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Newb to hunting ag fields

greg728

greg728

Active Member
SH Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2021
Messages
192
Location
Pennsylvania
I just got permission to hunt an 80 acre private farm in Pennsylvania. All I’ve ever hunted has been public land wood lots and big woods so I’m used to food and bedding being everywhere. The lot has two bigger fields and two smaller fields separated by a couple strips of mixed timber about 50 yards wide. The one wooded strip has a creek running through it. They just cut down the corn they had up from the summer but the field still has some corn on the ground. Any tips on what to consider or look for to setup to bow hunt would be appreciated. There’s a couple other guys who hunt it but from the homeowner it sounds like it isn’t very often.
 

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I hunt similar areas. Anywhere along the creek where they are crossing...15-20 yards away from those crossing. Also I'd place a stand smack dab in the middle of the section that runs between the two fields. Deer will skirt the field edges along with the edges of the woods prior to entering the fields.
 
Maverick1 said:
Blue dots. Nine of them. Starting pointView attachment 95550
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I like what @Maverick1 has going for you here. Deer are edge creatures, when you have ag property they’ll use the edge of the field a lot to travel from one area to another. The strip that separates on section of corn from another will likely have some heavy trails, I’d also look there for where more than one intersects.
 
Approach would change through different
phases of the season, standing corn, rut, etc. In my experience we’re headed into a part of the season where the deer have their wits about em again. Never underestimate where they might be set up to keep an eye on things, so keep a healthy paranoia with your access. One thing I’ve seen is deer near the woods edge with the wind to their backs and their eyes toward the field… in that case entering an area perpendicular to the wind can help. Be open minded to where they might be hanging out, sometimes these small wood lots take a few years to make any sense of but it’s fun and plenty challenging, even compared to public wooded hills.
 
@greg728 - update to my post above. I would actually start at this tree, just to the true north of the pond, (to the right on your picture) since there are six trails that converge within shooting distance of that specific tree. (You can see the trails on google maps, but not on the picture you supplied in this thread….)

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Remember ag fields tend to be really early morning spots and late evening spots. so you need to either come in really early or enter from a point where you can sneak up to the edge of the fields.
 
Maverick1 said:
@greg728 - update to my post above. I would actually start at this tree, just to the true north of the pond, (to the right on your picture) since there are six trails that converge within shooting distance of that specific tree. (You can see the trails on google maps, but not on the picture you supplied in this thread….)
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You can see them really well on the Spartan Forge imagery from mid October as well. Looks like that wooded area is also very low compared to the fields so be careful with your thermals. Good luck to you!!!!
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Maverick1 said:
@greg728 - update to my post above. I would actually start at this tree, just to the true north of the pond, (to the right on your picture) since there are six trails that converge within shooting distance of that specific tree. (You can see the trails on google maps, but not on the picture you supplied in this thread….)

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This is google maps? This looks different (better) than what I saw when I pulled it up.
 
Pyronole said:
You can see them really well on the Spartan Forge imagery from mid October as well. Looks like that wooded area is also very low compared to the fields so be careful with your thermals. Good luck to you!!!!
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I was thinking about the thermals. The wooded creek bottom is the lowest spot on the property and the ag fields pitch up in elevation. I’m going to wind map it tomorrow and sit for an evening hunt or an observation sit. Would you think it would be better to hunt the morning when the thermals are rising or evening? I don’t know where they’re bedded so I’m skeptical to hunt the morning and blow them out of bedding. I was thinking of walking the inside of a timber stretch to stay out of sight and set up in an area where the thermals aren’t traveling to my shooting location. My guess is that after the evening thermal switch the thermals will pull my scent down and towards the creek away from the ag field. I’m still newer to understanding thermals though so does that sound off to you?
 
Work from the outside in. You should be able to get a good vantage point to observe movement from a distance. Keep the wind in your favor, observe some movement from afar, and move in.
 
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