HOLY CORN!!!

[MUSKY18]

Got to the stand this morning and figured I might be in for a good sit. Stand is mainly a night spot, but figured I give a go this morning with the wind being perfect for it and when I left last night, there was a bunch of does feeding out in the alfalfa field on the front of the 80. However....didn't see nothing. Got down about 930 and packed up. Decided to drive "around the block" to see what the crop fields look like, plowed, picked, chopped, etc. Much to my surprise, I found probably 400-500 acres of corn fields that haven't been touched yet. This is all within 3/4 of mile of the 80 I hunt on. No wonder my deer sightings have gone down, they can hang out in all that corn and not have to move much at all. Hopefully by the time gun season is over and I get back down here to bow hunt, the corn will all be gone.

[Scoot]

At my mo-in-law's place I've got the same thing going on. The two main pieces of woods I can hunt there aren't too big and the corn fields just outside of the woods are much bigger and unfortunately unharvested. Given the timing of things, I'm hoping they don't harvest the corn until after the gun season wraps up.

[Lunker]

Here in SW WI I would say 80% or more of the corn crop has not been touched. I am hearing that much of it won't get cut by rifle season either, which here is Nov 23rd. Very late this year.

[deerminator]

Ditto what Scoot said. I am hoping the corn on my prime hunting ground doesn't get cut til after gun season now as its doubtful it will come down in the next week. There is daylight activity in the wooded islands and draws but minimal and all does that I've seen. I will go out this weekend and try some rattling and grunts to see if I can lure them out. The nice thing is, the neighboring land on two sides has been cut down completely (hobby or part-time farmer) so theoretically, that increases the chances they are in the corn on the land I can hunt.

You could try sitting 10 rows into the corn and hunting the edges if you find some good travel routes along the edge. Or you could hunt the woodlots or draws/funnels. That's what I'm debating again for this weekend's sits.

[Cheetah]

Same in NW Wisconsin, lots of corn and the majority of it is still standing.

[FISHINGURU]

Thought corn might be the problem where I am at too but that got cut and still haven't seen much.

[deerminator]

I'm thinking too less about cover and more about a standing food source and the leftovers when harvested for late season. The farmer who leases the land uses good equipment so not much is left but some is and he doesn't til, but pressure seeds beans over everything in the spring.

[sticknstring]

Thought corn might be the problem where I am at too but that got cut and still haven't seen much.

x2 More nocturnal movement the past week.

[certified jumbo]

lots of standing corn in our area.we hunted all week and only saw 3 yearling bucks.per outdoor news bow hunter harvest is down 25 percent statewide. DNR says it's going to be hardto catch that number back up. IMO, It's possible the harvest overall could dip below 150,000 for all seasons.

[sticknstring]

Firearm hunters would have to run into some really bad weather for that to happen. The corn will save a few, but not that many.

[certified jumbo]

String your probably correct. It won't dip that low. But I think it'll be down.

[Musky Buck]

My main man farmer guy with 3K acres says where he's at it isn't an issue the corn, it's ready basically, but where do you put it to dry when the bins are drying a mother load of soaked soybeans ? Farmer across the road from me said his corn is fine, the stalks are not, he combined it at like a 1/2 mile per hour. I think deer numbers are not where many think they are at figuring all this corn and hunters choice last year but wolves and weather took out quite a few that hunters or cars didn't, farmers that are combining told us they aren't seeing that much out in these vast fields like they usually do because the trucks surround these places and very very few deer are coming out. However, areas vary, deer numbers vary, hopefully your area has more deer in it then ours, really really quiet deer wise, I'm going to sit a cornfield tonight with a camera and scout it from my stand, way easy to area to slip out of and get back to the house undetected. Good luck and shoot straight.

[Gofishleech]

At 8:30pm Winke, talks standing corn strategies.

[bigshooter23]

a lot of farmers are leaving there corn in to dry. Its not that it costs so much to dry, but there is a huge propane shortage. So many farmers got lucky last few years with a nice drying season that they didn't need to dry there corn. so some of the propane companies cut back what they normally delivered to the Midwest. Now everyone wants it and cant get enough to start there driers.

[HooknHorns]

Ditto here, no morning movement and 7:20pm seems when most movement is happening. I don't gun hunt a whole lot so just staying patient.

[deerminator]

Four does tonight on the edge of the corn. Two spooked at my decoy and blew but other than that quiet.

[nbadger23]

Sounds like finding a water source may be a good idea as it's the one thing the corn can't give them and it's a necessity.

[erikwells]

Northern Kandiyohi county I went out for a bow sit Sunday morning. Wind is playing an aggrevating factor in where I sit, it was out of the east. Sat where I thought I wouldnt get winded but didnt see anything. I didnt sit very long as I had my boys this weekend and we still needed to get the dock in before we see ice. I was surprised to see how much corn is still in around where I hunt. Standing corn to the east, south and north. Lots of combines out taking it out but it will be a real photo finish in our area if it will be out by gun opener this weekend. I'm thinking it would be better if there was some still in so the combines are out moving hopefully moving some deer too. Not much rut activity although 2 of my mock scrapes are leaf free.

[MUSKY18]

Well if this weeks weather forecast holds true, the standing corn probably won't be coming out this week until maybe this weekend. Rain/Winter Mix/Snow so that will slow things down in the fields!

[Scoot]

All the corn in the MN woods I hunt was combined over the weekend. Unfortunately, no deer showed up as a result though. I was really optimistic, but totally disappointed this weekend. Corn was picked and the wind was good, but we saw very few deer on Sat and got blanked on Sun. Dang!

[FISHINGURU]

Farmer I talked to at my truck while getting dressed to on Sat said his cornfields were still something like 30% and he don't cut them until they are at 12%. Whatever all that means, I was just trying to get going while he wanted to sit around and talk all day lol

I think it might depend where the fields are located because the ones on top of the hills around here are mainly cut while the fields on the bottoms are still up, the ones up high probably dry out faster then the ones on the bottom. This is in SE MN.

[MUSKY18]

FishinGuru......he's talking about moisture content of the corn. They need it to be below a certain % or they have to run the corn through a dryer before they can store it. If it is too wet and they put it away, it will rot and mold. Lose big money. Spend big money if they have to pay to have it dryed before storage.

[Musky Buck]

thing is Nbadger I've have 3 stands that I've hunted for 28 seasons, 1 is right on a creek, another on a river, and a third is by a stock pond, I'm still waiting to see a deer take a drink after all these years and all these sits, they can easily waddle around and take in water nocturnally. Now cold Muzzy seasons the waterhole in the swamps I hunt definitely get hit pretty hard, lately there's been standing water in places around the fields I think as they feed in the night they water up as needed. But, water supports life and deer definitely need it.

[deerminator]

Read an article in D&DH talking about deer and water and the biologists said deer do not require much water and can typically get enough from the food they eat, like browse and acorns (which I thought the article said are 70% water). The article concluded that deer do drink from streams, rivers and waterholes but that they aren't the magnet often portrayed in other articles saying if you dig a waterhole or fill up a kiddie pool in the woods that you're going to substantially alter deer movement. In areas of severe drought, however, this could be the case the authors said. So, if there is a decent amount of moisture left in the corn, they could be getting water that way too, or at least enough where they only have to make a trip to the creek after dark.

[nbadger23]

I hear you Musky... I should have added .. "if we get a warm spell." I've had multiple instances where temps have spiked in the 60+ range in the early part of November and little water holes have been great locations all day. You combine a bit of warm weather with some chasing/rutting activity, and it really drives the need for them to get to water more often. I was just throwing it out there as an alternative as I know it's a frustrating situation. Add to it that corn fields are planted so closely now a days, there's literally not much one can do.