How Would You Hunt This?

How would you guys hunt this for deer? The field on the let is either corn or beans every year. There is a food plot in the upper right corner. The willow area in the middle is a bedding area with a lot of traffic in it. We havent ever hunted this area except for end of the season drives. I dont know if i should put a stand in the middle of bedding areas or not. This would be used for bow and possibly shotgun during gun season. Im thinking that during the rut the bucks could be cruising around our swamp through these bedding areas looking for does. This is the bottom of a big oval swamp with the middle being cattails and water.

Also there is a land bridge over the man made ditch on the left that goes through that crop fields now so deer can walk across that.

What would you guys do here? I was thinking possibly two stands, one for north - west winds and one maybe for a non north west wind.

 

Are you able to access this area from anywhere or is there only one place you can come in?

 

I can come in from anywhere on the east, or I can come from the south, I can't come from the north and the west would just be a big loop starting from the south and going out into the field


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Early season - Hunt food and water. Scout this summer to see where they are entering the field.
Rut - Hunt edges and known doe bedding areas. I would focus on swamp/wood lines on the property.
Late Season - Hunt food.

 

So on this particular part of the land, during the rut you would hunt on the outside edge of this willow "U"? There are a lot of deer using this for bedding, Im not completely sure if it is doe bedding or buck bedding...

 

Well if there are multiple beds in close proximity then they are usually doe beds. Bucks usually bed alone.

 

Would it be a good idea to put a stand in these bedding areas? as you can see its not a ton of room for a stand anywhere else...

 

I would personally stay out of bedding areas at all costs. Get between their bedding area and food.

 

I'll try to do that, it's just a tricky spot to hunt


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May have to resort to a ground hunting situation if that's all the land offers.

 

there is a semi-good spot for a ground blind on the east side. the west side should have a few options for trees

 

What do you guys do if the area you want to hunt is a strip of possible bedding and a TON of deer trails, but one side is wet cattails and the other side is an open field that the deer don't go into? The only option would to be to hunt in the bedding area. Im thinking this would be a morning stand, so if I were to get in their early in the morning, they should not be bedding yet and I would be able to get in without spooking them, right?

 

I would do everything to stay away from their bedding area. Try to find some of their trails and set a stand on that. You want those deer to feel safe and not pressured around their bedding areas. Dont want to bump big bucks of their just like you dont want to bump turkeys of the roost

 

Yeah the problem is this area being essentially a doughnut with the middle being a wet cattail swamp, the inner "wall" of the doughnut where cattails and willows meet is where the deer are, and the outer wall is here the deer don't go, does this mean I can't hunt this area?


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I just thought about this, the area I'm talking about is probably a 4-600 by 50-100 yard oval, with the ring around the swamp being about 30-40 yards think on average. This all can't be bedding area can it?


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Kinda doubt it unless it houses a lot of deer.

 

I don't think we have more than 40 resident deer, and there are also a 40 acre woods that they bed in and a separate willow patch. Will deer bed in random spread out places throughout this doughnut? or will their bedding areas be somewhat concise and all bedded together?

 

I'm guessing the does may bed fairly close to one another while the bucks are more separated.

 

Alright well I'll look for areas that have a lot of trails but no beds


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I'd walk the transition between the cattails and brush/willows as soon as possible looking for beds with rubs in or near them, big tracks, and any other big buck sign. Any larger tree would peak my interest for a bed because a bigger tree than the surrounding trees means higher ground. Any brush out in the cattails would be worth a walk. Once you narrow down where a buck may bed figure out what wind he's bedding there with, then figure out how to hunt him. Without boots on the ground hard to tell much. To kill mature bucks you have to get aggressive, the line you have to walk is when is the best time to get aggressive. Bedding areas is where mature bucks spend 90% of their time during daylight hours, if you're not pushing the envelope on these areas then you're just another hunter who's not even in the game until the rut rolls around.