Corn Fields

[DeerDylan]

Top notch Stanley. You've got the gears in my brain turning. Is that 2004 buck story on here anywher

I did an illustrated thread/post on that 2004 buck a few years ago.

Bingo:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=17693

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[Stanley]

Stanley, I didnt notice earlier in pic 10 and 17 (the second 17) are those bobcats? And what is that in the bottom right in pic 17?

Yes, those are bobcats. I think in 17 that is a mother and a younger one. I get all kinds of pictures of different animals using those corn corridors. Once the corn is picked, animal movement dries up significantly, to almost nothing.

[Redman232]

I know I've mentioned it before but with so many new guys, an oak or apple tree on the edge of a wood lot or fence row hanging out into the corn is a huge draw for deer

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[Lockdown]

Lots of great points being made! I figured I'd throw a few examples together of some past kills near corn.[glow=red]Mind you, these were not mature bucks, so take my examples for what they are[/glow]. Every one of these set ups was due to standing corn and utilizing the edge as a travel corridor. I used to set up on the corners a lot. Why watch one edge when you can watch two? Take advantage if you can.

Keep in mind, these examples are just general whitetail set ups... not pre-scouted bedding. If you're going to kill a big one, find his bedding first, then use the corn edges fence lines and drainages within to your advantage.


Pictured below is a set up where I killed my early Oct buck in SD 2008. This is heavy pressure public land. Most guys were in the middle, and I found an overlooked pocket with good sign. I didn't know anything other than there were fresh tracks, poop, and rubs in the area. I killed this buck on an A.M. hunt, and my game plan was to catch a buck coming back to the woods along the corn edge.

It just so happened that the corn edge, ravine, and cemetery fence all worked as a nice little travel corridor so I set up with my wind blowing into the cemetery. I accessed from the West along the South cemetery fence line.




That was my biggest archery buck at the time.






Here's a MN public land set up from my college days. Looking at it now I see the squandered opportunity and great bedding possibilities! My how times have changed

I hunted this set up 4 or 5 times and I think I passed deer every time but one. I killed a doe and also passed several bucks after tagging out elsewhere. I never had anything big come by, but its just a good example of utilizing a corn field to your advantage. The corner of the field met up with the corner of the trees and it funneled them down pretty good.

The biggest issue with this stand was access with poor wind. I swung WAY south to try and get my scent to dissipate before it hit bedding. I crossed the trails where I could shoot them if they stopped to smell my scent trail.







The next example is private land in MN. It gets heavy pheasant pressure from the landowner, but the neighbors only deer hunt. Most often the deer would bed along the river and head to the corn.

Also, when choosing these stand locations, I never knew if the deer were coming out of the corn or heading to the corn. Each situation was different... some spots the deer bed in the corn more, others they favored bedding in the trees.

I killed from this stand 3 times over the years. 1 doe and 2 bucks. Again, none were mature. The one time in all the years of hunting here where I saw a nice shooter, he came out of the East hills and down to the corn.

Regardless, this is a great stand location if you're just looking to put venison in the freezer, or if you're not necessarily after a mature deer. That said, I would not hesitate to sit here with standing corn during rut. A lot of edges and trails come together in the same place, and any East/West movement will follow that fence line.








The last example is a tiny couple acre grove that is absolutely WORTHLESS without standing corn. Private land MN 2010.

The buck I killed was bedded in the corn and approached along the edge heading North to the overgrown rock pile. He scraped then headed East and I grunted him back.

[Stanley]

Good stuff in this thread.

[Uncle Lou]

Good stuff in this thread.

I agree, Lockdown love the setups and I like how you got aggressive with that wind in the first and fourth pic.

[Lockdown]

Good stuff in this thread.

I agree, Lockdown love the setups and I like how you got aggressive with that wind in the first and fourth pic.

Thanks... just noticed I forgot to mark wind direction in the last one. I hunted it with any Easterly wind. The landowner said he's jumped deer out of the NE corner while pheasant hunting, but I never did. Then again I always snuck to my stands and walking that driving trail was very quiet. I think the grass would be tall enough that they wouldn't be able to see me approach. Hard to say.

I got to thinking and I did get one daylight pic of a big buck there in daylight once. I know for a fact it was a NW wind, in which case I did not hunt that set up with that wind, ever. But, it only makes sense for him to bed in the SE corner with a NW wind. It was just before dark and he was probably up and staging in gray light

I'll see if I can find that pic.

[DeerDylan]

Solid examples, Lockdown. Great thread!

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[Lockdown]

I've got some more stuff to add, but I got shipped out for work a couple hours from home and have no computer to get the pics and video off my flash drive. So it will be a little bit.

Moral of the story for my examples is, without standing corn, these set ups aren't NEAR as good. While the corn is standing they feel comfortable walking the edge. Safety is one jump away (food too). Once it's combined the movement is pretty limited. Does, fawns, and yearling bucks will enter the stubble, but good luck even getting a two year old buck to stand out in the wide open and feed. Also, their movement is far more random without that edge to follow.

Talk to any deer hunter in my area and they won't say much without mentioning standing corn. Everything revolves around it in big flat farm country.

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[DaveT1963]

Stanley, I didnt notice earlier in pic 10 and 17 (the second 17) are those bobcats? And what is that in the bottom right in pic 17?

Yes, those are bobcats. I think in 17 that is a mother and a younger one. I get all kinds of pictures of different animals using those corn corridors. Once the corn is picked, animal movement dries up significantly, to almost nothing.

Unfortunately in Ohio, by the time we hunt the corn is gone - we do sometimes pay the farmers to leave a few rows standing but that can get expensive fast - and unless the standing corn lot is a sufficient size I don't think they use the edge "corridor" as much???

Stanley - how much of a lot would you say it takes for the corridor to remain in play? And would it be worth it to pay to keep it up? I never realized how expensive it can be to pay to leave corn standing.

[DeerDylan]

I've been noticing this big time the last few years. I look at a cornfield like a giant thicket in some ways, if the thicket gets mowed down they're probably not using it like they once were.

This has probably been said over and over but Another corridor in corn are low spots. A lower spot running from hedgerow to hedgerow or treeline to Woodlot edge can see a lot of traffic. I've noticed well used scrapes where the low spot meets the edge line and I don't think it's coincidence.

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[Stanley]

Stanley, I didnt notice earlier in pic 10 and 17 (the second 17) are those bobcats? And what is that in the bottom right in pic 17?

Yes, those are bobcats. I think in 17 that is a mother and a younger one. I get all kinds of pictures of different animals using those corn corridors. Once the corn is picked, animal movement dries up significantly, to almost nothing.

Unfortunately in Ohio, by the time we hunt the corn is gone - we do sometimes pay the farmers to leave a few rows standing but that can get expensive fast - and unless the standing corn lot is a sufficient size I don't think they use the edge "corridor" as much???

Stanley - how much of a lot would you say it takes for the corridor to remain in play? And would it be worth it to pay to keep it up? I never realized how expensive it can be to pay to leave corn standing.

In my opinion the bigger the field of standing corn the more secure it is. Mainly due to the lack of human intrusion. Big corn fields keep people from going into it (kind of a sanctuary so to speak). If you had a couple of acres of 8 rows deep up against a timber edge that may be enough for a buck to use the edge. But at 200+ bushel an acre X $3.60 it is not cost effective in my opinion.

Some of the guys that own land do leave some corn standing but more for a food source late season. Standing corn late season is a huge deer magnet. I see Andrae D’Acquisto leaves some standing corn up, against some of his standing timber, so there must be some benefit to do so. Maybe to hold bucks I'm guessing.

Once the corn is picked on the farms I hunt it is mostly over for any daytime buck movement. There are also instances where the corn field can be too big. If you see nothing but a sea of corn for miles there won't be many if any deer in it. Give me 100 acres of corn bumped up to 100 acres of timber and I'd kill to hunt it.

[Stanley]

I've been noticing this big time the last few years. I look at a cornfield like a giant thicket in some ways, if the thicket gets mowed down they're probably not using it like they once were.

This has probably been said over and over but Another corridor in corn are low spots. A lower spot running from hedgerow to hedgerow or treeline to Woodlot edge can see a lot of traffic. I've noticed well used scrapes where the low spot meets the edge line and I don't think it's coincidence.

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Great point, bucks are seclusive animals and like to stay out of sight.

[Hawthorne]

If you guys want a good read about corn field hunting get roger rothaar's book Whitetail Magic. He has some good stories about shooting big bucks in and near cornfields in north central Ohio and all with a recurve bow

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[Lockdown]

I've been noticing this big time the last few years. I look at a cornfield like a giant thicket in some ways, if the thicket gets mowed down they're probably not using it like they once were.

This has probably been said over and over but Another corridor in corn are low spots. A lower spot running from hedgerow to hedgerow or treeline to Woodlot edge can see a lot of traffic. I've noticed well used scrapes where the low spot meets the edge line and I don't think it's coincidence.

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Great point, bucks are seclusive animals and like to stay out of sight.

I agree

Often times low spots mean short corn too. What would you rather walk through? Tall thick corn or short spindly corn? They like the path of least resistance just like we do.

In the pre-GPS days I would find trails where the planter met on separate passes and left a wider than normal row to row spacing.

I've seen trails following irrigator ruts too.

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