I'm looking for some insights into how to do this--I tried it yesterday but don't really know if I was doing it right or if it was the right choice of tactic.


Here's why I chose it: my "prime ground" is a place that I have several blinds built up. However, on weekdays, I can't get there earlier than about 4:00 PM and yesterday (opening day in Kansas) the wind direction was such that I would have had to taken the "long way" to the blinds--meaning I couldn't get set until 4:30. Rather than try it so late, I went to another piece of land: a woodlot with a pond in the middle. It's surrounded by typical Kansas pasture and cut grain fields. They feed in the fields and also on the vegetation growing on the pond dam. The entry point is bad for the wind direction, but I was able to use ridges to make a big circle around the property to get the wind in my face and not be seen. I would have undoubtedly been scented by some deer at the gate, but not where I ended up. It put the grain fields at my back in the evening.

Now for the questions:

1. Should I have stuck with the blinds even it means getting in so late? My concern was running deer out of the place and spoiling it the first day of the season.

2. Was deciding to stillhunt that other piece the right move?

3. How fast do you go if you still hunt? I know its stop and go, but I'd like know some rules of thumb about pace, length of pauses, etc.