Asking for help 1 more time
 

I posted this a couple of weeks ago and did not get a single reply. This is new ground I have gotten this year and I am having some problems figuring it out due to lack of food around it. The area is red is a bedding area in low ground. Green dots are camera locations and where I am thinking of for stand locations. The blue line is a heavily used trail heading to the beans. Last Sunday night I watched 17 does feeding in the beans and 10 bucks (two different groups) in the west CRP (three of the bucks were big boys I have trail cam pictures of). The problem I have is I know the beans will be gone way before Oct 1 and other than acorns, I don't what food source they are going to turn to and how that is going to affect their pattern. I know if season started today I would be in business, but the fact is, season does not start today. Thanks for any help or insight you all can provide.

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

Even after the beans are picked, they will go to the stubble left. Set up with that in mind.

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

They are also going to go to the CRP and browse they way through the woods.

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

your sites look good the crp field in the middle of your area is that water near it and what is the red area
i have also had some trouble getting any to tell me what to do on my spots but some have helped alot

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

The red area is a hollow that the deer are bedding it and that is a pond in the middle CRP field. What concerns me the most is that as of right now, based on the scouting and field watching I have done, the west side seems to be hot. I know it is hot because they are using the beans hard. I am afraid that if I commit to this it will dry up once the beans are gone, so I am trying to figure out that they are going to do then. The next nearest crop field is over a mile away. I don't think they are going to pack up their bags and leave, but since I know where they are bedding, knowing where they are going to want to feed at is pretty important.

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

well water is a big thing to look at i have been seeing them eat blackberris and everything green here
what do you have there for food. is there anything in the crp

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

also i would just look for a food supply besides the beans set up on the beans till there gone and move to the new food source. nothing else say with the water. or get close to the bedding area

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

toward the top right is what looks to be a powerline clearing why not scout it i find around here there using those to access the fields and water might give you a nice open area

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

Buy a few more stands and put up multiple locations?

I tend to like the trails closer to the bedding areas, maybe look into some "woods" locations for stands off of the bedding areas where they might stage.
Maybe somewhere around the pond in the woods @ the 7-8 o'clock position, as there are two fingers that jet into different fields.
This might allow you to cover a few trails and still get a binocular view of the fields too see what they are doing at that particular time.
If you see a pattern developing for that time of the year I suggest moving ASAP to capitalize on your new found info.

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

If I was hunting it, I would not make any decisions yet. Based on what you said with the unknown food situation I would wait till september and then take a day to go through the woods and check for early rubs and scrapes, see if you can find those big boys bedding areas. If it is hot, watch the water too! I would base where I hang a stand for the early season on what I find in september, trying to key in getting stands set to catch deer returning home in the morning, since you dont know for sure where the food is.

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

Me too!

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

Looks like you have ravines running where I put the blue lines. I would look at putting stands where I put white dots below the pond dam, on the finger in the CRP (if you have permission there), and along the clear cut (for power lines?). I'd think you'd be successful with any of those.

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

The red dots around the pond should give you a couple of wind options.

The yellow could be a couple of pinch points along the cleared area. Looks like it might be a utility right of way. The deer might browse on what is growing in it.

The blue looks like a spot I have hunted where the deer gather before going out into the field.

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

kind what i was thinking good advise there jmbuckhunter

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

Are there any mature oaks on the property? If you can identify the acorn producers this fall, they will be worthy stand locations.

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

Thanks for the feedback guys. AF Hunter, your blue lines are pretty much of the creek beds, there are so many creek bed (both wet and dry) running thru this place, one reason I have not keyed on the pond too much. jmbuckhunter, I agree with your pinch points, in fact I already have a stand hung where your second yellow dot is located, which should produce. kwilson, there are tons of mature oaks on the property, so many in fact that I think it would be hard to key in a specific spot. I normaly key on trails and pinch points between bedding areas and feeding locations. On this property with no real crop field and food being spread out, I think I am going to have to just key on the bedding location (which I have pretty well nailed down) and hunt stands that will get them as they are coming to and from them. Again, thanks for all the feedback it gives me some ideas to explore.

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

I never even consider the food source when picking my stand sites. To the southwest and just north of that are two crp fields. That patch of small woods inbetween them will be a great spot to catch a buck dogging a doe. To the north east at the end of them red lines is the only field edge stand i would hang. By the lay of that land most of the deer travel is going to run from north east to south west. That small opening in the southeast will get alot of action during the chase phase too. Good luck. Don't just concentrate on field edges. Get in that tember where they spend 95% of their day light hours.

RE: Asking for help 1 more time
 

MOTOWNHONKEY, I think you are right about getting in there. I just have to careful about how far I get in. Those red lines are a deep hollow that the deer are bedding it, so I don't want to in and start bumping them out. I think my best bet is going to be to find trails leading into the bedding area (which the green dots are on trails going in) and set up there. Thanks for the feedback!