I've only hunted very flat land, and that's what I saw too. It was pretty wild. I'm building haybale blinds to try and combat wind to a degree. I'm doing the regular cattle panel covered in erosion blankets, but I'm wrapping them with plastic pallet wrap which is kind of like saran wrap, but thicker and used to waterproof pallets of material on flatbeds. That should cut down on alot of scent hopefully.
You pretty much nailed the exact route I took the first time I went last year to scout. I took my pole saw to clear out a walking trail that would lead to that exact point you marked with the X and put a plot in there, again, exactly the size and shape to a T. Actually, I was going to do that as well as put in another trail along the parkway to the north to be able to come in from that direction. But, the thing that stopped me were the trails going between the neighbor and me going from his side hill to mine. It seemed too intrusive. Plus, he's a really great neighbor to have. We are pretty much on the same page as far as what we are trying to do, so it's a good shared area to have kept off limits I think. We share pictures and what we want to shoot and not shoot. I don't want to hurt that relationship. That is the perfect plot spot on the property for being secluded. That one and the northwest corner both are. The NW corner up next to the parkway is very hidden. You wouldn't think it from the map, but no one is going to come in from over there. Most of the daylight movement I saw was over there.
I like the screening and the fruit tree idea. I will definitely make some type of screening part of this with the blind incorporated into the edge. But, my main concern right now is the placement of these plots. I want optimum huntability with regards to wind and thermals. I want the wind and thermals to be in favor of the deer for entering the plot, but also in mine for not drifting into their path. The most wind directions the better. That's why I was hoping that placement at the heads of the hollows would be best. If the wind comes from the S or SW or W, I was hoping my scent would be sucked down the middle of the hollow and not on their paths along the side hills.
Thanks Jon. What I was most interested in was how people found it best to position foodplots in hills and hollers. It seems it would be easier to hunt if the plots were at the head of the wooded hollows because the hunter could walk in on the pasture ridges and setup right inside the woodline on trails that were heading to the food.
The head of the hollow plot idea looks good on paper, but this idea has one problem, you are trying to coax the deer out into the open, towards the road, towards the buildings, trying to make them go where you want them to go, rather than where they want to go. The further you put a plot away from good cover the later the deer will come out in the evening, and the earlier they will head for cover in the morning. In other words, if a plot is too far from cover deer will only use it at night. What I said about putting the plot at the back end of the finger surrounded by woods is that the deer will regularly come out in the middle of the day if they are not disturbed.
I'm starting the process of converting those fields by the roads and houses into old fields and enrolling in a pollinator program with EQIP. Would that change how you would approach it in the future? Possibly put them in the back for now, and move them once the cover is there.
