Hunting Field Edges

[deerminator]

So I found a good spot one of the places I can hunt. I set up a ground blind on the edge of soybean field. Basically I have a ground blind sunk about 20 feet into the woods and 20 yards off a trail out of the woods that leads into a bedding area and creek. It's good cover for the blind. It blends in well to the woods, with lots of branches hanging over it, and there's thick brush and big boulders right behind it. To get to it, I can walk the edge of the woods and soybean field relatively quietly from the dirt road and see if deer are in the field before I enter. That's in the daytime. But thoughts about hunting a spot like this in the morning. One side of me says only evening hunts for this spot but another says hunt it when you can, like this weekend when an evening hunt just won't work schedule-wise. Any hints or tips anyone has in this situation? I'm relatively new to hunting field edges.

[goblueM]

i can't give you any advice other than hunt when you can and see what happens... thats how i learn best (and its the most fulfililng)

[deerminator]

Yeah. I think I'm gonna give her a shot. Worst case I bump some deer once, see nothing and learn my lesson. It's a big property and I can try several other strategies throughout the year.

[walleyemaniac]

It wouldn't hurt to try it in the morning. Come in slow a few steps at a time. Kind of blend in, movement wise, like any other animal skirting the edge of the field. Play the wind as well, come in down wind.

If your in camo and it's dark they won't be able to see you very well either, but they will hear and sense movement. Look for silhouettes out in the feild and if anything is bedded down my guess is they will be along the edge of the woodline or within a few yards to the inside.

If you happen to spook something walking in stay put and hunker down till it's light enough to make out your surroundings. A spooked deer usually won't go far if it can't see what scared it, be ready.

I can't stress enough, take your time going in. Don't get in a hurry to get to your stand. From the time you get out of your vehicle, the hunt begins, not when you get to your stand. I think there's to many missed opportunities when guys hustle out to get on stand cause they think they're running late.

[goblueM]

just to be devils advocate... i either go with walleyemaniac's approach of still hunting to my stand, or i just go for it and walk straight in

a lot of times i think you freak deer out a lot more by trying to be sneaky rather than just taking a walk to your stand

[deerminator]

Lol. I think I'm going to slink in quietly and quickly. That way it's a compromise. Maybe they'll think I'm a cruising buck or something.

[HunterLee]

i wouldn't waste my time on a morning hunt, if you got a big area to hunt find something off the field and get them going back to bed.

[96trigger]

I hunt primarily field edges, I have the best luck getting out there when its completely dark, going straight to my stand, at a pretty good pace. Uset the terrain to your advantage. If its rolling try and find a way to get to the stand without having deer hundreds of yards away see you. Often, I am in the stand for only a couple of minutes when deer will come gazing by.

I do of course, kick them out on occasion too, but I think for the most part, don't go very far, and sometimes even return to the field.

[gr8icefishinmind]

I've hunted the same field edge now for probably five years, there is a field approach that is literally straight away from my stand across the field. To get to my stand i cut straight across the field at a slow and steady pace, but, I get out there usually a good hour to hour and a half before sun up, in case i do spook something the area has time to settle down! So i would say the earlier you can get to your stand the better. More than likely a deer that is slightly spooked will make its way back to that area shortly, mostly to check out what was going on! Deer are very curious animals although very spooky as well.

[InTheNorthwoods]

Its pretty easy to make a good spot go cold if you are constantly bumping deer.

If it were the rut, or the season were coming to a close, I may say "go for it", but at this point in the season, I wouldn't want to chance blowing the deer out of there. At this time of the year I haven't had much luck hunting field edges in MN as most deer (especially mature bucks) seem to be back in the woods and in their bedding areas before first light.

[Bear55]

This might be borderline illegal depending on your situation but when you park you might as well hit the field with your headlights and see if there are any deer out there, if they are already there hit another spot. My main concern is the shining laws if you have a bow in your vehicle but if you are parking it shouldn't be a big deal.

You could also try getting there super early (1.5 to 2 hours) and slowly work your way in, you might bump some deer but if the wind is in your favor they might run off and come back later.

I have to agree with InTheNorthwoods about field edges, depending on your location they can and do work but in many areas the deer see a lot of pressure and field edges just remind me too much of those hunting shows.

[deerminator]

Thanks guys, I was thinking about getting there about an hour before legal shooting time. I'm gonna give er a shot. If I feel I've bumped a lot of deer. I won't be back that timeframe again until the rut. And by that time the beans will be picked and cleaned up so I'd shy away from that spot anyway. I have another good spot picked out in a tree filled knoll that overlooks a small ravine with a creek and bedding area with deer trails going everywhere on the way to fields and a few well defined ones right through the creek. I just need to get a stand or blind in there.

[deerminator]

One other thing, I've seen a lot of deer hugging the woods near the beans at almost lunchtime before so I'm thinking it could be anytime of day they show up there. Not a lot of pressure.

[sticknstring]

I think you'll be doing more harm than good by walking through the field in the morning. I'd either exclusively hunt that ground blind in the evenings or if you must, find an approach through the timber well ahead of shooting light in the morning. Keep the spot hot from only hunting when conditions are favorable. Good luck!

[Bear55]

The deer are probably on their feet for a midday snack, might be good hunting 11-2 or so.

I have some spots that I hunt unusual hours. One spot (doe hunting) I would always bump deer in the morning no matter how early I got in there. Finally I said screw it and slept in and then sneek in there about 8 or 8:30 and I would just about always see deer from 9 to 11.

[Rippinlip]

I guess I am going to side with the Steady as she goes approach, I have had the experience of deer being n a field in the morning more than once, I have tried both and have had better luck with the non-stop get to your stand/blind and don't stop, they seem to more at ease when they think you do not see them and keep going.

When you start doing the sneak approach they get real nervous and will blow out of the area faster. Both ways will normally blow them out of the field, but get there and get set-up and let the woods/field get back to normal quicker.

Just my $.02.

[deerminator]

Well, I actually got out a night instead of morning with a shift in schedule. I didn't get out until about 5:45 so I cruised past the field a few times to scope it out before parking and hightailing it in there.

Around 6:30 I hear blowing right behind me in the woods. I almost fell off my chair since it sounded like the deer was right behind me. I think blind startled it a bit since I'd only had it up for a few days. I hadn't brushed it in, but I had sunk it into the woods with tons of branches hanging down over and around it. Anyway, the blowing went on for about 15 minutes, another deer joining in and they moved throughout the woods. It got closer and further away and back the other way. It was darn near comical.

Finally, it's silent and about 5 minutes later, a very large doe and her fawn come crashing through the soybeans, zig zagging through the field. They settled down and came within about 15 yards of the blind and stared directly in without any alarm. I was dressed in black from the waist up with a black headmask. I've found you can be virtually invisble in the blind this way with the right combination of windows open. I thought about taking a shot but she was either facing me or quartering to me. So finally, at about 25 yards, I let loose and arrow and it skimmed right under her belly. She jumped and away they went blowing. They did circle back within range about another 15 minutes later but it was getting pretty dark at that point and I didn't like any of the shots.

Going to let the area settle down a bit and try the spot again next week. I've got a camera out too now and would like to see when some of the bucks that left the nice tracks in the field start showing up.