Looking for input on newly accessed property

[seazofcheeze]

I have a farmer friend who just purchased this piece of land at the end of May. (property border in yellow--the lines should connect, but I didn't want to obscure some of the things I found while scouting). All of the maps below are of the same piece. This is in farm country, and is 160 acre piece in a 1mile x 1mile section. This property is the southeast 1/4 of the section. Prevailing winds during hunting season are W, NW, SW. There is a paved road to the east, and dirt roads to the S, W, and N. I got a 3-4 hr scouting session in early June shortly after the sale was complete, but green-up had already occurred. It looks like a lot of the bedding areas (bedding points) would be on the property the the west, near the ponds that show up on the topo map. However, a lot of you guys have said that small islands in standing corn can be dynamite bedding areas, and this piece has a few separate, small wooded "islands" that would lend themselves to that scenario. Also, I found one buck bed for sure (rubs/hair/real thick and brushy/top 1/3 etc.) that I marked on the map (if you look on the topo, you can see the small point in that area that he is bedded on, text book stuff, which is how I found it...this site is awesome). Blue is water, (circles are small ponds, blue line is a small creek...easily crossed anywhere by deer) the green lines outline what I think might be good "food staging" areas. They are uncut grass/crp between the woods and the corn field. The northwest corner of the property looks the most promising, but I am looking for input on where more experienced guys would set up (any specific ideas on the islands would be great), and maybe more important to me...[glow=red]how would you access the setups[/glow]? Would you hunt the block of mature timber at all during the rut, what about early season? Thanks in advance.

[exojam]

Bumping to see if someone can help with a few suggestions for him (you know, from the smart guys).

[seazofcheeze]

Thanks Exojam. I read a post a while back where Stanley drew a map of how he walked through a cornfield to his stand sites on kind of an arc path. The picture showed three different arcs, each one started in the same place, but had a different shape and ended at 3 distinct stand site...right now, in the absence of any other suggestions, that is going to be my default plan. I think the NW corner of this property looks the best based on my scouting, but I have to access from the southern or eastern edge, so its going to be a decent distance to cover either way.

I'm still pretty new to all this stuff. Last year was my first semi-beast year and I'm hoping to put all the lessons learned into practice this year to improve my results. Lots of great hunters and info on this site, that's for sure.

[dan]

Sorry i missed this... I will try to get to it tomorrow. if I forget pm me.

[exojam]

Now you have the man himself going to take a peak for you. Definitely in good hands now and good luck in the area this year.

[ Post made via iPad ]

[seazofcheeze]

Thanks Dan. My hunting area is not the greatest (Michigan) for big bucks <---I know, I know. But this particular area actually has pretty decent numbers, so I'm hoping there are at least a few 2.5yr olds and maybe some 3.5+. I agree with you on a lot of the things you said in the thread about hunting Michigan and being happy with what you shoot. If you are shooting the best bucks in the area, then you are doing it right. Looking forward to your input, thanks.

[dan]

These are the spots I would check for buck bedding based on aerial


Based on topo


As far as a hunt plan... I would have observation stands on the East side of the property and do more watching and waiting rather than stinking up the playing field... When you see something good, form a kill plan and move in.

[seazofcheeze]

Thanks for the help Dan. I like your observation plan. I will post up the weekend before the season on the east end and take the spotting scope and see what I can see (hopefully some horns moving through the corn).