How to access hard to reach location?

[regulat0r]

I recently obtained permission to bow hunt a 50 acre farm in my town. The owner asked that I park in front of the barn so he knows when I’m there and also said one other guy hunts it and uses ladder stands. I walked the property today and came across 2 challenges that I would like some help with. 

1- the farm has 2 large hay fields with a thin strip of wood lot on the backside of the property. In order to get to the back wood lot, I would have to either walk across the field or along the edge to do so. I feel like in the early morning darkness, I would spook any deer that were out feeding in the fields. How do I get back to the wood lot undetected?

2- when I got in in the wood lot, I found a few good stand locations but they are in the thickest, nastiest stuff imaginable. How do I get to these spots without sounding like a heard of elephants getting there. 

Any insight would be appreciated!

[Robhuntandfish]

I have that same issue and pray for corn every year.  I generally hunt them only in the afternoon cause the deer busted me in the fields all the time in the am. Come in the dark and get blown at.  Come in the light and get seen.  

If you can find a way to come in at the far corner of the field from behind along the treeline great .  Otherwise your gonna need to be beamed in Scotty or take the chance of being busted or only hunt afternoons.  

Although any am's I would hunt I would wait til it was light enough to glass the field and if no deer go for it 

Edited August 8, 2019 by Robhuntandfish

[First-light]

I have a spot like this. You have to go across some prime areas to get to it. I have learned to just get from point a to b the quickest way possible. In the dark you mat bust a few deer but they will settle down after a while. Scent is key also. Spray on the scent killer and put some doe estrous on the boots. 

[Swamp_bucks]

Had same sort of issues when i hunted my families old farm.  Had two huge fields before you got to the woods to sit.  My cousin whos 20 yrs older always told me to just walk up the middle of the field to get in the woods.  Always said if you kept moving they wouldnt care.  And i can say i never had a deer blow at me or sprint out of the field.  Even when we would take the atv.  Could always see the outline in the moon light and they would flip tails up and just watch.   

Does the farmer allow you to have an atv?  If the farmer uses one or the other hunter the deer may not think twice about seeing you drive past them. 

[G-Man]

Middle of field in the dark .. as for getting in the thick nasty. Being new to property I would set up on edge of it and observe and then decide if thick and nasty is where I have to be.. there is always great sign in those places because deer are undisturbed.  You entering them no matter how you do may change that.. observe and move where you need to be , rather than move in and move deer out.. it's better to be in spot to get a deer you may see ,then see deer you may maybe get ....

[Swamp_bucks]

2 hours ago, G-Man said:

Middle of field in the dark .. as for getting in the thick nasty. Being new to property I would set up on edge of it and observe and then decide if thick and nasty is where I have to be.. there is always great sign in those places because deer are undisturbed.  You entering them no matter how you do may change that.. observe and move where you need to be , rather than move in and move deer out.. it's better to be in spot to get a deer you may see ,then see deer you may maybe get ....

I dont no why it worked there, maybe just so many generations had done it.  But middle of those fields worked in dark.  Walked the edges and got busted everytime.   Could be deer just became used to it.  Idk but between my grandpa and cousin they have taken alot of mature bucks  of that property doing it.  

[G-Man]

12 minutes ago, Swamp_bucks said:

I dont no why it worked there, maybe just so many generations had done it.  But middle of those fields worked in dark.  Walked the edges and got busted everytime.   Could be deer just became used to it.  Idk but between my grandpa and cousin they have taken alot of mature bucks  of that property doing it.  

My farm in Lancaster was set up same way. I walked hedge row back to woods and always spooked game. They would lay in field 20 or 30 yards from hedge row.. you spooked them they were gone, but walk in middle of field and deer would just get up move to hedge and let you pass.. walking the edge removed their escape and made them feel unsafe and the left for parts unknown , the middle of field they would move off to security in hedge and let you pass..

[Nomad]

30 some years I’ve walked farm field edges to get to my spots. Now I may be a bit unconventional but I go in as I can start to see , and glass as I go . If I spot them first I either duck into the woods and walk that edge , change my route ,  back out and go to another stand ,wait them out , just wing it . For me the odds that some deer out in the field will end up going by where I’m headed ,isn’t that much of a concern. If they’re flatheads , I don’t really care at all what they do .

Gman , for years I walked in, in the middle of the field as well, my thought was, I didn’t want to leave my scent line along the edge of the woods . Deer always stop at the wood line before stepping in and I didn’t want my scent there . I figured out in the middle they wouldn’t know where I was and might run to the woods . Just an uneducated guess .

Edited August 9, 2019 by Nomad

[wolc123]

Park where he wants you to, then pay him $20 to drop you off with his pickup truck, back by the woods.   During the ride, he can give you pointers on stand locations, etc.   It is a win-win deal, he gets to take the wife out to Mcdonald's for dinner and you get a ride and some prime intel.    

Edited August 9, 2019 by wolc123

[Jeremy K]

Don't forget to play the wind while you;re walking in also. 

[regulat0r]

12 hours ago, G-Man said:

Middle of field in the dark .. as for getting in the thick nasty. Being new to property I would set up on edge of it and observe and then decide if thick and nasty is where I have to be.. there is always great sign in those places because deer are undisturbed.  You entering them no matter how you do may change that.. observe and move where you need to be , rather than move in and move deer out.. it's better to be in spot to get a deer you may see ,then see deer you may maybe get ....

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I’ll do it the one fashioned way and try one way and adapt as I go. That’s one of the best parts about hunting, you learn something new every time you go out and constantly improve your strategy. 

[Rattler]

If there was a big enough buck in the area to make it worthwhile, I'd go into my stand about midnight and sleep in it until legal light.  It's not like I've never done it in the past.

[grampy]

I'm with the just walk down the middle guys. And don't sneak! Nonchalantly just walk a straight line, preferably into the wind, without stopping, until you reach the woodline.

Years ago I knew an old timer who told me, "deer know when your hunting them! So act and walk like you're not hunting, when they can see ya"! 

He killed some of the biggest bucks in this area during his lifetime. So when he gave advise, I listened.

 

[Core]

A few weeks back I was driving along a road and saw a ton of deer in a weird spot on the side of the road. They paid me no attention. I turned around and stopped my car on the road to get a second look. The second I slowed they all stopped what they were doing and looked at me.

I think the idea above about the middle of the field walking like you're on a stroll is definitely the ticket.

If you can do it a couple hours before sunset, when the deer are still down, even better.