How would you do it?

[Gibby]

I recently aquired permission on some new property to hunt, (100 acres) the land is vitually flat, no recognizable elevation changes. Its a block of woods in agricutural area, surrounded by crop fields on two sides and additional woodlots on the other two.
Its several hours drive away so glassing and shinning are not readily available. I am trying to think of ways to get an idea of what calibre of bucks are living on or using the property between now and the season opener.
If you just aquired this property and wanted to take an inventory of the deer on the property, how would you go about it?
Remember glassing and/or shining options are not available in this situation
Would you use trail cams and if so how and where?
Would you use an attractant or bait of some sort, if so what?
I know there are deer using the property from the sign I seen when I briefly walked it about a month ago
I believe I found an isolated natural water source in the middle of the property
I dont want to disturb the deer too much if possible this time of year so I am looking for some ideas on the best ways to achieve this without spooking the deer off the property

I have permission to hunt inside the red area

The top of the pic is North and the wind is usually out of the W or SW


Looking forward to some feedback
Thanks
Gibby

[Brad]

I would use trail cameras on well used saddles or where multiple trails meet or anywhere the terrain funnels them to one spot (creek crossing, ditches etc) With any luck they will be in spots that are away from bedding so you don't bother them too much checking. Put them where you will get multiple directions covered so you have the best chance at catching them on film. I wouldn't plan on hunting these spots that you put the cameras as they will likely avoid these areas for the most part after the first time they come through unless its a smaller buck. I would just use the camera for inventory purposes.

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[Bigb]

First off, Congrats on the new piece of land!

I live in downtown Chicago and alot of my time is spend looking over overhead maps trying to find funnels and such. I think the best thing to do would be to get some trail cameras out there to try and see what kind of deer you have. I think after a couple hours of walking the land you will get a good idea of where the deer are moving through the land.

I think the first place to start would be the north end of the land near the ag field. It seems like there might be some CRP there or lighter woods. That would be a good place to really look over and see where the deer are entering the field at.

Another spot would have to on the left side halfway down the map. It looks like there might be some terrain change there which might create a funnel or some sort of transition area. I'd try and get 2 or 3 cameras up and just let them run for a couple months and see what type of deer activity you have then make changes and move them around when you see which direction the deer are coming from and see if you can catch them in daylight hours. Good Luck!

[dan]

I would put trail cameras out over corn if legal. I would not put them in a hunting spot, but I would space them out enough to establish areas the buck is likely coming from.

[natvbearhntr]

if you can't get to the land very offten for scouting just from looking at the map/picture I would hunt the west side of the property about right in the middle 100 yards off the edge of that field. You can catch the deer coming to feed or leaving the field to bed. There doesn't look like there are any access roads to the west of that field. No need to sit right on the property line because if you don't have access to get onto the field you may take a shot that ends up with a deer running onto the next property. That whole property looks like it has a lot of prime hunting. East and South both look ideal. Best of luck and congrats on scoring a great property.

[ Post made via iPad ]

[Kodiakman]

First I would like to know where do you and other people enter this parcel from? Odds are it's been the same way for a long time and I bet the deer know it too. DO you have permission to get to it by walking a neighbors tree line from the west? or just that road to the north?? I am just wondering as far as- if you find a buck bed can you even set up on it.

Cameras. I would put a camera on every point, corner and tree line that is on, part of or touches your huntable property. Point them at the neighbors field even, but keep'm on your land. Looks like you have a lot of camera placement options. Deploy then move then add or move some a few weeks later to try to get an idea of what's there and where they are coming from at what time. Then leave it alone.

[Milk Weed Seed]

I would walk the perimeter of the property and look for trails and sign. On the best looking trails I would set cameras up over 100# corn piles 30 - 50 yards from the property line. I notice that it takes about two weeks to get all the local deer on camera over a corn pile.
Congrats on the new piece of land! Good hunting!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Stanley]

That is a nice looking block of timber. When I see crops bumped up to to timber I like to put cameras up on these corridors. Corn makes an especially nice corridor. Deer will travel these corridors as long as you don't get too intrusive (check your cameras too often). This is mainly to inventory what bucks are available for the up coming season. Early season you can hunt the bucks coming from bed to the corn/beans. Half the equation is there you have the food source. The other half of the equation is bedding and where I have circled is where I believe they will bed. I also would bet a ton of money during the rut the most big buck movement during daylight hours will be in this circled area. Bucks always relate to structure of some kind for a security/seclusion favorable position. In flat land with little structure there will be structure but might not be obvious. Finding these subtle hidden to the new eye is the key. So, the middle of the timber offers seclusion for the bucks to move in daylight hours. If you hunt this area wisely and proficiently I believe you can kill the bull of the woods in there. After you hunt the area for some time these almost invisible structure changes will become obvious. Scouting the area most likely won't divulge the minimal structures. Smart hunting/observation is what it will take to crack the case.

[Gibby]

Thanks for all the pointers guys, I am really looking forward to hunting this property this fall, I am heading down this weekend to try and figure out more about crops and where deer are entering and exiting the food sources. Also looking to set out a few cams so all the input is greatly appreciated

Ive updated the map a little to provide some more info, probably should of did that sooner
The orange circle is a cabin that I will be staying in and accessing the property from there, the orange trails thru the beans are the two ways I plan on accessing depending on the wind.
There are some existing trails in the woods that I have also marked in orange. I plan on expanding on the accessability post season this year
The yellow circle by the cabin is a cluster of Mature oak trees
The blue square is an area someone else is hunting on the neighbouring property to the west and the purple circles are his/her stand locations.
There is one other guy hunting the same piece as me and his only stand is the purple circle on the edge of the beans/woods behind the cabin
The blue circle in the middle of the woods is the natural water source I believe I found so I was planning on setting up a mineral station close to it
The neighbour to the east does not allow hunting and I have no idea about what goes on to the south as of yet, still trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together
Baiting is legal also so I do plan on putting out a feeder with corn but was not sure if it is a good idea in this heat because I heard the corn will go bad?

Thanks again for all the tips,
Keep em coming

Gibby

[fredhill]

as soon as i saw your photo i thought "difficult access"

[Gibby]

That is a nice looking block of timber. When I see crops bumped up to to timber I like to put cameras up on these corridors. Corn makes an especially nice corridor. Deer will travel these corridors as long as you don't get too intrusive (check your cameras too often). This is mainly to inventory what bucks are available for the up coming season. Early season you can hunt the bucks coming from bed to the corn/beans. Half the equation is there you have the food source. The other half of the equation is bedding and where I have circled is where I believe they will bed. I also would bet a ton of money during the rut the most big buck movement during daylight hours will be in this circled area. Bucks always relate to structure of some kind for a security/seclusion favorable position. In flat land with little structure there will be structure but might not be obvious. Finding these subtle hidden to the new eye is the key. So, the middle of the timber offers seclusion for the bucks to move in daylight hours. If you hunt this area wisely and proficiently I believe you can kill the bull of the woods in there. After you hunt the area for some time these almost invisible structure changes will become obvious. Scouting the area most likely won't divulge the minimal structures. Smart hunting/observation is what it will take to crack the case.

I did a little scouting last time I was up at the new hunting grounds and the area circled is very thick and I was able to locate a couple beds in the area
I dont want to be too intrusive so I am going to stay completely mobile with my Tree Saddle while hunting this season and try to get a feel for how the deer use the property
Access is going to be a bit of a problem but I am going to try to improve on that this winter after the season ends

I did manage to get a few decent bucks on TC for mid July



I am calling this guy the Unicorn Buck because of the extra brow tine or main beam he has in the middle, Not sure how much more growing they will do, his other points are not that long at the time of the pic but its still very promissing, looks to be an 11 pointer


I set out a spin feeder with a few bags of corn and left a few cams out to try and get a better inventory of what bucks are in the area so I am looking forward to heading back up there and seeing whats on the cams

[Stanley]

Keep us posted.