I will try to keep this short……

I hunt a public property. It is about 40-50 acres of heavy woods surrounded by tall grass prairie. There is a small farm to the south, a power plant to the east and west and a lake the north. I have only been hunting this property once so far, but I have visited a few other times before the season and I have seen deer in mid-day.

It is now in-between firearm season and muzzle loader season. The deer are probably pretty spooky by now. I figure I have the following options……

A). Set up early in the morning deep in the middle of the woods. Look for some trails and set up to ambush.

B). Set up in the prairie (there are some small trees, but I will either have to use a ground blind or still hunt) closer to the farm to the south.

C). Set up at the south end of the woods where it meets the prairie.


I am just not sure if these deer went completely nocturnal or not. If I set up in the woods, before light, it will be VERY hard to see what I am doing. If I wait for light, then I risk the chance of spooking them out of the area.

I must also point out that I had seen a large bedding area and a large scrape about 20 yards from the area last week. This is where I had seen one deer.

If I am missing something here, please let me know.

P.S. Here is an aerial photo. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=goose+lake+state+park+illinois&ll=41.35 4021,-88.333554&sll=38.208151,-88.214719&spn=0.009594,0.020956&sspn=1.353 129,2.823486&t=k&hl=en