kyslayer

so you lease a new farm and you get your spot set up... on the edge of an open creek bottom with a hillside of cedars to your right and a hillside of hardwoods to your left. You have about 100 yards of open field in front of you and a corn feeder thats been set up since june o n the edge of the field. Been out the past two weekend and seen nothing and put out a trail cam last weekend and gotten no pics of deer. Would you take the chance and stick it out to see if the spot produces or move your stand and setup elsewhere? Thanls for the input

eerdog

What are the hardwoods? and how active is the field with other person activity? Is it a farm field with livestock, farm equipment, etc.? How big is the field? Also what is the grass in the field, may be orchard grass they aren't interested in? Field edges are difficult to hunt with a bow and in gun season as well because bucks will only enter them after dark or at dark as pressure starts. You can see deer, but they rarely come out at the same spot each time for stand placement. You need to find the travel route in the woods to the field, that will concentrate your activity and make it more likely they will be in shooting range. If the hardwoods are oaks, this year in our area they have hit really, really hard. It is more likely they will be after the acorns than corn feeders this year. It will be tough to pattern them with heavy mast crop. I would look further in the woods for heavy traveled paths, draws or funnels that feed travel to the field. Again fields often make for entertaining stand time, but frustrating to hunt.

kyslayer

its actuallly not a livestock field or anything like that... iuts just an open area newxt to a creek bed. No livestock on the whole farm and no feed anywhere... its just a farm that the owner takes hay off... real nice looking areas just its hard to hunt aq new place

Mr. Deer Hunter

You need to establish a real food source.

Baiting deer - just to get them on the property is not a ethical way of hunting deer. In some places it is downright illegal.

Even where I live, some people confuse land with hunting. You can have 1000 acres of land, and not a single deer on the whole place. While a neighbor can have 10 acres of corn and have more deer then he can shake a stick at.

Since you already invested money into leasing this persons property - you can't really call it a working farm - because there is no crops being grown there. About the only thing that you can do is entice the farmer into planting crops which will attract the deer. Sugar beets, corn, oats, clovers, even planting apple trees would help. Apple trees would be a large investment because it would be 15 years before you started to see any fruit.

I also believe that trail camera's is a lazy mans way of scouting.

If you really wanted to get the lay of the land, you would invest some time and small game hunt on the land and find out where the deer trails are at and where there is any sort of natural funnels in the area and hunt near the food sources - and not next to a feeder.

The other thing is not to confuse hunting with getting.

A person goes to the grocery store and buys a package of steaks, that is called getting.

A person goes to the woods and sits in a tree stand for 3 weeks and doesn't get a deer - that is called hunting.

PY Antlers

I for sure would do some walking in the hardwoods and see what there eating, maybe even find a good spot and set up an observation stand and watch from a distance. Find the bedding area and see where the trails lead. I know around here with the heavy acorn crop the only thing there using corn fields for is bedding. I also know that when I go hunting I like to get something. Or I suppose you can call it harvest or kill. Bottom line is you can't grill it till ya kill (get) it.

Mr. Deer Hunter

I would invest in a spot light and ride around and shine for deer if it was legal and see if there was any deer in the neighborhood.

Like I said before - just because a person has land to hunt on, doesn't mean that there is deer there or that there is deer there all the time.

With travel lanes - to and from where they like to eat and bedding zones and places where they feed and drink water, there is no telling when or if you will ever see a deer there.

A local businessman owned a logging company. His company did work for a coal company that was going out of business after 120 years of being in business. They offered him all the land that he wanted for free. All he had to do was cut all the timber off the land and give them the timber money. They even paid him to cut the timber.

He had this 1000 acre plot of land that was really good for hunting, before he cut the timber. It was surrounded by producing farms and none of the farmers had their lands posted. So basically the deer were getting a free meal. They started a hunting club, $500 to join and $100 a year dues. They signed up 500 people to hunt on this land. The first year, they got one or two nice deer. After that no one was seeing any deer anymore. Most of the farmers could not survive the recession and had to get rid of their cows. Other farmers got too old to farm and their children only wanted the money out of the land and didn't want to work on a farm for little or no pay. After 6 years, the hunting club didn't even have the money to pay the timberman for the lease. The land is still leased, and the hunting club still runs the lease. But the timberman has to pay the property taxes out of his own pocket - because there is no money coming in from the hunting lease to even pay the insurance or the taxes.

Moral of the story, just because there is a big tract of land for lease, doesn't mean that there is deer there. Even if there is deer there, if there is no one around on the property to move the deer around, the deer might lay down 100 yards from your hunting stand and you might never see them in 10 years.

Sometimes the best place to hunt is a place that is open to the public. Some people can hunt while other people walks around and moves the deer around for you. The more hunters you have the more deer you will see.

kyslayer

while i appreciate your advice how can you tell me to invest some time in walking the land.... been out scouting countless times following trails... seeing where and what they eat and where they bed. As i said the area im in has great sign just havent been seeing the deer. I believe its the fact that theres not much pressure anywhere around and they jus are not moving much yet. I actually killed a nice doe today and say a good eight in full velvet. Furst good mornging yet! My stand is in a natural funnel area which is why I picked the spot. Having a feeder is legal in ky, I have my share of hunting experience and basically i was spoiled with my old spot and im trying to adapt to a new lease. But thanks for imput

halfbakedi420

gotta get out and scout....almost a lil late, season 2 weeks away here...

if yer seeing fresh sign, put your cam on that particular trail, see what happens..deer are creature of habit, just like us

kyslayer

scouting is almost as fun as hunting and always do! like i said thanks for the imput everyone

deernutz

I say stop baiting and see what happens. The deer are there. Try moving the cam up on the cedars good bedding. Deer aren't stupid corn in the middle of the woods means humans. Where I hunt everyone baits and haven't killed anything. I stopped baiting on a whime and whamo. Yesterday I killed a doe and my wife killed her first buck. I am not against baiting like mr new deer hunter. I just think if you read the sign and terrain in ur area u might find you'll be hunting deer that aren't on nerve. Bait sometimes gives u a false sense of hope. Good Luck.


Mr New Poster (deer hunter) remember we bash each other on the way we hunt and we loss ground with the anti hunters. i may not like the way you hunt or maybe you hate the way I hunt. In the end we share the same passion and must stand together. Good luck this season Mr Deer Hunter.