What would you do????

[firediver]

There is a 3/4 acre field at one of my hunting spots where the landowner used to plant corn and leave it for the critters to eat. I hunt the timber in the bottom right corner of this picture and his private stash of corn was always loaded with deer when I walked out at night. Since I started hunting this particular farm late in the season.....I didn't take time to set up on this field. I was gonna' do so the following year but he stopped planting the corn.

This will be the second year where he doesn't plant anything so he is gonna' let me put in a food plot.

Here is what I "we" have......

The brown/gray square is the 3/4 acre plot...there is a 20' wide by 1' to 5' deep creek/river that runs along the top and a wimpy little creek (orange) with deep banks that runs along the left side (west side).

The timber I hunt to the bottom right is 20ish acres of hardwoods that slopes up from left to right with a cornfield on top (neighbors). Everything else is pasture.

Deer love to walked the river banks or funnel down into the soon-to-be plot from the timber. There are several river crossings going from the corn to the timber.

The cornfield in the top right of the picture is HUGE and the green circles are scrub trees that are growing along the river.

The circled numbers are pictures of rubs from 2 years ago that will be at the end of this post. I've tried to set up in the north end of the timber but good cover is hard to find.....actually impossible. Plus the slope makes it hard for a ground blind.

So.....my plan is to put something back into the field that will draw deer in. It is a super short walk from where I park and I would easily be able to slip in and out without spooking deer like I sometimes do when hunting the timber.

OK...now on to the plot. I have two mixes. One is Evolved-Pro Graze which is a mix of Brassica, Clover, and Chicory....and the other is Evolved-Exceed which is a mix of Lablab beans (legume), soybeans, and corn. My thought is to create an outside corner by planting the the Exceed in the gray area and the Pro Graze in the brown area. It is 60 yards across the plot and the outside corner (where bucks like to stand) will be well within bow range.

My only option for a setup is either a ground blind tucked in near the red circle which is a giant oak tree.....or building some sort of platform/ladder stand in the mighty oak. I want to be off the ground so I am gonna' probably build a platform.

Questions.........

Since I am still a food plot rookie, do you agree with my "stratigery"....?

Have you ever put a stand in a tree with a 4'+ diameter...if so, how? (Even if I build a platform to hunt out of...I still need a spot for the cameraman)

This tree has limbs the size of large trees and I was also thinking about building individual, elevated platforms on two of these limbs and just using a ladder or climbing stix to get into them.

If I can't get into that tree.....a ground blind won't be bad.

OK...here are some pictures

The farm....


Rub #1


Rub #2


Rub #3


Sheds that were found this spring in the pasture in the top right of the photo

[firediver]

I talked to oneshot tonight and he mentioned that I should have a stand opposite the oak so I can hunt different winds.

With that.....I'm gonna' change the shape of the plot and put a stand in the top right corner of the plot

[MJewell]

How far is the rub #1 from the mighty oak. if you look at the three rubs you can see how the buck is moving. I'd have an stand set for the right wind not far from the rub line. As for the food plot two stands, one on either side is an good idea, so you can play the wind.

Matt

this is what i would do buddy and pal. i would invite me down for 10 days prime time. PERIOD
thats it nothing else. IM OPEN ANYTIME. DONT BE SCARED, YOU CAN RUN CAMERA. THANKS FRIEND

RAINMAN

[firediver]

I trust your advice......if that is what you think I should do, let me know when you are coming.