Where to start on new half mile square. Help!

[tornadoalley]

Hello all new here I recently acquired hunting permission for a private half mile by half mile square piece of land. I am curious where you guys would start as far as where you might feed(legal year round where I live),put cameras, and possibly stands. I included an edited and unedited pictures so you can see what I have. The red outline on two sides are where the roads are and the blue just other fields. The green line is a yearly tractor/truck trail. All the green fields are planted in beans. Thanks all I will be bow hunting only as well.

 

[Native Hunter]

If you don't have any joy walkers or dog problems, you should have some mature bucks bedding in the center of that property. If that's the case, I would designate it as sanctuary to keep them bedding there.

Figure out your various travel routes and stand locations based on wind direction so that you can get in and out without disturbing deer. Hunt up to the edges of the sanctuary - but don't go in it except to retrieve a dead deer. I would also have some stand locations where I could see a long way in order to pattern the deer and see where they come out into those beans in the afternoons.

If you can work out a good entry/exit strategy, you should be set. Good luck.

 

[g squared 23]

I would buy Dan Infalt’s “Farm country bedding” DVD (I have nothing to disclose financially, I bought it and I think it would help you pick it apart).

This property would appear to set up well for glassing from a distance. Dan claims the bigger bucks will bed along tree lines or ditches where they have both a sight and smell advantage.

Big bucks will bed where they aren’t ever bothered, they never smell human scent, and they have the biggest advantage possible (sight and smell especially).



So if you dive right into the center of the property (like most guys would), the big guy will see you coming a mile away, and you won’t have a chance at him until he gets dumb during the rut.

I’ve marked just a couple of potential buck bedding spots with the possible corresponding wind (wind to back).

So I would do as much low impact glassing as possible from a good distance, and ask where people never ever go. Then sneak in for the kill when you have a guess where one is bedding with a “just off” wind. Or hunt the transition lines from one block to another during the rut.


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[Mennoniteman]

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for your post. That property looks like a potential gold mine as far as a great archery spot, and I'm sure you are excited to get started. Is that a water hole in the middle, or where are the deer getting water? What's the prevailing wind direction? It's difficult to lay out a property without walking it first, but here's a simplified example of how/where I'd start thinking; the green hatch would be sanctuary where I'd never hunt, and the red X's would be potential stand locations. The idea for bow hunting would be to sneak in to close to the edge of the sanctuary to hunt, heading into whatever wind direction is going at that time, and being on the edge of a food source at the same time. Keep all feeder locations almost within shooting distance from a stand, and downwind from that stand, or, just put a feeder or two in that sanctuary area and then hunt the perimeter of the sanctuary. I don't like the tractor/truck trail for hunting access except to fill feeders since it goes right thru the middle and is wrong for the wind, assuming prevailing is from the northwest, I'd sooner park close to the outer edges to hunt and sneak in with your face into the wind.

 

[Bowhunter]

What others have said are spot on.

Only thing that I'll add from my time in Kansas is that you'll want to factor in your parking spots. They are very crucial as they can impede your deer sightings at a huge scale. If possible, I would park as far away as you can and try not to park where travel routes typically are in the timber creek bottoms. Instead, try and park far up in the Northeast section of the map if your hunting the East edge of the property, and then park your vehicle at the Southwest corner of the map if you plan on hunting the West side of the property. It seems like a trivial thing to worry about where your parking but I've witnessed mature bucks spot a vehicle and turn tail and head the other way quick like.

Also, I would be very careful walking to and from your setups if your traveling through the wooded creek bottoms and timber. Your much better off taking the long way around and going along the shady side of a hedgerow or directly through the middle of a field if you can use a little elevation in your favor.

Good luck this year!

 

[Jeff H]

First off welcome to the forum. Lots of knowledge here. This place looks like it could be a real gold mine! Congratulations and can I be your friend?
Hard to beat the advice given already. The one consistent piece of advice is to leave that center section alone. That's your honey hole. If you are on the Kansas/Missouri border then your primary wind direction will be from the SW early in the season so I'd be picking apart that NE corner and watching from afar and seeing where they come and go from. Next I'd move in on a rainy day and check for intersecting trails. Hang a stand and wait for the wind to be just right. Secondly I'd look at opportunities for an East wind. I'm in SW Missouri and we always seem to have a string of Easterly wind days early in the season (bow season). I have no basis for it but East wind days have always been good for me. Best of luck to you.

 

[Jeff H]

I'll add this as well. You may already know this but get out there now and get those summer patterns down pat. I've found deer to be very predictable in their summer patterns.

 

[tornadoalley]

I appreciate all the help from you guys! It will help me a lot throughout this process!


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[Mennoniteman]

Here's the sketch on camera placement.

 

[tornadoalley]

Here's the sketch on camera placement.View attachment 19810

Thanks a lot for all of your help!


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