wilk

I encountered a situation last weekend that i havent come upon before, there is a small coal job going on by several hundred acres of old strip mining area.
This guy that works this job says that he swears these few bucks live in the middle of this field, he works different shifts and he says one minute he is watching the field and nothing, then looks again and theres a big buck, then 2 then 3. He says that this happens all the time and all he can determine is that they live in this field... So last saturday my son my cousin and i and a few hunting partners thought we would set some guys up in the nearest woods which is a small stand of small pine trees. So we got them set up and my cousin his boy and my son and i walked out through this field, i had just said to my cousin if there in here they will probably be by where this patch of small thorn bushes are.
Well i was the farthest one out in the field, when i got about 60yds from the thorn bushes sure enough up jumped 3 bucks and they all were beauty' s. they headed for the pines but then circled around the edge of the pines and crossed the road over into another big field with small pine trees growing all over...
The nearest big woods other than the pines is probably at least 1/2mile away from where these guys live, there are no paths and hardly any sign of where these bucks travel.
Now the fields im talking about has grass and weeds growing up to 4 ft high.. there is also clover and other things the bucks are aparently eating and not having to move, and the guy that works there thinks if they do move they move at night and then are back there before daybreak...
If you try to set up in the field and ambush them you take the chance of jumping them, the only thing i can think of is to try to sneak in early afternoon and set in the tall grass quite a ways from where they bed at and hope one gets up and feeds past me without smelling or seeing me.
any other ideas out there?

Belle Island

I would wait until you' ve got a very windy day, I would then slip back to within 30 yds of the thorn bush and wait for them to stand up. If it' s windy enough, you can slip right in on them without any problem.

NorthernMN

That has the making of a tough hunt no matter how you look at it. I guess I mict see it I could get up in the air at a good distance and see if you can spot where that are bedding. If you have a stiff wind in your favor you might be able to pull off a sneak attack. You did mention that the field was pretty grown up with weeds and grass. That should be able to provide you with decent cover to crawl your way in. To me it seems like a tough stalk, but likely worth the effort. Hey, if it were easy...

SW Iowa Hunter

I would say you may have to set up somewhere for a few days with a good pair of bi-nocs and see what they are doing. You may have to give up a few days of hunting to scout/pattern these deer but they got to be going somewhere for water. Rut should be just around the corner so they will be looking for does soon as well.

JeramyK

My thoughts exactly ! You may be able to lure them away with a estrus call.

wilk

thanks for the input, those are all good points, i guess ill give it a try, I actually thought about the water thing, but there are so many sources here now, with all the rain we had this whole summer and fall, that every aspect of this hunt is going to be tough, but at least if it comes together it will be worth it.
Ill let you know if I connect soon....