White tail newbie tactics check

[altitude_19]

I got my first deer tag and have a spot scouted out. The duty schedule didn't work out all that great, so I'll have to go late season (about a week from now). I just wanted to bounce the game plan off you guys.
I'll be set up on the edge of a corn field (already harvested, but with lots of scrap corn lying around). The spot I have picked out is just barely in the long grass around the corn plot, behind a sapling tree. I even found a branch that'll work as a good rifle rest. Nebraska requires 400 inches of blaze orange (vest and hat) but otherwise I'll be wearing some real tree. I checked out the trees, and none are worth climbing (low splits, dead, bad positioning, etc) hence the decision to hunt from the ground (and I don't have a blind).
I have the earn-a-buck tag, so I'll be trying to take antlerless first. Then I'll have to try for the buck (need to decide what to use for calls).
Thoughts? Please?

 

[altitude_19]

Uhhhh...pretty please?

 

[rugerman]

Play the wind, move slow, wear a face net and gloves to keep down face and hand shine. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, right now where I hunt (season opens next weekend) we have a huge acorn crop, the corn feeders that have been out all summer have un eaten corn under them due to the acorns. So have a plan B if the corn field doesn't work out. As far as calls go I haven't seen a whole lot of use in them and I have seen them scare deer away so I rarely use them. Good luck and good hunting.

 

[Geno]

Well, okay. You're gonna think I'm nuts, but then, most people do.

Forget the wind. It's over played. Deer note scents that are "new" to the environment that they tread. I wash my hunting clothes without detergent. After drying them, I put them on, go to where I hunt and roll around like a dog-with-fleas. Seriously. Immediately after washing my hunting clothes, I intentionally go soil them where I hunt! I choose to lose the sweat; reinstate keep the environment's scent.

Find where the deer scrape, rub, bed, and walk (trails). Roll in those areas. My hunting clothes are ways "soiled" by appearance with the environment. They look like I never have washed them. Think Charlie Brown's Pig Pen.

The single most beneficial thing you can do, is to sit with the sun to your back. If you can't, get a sun-shade.

Handload for maximum accuracy. It also saves $$$.

Know your property's ranges...know it by heart, instantly knowing the deer's distance. KNOW YOUR BACKGROUND!!!!

Know the deer's typical runs. They are creatures of habit. They use the same runs year-after-year. Sit two feet off the run unless you wanna get you back-side trampled. They are creatures of habit.

Like I said, you WILL think I'm nuts. I am nuts...nuts for hunting, and I usually get my deer, or boar, or ram or whatever game I seek. It works for me.

Good luck and let us know how you do.

Geno

 

[altitude_19]

Interesting stuff so far. So what about choice of cover? Even with blaze orange, think I'm ok camping out behind that little sapling? Any advice at all is appreciated...really looking forward to using a firearm against critters with more than 2 legs for once...

 

[Ken Brock]

deer are color blind, don't sweat the orange

I spray myself with scent killer

just be quiet and no sudden movements. I hunt in ground blinds sometimes although I prefer elevation

pay attention to the moon phases, it definitely plays into deer movement

 

[altitude_19]

Noticed a HUGE full moon on the way to work tonight (yeah, I'm working nights). What about that? I suppose it'll be waning by the time I get out.
And scent blocker: I work with a guy who has filled his deer tags for the last 7 years smoking cigarettes in the stand like a chimney! I just don't know what to believe about scent blocker...

 

[Ken Brock]

I can only tell you my experience, I believe in scent blocker

if there's a full moon, hunt in the middle of the day

like between 10am and 2 pm

 

[janobles14]

i spend over 85 days per year in the woods hunting something. you MUST play the wind. the deer may not directly bolt but you dont want it to mark the area as dangerous. find a few spots around your field and choose the one that is downwind of the field. your chances will jump 100x

 

[Arkansas Paul]

You could fashion your own blind and camoflauge it with corn stalks. That's what I would try. It would blend things to your surroundings. I was hunting a hay field a couple of years ago and rolled four round bales where the flat ends made a little square and hunted from inside that. It did the trick. It would probably work in a corn field as well, using the corn stalks as cover.

 

[altitude_19]

Downwind is downhill...not sure I'd want to risk a shot uphill and overpenetrate. Not telling where that lead would stop.

 

[CSA 357]

The one thing i always look for when deer hunting is a thick place, i try to get down wind of the deers bedding area, when deer are hunted hard they dont come out in the open alot in day light, try to catch them around the edge where they feel safe.

 

[altitude_19]

If I may go to the board...

I hope this will help. The red dot is where I'll be setting up, just in the long grass around the corn field. The yellow dot is where I saw the most bark and dirt scrapes/rubs. Purple denotes the general concentration/flow of deer trails. Winds generally blow to the southest around here. I have the field between the roads to the north and south and make it to be about 1300 yards long, and maybe 200 yards wide. How's it look now?

 

[retrieverman]

Maybe I missed it, but in your first post, you say that you have the spot scouted out.

Have you ever just gone out to sit and watch?

You could put out a game camera too. I scout year around, but I still depend heavily on my game cams. They are there 24/7, and I can't be.

I would recommend getting some kind of blind. I have killed several deer just sitting under a tree, but in my experience, you chances for success increase exponentially when using some kind of blind.

I guess I missed this too, but are you hunting with a gun or bow?

 

[Sav .250]

All that and no mention about wind direction?

 

[retrieverman]

All that and no mention about wind direction?

If you are referring to my post, I didn't mention it because I did see that wind had been talked about in at least a couple other posts.

 

[interlock]

spend over 85 days per year in the woods hunting something. you MUST play the wind. the deer may not directly bolt but you dont want it to mark the area as dangerous. find a few spots around your field and choose the one that is downwind of the field. your chances will jump 100x

dead right. i also spend lots of time deer hunting and shoot lots and lots of deer. this is spot on