early Oct. Combined corn is harvested for it's kernals. The plant is almost completely dried out. The fields look more ragged (more stalks left) and there is a lot more corn left for the deer to eat. These are the fields to hunt on. In Wi, they start combining corn early Oct and can go into Jan.
Yep. Except our field is a small lease for the farmer. He doesn't ever chop it in the green stage. It's almost always left until late November/early December.
My last two sits were on cut corn with a buck decoy. Decoyed bucks on both sits. Just need to watch the wind. It's just a matter of time before a shooter will scent check the field for does and hopefully see my set up.
I farm so I know what everything is but everyone uses so many terms for it a guy never knows exactly what the OP means. To me, it's either chopped or combined.
Protected Inside corners can be hard to beat in that situation. I'm almost exclusively an edge hunter. In my area, we really don't have large blocks of timber, so I hunt edges to catch them traveling. Any freshly harvested corn or soybean field will generally be a hot spot.
