# Whitetail struggle



## kodoz (Nov 4, 2016)

So I picked an area this year that had big fields bordered by swamp, thinking these would be good spot and stalk areas. Now that I'm here, the fields are either all plowed under or have standing corn. I'm old and inexperienced, so the best plan I could come up with has been to sit between the fields and the swamp. Seemed like a good plan--I picked areas where I could see tracks moving through the area, but 4 days in I've seen one whitetail buck that I'm not sure wasn't a hallucination. 

Since it snowed last night, I went back to this one small corn field that has a 100-yards of low sage between it and swamp. The surrounding fields don't look like they'd work for bedding areas or feeding areas. I've seen plenty of tracks (but no scat), and identified a few areas where the deer seem to be passing through. I also roamed the corn and the swamp some late in the morning just to see if I could find bedded deer or additional sign...again, tracks, but definitely didn't scare up anything. Maybe there were some bedding areas in the swamp, but unless I actually saw a deer laying there I wouldn't know for sure. It's a low pressure area, and I've only seen a pair of pheasant hunters out here. (Compared to the area I scouted the first day, where I was hearing gunshots and found a couple gut piles.)

I'm getting in right before dawn or late afternoon, and am just not seeing anything moving around. The pics are from almost exactly where I was sitting yesterday afternoon--granted, it was windy last night and maybe that kept the deer sitting tight. I've sat in that field a few times now with nothing to see, so I thought tonight I'd go sit in a blown down area of the corn near where there were maybe 6 sets of tracks moving through. That's the best plan I can come up with for now, but I'm wondering if the deer are just holing up until after dark for now, and I should start looking at tag soup. I'm also getting the wife asking "Sooo, how's it going" which I don't even pretend is related to her level of interest, but just a gauge for when she needs to start throwing out the "When you coming home?" questions. Any thoughts? About the hunting strategy--not the wife situation.


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## johnrr65 (Nov 7, 2019)

Nice


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## ELK_91 (Nov 6, 2019)

I'm not sure what state your hunting in but i'm hunting Utah now (for elk). some of the issues i'm seeing is the lack of colder weather, no snow, and the last few nights have been near full moon. I have always noticed that animals always seem to move more at night under these conditions. make sure your in and set-up at your spot well before first light as the deer wont seem to mind you moving in as much at night when they cant see you and possibly can only hear/smell you. playing the wind should go without saying keep it in your face as much as possible when setting up to watch an area. also if your going to stalk through the swamp areas with the possible beds in them make sure to play the wind and GO SLOW. use your optics and try to spot anything laying down before you kick them up out of bed. Also if you have been there multiple days and haven't seen much its okay to move on to a new area or try the are where you previously heard gunshots and found gut piles. Keep your options open. 
Good luck i hope you have some success. i hope to hear some good news from your hunt.


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## kodoz (Nov 4, 2016)

I'm in Wyoming...where it was -3 this a.m. I was wondering about how the moon changed things up. I ended up setting up one eve between the swamp and the corn again, and saw nothing but the big orange moon and some pheasant. 

This am I went into an area where it looked like others have had some success. I can see tracks coming and going, but little scat, making me think the deer are just moving through...where from or where to, can't say. I decided to do some tracking just to see what I could see, and found a group of mule deer bedded in the area. Also saw them moving around a bit during the day. A bit of excitement, but later I drove down to another area I had some more experience with, and found both whitetail and mule deer out during the day feeding in public fields and some private hay fields. I bought a tag for that area tonight and am giving it a try tomorrow.


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## WFKraemer (Nov 12, 2019)

*Tree Stand?*

I don't know what your area looks like. When you said corn patch my thought was tree stand. Is there a tall tree you could put a stand in?


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## kodoz (Nov 4, 2016)

WFKraemer said:


> I don't know what your area looks like. When you said corn patch my thought was tree stand. Is there a tall tree you could put a stand in?


I wish. I never really understood why tree stands made sense until looking at this area. Now I totally get it. Most the trees are willow-looking trees...I'm at least trying to find high spots, but a tree stand would've made a huge difference.


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## kodoz (Nov 4, 2016)

I bailed on my initial hunt area and picked up tags for another area. Even though there was much more pressure there, the mulies and whitetails were out in the fields almost all day, with lots of movement just before dawn and in the late afternoon. Mostly private lands, and I coulda had several opportunities on nice bucks. Ended up getting my first fawn that I spotted from the road. I put more pressure on myself than I should have, and rushed the shot...they didn't see me, I had plenty of time, and there were bigger does there, but thinking about coming home empty handed, I picked the first broadside doe and hit it in the liver and paunch. Somehow wrenched my back and had to take a day off. Second day, I had many unsuccessful stalks on mature does...couldn't get them on public land, they spooked for some reason, or they bolted before I could convince myself they weren't mule deer (I can only tell from their tails...I've seen mulies that I couldve sworn were whitetails when they were looking at me). Eventually I managed another fawn at 5 pm on my last day. Not a lot of meat from this trip--these deer were smaller than antelope. But more than I'd have come back with if I'd stuck with my original area. I can't explain the difference...area 1, no sign of the deer where or when I'd have expected them. Area 2, deer moving around all day in grassy fields, with lots of pressure. There's a lesson here for me, but I'm not sure what it is....


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

back in iowa, when it was cold, the deer would feed throughout the day and night and bed for only short periods. it looks like the corn was standing in the one picture. if so, they were probably feeding and bedding in the corn. if the other area didnt have corn, they were probably out in the open fields feeding during the day to keep warm. 
at least you got some deer.


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