Will a hidey hole plot benefit my hunting property?

By Grant Woods,

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Question
Good morning Grant and team!
I am writing from the great state of Wisconsin, and first wanted to thank you for all the great information on your site! I have learned a lot from all the other previously asked questions but figured I would try one of my own.

I hunt a small peninsula it is only a few acres in size and seperated from the rest of the private land by a small river. It’s very thick with both a mature pine and oak canopy, as well as enough vines and dead fall trees that it’s an excursion just to get there. A little over 200 years from me, on the neighbors land is a large corn field. I have dressed several deer with stomachs full from them. I have been looking at food plots but the cons side seem to outweigh the pro and hoping for your input. The soil is very Sandy with little direct sunlight. Additionally thanks to cranberry bogs nearby the river floods a couple days at a time, a few times per year, putting my stand underwater. My gut tells me I can overcome the soil issues, but water will be tough. I also great that a small food plot near me will not be able to compete with the corn fields to draw deer. The optimist in me wants to say even a 50’x50′ section of what or soybeans might be enough to get a deer to detour quick while coming or going to bedding, but I’d it with it to disturb the area?

 

Joe,

Thank you for sharing the kind words!

I agree that it will be difficult to compete with a large ag field as far as providing nutrition to the local deer herd.
Deer, especially mature bucks, will often use hidey hole plots as staging areas before entering large feeding areas. I do suggest you create a hidey hole plot!  You may need to protect it with a Hot Zone fence from over browsing until you are ready to hunt.  Staging areas can be great stand/blind locations!

Before establishing the plot consider how you will enter, hunt, and exit without alerting deer!  These are critical aspects of a good staging area stand!

Enjoy creation,

grant

December 3, 2015