Am I hunting this right?

[rrr]

Thought I'd throw this out for advice. I have not really deer hunted this piece much other than driving it a few times. It used to be a goldmine when there were hedgerows splitting the field up, but those got pushed together and burnt (before I had my license I used to walk back there during gun season and sit in one of the brush piles! had 7 run by one afternoon) I have had great success with turkeys out here.

Anyways, it's in my backyard (ok, not really, but across the bean field and road) so it's close and quick to hunt. The neighbor that lives in the farmhouse (north) has seen several deer back there consistently and has the property posted from the Amish, has a mineral block in there and some corn piles, and also a blind that I can use. He is renting the property, knows that I am tight with the owners, and does not have a problem with letting me hunt it and actually would much rather 'have me shoot da deerz instead of da damn amish!" The ground blind is the upper black dot, I hung my stand at the other one...and that's not drawn completely correctly, my stand is 15 yards from the connection of the paths (green) and 20 yards from the field edge, over looking a very thick brushy section. The woods for the most part is fairly young but open, he's taken a lot of firewood out of there. Green is the quad paths that are torn up big time from the tracks.

The blue shows where the tracks are. The day I went out to scout/hang the stand, there were a ton of tracks and that bottom edge is torn up big time. The southeast (right) corner of the woods for about an acre is pines. As you can see from the red measurements, it's a small piece of land anyways. The next night I hunted it, there were deer tracks crossing, and going down over my boot paths...

Oh, and ringer? Where to walk in from? Park at the top of the property at the farm, or down at the bottom? I sure wish the oil rig out in the field was being tended and plowed out, I'd park there (what we do for turkey)...

I'd appreciate any advice...I think I've got this down pat but realize that I could to missing something, even affirmation would be good lolz...obviously it would be best to get permission for that whole big chunk, but the other half belongs to a church (thus the softball field) and is off-limits...

Capt

 

[Gern186]

Holy shit Ernie, with that huge chunk of woods off limits and you being on the downwind side I wouldn't think it would matter where you set up....you should get a shot anywhere in there.

I would check out that inside corner at the bottom left of your "woods" portion, just west of the pine trees. It looks like some kind of gulley cuts right through there. That would be the first place I would check out. You could park on the south road and have a short walk into that spot, and be downwind of the big church woods. I wouldn't park at the blue dot though, that looks like a likely place for the deer to enter from the south.....I would park down to the east a good ways.

 

[rgecko23]

thats what I was thinking, that inside corner to the south...looks promising to me..

 

[Buckmaster]

I'd begin at the top and bottom corners; which ever is closest to the current food source.

 

[Kaiser878]

I personally woldnt hunt it at all, for a couple days! At this point you are almost in January, taking 2 or 3 evenings to sit back and observe is not going to kill you! Get yourself a spotting scope, or a set of big nockulars and sit back in the vehicle and watch the last 3 hours of daylight. I never enter an aera until I have surveyed it thoroughly! There is always something you are gonig to over look when it ocmesto deer movement! Take the time and watch the area.

 

[jagermeister]

I personally woldnt hunt it at all, for a couple days! At this point you are almost in January, taking 2 or 3 evenings to sit back and observe is not going to kill you! Get yourself a spotting scope, or a set of big nockulars and sit back in the vehicle and watch the last 3 hours of daylight. I never enter an aera until I have surveyed it thoroughly! There is always something you are gonig to over look when it ocmesto deer movement! Take the time and watch the area.

Like Chad and Wayne said, I really like that inside corner on the south end. BUT like Zach said, you're almost never going to totally "nail it" just be looking at a map. I, too, would sit back for a day or two and watch that south end... but I bet they'll come out either near that corner or from the pines. Good luck, dude!

 

[rrr]

The south end where the pines is hammered pretty good, but I didn't see a lot of tracks in the bottom corner, I'm assuming because of that house that's off the road there. But that could also be because I'm parking down there TOO.

Good thoughts guys, thanks for the advice, I will have to investigate that bottom corner more.

 

[formerbowhunter1023]

Holy shit Ernie, with that huge chunk of woods off limits and you being on the downwind side I wouldn't think it would matter where you set up....you should get a shot anywhere in there.

I would check out that inside corner at the bottom left of your "woods" portion, just west of the pine trees. It looks like some kind of gulley cuts right through there. That would be the first place I would check out. You could park on the south road and have a short walk into that spot, and be downwind of the big church woods. I wouldn't park at the blue dot though, that looks like a likely place for the deer to enter from the south.....I would park down to the east a good ways.

I'm with Chad. That is where I would have looked first. I do like where you are set up though and I'd walk in from either location depending on the wind that day. I also agree with Zach, an evening or two spent watching would not be a bad idea, especially since you have time on your side. How much can you cover visually from your stand looking back in to the woods? Distances to your 7, 9, and 11 o'clocks?

 

[hickslawns]

What Gern said is what I was thinking. This is good training for all of us. Made me feel good to know I was thinking on the same lines as him and the others. Kaiser makes another great point. Good luck!

 

[Kaiser878]

IMO the worst thing you can do this time of year is walk into an area and blow it out on a whim. These are not september deer or october deer. These are post gun season deer. So walking into the area just to look around to see where the deer have been is about the worst thing you can do. Yes, you may find tracks, but what time did the deer come through there? You verified there were deer there, but what time the deer were there is still a mystery. Sooooo....You still know about as much as you did before! This time of year I will not hunt an area unless I have physically seen deer there consistently. Will a doe get blown out of the area forever by just you walking in and spooking her? No, but we all know your aspirations of killing a buck are high. Afterall, you have the same dream all of us have!

Greg has a great point, I often find myself sitting 50-60 yards off a field edge. Although, this is in October and November. I would watch from a distance before hanging that stand. THe deer are yarded up big time right now. Chances are, where one deer comes from, they are all gonna come from. THats why I said sit a good distance away and see where the majority of the deer come from and where they end up. They have a destination in mind, its food on the brain time again!

 

[Milo]

i would listen to Kaiser....not knowing is the worst that can happen when they are hyper sensitive like they are now. they will not tolerate you like earlier. at least have an idea when they get there or it may be not worth hunting there is the come out past dark

 

[Gern186]

I agree with Zach also on watching from a distance, but keep in mind those deer might not come gallavanting into the open field during daylight hours this late in the season, even late into the evening (I'm talking especially about a buck).......by hunting back in the timber a little ways from that inside corner you can get a chance at a buck that is using that area as a staging area...... a place to safely hang out before coming to feed in that open field. Watch the fields from a distance for a night or 2 and see where the does are coming out to feed, if you see a buck entering the field that's a bonus....Even if you don't see a buck coming to the field in the evening, I would feel confident that there is one hanging back in the timber waiting to come out when it gets dark.


Good luck.

 

[Kaiser878]

I agree with Zach also on watching from a distance, but keep in mind those deer might not come gallavanting into the open field during daylight hours this late in the season, even late into the evening (I'm talking especially about a buck).......by hunting back in the timber a little ways from that inside corner you can get a chance at a buck that is using that area as a staging area...... a place to safely hang out before coming to feed in that open field. Watch the fields from a distance for a night or 2 and see where the does are coming out to feed, if you see a buck entering the field that's a bonus....Even if you don't see a buck coming to the field in the evening, I would feel confident that there is one hanging back in the timber waiting to come out when it gets dark.


Good luck.

Good point! Basicly what I was getting at, guess I should have elaborated!

THe main reason to watch is to get the general area at which the deer are entering the field! If the does come out there chances are good the bucks are gongi to come out in that same general area. I have sat and watched multiple does come feeding throguh the woods into a cut corn field, only to be followed within minutes by several bucks of all age ranges. If you can fidn the deer right now, they are super easy to kill. The reason behind this is, if you get a shot at one, chances are good you will have many chances since the deer are all grouped up together!

 

[Hoytmania]

Was this place hunted at all during gun season? If not then they might not be too bad.

Again the first place I looked to was the inside corner to the south. Inside corners are great places to monitor. If you could setup right in between the pines and the inside corner I think would be ideal, at least for October, Novemeber.

Best of luck to you also.

 

[uglykat26]

ive never been in them woods but i have been in the field , where your at looks like a good spot , o tell chuck and shelly hi for me , if thats the house im thinkin it is chuck and shelly live there , and it surprised me he let any one hunt it he used to be an old grouch

 

[epe]

With snow being on the ground, I would scout it late afternoon from a distance, and after dark, to see if you can figure out where they are coming into the field from.

Sent from my PC36100

 

[rrr]

Sounds like I'm going to look at that back corner better...

Got some corn to put out there TOO

 

[rrr]

FINALLY had a good hunt tonight!

I rabbit hunted this morning and was going to go out and put some corn out and thought, oh well, might as well take my bow and sit for two hours if I'm going to go back there. On my way in I bumped up four good lookin deer just south of my stand, they got up but didn't run off. I got in my stand and waited. Sure enough, they came back out into the field in front of me (north) and came down...circling around me. The first was a big ole doe who made her way probably 50 yards just to my 11 o'clock and crossed the path that's there. She nosed down a little bit and looked at me real good, but didn't spook or wind me. She was 20 yards from my corn...dang. Came down a little bit and I thought some magic was going to happen but she turned and kept going. Followed by a NICE buck, I'm assuming that it's the same one that my buddy and the landowner have seen over there, it's a dark racked 8 pointer, very good mass and very tall - and with one hell of a body. He followed her and was followed by 2 more, a decent sized doe and a small one (I was hoping at that point to at least get a shot at the young, stupid one, but no avail).

Best hunt I've had since my first hunt this year....

Gettin closer...

 

[huntn2]

Sounds like an exciting night Steve! Hopefully they give you a chance before you head back to school.

 

[cotty16]

I love seeing bucks. It gets the blood pumping. Good luck!