Ground-Blind hunting in harvested corn - should I bother?
Greetings fellow traditional bowhunters...
I need advice:
I recently got permission to hunt on a local farm of 100 acres - half soybeans, half corn. When I got there, the soybeans had already been harvested. That was a hot (80 F) day. I set up a temp ground blind on the edge of the corn, and in just a few hours was already hearing deer approach with 2 rows of corn to my side. I also saw 2 VERY large bucks just at sunset in the tall grass on the edge of the field. Something spooked them (not me), but they did spot me, and I heard their hoarse warnings announcing my presence. Deer hunting season was here!
So far so good, but then things started to go downhill...
Over the next few days I was hiding in a grass blind, but at the same time the farmer began harvesting all his corn. Over the next 3 days I tried setting up in a pop-up "doghouse" style ground blind in the tall grass along the edge of the field (about 20 yds away from the clear deer path going into the treeline along the field - somethingI'd picked up days earlier), but the days got windy, the farmer got noisy, and I saw no deer. I tried setting upalmost 2 hours before sunrise, but to no avail. No deer...
Now I've got 100 completely-harvested acres, some tall grass alongside the field, and a nice tree line of oaks which is the where the deer path goes...
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION:
Should I persevere, or did the harvesting drive the bucks I saw away for good?
I WANT to believe that if I set up my ground blind, cover it, and leave it for a few days, these deer would STILL be around, but am I kidding myself?
Should I dare follow down the deerpath, and see what I can find? I'm afraid to, because I worry that if the deer ARE still there, this will be the final act that spooks them away (to the land I DON'T have permission to hunt).
Any advice would be VERY welcome.
Regards,
- Mark, ina field 60 miles west of Chicago.
RE: Ground-Blind hunting in harvested corn - should I bother?
I would say you have a very good opportunity to kill a deer on the fresh cut field. Because the farmer cut the field they lost there cover. So now they are still feeding there but prob at early dawn and at dark. I would sit a ground blind at trail and leaveunvisited for a few days. Let the deer get accustomed to blind and you should have a chance for shot.
RE: Ground-Blind hunting in harvested corn - should I bother?
CentxRecurve,
Thanks for the advice - that is precisely what I had decided to do, so (as a novice at bow-hunting in farmland) I feel good that you've validated my plan.
Any other advice from others? Should I dare to follow-up the well-worn deer path, or not take the chance at scaring them off with my scent?
Lastly, is there any merit to calling witha doe call, and dropping doe scent somewhere? If so, are there any best-practices anyone would suggest?
RE: Ground-Blind hunting in harvested corn - should I bother?
I think tbone gave the only honest answer I can think of.
Personally, I get pretty much the same situation every year. The corn field is on one side of the lot and clover field is on the other. Good thing is that about 100 acres seperate the two. But when the corn gets cut, I won't bother on that side. I'll move closer to the clover. I usually will see more deer doing this.
FWIW, when they cut that corn field, very little remins and the deer usually clean it up quick.
__________________
"I do not Hunt animals to Kill them. I kill animals because I Hunt." Roger Rothhaar
RE: Ground-Blind hunting in harvested corn - should I bother?
BobCo19-65,
Thanks for the input.
One answer I was hoping to get from anyone was this - in your own experience, does the operation of large corn-harvesting equipment PERMANENTLY scare deer away? Or - in your own actual experience, are the bucks more stubbornly-tied to the territory they've bedded down in for an entire summer, and I can expect they'll return once all the commotion ceases?
IF I get even a couple of responses saying "YES - in our actual experience the bucks (or deer in general) tend to RETURN to their territory after harvest - if only long enough to finish the corn on the ground", then I'll leave my ground blind up on that field, use my climbing-stand for other hunts, and see what develops.
Any more feedback from anyone on personal experience?
RE: Ground-Blind hunting in harvested corn - should I bother?
brush the blind in really good with some branches....brush the roof line too. i would setup in the woods...
100 or more yds from the field...during the rut u might want to hunt the field or as the weather gets
colder...setup in the wood though and brush that blind as best as u can
Ground-Blind hunting in harvested corn - should I bother?
