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Getting to the Stand

Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
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I've been stressing over this for the last day, so I figured I'd ask for advice. This plot of woods is only 13 acres, pretty small. The hedgerows that show up in the picture don't exist anymore, I sure wish they did for cover...but it's solid corn.

How would you get to the stand? (Grey circle). Which colored route?

Blue - from the N side of the property, down a cut grass path on the edge of the corn, through quad trails in the woods?
Red - From the S parking spot, up the property line, across the woods to the stand?
Purple - From the S parking spot, through the middle of the property, but all on tractor paths?
Orange - From the S parking spot, around the edge of the woods between the corn?
Red - from the old oil well road in the middle of the corn, across to the woods and up?
Green - from the oil well directly to the stand, cutting across the corn?

entry routes.jpg

Note - it's all flat...no ditches or cricks to walk in. I've typically done the orange route, depend on how much snow there was, but have bumped deer more than once in the area between the orange and purple line...but any deer I've seen on stand historically was coming from the N or E of the property.

My guess would be depending on the wind....the Blue route seems to make sense, or another route around that uncovered edge (swamp-ish) but there's no good spot to park other than at the farm house...or just walk the couple hundred yards down from the garage (not pictured)! I haven't paid much attention to the wind in the past season...maybe it's time?

Thanks...
 
My main question. Where do you suspect the deer to be in those woods ? Granted right now they would be in that corn but as soon as that corn is off where do they like to hang out in there.
If you say you have bumped deer going into this stand more then once between the orange and purple lines then I would as long as you have a wind coming from any direction but a northerly wind use the blue line from the north. That would save spooking the deer to your south. The other thing I would do is spray down with some other scent control heavily from your waist down to your boots using this north route. You could then use a drag rag to catch and keep the attention of any deer that historically come in from the north on a path to your stand and more focused on the drag rag scent instead of your human scent that might attach it's self to the ground.

The Green line from the oil well I would NOT do when the corn is standing and still be hesitant to do even after the corn is cut. You will sound like a freight train on a calm morning trying to get into that stand.
If you have a north wind I would then use the red property line and walk it up and into the stand. Only drawback is the leaves on the ground.

Hope that help a little there buddy. Good luck man.
 
Red - from the old oil well road in the middle of the corn, across to the woods and up....

This is the correct answer sir. I would under NO circumstance go galavanting through the woods on the way to the stand. You are almost ALWAYS better off walking along a trail next to a cornfield than inside the woods in flat country.

The orange route would work too, but look how much woods you are walking next to on the way to your stand. This increases the chance of bumping a deer that is bedded or feeding along the edge, which is where a whitetail spends most of it's time.

I would recommend using a drag rag in about 2 weeks on the way into your setup since you are going along the edge of the 13 acre piece anyway. A buck might come out of the corn and pick up your trail and walk it right to you. As soon as the corn is cut then I would use the green route out east of the woods and stay way out in the field and then cut directly into the wind right to your stand...

It's good to see you strategizing your entry route Huck.....that is something that is nearly as important as scent control, but yet a lot of guys pay little attention to the route they take in and OUT. A big part of stand "burnout" is a direct result of not utilizing the correct entry and exit strategies. If you can get there without bumping too many deer, and get back to your truck after dark doing the same, you will be in good shape.

Good luck.
 
I would be hesitant about walking through the corn as well, unless it is a windy day. I really like the idea of coming from the north, sometimes the best route to a stand is the longest. I like the scent drag Idea though, do a couple circles around your stand and then get in. Long walk do suck though, cause by the time you get there you are sweating. I have the same kind of issue as you though dude, the best way I have found to walk into my one farm is cut through a small wooded area on a tractor path, and then walk the field edge all the way into my stand. Its a long walk, but I dont have to worry about scareing anything out of the fields.
 
I would go through the woods in the mornings, and along the edge in the afternoon. You have to be careful walking the edge in the afternoon, though, in case they're bedded in the corn near the treeline. I guess you just have to know whether or not they're bedding in the woods or not. In the mornings, they'll most likely be in the field feeding, so avoid that. In the afternoons they'll be bedded down when you go to your stand, so avoid where they're bedding. It's pretty simple as long as you know where they're at... But of course there are always some exceptions/surprises.
 
Me, Id go straight through the corn. Ive had great luck with that but you gotta move real slow if its not windy. Had a leaky scent wick once in my bag and a young buck followed me through the corn right to my blind because he could hear and smell but not see me. But Im small and fit in the rows better.
 
Gern - That's reassuring and probably what I will do, thanks. I hadn't thought about using a drag rag but that does make sense this upcoming time of the year. Would you suggest the same route for leaving? I suppose I could walk all over creation on my way out, as long as I end up at my truck!

This is more of an afternoon/evening stand than a morning stand. Last year on at least two occasions, while walking the orange route, I bumped deer "into the woods" (west) as I walked between the woods and the field, it was beans last year. However, both times, the deer circled back in front of the stand...
 
Take the blue route...

It offers the least time walking through the woods..
You aren't banging through the corn that the deer might be in and then walking thew woodline...
The wind will be in your favor on anything but a N, NE, or NNE wind.


When the corn get s cut, swing wide east of the grass path and come straight into your stand from the field.
 
I always do whatever I can not to wind the woods on an evening sit. If my stand is on the west side of a woods and I have a west wind, I will walk all the way around the woods on the east side to get to my stand. In my mind winding the woods on the way in or out ruins my sit. I always take the extra effort of not winding when going in.

Know where they are bedding, and don't wind it getting to your stand. That's my 2 cents.
 
I'd go through the corn too. Any areas in the field that have fox tail growing are likely to hold bedded deer, so if you go through any of them, watch for deer! They are difficult to spook out of a cornfield...you can walk right up to them and shoot them if you want. They do not generally spook from noise in a cornfield! Even when they see you in corn, they often just stare at you, its as if they are so surprised to see you there they don't know what to think.
 
Another comment on wind: both houses (N and S) burn wood 24/7...the smoker fits right in.

I think it's very interesting that I'm getting several completely different answers (as I thought I would)...but all with good explanations. Thanks guys!
 
I guess I should've explained my choices.
I chose the woods route in the am because I figure the deer are in the field feeding. However, you mentioned that this is an evening spot.
I chose the other red route fir the evening to utilize that last row of corn as cover and avoid the leaves right on the woods line. With that said... I've never hunted corn so what the heck do I know?
 
As I understood what you were saying is that there is an oil well road in the middle of the cornfield that you could take, right? I am not suggesting to walk through standing corn to get to your stand....you would sound like a bull in a china shop.

To me it's a no brainer to take the lane through the corn, and yes, walk back out the same way you went in unless you have a good reason to change your route.
 
The well road runs off the S road and goes to the black X in the middle of the field...does not go to the woods. Not sure when the corn will be cut.
 
Huckleberry Finn said:
The well road runs off the S road and goes to the black X in the middle of the field...does not go to the woods. Not sure when the corn will be cut.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't recommend the corn route either, you will either be noisy as heck, or a wet sum beech when you get to your stand when the dew is still on in the morning.
 
IMO, if the corn is standing there'll be more bedding in the corn than in the woods. Avoid the corn if at all possible. Now once the corn is harvested, that's a totally different ballgame... Walk the field then because the deer will most likely be bedding in the woods.
 
Huckleberry Finn said:
The well road runs off the S road and goes to the black X in the middle of the field...does not go to the woods. Not sure when the corn will be cut.
Click to expand...

I got ya......I would do what Jackalope says, take the blue path until the corn is gone. You are way too big of a guy to be boring through a cornfield in the dark!
 
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