25 acre woodlot aerial

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cdeam
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25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby cdeam » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:07 am

<a href="http://s1049.photobucket.com/user/sublettbraden/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps48a1cb5a.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s387/sublettbraden/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps48a1cb5a.jpg" border="0" alt="Holt woods photo image_zps48a1cb5a.jpg"/></a>

Heres a small woodlot I hunt. Flat land. Interstate to the north. Green is my only access until the corn is out of the north field. At that point I can drop in from the north. All the crops are still in. Thinking about giving it a shot Tuesday morning. Red are my thoughts for stand locations. Please share your thoughts and let me know if you think I should hunt an evening or a different wind, location, etc. thanks guys.

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cdeam
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby cdeam » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:09 am

Image

Let's see if this works

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superseal
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby superseal » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:14 am

I have a handful of these types of woodlots. They can be tough to hunt....so many variables to consider. I'm curious how some guys would hunt this too.
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby cdeam » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:28 am

Last year the crop rotation was the opposite. I sat the south stand three times and saw 4 deer with SW winds. If they bed the corn, do they like the wind coming to them from the timber? Good acorn crop in there most years

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Stanley
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby Stanley » Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:21 am

If you plan on hunting the property more than once I would hunting it like this. Once the corn is harvested things will change. Be there the day they combine the corn if you can. If you see something interesting from one of the observation stands move in for the kill.

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Lockdown
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:11 am

cdeam wrote:Image

Let's see if this works

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I have hunted lots of small groves. I find most of my success on catching deer coming out of the corn in the evening. To be honest 25 acres is a big grove to me. I hunt a lot of 2-6 acre stuff. I have had a lot of success watching the corn edges. I'm almost always set up within bow range of the edge. Its impossible to say how to set up without actually seeing trails, but to be honest I don't know what to think of walking in on that fence line. Seems to me an awful lot of deer will be using that to get to the grove???
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby JohnnieU » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:29 am

I hunt a small flat 20 acres woodlot and one issue I have is when deer bed on the downwind edge of the wood lot and look into the open field. In order to approach the deer you have to find out what they can see from their beds and approach so they don't see or smell you. Unless the area is table-top flat there are usually some high and low areas you can use to approach the woodlot. As lockdown said, deer often follow the tree lines and I have seen big bucks bed on the tree lines near woodlots, so following them can be risky.
cdeam
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby cdeam » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:33 am

Stanley wrote:If you plan on hunting the property more than once I would hunting it like this. Once the corn is harvested things will change. Be there the day they combine the corn if you can. If you see something interesting from one of the observation stands move in for the kill.

Image




Thanks Stanley. I like that approach. And you're right. In the past, when the corn comes out everything changes and once the mast is gone deer are in there less frequently

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cdeam
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby cdeam » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:35 am

Lockdown, I know what you're saying about the fence row. But that and along the interstate are my only two options aside from crossing the northeast field

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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby cdeam » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:37 am

Johnnie, I've seen the same thing once the crops are out. The deer will bed on the edges watching the fields. The only cover I have on the approach is the south side of the fence row.

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JohnnieU
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby JohnnieU » Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:19 pm

cdeam wrote:Johnnie, I've seen the same thing once the crops are out. The deer will bed on the edges watching the fields. The only cover I have on the approach is the south side of the fence row.

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I guess you'll have to approach with the cover if there isn't any topography to hide your approach. Good luck, I know those wood lots can be tough.
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Lockdown
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:01 pm

I have had times when I accessed groves thru the corn. If the corn is dry it will be loud so you would need a fair amount of wind. They can be bedded in the corn literally anywhere, so there is always a risk of bumping them. You would want to do that with the wind in your face of course... not a cross wind. Accessing groves like this can be really tough. Sometimes it takes a year or two of screwing up to figure them out. If it is ok with the farmer you can make a blind in the corn. Sit 4 or 5 rows back and make two shooting lanes so you can shoot them quartering away. (ideally they're paralleling the corn but not right next to it). However, don't make a "V" and sit in the crotch of the V, make an X so you can stay out of the deer's line of sight as it passes thru your first lane. This is a tough one to pull off, but in the right situation can be deadly. When your wind is blowing out into the corn, all the deer can filter and browse thru the trees all they want and you don't have to worry about them winding you. If this interests you I can go into more detail on how to make a good corn blind. Although not mature bucks, my Dad has taken multiple deer from corn blinds.
cdeam
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby cdeam » Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:17 pm

I had the northwest wind I wanted tonight. Tried to sit the southeast corner, but there were no good trees so I wound up 1/3 of the way north into the woods. At 5:30 3 doe came running through from the SW to the ne. About fifteen minutes later a scrub buck came through on their trail. Good to see! I hope there's a big boy in here. Thanks for the help guys.

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justdirtyfun
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Re: 25 acre woodlot aerial

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:09 am

If you still have corn in next time with NW wind try using the rows while next to the woods. Say stand 3 stanley marked, once you travel the fencerow get 4 or 5 rows into the corn to leave the wooded edge scent free. It might let you slip past deer bedding on the downwind edge.

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