Property entry/exit question

[mheichelbech]

Have a 40 acre wood lot that I hunt, am curious, as I try to minimize the impact of my hunts on the property am curious as to what you guys think would be the least damaging in the way I access the property on the westerly wind stand which are the most predominate winds. I can access from the east side at one place but this results in me walking about 180 yards to get to my stand....I can walk along the inside edge of the woods but a longer walk means a longer scent stream. Another option is access the stand from the East side which is worse obviously from a deer smelling where I walked standpoint, but it is much shorter, only about 80 yards....I am not sure which is worse, the longer scent stream where I can hug the edge in which they may not get close enough to it to smell where I walked but of course, like I said is a longer scent stream for them to possibly detect, or the shorter way which is likely to cross trails where they would smell but for less of a distance.

I have 2 things going on....if I access from the east side, there is potential for them to get my scent before they get to my stand....however, if they don't walk over that far, they probably wouldn't get it at all. If I access from the west side I can get to the stand before they smell me but then I leave scent where they are more likely to be after the fact.

I mainly am concerned with after the hunt damage in alarming deer. I only hunt this area 3-4 times per year but in the rut, may hunt it 3 days or 2 full days depending on how the bucks are moving through.

Hope the image will make more sense than I am conveying.

[Rich M]

Nice place to hunt! Do the bucks bed in there or do they continue along the corridor to the south?

I'd come off the west side for the east wind.

I had a 45 acre spot in SC for a season. Single point access - lotsa deer and a couple big ones. The only time I saw the biggest one was the first hunt, after that I was blown. Would have trail cam photos of 10-12 deer running and then me easing on in. They were bedding on a knob watching my only access route and a field, the mature bucks were down in a thermal hub or in a sumac tangle where the two access roads came into an opening...

The access to hunt it turned out to be entering the front gate, then staying to the left and going around the edge of the property to stands watching the deer exiting the thermal hub or a stand across a ditch that turned out to be a wind tunnel - anything else spooked deer every time.

[mheichelbech]

Nice place to hunt! Do the bucks bed in there or do they continue along the corridor to the south?

I'd come off the west side for the east wind.

I had a 45 acre spot in SC for a season. Single point access - lotsa deer and a couple big ones. The only time I saw the biggest one was the first hunt, after that I was blown. Would have trail cam photos of 10-12 deer running and then me easing on in. They were bedding on a knob watching my only access route and a field, the mature bucks were down in a thermal hub or in a sumac tangle where the two access roads came into an opening...

The access to hunt it turned out to be entering the front gate, then staying to the left and going around the edge of the property to stands watching the deer exiting the thermal hub or a stand across a ditch that turned out to be a wind tunnel - anything else spooked deer every time.

Thanks for the reply. Yea I definitely access from the west side on an east wind. Buck bedding...I’ve never found any buck beds. I think they bed there some in the summer but I have never seen any buck beds like you normally do. I’ve walked every square inch of that place multiple times and just never found anything. Does definitely bed there...primarily on the southeast corner. I believe bucks bed in the wooded and brushy areas south of it. I’ve seen really good bucks in summer but they seem to vacate come September once the velvet comes off. My best opportunity for bucks is primarily during the rut...awesome rut funnel. Saw 12 different bucks in one day a couple years ago.
If the farmer (not the owner of the woodlot) would out corn or beans in the barren area field to the west of it, I think bucks may come back more. Since he hasn’t planted that the last few years they don’t seem to frequent as much. When it was beans you’d see some doozies in the summer but like I said they seem to disappear. Big time tease!

[Rich M]

I used to hunt a farm and when the velvet was on, would see bucks everywhere. Velvet off, corn cut, etc. they were pretty scarce.

Sounds like you've got the place figured out, odd that the bucks don't bed there tho.

My eyes keep getting drawn to the SW corner of the property - seems like a nice funnel there but a wounded buck would probably get off the property. The inside corner is the second spot I look at.

[mheichelbech]

I used to hunt a farm and when the velvet was on, would see bucks everywhere. Velvet off, corn cut, etc. they were pretty scarce.

Sounds like you've got the place figured out, odd that the bucks don't bed there tho.

My eyes keep getting drawn to the SW corner of the property - seems like a nice funnel there but a wounded buck would probably get off the property. The inside corner is the second spot I look at.

Have hunted that southwest corner many times. Surprisingly they don’t use the corner woods a lot. I’ve had trail cams there off and on and there just isn’t much traffic on either side. The deer and bucks travel across either field about 30-40 yards from the edge. My best guess is do to coyote pressure. They will take 20-30 minutes watching the woodlot before they enter it. The deer tend to travel north to south in mornings and south to north in the evenings.

There is some other woodlots and crp type stuff further south that I think mature bucks bed in after crops are down.