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Strategies for hunting standing corn

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
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Stark County
That's all that is planted around here this year with the exception of my buddies farm which is beans. What is your most effective way to hunt standing corn? I'm going to place a stand on a good trail that leads from the corn to the woods and I also have a natural ground blind along a main trail on a pinch point. I've never had the balls to go in the corn after deer because I don't want to pressure them but I might try it this year on a windy day.
 
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Fluteman

Senior Member
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Southeast Ohio
I like setting up in corners where I can see down both edges. I have noticed that the deer tend to hit these corners as well for the same reasons. Also, if there isn't a water source in the corn, put yourself along the edge between the nearest water source. If there are any breaks between two fields, these spots can also be effective.
 
OK Stands along pinch points work
Even better just after the farmer opens the feild
To put a stand where the freshly cut corn meets trails


These are bow hunting ideas
I would never hunt more than 1 person in a corn feild while gun hunting for saftey


But there is another ways to hunt corn
I am not the best at it ......but it works

Wait for a day with some wind ( a must )

SLOWLY and I mean slowly work back and forth along the edge of the feild
Deer like to bed 10-50 rows in from the edge a lot of the time
So you want to work into or acrost the wind

Poke your head into a row look both ways , on hands and knees sometimes
If you see a deer
Back up 10 or so rows and slowly work your way to the deer
50 yds may take a hour at this point
You want to be slightly behind the deer
Then move back tward the deer
Most shots will be at bedded deer and close

The last deer I shot this way was about 100 inches away , yep just over 8 feet
If you bump a deer
It normaly will just move 100 yds or so and not leave the feild


I am better at this way
As you hunt the corn feild watch for trails in the feild
Like behind my house is a small woods , with a corn feild on 3 sides
Almost every evening the deer leave the woods and head to the creek to drink
90% of the time they walk the end rows
So pre season I cut a few corn stalks out to make a shooting lane ( save the ears for the farmer )
The lanes are tight , only 16 inchs wide
But the deer walk right past them
I have a spot there for a ground blind next to a rock pile
So I have to play the wind

Good luck and have fun
John
 

rgecko23

*Supporting Member*
7,466
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Massillon, Ohio
One thing I learned last year with the corn being up, is find that corner they are using. My biggest mistake was putting myself right in the middle on the line, when they were running a corner 100yds away from me the entire time. Talk about frustrating!! I sat in the wrong spot the entire week I had off for the rut, now I saw deer, but if I would have been in that corner my chances would have increased 10 fold.

Going into the corn is a def. a balsy move, but can be effective if done right (so I have heard)
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
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Appalachia
I like setting up in corners where I can see down both edges. I have noticed that the deer tend to hit these corners as well for the same reasons. Also, if there isn't a water source in the corn, put yourself along the edge between the nearest water source. If there are any breaks between two fields, these spots can also be effective.

What he said. I don't go in to the corn either for a variety of reasons, even on days when it would seem effective. The best luck I have had with standing corn is being in the corners. A few years ago I watched a dandy buck walk right past a tree where I had a stand hung the previous season. I should have rehung that stand with that farm being in corn and didn't do it. Looking back, that was a great stand for years with standing corn because it was not only in the corner of the field, but also on the nearest exit to water.
 

motorbreaker

*Supporting Member I*
1,542
63
North of Toledo
A couple years ago we had a 300 acre corn field that seemed to be holding all the deer in the area. On our way out from the hunt we would see tons of deer coming out of the corn.
There were drainage areas the went through the corn that were about 15 to 20 yards wide and was all grass. I decided to setup in one of these areas. When I entered the area I broke down some corn stalks and made an area to hide in on the side of the corn. I then started grunting and rattling. After a short time I had a 130 class buck walking rite toward me in the drainage area. He walked rite up to me and to his death. It can be done.
 

Redhunter1012

Senior Member
Supporting Member
First thing, if you"re hunting a field that is between to woodlots, always hang out a little later in the mornings, as they will move a lot more. IMO, the deer tend to move more in these areas just because they offer more seclusion. As John said. trim a few lanes leaving the ears. This is a very effective way to create shots. I know it sounds silly, but I have more luck drawing in deer with bait around standing corn for some reason. a bucket of apples in one of those shooting lanes or just some shelled corn works great
 

yotehunter

Member
1,527
36
spencerville oh
My hunting is always if possible done over standing corn, find the trails and stay on stand longer and always always hunt stands with the wind in your favor. I never go into the field and stalk per say not saying it can't be done but it would be tough with a bow. Most of my deer I hunt live in the corn till it comes off. I hate to run them out
 

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
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25,778
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Stark County
I like setting up in corners where I can see down both edges. I have noticed that the deer tend to hit these corners as well for the same reasons. Also, if there isn't a water source in the corn, put yourself along the edge between the nearest water source. If there are any breaks between two fields, these spots can also be effective.

There is a good 3 acre patch of thick stuff and some good trees right in the middle of these 2 big cornfields I hunt and it's on the way to a 2 acre pond. Hopefully I drop a big boy there.
 

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
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25,778
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Stark County
I don't think I'm going to go in the corn after them. Last season I watched a really nice buck go into that patch of crp and run a doe out. Of course I was 250 yards away and couldn't do chit. I think that would be a good spot to try and rattle one out of the corn for a shot.
 
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Tiny

Junior Member
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0
Grab a copy of hunting October whitetails. On the DVD they go over a method of hunting corn fields that is dynamite. :)
 

Fullbore

Senior Member
6,439
126
South Eastern Ohio
Not all cornfields are tops, IMO. The larger fields I stay away from. The ones closer to a water source and just the fringes closest to the bedding areas. When the corn is still standing, hunt close as you can to it. That's where the big ones are!
 

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
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Stark County
I was just at the farm the other evening scoping the deer from a distance and it's looking very promising. We'll see what happens when the corn is tall.