I will agree entirely with that.... but with that said... which is easier to access... a buck bedding in a standing corn- field or a buck bedding in a thicket in the timber made up of deadfalls. It is all about odds really... when the bucks are bedding in standing corn your odds are VERY low... I have saw t.v. shows, articles, and video's where guys "stalk" through standing corn but with the pressured herd here in PA that is pointless. If the deer are bedding in the timber I atleast have a gameplan on where they will be headed (ag. fields) and where they are (thickets).... I can set-up between them and have a chance... if they are bedding if the standing corn and that is also their major food source... what chance do I have?
If they bed in the corn.... Hunt the travel routes or terrain features that lead them to their minor (if corn is their main food source) food sources and watering areas. You cannot hunt them in the corn, this we know. But you can hunt them anywhere else they travel.
Yes, but in pressured areas (say 25 acres with close to a dozen different guys hunting it) those deer don't/won't move in daylight. What is a guy to do then? Like I said, I agree with you for the most part, but it depends on the terrain and hunting pressure more than anything else. A deer can't live it's entire life in a standing corn field... I would hope that everybody knows this... but it can spend its entire life (during legal shooting hours) in standing corn. I have saw the video's/t.v. shows with big bucks walking across open fields in late Oct. but I have NEVER see a mature buck walk into a field (wether secluded or not) during Oct. here. If there wasn't the pressure surrounding my properties (even my honey hole property is now open to rifle hunters) maybe things would be different.... but as they are now, the deer will pick up the areas that they know they won't be messed with (standing corn) and they will stay in them throughout shooting light.
But those areas are accessible. Corn is not via treestand sets. Sure it's stalkable but how many times does that actually pan out. Deer get up and move about corn, still unseen. When they get up and move about other cover, they can be seen.
I agree with buckeye when he said you cant hunt the deer in the corn. So IMO I preferr cut corn. I was born and raised a dog hunter and just recently converted to bow hunter and glad I did but I wanted the corn to be cut so we could shoot at the deer but now I would rather have the corn cut because like he said we cant hunt them in the corn and they will go somewhere else if the corn is cut.
They will not move if there is standing corn... But they will move on this pressured land if the corn is cut or it is in beans?
It depends on movement... if we are talking about traveling to/from a food sourse... no they don't. If we are talking about getting up long enough to stretch.. yes, they still do that. The problem is that when the corn is standing... you have virtually no chance to see them when they do that rare "stretching" throughout the day.... when the corn is cut they are forced to move into more defined areas and you can more easily set-up in those areas so that you can witness that "stretching".
Why are you hunting there then? Not trying to bust stones, but honestly......why bother? I don't think Scott's saying he could consistently kill mature bucks in a spot like what your describing. I think what you are describing though is honestly the minority of what most will see in an area with an agricultural crops. Most corn crops are going to have areas where the deer enter/exit the corn during daylight whether that be for access to other food/water, where does may go if pressured or chased, etc. If you aren't in one of those spots, then why are you hunting there? One thing I'd be willing to bet that Scott does differently than most of us is the number of seperate properties he's hunting. I doubt he's killing all these P&Y bucks on a single farm or patch of property, or a 25 acre patch like described above. I'd be willing to bet he works his butt off harder than most of us in the off season to gain and secure access to MANY private and public lots, and figure out what deer are on them and where they are bedding so that he can pick and choose where his best bet is. I hear so much from people that they spend all their time on a specific farm or patch of land.........why? Sure, that's great if it's a great unpressured honey hole, or that one year where the mast and ag crops are perfect, but what if it's pressured land like what 99% of us hunt, or when you can't control what the crops are doing? Just MHO. If you were to look at a dozen different corn fields within a 10 mile radius of your house, I'd bet one of them has a spot where a mature buck is moving outside the corn during daylight. You just gotta find them.
Matt... it was never like this till recently. The properties that I have access to have been surrounded by commercial growth. My honey hole property was as good as it gets several years ago... add a maximum security prison, the county jail, seveal small business's, and making the surrounding airport bigger... it really changes the deer movement. Yes, there are other areas to hunt around here, but the problem is trying to get access to these properties. Leases are showing up at an alarming rate (5 years ago I don't remember a single lease) and it has pretty much killed any chance at getting into some "good" private property. I am thankful to be locked in with my best-friend to his family farm, but I am limited to hunting that property when he is in town (only on weekends since he lives in Lancaster). Private property in this part of the state is being posted and locked out faster than anybody can believe... mostly due to the better herd health and better bucks in the area.
Not true. He hunts Ohio, there is a booner behind every other tree. It used to be every tree, but Dubbya confirmed that not to be true. He knows if he looks behind one tree and that booner isn't there it is sure to be behind the next one!
Ditto. I've gutted them and found almost nothing but corn and then gone back either later on or the next day, and found nothing but a pile of corn.
I had three bucks travel to and out of the corn this afternoon. It is a field of 300 acres of standing corn. They weren't chasing but seeking with the earliest sighting at 3 pm. Corn has its positives and negatives. I think hunting along side a corn field that funnels them into a slim area between timber and standing corn is a deadly pinch point. Corn is loaded with carbs and carbs equals energy. They can and will sustain on corn especially in cold weather. Ever sat over a fresh cut cornfield on a 20-35 degree day? I know here in NW Mo there isn't much else to eat late November into December and January. If you can find a stand of corn uncut...there will be deer. I personally enjoy using different setups when the corn is up or if it's harvested.
I think many deer spend their days in the corn and leave it at night to feed on other things. When the farmers around here harvest their corn...the numbers of deer that run out of it is staggering. The worst seasons I ever have for deer sightings are the one's where there is a lot of standing corn near by...every time...I don't think it is a coincidence.
Scott - two flaws in your argument. 1. You give the "average" bowhunter too much credit. Most guys can't pick out a bedding area from a travel route from a pile of dirt in a field. Trying to teach them to look for entrance/exit routes to several hundred acre fields or secondary food sources is pretty much out of the question. If everyone was that good of a hunter and invested that much time into deciphering terrain, food sources, etc everyone would have a few 150's on their wall. 2. It all comes down to the odds. Standing corn is like having a great bedding area on the neighbors property that you can't hunt. No, the deer aren't going to spend all of their time in the corn. But the time they do spend there, which can be a signifcant amount, means less time spent in the woods and forests that we CAN hunt. Cut that corn and it forces the deer into areas that are generally more conducive to traditional deer hunting methods, thus making it easier to kill deer. If I'm hunting a 100 acre farm that is 50 acres woods and 50 acres corn, having the corn standing effectively give the deer twice as much space to hide in. Cut that corn and now those deer only have 50 acres to hide in, thus increasing my chances of getting close to one. Granted there's a lot more to the entire scenario that can make or break a bowhunter's success, but that is the most common scenario.
If I had It my way It would be up the whole time around my area till the gun seasons are over. Deer spend allot of time In corn, hell of a hide out. Hell no It Isn't true but these deer spend allot more time In corn then your giving them credit for IMO. Couldn't agree more but the size of that cornfield will dictate one's success allot. Why Is It when the corn starts coming out you see deer hit on the roadways everywhere? It's not just because of the rut, It's also where deer can and will spend allot of time In. My milk truck got 2 deer tonight In one shot. Most of the deer that we've hit with the milk truck have been hit during the corn harvest season. I like having standing corn around though for my hunting, just not 100's and 100's of acres of It.
Maybe because the rut and seek/chase phases tend to fall in/around that time? Hell, more deer get hit where I hunt in the adirondacks this time of year too.......but there isn't an ag field for 50+ miles of there.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) depending on which side of the fence you're on... I don't deal with that very often. In Oklahoma, our corn comes out completely tilled under in September at the very latest. The argument that I can see is that it eliminates the majority of natural funnels. In Justin's example for instance, any particular deer has the option to travel through the corn as opposed to traveling through the woods in order to stay protected. As far as a buck never leaving the corn... that's entirely true. Whether you find a deer that has a stomach full of corn or not, they don't survive on corn alone. Deer must have water and they must have bacteria and living organisms in their digestive tract... corn does NOT offer this. Corn is also much lower in protein than nuts and other browse.
