NY Bowhunter

BowhunterNJ

If that field is going to have a primary food source for deer in it (soy, corn, etc)...be VERY happy. Deer from all over will flock to it, especially if there isn't a competing food source around.

As a matter of fact, I would keep in close contact with the farmer and find out when/if he plans on planting it and with what, in what sections. Some hunters have been known to "buy" a few rows of corn as a shooting buffer on the edge of the field for hunting a given fieldedge stand location.

Deer will significantly shift their patterns in the summer to feed all around that field and throughout the fall. But elements such as frost and the farmer harvesting can greatly influence another fall time shift away from it. Other preferred food sources, such as acorns, can also pull deer away from those fields during daylight hours. Many times deer will stage in oak groves before going out into the fields...great spot to hang a stand or two.

Also consider your approaches, especially going IN in the morning and coming OUT in the evening. Those bruisers won't tolerate the human presence at all, and will likely go nocturnal.

My recommendation is to skip the field edge entirely and get in the woods a little bit. Try to find a cutoff between the field (feeding) and where the deer are bedding. An oak grove between the two is prime picking as deer will leave their beds around dusk and by the time they get to the field it will be dark. If you are close to their beds in a secondary food source contained in a transition area...you are golden...especially for those mature bucks that hang back and don't want to expose themselves in the field.

Just plan your entrances and exits carefully...otherwise that golden stand can go cold after 1 or 2 hunts.

Good Luck and Shoot Straight!

trophyhuntr

I wouldnt like the change, i like old grown up fields, like you said great bedding areas and also travel routes, the fields when planted get disturbed to much,planting,spraying,harvesting, deer change patterns twice on crop fields

skeeter 7MM

The change has been in place since the farmer broke the land this fall, this will have forced the deer to change there bedding habits to the new formation of the land. As such if I was hunting there next fall I would be scouting it all the way through. I would also suggest concentrating on the transition routes in cover now as opposed to food source. The deer will more than likely benifit for have food source so close to beds, if the area has enough cover to handle the amount of deer. As far as farm actvity the deer will pay little attention to the planting, spraying and harvesting of the crops as it poses no threat to them. I have rode the tractor on farmlands and seen truly amazing bucks stand unbothered by my loops with the swather or combine, in fact I have had deer actually come out of the bush when working fields in both spring/fall. By the time hunting season rolls around the deer that continue to live on that land will be used to farm activity and it will not hinder your hunts if you plan appropriately. This fall I took a whitetail doe with my bow in a transition route (cover) leading to a barley field in which the farmer was combining, I could hear the farm equipment and grain truck all evening long. This doe was going about her business on route to the barley field to feed when she stepped into my lane and I put a end to that journey. As long as the farmer is aware and ok with you hunting while he is working the land, I wouldn't think twice about it. I certainly wouldn't sit on the field edge in a treestand while he is working but on route to in transition well I guess you know my answer to that question. Get out when you spooking game is not critical to your hunt, look for routes, water sources, potential bedding areas, funnels, draws, ridges, etc anything that would make sense for deer to use frequently and feel safe doing so. The food should be planted come spring so that part should be somewhat out of the equation but still try and locate what they are doing now.

Best to get out and get a handle on the deer in the area. I can honestly say I have rarely hunted the same spot as I started out with opening day or even concentrated on during early scouting but it has helped lead me to that spot, half the battle is finding the deer than you must move in accordance to their habits come that time of year but it is far easier to do that knowing what you have to work with. Good spots will always be good spots sometime during the season if the deer are around, just mark them and keep scouting them. I assume that the deer have other cover to bed in the area, if so you should be aok, if not it is time to start searching for a backup plan...either way scouting is required and essential. Put the time in now so later you can just hunt, instead of scramble for a new spot. my thinking is better to be dissappointed in the offseason than a month into the hunting season.

Good luck.

NY Bowhunter

great advice thanks guys.