Small Woodlot

[JakeJD]

I was thinking about asking permission to hunt this small woodlot (~2 acres). There is a large 2,300 acre public tract about 1/2 mile to the east. There is a rural gravel road approximately 300 ft to the west that receives a fair amount of traffic. The two fields seem to alternate between corn and beans. Everything gets planted, including the pivot corner.

Anyone have little hot spots like this?

How would I hunt it? Pre-rut and early rut? Morning or evening preference?

Would it matter which field is planted to corn and which field is planted to beans? In other words, would it only be worth hunting if the north field is corn; thus, enveloping the woodlot in corn

Water may be present, so it could worth a couple of early season watering hole hunts.

[JakeJD]

BTW, I am mainly accustomed to hunting flat river bottoms and large, flat public tracts with a mix of trees / shelter belts with upland / wetland areas. This section of Nebraska is mainly a sea of corn and beans for a 20-30 mile wide swat between the Platte and Republican Rivers. Very few stand alone woodlots exist (most trees are around homesteads) and only a few wooded creeks are present. Farmers pretty much plant from ditch to ditch.

How will the deer related to this change in cover? Not much grass grows in this tangled mess so I do not expect the deer to bed in the woodlot.

[JRM6868]

Can you zoom out a little on the aerial pic to see a broader area?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[JakeJD]

PM sent. I have a larger photo that I can send via pm.

[Stanley]

I hunted a spot just a bout like that 25 years ago. It was mainly hit and miss. Deer would go in for a few days and then be gone. If you hunt it a couple times it could produce. If you hunt it more than that it'll burn out. The deer that go to it will more than likely come from the bigger public ground to the East. So you may have to hunt different winds for morning and evening. These types of areas are great for a buck and doe hooking up for a couple of days during the peak of the rut. If you would hunt it once a week you could possibly get 4 hunts out it. Another thing to think about, on really hot days the deer may use it to get out of the sun and into the shade. Bean and corn fields are very hot with sun burning down on them.

[JakeJD]

Thanks Stanley. I am going to try to get permission and then have a look around. I do know that the area looks fairly thick, but I doubt it holds deer once the corn is gone. I can somewhat see into the timber and it doesn't look like any deer bed in there this late into the season.

I also have thought that I could set up a mock scrape with trail cam to get an inventory and maybe keep track of when, how, and why the deer use the timber.

[Zap]

If the woodlot offers travel from standing corn to beans it would be a good early season spot, IMO.

In other words ...deer bedding in corn would prefer to go thru cover to get to the short bean field. IMO.

[rudy78]

It could be a really good spot. In early season with the right crops it could be really good in evening. During the rut mornings would probably be better because with no way to get in there without being detected with no crops & less cover. Then again if there is screen cover or the terrain allows u to slip in evenings could work.

[ Post made via iPad ]

[JakeJD]

It could be a really good spot. In early season with the right crops it could be really good in evening. During the rut mornings would probably be better because with no way to get in there without being detected with no crops & less cover. Then again if there is screen cover or the terrain allows u to slip in evenings could work.

[ Post made via iPad ]

The south line of the timber is the property line. Typically the two fields alternate between corn and beans. The field around the timber should be corn next year and the field on the south edge of the timber should be beans next year. Do you expect the bucks to leave the corn and stage in this timber before entering the beans to feed in the evening?

As far as rut hunting only in the mornings, do you expect a nice buck to "hole up" with a receptive doe in the timber and stick to the trees all day? What if the corn is still standing in late October / early Nov?

[JakeJD]

Anybody else?