2023 Live From The Tree

Im running up north tomorrow after work to do some dark to dark sits over the weekend. Hoping to get a chance at a good buck.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Was a perfect windy day to go stalk the deer.

The neighbors corn field is my target tomorrow. I received permission to hunt it today. Will be walking into the wind and looking up and down the rows.

I saw 2 deer run in there at 5pm this evening too, couldn’t tell what they were. Operation corn field stalk will commence at midday tomorrow.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
Was a perfect windy day to go stalk the deer.

The neighbors corn field is my target tomorrow. I received permission to hunt it today. Will be walking into the wind and looking up and down the rows.

I saw 2 deer run in there at 5pm this evening too, couldn’t tell what they were. Operation corn field stalk will commence at midday tomorrow.

Great idea. Also not a bad idea to sit on the out side of the corn for that last hour or 2.

gimruis wrote:

The neighbors corn field is my target tomorrow. I received permission to hunt it today. Will be walking into the wind and looking up and down the rows.

Very effective way to hunt as long as one doesn’t get in a hurry. When I was younger that was my preferred hunting style and I did very well at it. I’ve taken deer at near point blank distances in standing corn on windy days. Both bucks and does.

Jimmy Jones wrote:

Very effective way to hunt as long as one doesn’t get in a hurry. When I was younger that was my preferred hunting style and I did very well at it. I’ve taken deer at near point blank distances in standing corn on windy days. Both bucks and does.

I’ve never tried it before for deer. I’ve hunted standing corn many times for pheasants. Obviously a completely different approach, as the goal pheasant hunting is to get a rooster to flush. I suspect the goal here is not to get a deer to “flush” or “run” but rather spot it, back off, and then get into a position to shoot it before it knows I’m there.

I walked about 3 rows in the other day just to check it out. Virtually every cob of corn has been eaten and there’s a highway of tracks/trails in there. Its obvious they’re just living in there right now.

When you do actually see one in there, are they usually laying down and/or sleeping or are they standing? I intend to shoot whatever I see since I have both my standard firearms tag and a bonus antler less permit.

My uncle would also stalk standing corn with his bow and shot a lot of nice bucks that way. Best to do on windy days. Obviously you want to go into the wind. Just walk across the rows and look down each one in a crosswise pattern. When you reach the end of the field move up a bit and go the other direction is how he did it but I am sure you could do it a multitude of ways.

I’ve only stalked deer in corn on a windy day a few times. The one nice buck my friend got was laying down and he shot it as it was getting up 20 yds away.

I’ve driven corn fields before walking with the rows. I saw a deer butt ahead of me about 40 yds. Leaned into the row to the left and shot a nice doe in the neck.

My son got a doe last night at his girlfriends place and got to cheat a little by using his rifle as we hunt in shotgun zone. It was very slow for us last weekend as far as deer sighting so it’s nice to have some meat for the freezer.

gimruis wrote:

When you do actually see one in there, are they usually laying down and/or sleeping or are they standing?

When hunting corn, wind is your best buddy. 99% of the deer I’ve taken in standing corn were shot while bedded. Many at less than 10 yards. I always would go from one row to the next with the barrel of the gun leading the way and used it to gently move a stalk or leaves out of the way so I could slip between stalks. Slow is key. If there are any rises in the land, so much the better. Look for deer to be on the windward side of a rise facing into the wind. You want to approach facing into the wind or have the wind at a 90 degree direction.

Always approach the field with the wind blowing into your face so you can work your way thru the field end to end.

Take a spool of trail marking tape with you. Lots of times the deer will get taken deep into the field. Marking your path thru the corn to the next edge will help in relocating the deer. If you shoot one, don’t assume any others will leave the corn. Keep hunting until you’ve covered the field. Often you’ll find one or more within 100 feet of where you just killed one. Deer in the corn are social animals and like to stay within a certain proximity of each other and between the wind noise and density of the corn itself your shot will be muffled so those other deer won’t know where it came from.

Thanks Jimmy, it’s plenty windy today and its west/southwest so I’ll be entering on the northeast side of the cornfield and meandering through to the southwest corner. One row at a time.

When I’m done this afternoon, I’m going to sit or stand on the edge of it where I’ve seen the deer entering it in the evening, a row or two in to break up my outline. Several times now I’ve seen them cross an open chisel plowed field and head into it right around 5pm. We don’t have a stand within reasonable shooting distance of this particular spot so I’ve seen them, but been unable to take a shot.

Well I tried the corn stalking tactic this afternoon. I methodically zig zagged through the corn into the wind, looking up and down the rows. Did not spot a deer. I went very slow through it.

After the corn stalk, I sat on the edge of it in one row in and waited until the end of legal shooting time. I never saw a deer doing that either.

It’s been a bit of a rough season for me the past few days. The wind was pretty merciless today. Maybe my luck will change tomorrow. Looks cooler with less wind.

Quick 1 hour sit after work. Public land doe. Felt good to put the knife to work.

Managed to lose the site tag on the drag out. Like most things, MN could take a page from other states for tagging. Simple sticker to wrap around.

Well im setup. Should be a good hunt. Sitting all day.

Day 7 in a row, still waiting. All day sit. At least the wind isnt blowing like a hurricane today.

ganderpike wrote:

Quick 1 hour sit after work. Public land doe. Felt good to put the knife to work.

Managed to lose the site tag on the drag out. Like most things, MN could take a page from other states for tagging. Simple sticker to wrap around.

Nice freezer filler!

Just a note that you can notch the tag and keep it in your pocket until you get to the truck, then attach it to the animal.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>ganderpike wrote:</div>
Quick 1 hour sit after work. Public land doe. Felt good to put the knife to work.

Managed to lose the site tag on the drag out. Like most things, MN could take a page from other states for tagging. Simple sticker to wrap around.

Nice freezer filler!

Just a note that you can notch the tag and keep it in your pocket until you get to the truck, then attach it to the animal.

Good to know, thanks. That will be done on the next

Of Course, Back at work and one of my cams near my stand is just blowing up with two shooter bucks chasing like crazy.

Justin riegel wrote:

Of Course, Back at work and one of my cams near my stand is just blowing up with two shooter bucks chasing like crazy.

My buddy bar tends and gun hunts on weekends at the bar he works at. On Tuesday he gets a text from the guy who bow hunts out there too and there was a nice buck on the trail cam about 50 yards away from where we were sitting in the bar LOL He said I left my damn gun on the kitchen table!

Had a giant catch me drawing on him at 10 yards.

Great thread! Last weekend, saw 2 doe in range within the first 10 min of shooting light. Decided to wait… didn’t see a deer the rest of the day, until leaving the field of course I spot 8 deer with a really nice shooter buck mixed in.

Youbetcha wrote:

Had a giant catch me drawing on him at 10 yards.

Dang hopefully there is hottie near by to keep him close.

Ended 5 days in Buffalo County bow hunting. Passed on a a few 120-130 class 8-9 pointers, and IDK how many 2.5 year old 7s and 8s I saw. Overall it was slower than usual for that area, the big boys weren’t quite going full bore yet. Had a few encounters with a 4.5 year old 9 and a big 8 that just never gave me the right shot.

Just got off work and I’m flying to WI.

My brother poked this one with the crossbow down in IL last Sat. His biggest ever. Tomorrow it’s my turn in central WI.

Thats a good one!

gimruis wrote:

Day 7 in a row, still waiting. All day sit. At least the wind isnt blowing like a hurricane today.

I’m on the hill for the day too. 36 degrees the warmest today and I have a fair blow here. The Sun has poked thru the clouds once here for about three minutes, otherwise heavy clouds. No rain but I have had flurries three times today… little popcorn cells that spit.

I have 52 acres of alfalfa about 70 yards away and I plan to camp on that for the last hour of shooting.

I counted 12 deer this evening. 4 of which were within bow range. But no shooter bucks. The farmer poop a nice one tonight in north branch on the land I hunt

Today was a really nice day sitting out there. Virtually no wind and temps around 40. Saw about a 6 pointer too far away at 10:45am this morning and then had a nice little corn fed antler less deer walk behind me at 3:45pm. I turned to see what it was when I heard it walking and it saw me, spooked, and ran off. That was the deer I was looking for to fill a bonus tag. Darn it.

Tell your farmer friend Congrats BC. Nice deer.

picklerick that’s a dandy your brother harvested. Tell him Congrats!

I started my 2 week Rutcation on 10/27. Wow has it been a slow grind. Big buck sightings have been almost none existent for me.
Drove home this morning. Going to put on the blaze orange, grab the bow and head into the sweet oxbow set up I posted about back in October.
My favorite time of year to hunt Mn is getting close. The amount of big bucks I have seen on there feet up through thanksgiving weekend after gun season has been great over the years.