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Could be any of many things... But right off the bat it sounds like your putting way to much pressure on that property. Your "corn pile" might be making them nocturnal as well...
It is also possible that the best bedding areas are off of the property and that they are coming over at night. |
My personal opinion is in the real world and open free range hunting like 99% of us do that you will never and I mean never kill the largest or even probably the top 3 largest bucks over a bait pile. If you live in some extreme weather conditions way way up north then maybe. I have seen it 100 times from friends and other hunters and even myself a long time ago. Trying to bait to get a big buck doesnt work. Even if you have several big bucks on the property there is no reason for them to get up and eat before dark when they know the food is in the same spot everyday. Just my opinion but I hunt an area with some pretty big deer and every year the guys who bait say I stopped seeing bucks this year or something equivalent. Good luck
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If you aren't washing your clothes in some kind of scent remover the deer are prob smelling you..or the UV brighteners in the laundry soap are spooking them. If you have lots of leaves clear a good trail around your bait pile within shooting lanes of your stand. Deer will use your cleared trail because its quieter...Get a trail cam out to see when the most activity and where its coming from...movement and if you spit your dip out...they might be smelling that but Ive heard other stories where the deer didn't mind about that...but movement for sure will throw them off..also clear a trail going to your treestand...you may be pushing them out when you go in...I usually go in 1 to 1.5 hours before dawn and 3 to 4 hours before dusk and sit till after dusk unless there are deer there...
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Scout the trails where they are coming in,don't just sit and look at the corn pile.They may be staging 50 to 75 yards away waiting for dark.As stated a trail cam is a must.
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Nocturnal. Forget the corn piling. Realize that 60 acres of woods is not a whole lot of space .... easy to spook the deer out of there. Really have to be careful about stand location so that you can ease in/out with as little disturbance as possible. You spook them out of there 2-3 times during the season and they will just move on.
Scout hard now. Look for a place where multiple trails come together. Find the oaks. Be there when the acorns are freshly dropping. Look for "traditional" travel areas, bedding and old rubs. Probably your best bet of getting on a decent deer is to be there around the peak of the estrus cycle. |
deer
Hunt only in the afternoon. Stay out of the woods and only hunt the field when the wind is blowing from the woods into the field. Sounds to me like they be bedding in the woods. Spread the corn thin on the edge of the field. Make sure your travel path is along the edge of the field.
I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago on a small patch. I was sitting up a stand bow hunting one ofternoon and heard a deer get up right behind me. I figured out that the reason I wasnt seeing anything is that they were bedding close to where I was parking my truck and watching me walk in. The first two nights of entering the property from a different direction produced two nice bucks. If you are seeing sign then there are deer. Just outsmart them. Good luck |
It takes time to learn a piece of property. I started hunting a spot three years ago about twice the size of yours. First year, I hunted I didn't see that many deer. I had a giant buck run by me chasing a doe, a couple other small bucks and does and that was it. Two years ago, I did a little more scouting (I live 3 hours from where I hunt), hung a few more stands and tried to play the wind a little bit better. I started to see a few more deer but only shooter bucks and they were a ways off. This year, I started thinking about how I was hunting a lot more. Morning hunts, I would only hunt the outer edges of the property so I wouldn't spook deer on the interior. I wouldn't see as many deer in the mornings, but the afternoons were much better. When it came to afternoons, instead of picking the stand I think was best, I would chose the stand that was best for the wind. Even though it wasn't always the best stand with the most deer sign, it was the best stand for the wind. That really increased my deer sightings. I also concentrated on better entry and exits. It paid off this year. I shot a very nice 8 point on the land and on a new piece of land I shoot a very Nice eight point. I think first and foremost is make sure the wind is in your favor, it will really increase your sightings. Also, Google maps is now my favorite tool. Overlap that with the tops of the land and you can start to pinpoint funnels, elevations changes and such which can really help. Also taking tips from Buckmastr (and his friends) have helped me tremendously as well. I spent years chasing bucks. For 10 years the first picture below was my biggest buck. After scouting and using wind and funnels and finding the bedding areas, last two pictures are the bucks I got with my bow and shotgun. (With some good bucks in-between)
Use the wind, find funnels and bedding and watch your entry and exit and I think you'll do much better. ![]() Last years bucks: ![]() ![]() |
Originally Posted by Patrick Eubanks
(Post 4057486)
Hunt only in the afternoon. Stay out of the woods and only hunt the field when the wind is blowing from the woods into the field. Sounds to me like they be bedding in the woods. Spread the corn thin on the edge of the field. Make sure your travel path is along the edge of the field.
I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago on a small patch. I was sitting up a stand bow hunting one ofternoon and heard a deer get up right behind me. I figured out that the reason I wasnt seeing anything is that they were bedding close to where I was parking my truck and watching me walk in. The first two nights of entering the property from a different direction produced two nice bucks. If you are seeing sign then there are deer. Just outsmart them. Good luck |
I would hun less, but smarter. Now that the season is over learn the bedding areas, determine access to different spots KEEPING WIND DIRECTION IN MIND, hunt close to bedding, don't hunt the same spot over and over, move to different spots each time you hunt.
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