Hunting abandoned farmyard bucks.

[Swampthing]

My dad called me said a decent buck took over an abandoned farmyard . There isn't a tree around it for a quarter mile its probably 15 acres. I'm gonna keep an eye on him this season. Anyone ever have any experience with this scenario ?

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[Darin]

Get yourself a 3D cow decoy and stalk behind it with your bow.

No experience in this. Is he bedding along side the barn or a fence row? Anything to hide behind?

[Bigb]

Many people on here will tell you how overlooked old farmhouses are. I kick myself because I walk to the back end of the farm I hunt and then get camera pics of deer near the old farmhouse that same night.

We used to have an older gentleman that couldnt walk far off the road and he would always one stand (20 times a year) and he would always see deer and some big ones too. He can't hunt anymore due to age so I'm going to give this new spot by the farmhouse a try.

Personally, I'd get out there at dusk and do some glassing and see what you find. Maybe even a trail camera if you can. There are plenty of people who have deer bed in old barns and plenty of trail cam pics to back it up.

[Bigb]

Many people on here will tell you how overlooked old farmhouses are. I kick myself because I walk to the back end of the farm I hunt and then get camera pics of deer near the old farmhouse that same night.

We used to have an older gentleman that couldnt walk far off the road and he would always one stand (20 times a year) and he would always see deer and some big ones too. He can't hunt anymore due to age so I'm going to give this new spot by the farmhouse a try.

Personally, I'd get out there at dusk and do some glassing and see what you find. Maybe even a trail camera if you can. There are plenty of people who have deer bed in old barns and plenty of trail cam pics to back it up.

[hunter10]

There are plenty of people who have deer bed in old barns and plenty of trail cam pics to back it up.

sure is neat to see the pics. has made me wonder of a couple spots myself

[Lockdown]

Its a farm yard with NO trees? I'm assuming there are houses/outbuildings standing? If that is the case, I'd be willing to bet he's bedding on the downwind side of the structures.

I'd say your only hope is to scout from a distance. Hang a stand in a good observation tree as high as possible and get some insight on his habits. If that's not an option, stand on a truck cab, put a ladder on a topper, etc...

I hunt out of old farm houses sometimes (take note of apple trees), and my cousin has them bed in an old barn on their property. He even found a yearling shed in there once.

[Milk Weed Seed]

Like the others said anything overlooked. An old firewood pile, overgrown equipment, blow downs, etc. Overgrowth is quick and can create some great hiding spots for a sneaky buck.

[Swampthing]

Its a farm yard with NO trees? I'm assuming there are houses/outbuildings standing? If that is the case, I'd be willing to bet he's bedding on the downwind side of the structures.

I'd say your only hope is to scout from a distance. Hang a stand in a good observation tree as high as possible and get some insight on his habits. If that's not an option, stand on a truck cab, put a ladder on a topper, etc...

I hunt out of old farm houses sometimes (take note of apple trees), and my cousin has them bed in an old barn on their property. He even found a yearling shed in there once.

It's actually where i grew up . The old house is there and 2 outbuildings. It was abandoned for 10 or 15 years ,until my sister bought it and they lived there for 5 years up until 3 years ago when they moved. I stalked into the farm yard about 7 years ago and passed on a small 8 that was living there. The area is pretty overgrown , very tall grass, and saplings around the buildings. The farmstead is completely surrounded by crop fields as well. I will probably set up an observation stand to narrow things down.

[Lockdown]

Its a farm yard with NO trees? I'm assuming there are houses/outbuildings standing? If that is the case, I'd be willing to bet he's bedding on the downwind side of the structures.

I'd say your only hope is to scout from a distance. Hang a stand in a good observation tree as high as possible and get some insight on his habits. If that's not an option, stand on a truck cab, put a ladder on a topper, etc...

I hunt out of old farm houses sometimes (take note of apple trees), and my cousin has them bed in an old barn on their property. He even found a yearling shed in there once.

It's actually where i grew up . The old house is there and 2 outbuildings. It was abandoned for 10 or 15 years ,until my sister bought it and they lived there for 5 years up until 3 years ago when they moved. I stalked into the farm yard about 7 years ago and passed on a small 8 that was living there. The area is pretty overgrown , very tall grass, and saplings around the buildings. The farmstead is completely surrounded by crop fields as well. I will probably set up an observation stand to narrow things down.

Ok makes sense. Don't be afraid to hunt from one of the buildings. Also if you've got growth along the sides of the buildings, it sounds like you could make a ground blind pretty easy.

I remember hunting from an old abandoned house with my Dad when I was 8 or 10. We hunted from the 2nd story and would sneak our way around to different windows. Some had glass in them, some didn't, but we broke a few out preseason so you could shoot out of them. This house was in bad enough shape we were worried about falling through the floor.

One option might be driving in with your vehicle, spooking whatever is bedded out, and taking a look around. Maybe even use your vehicle to knock grass down and make trails where you want them. It all depends how well you can observe from a distance. If you do go in, the last thing I would do is go in on foot. 4 wheeler would be a good option. IMO you've got enough time for a farmland buck to get back to normal habits by the time hunting season rolls around, but its hard to say.

[JoeRE]

Many people on here will tell you how overlooked old farmhouses are. I kick myself because I walk to the back end of the farm I hunt and then get camera pics of deer near the old farmhouse that same night.

We used to have an older gentleman that couldnt walk far off the road and he would always one stand (20 times a year) and he would always see deer and some big ones too. He can't hunt anymore due to age so I'm going to give this new spot by the farmhouse a try.

Personally, I'd get out there at dusk and do some glassing and see what you find. Maybe even a trail camera if you can. There are plenty of people who have deer bed in old barns and plenty of trail cam pics to back it up.

When I was a teenager I hunted a farm pretty similar to that, abandoned farm in the from and woods in the back, and wish I had the smarts to hunt around that farmyard at the time which was grown up into about a 5 acre thicket. I remember several times running into bucks when I was walking out right around there. Looking back I am sure they were bedding there and watching me walk by most of the time.

[Stanley]

I have hunted a couple old farm yards over the years. I always hunted from the ground. Never killed a buck out of one though.

I would have a friend (wife even drove a couple times) drive slow and I would sit on the hood and slide off and he would keep driving. Did that many times over the years. Stealth is how I roll.

[Hawthorne]

Don higgins in his book talks about how he killed some nice bucks out of barnyards. They are overlooked sancuary's.

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[dreaming bucks]

Dan.... I don't think it was a farmyard buck, but what was that story on the buck you killed, when you dug a hole in the ground, and used that to stand-sit in to kill the buck, it was a great story, but I don't even know where to look for the story...

[dreaming bucks]

Dan.... I don't think it was a farmyard buck, but what was that story on the buck you killed, when you dug a hole in the ground, and used that to stand-sit in to kill the buck, it was a great story, but I don't even know where to look for the story...

Nevermind, I finally found it, a great story!

viewtopic.php?f=159&t=1339

[Hawthorne]

I shot one of my 8 points last year about 100 yds next to an old farm house. Its about a 4acre swampy wooded area.I had my treestabd 25 yds off a busy road. I put in a small food plot next to it and had 1000s of pictures of bucks and does during daylight. The ground dips down just enough you cant see it from the road. I had a bigger buck than the one i shot using it during daylight in mid October. I only hunt it a couple times a year. Before i hunted that spot the neighbor across the road had trail cam pics of a 200" non typical buck that he saw come out of that little pothole. That buck was shot about half mile from there. I saw the hero pics and the trail cam pics. The hunter told nobody about his buck because a 200" deer in Michigan would have certainly got alot of exposure.

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