Scouting flat farm land.....

[DEERSLAYER]

...Not sure how you would place the alarm clock on his bed without getting busted for being there and have him actually still in his bed later when you are ready for the alarm to go off, but I still like the thought of it!

You couldn't and you wouldn't want to. You would put it away from his bed opposite the direction you want him to go. Maybe 30 yards or so depending on the situation? You would go in there when he is not there (like at night) and you would want to be careful of your entry/exit rout so he didn't pick up your scent. It's just an idea to point out that if you keep an open mind you can come up with some unique solutions to killing that seemingly "unkillable" buck.

If you were using a modern alarm clock you can even set the alarm for a week (or any amount of time) later in order to let the scent dissipate. Just don't be late. If you really want to get crazy with this I would guess you could set up something you could trigger remotely.

I have had some time to think about this and have come to the conclusion this may not be legal some places, but the main point is to keep an open mind

[Hammer3332]

So this is my first post and just wanted to thank the community for all the great information. Stumbled across the beast a little less than a year ago, and it has been quite the wealth of information. I have been looking for an opportunity to give back to the forum, and was able to get out and scout some farmland today.

I finally got out and scouted my family farm today which is 3 hours from where I am living now. My scouting mission didn't start out the best...I found a pretty good stump with the gator so I had to run 30 minutes to town for a tie-rod end, beat the rim back in to place, and reassemble.

Gator.jpg

Once I started looking for beds, I was able to locate several within about an hour. I followed a transition line along the field edge that changed from open hardwoods to that prickly ash stuff. Overall I searched through a small bedding area where we regularly kick deer out of during gun season. Here is a picture of the overall layout of where I was searching. The field in the image is Corn, and the section directly north of the island is grass and the rest of the field is corn this year. the white arrows mark the direction the beds were facing, which would indicate the wind direction they would bed there with.

Farmland Scouting P1.jpg

Bed #1
This bed appeared to be sort of a tunnel next to a dead-fall. There was hair in the bed and old rubs near the bed on trails coming to and from the bed. It is probably 30 yards from the field edge and is looking towards an access trail (red line) that is used frequently.


Picture looking out from the bed:

Bed #1 LO.jpg

Picture looking in to the bed from the direction of the access trail.

Bed #1 LI.jpg

Picture of an old rub 2 yards from the bed:

Bed #1 Rub.jpg

Bed #2
I found hair in this bed, but it covered a fairly large area. I am thinking this is bedding and an area that raccoons use to access the field.

Bed #2.jpg

Bed #3
This was spot that had several other beds in it. In total I located 4 different beds, and most of them had small doe tracks in them. One particular bed was wore down more and had more hair in it than the others.

Hair in the bed

IMG_3722.jpg

Looking in to the bed from the access trail

IMG_3724.jpg

Bed #4
This bed was fairly large and had smooshed poop on one end that helped indicate how the deer use it. From the overall view, the bed was facing back towards the open timber section, where beds 1, 2, and 3 were facing towards the south and southeast. This bed also had the freshest rub near it, likely from last year. I found several old rubs and lots of hair in this bed.

Looking in at the bed:

Bed #3.jpg

Rubs within 2 yards of the bed:

Bed #3 Rub.jpg

Bed #5
This bed had me pretty excited based on the amount of hair and size of the tracks in it. There were several other doe beds in close proximity to this bed. This bed was interesting because it was set up for a west wind facing east rather than away from the field.

Hair Picture

Bed #5 Hair.jpg

Track Picture

Bed #5 Track 2.jpg

Looking at the bed

Bed #5 LI.jpg

Island Bed
This was by far the best setup and bed that I found. There was an old mature buck dead head in the bed. I believe this bed will yield the best with Corn in the field since it gives the most cover. The island is big enough that it may hold bucks even once the corn is picked, but I will need to verify in season. There was a pretty good set of tracks accessing the island from the timber or north side directly to the north of the bed, which may mean the buck approaches his bed from downwind and places his back to the field and watches for anything coming on to the island with a southerly wind. Probably going to have to hunt this one either in the morning, or from the timber across the grass patch.


Island Bed with dead buck

Island Bed.jpg

Rub in the bed

Island Bed Rub.jpg

Island Track

Island Track.jpg

Island from the north or timber side

Island.jpg

Island bed from bed looking at back trail

IMG_3739.jpg

The best part of the scouting mission was confirming there are good bucks in the area. As I was completing my loop and heading back to the gator, I believe this buck stood up from his bed. He never spooked, and was within 20 yards of the access trail I was walking on. I stopped, took a picture, then got the gator and drove back past him. I was surprised that he just stood and watched the entire time.

10 pt.jpg

[Hammer3332]

I guess one additional thing I have a question on would be setting up on the island. My plan right now is to set up as far West as I can get and approach through the field from the south. I am assuming the buck crosses north of the island moving East to West to scent check as much as he can before entering. Has anyone witnessed how they would J-hook in to a bed in this situation where they are approaching an island?

[mheichelbech]

I guess one additional thing I have a question on would be setting up on the island. My plan right now is to set up as far West as I can get and approach through the field from the south. I am assuming the buck crosses north of the island moving East to West to scent check as much as he can before entering. Has anyone witnessed how they would J-hook in to a bed in this situation where they are approaching an island?

I have seen them j hook at 10 yards from the bed and 50 yards from the bed...it seems to vary by deer. I would look at it as what would you if you were the buck and scent checking your bed before moving in.
With these islands your best bed would likely be an observation stand...watch him one night and go in for kill the next if you can. Watch for your thermal flow! This is especially noted in Dans farmland video...if you don’t already have it could be the best $25 you ever spent on hunting. It certainly helped change how I hunt farmland.

[jwilkstn]

I guess one additional thing I have a question on would be setting up on the island. My plan right now is to set up as far West as I can get and approach through the field from the south. I am assuming the buck crosses north of the island moving East to West to scent check as much as he can before entering. Has anyone witnessed how they would J-hook in to a bed in this situation where they are approaching an island?

I have seen them j hook at 10 yards from the bed and 50 yards from the bed...it seems to vary by deer. I would look at it as what would you if you were the buck and scent checking your bed before moving in.
With these islands your best bed would likely be an observation stand...watch him one night and go in for kill the next if you can. Watch for your thermal flow! This is especially noted in Dans farmland video...if you don’t already have it could be the best $25 you ever spent on hunting. It certainly helped change how I hunt farmland.

That's solid advice to do an observation sit from a distance on that bed. Approaching that island would be nearly impossible without him busting you. You may have to hope he moves within bow range of somewhere you can get set up. In years with standing corn, you might be able to use it to sneak in tight to the island, probably coming in from cross wind.

[mheichelbech]

I guess one additional thing I have a question on would be setting up on the island. My plan right now is to set up as far West as I can get and approach through the field from the south. I am assuming the buck crosses north of the island moving East to West to scent check as much as he can before entering. Has anyone witnessed how they would J-hook in to a bed in this situation where they are approaching an island?

I have seen them j hook at 10 yards from the bed and 50 yards from the bed...it seems to vary by deer. I would look at it as what would you if you were the buck and scent checking your bed before moving in.
With these islands your best bed would likely be an observation stand...watch him one night and go in for kill the next if you can. Watch for your thermal flow! This is especially noted in Dans farmland video...if you don’t already have it could be the best $25 you ever spent on hunting. It certainly helped change how I hunt farmland.

That's solid advice to do an observation sit from a distance on that bed. Approaching that island would be nearly impossible without him busting you. You may have to hope he moves within bow range of somewhere you can get set up. In years with standing corn, you might be able to use it to sneak in tight to the island, probably coming in from cross wind.

Although I’ve never done it, I’ve always though a decoy would be good for situations where they bed in a hard to hunt spot if you can get it in there without being seen.

[Hammer3332]

Thanks for the advice! The only other thing I can think of would be getting really lucky with a just off-wind and sit it in the morning. I may just have to set up from the timber overlooking the grass patch and maybe observe how he leaves the island.