ariel photo, would like to get some input


rance56

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below is a ariel photo of a piece of property ill be hunting in illinios in schuyler county. ill have one day to scout if for the first firearms season. would like some suggestions on waht areas to check out first. its a total of 215 acres, split into about half equal parts. thanks

illinios2.jpg

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I would start out by talking to the guy farming it. He spends more time there than anyone usually. Then if the farmer isn't the landowner talk to him. Since you only have one day to scout I would stay out of there. Find a vantage point where you can see most of the property without being detected and glass. I would probably try to slip in somewhere there is a bottle neck in the timber for the morning hunt and find a spot where I could shoot the farthest in any direction on a field for the evening hunt. Remember if you see a bunch of does in a field while scouting in the evening that is probably a good starting point. Some lonely buck is surely to cruise out there looking for a girlfriend that time of year.

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The nice thing about that property is you have roads intersecting for some great surveillance before hunting.

I would be sitting in the mornings and evenings and glassing from the roads to see where the deer are leaving and entering those Soybean fields. Once you find that out, it's just a matter of following their trails, to find a good spot to set-up, for morning hunts and evening hunts.

Those clover patches look promising too.

That's a great looking piece of property, and you are going to have a lot of fun getting to know it, like the back of your hand.

Good luck, and happy huntin.

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Without knowing the topography a couple places that look excellent to me are (I'm assuming north is up): The southwest corner of west corn field. There is a good inside corner there with clover too. Defintely would check there first, looks great. There is also a good inside corner with clover on the east side of the east cornfield. Plus there are two draws that come off of the bigger draw. Great pinch point. Also the longer skinny clover plot on the western property looks like a good spot. Kinda close to the road but looks like its tucked back far enough for the deer to feel comfortable as vehicles drive by. Too many good spots to list em all. Your gonna be in deer heaven. Good Luck

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I would also try to download Google Earth and see if you can find some deer trails - Google earth allows you to zoom in on a property very close and can provide some useful information like well-worn trails from years of deer using the same patterns. That has worked for me, even on land that I hunted for 4 years. i discovered the main entry point on about 60 acres after looking it up. Suddenly it all came together after that.

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I just saw this thread...I Love thinking about these scenarios and reading what other people think too!

Usually in these I look for the thickest cover first then look at the area between that and the nearest food source. With this one it's really been challenging and fun.

It's made me think about the scenario in a different way than ever before which to me is a really good thing.

At first I looked at it in the old fashioned way for me and thought: "I'm really at a loss on this one"

Then something popped into my head which I have to ask you about.

WIND DIRECTION

I know you said "First Shotgun Season"...

What time of the year is that for this area?

Is it during the rut or just before?

Where the Does are is always a good place to start from. Obviously your not going to kill a big buck looking at where the Does are but look at where the Bucks are in relation to them at that time of year.

Will they be in the areas downwind starting to scent check? Or will they already be trailing and tending?

Here is what has popped into my head in relation to thinking like the above...

Since you only have one day I'd limit my attempts to cover area looking around to make it the most productive:

For the Pre-Rut...Thinking as if the Does are on one of the clover plots I'd be looking for the thicker areas of tree on the downwind side of the plots.

For the Rut...I'd be looking closer to the plots but still in the cover of the trees looking for saddles, travel corridors, and sides of the lower elevation small ridges(lower than the surrounding ridges or food plots) that deer would travel getting to the food source from heavy cover.

Starting Spots For Scouting:

Using C_LOU's Pic(thanks buddy)...in the upper right box marked corn:

Triangulate the center of his 3 red dots and look in the finger of woods for trails;)

In the lower left box marked corn:

Start looking in the area between his upper red dot and the northwest clover plot;)

I think you'd be doing good if you could check out both of those areas in one day. Keeping in mind what the wind direction is always making sure your on the downwind side while doing your scouting as much as is possible and still get in there and look. The areas I suggested are places I would look and in my opinion they would give me the best chance of bringing together all the aspects of availible cover, food sources, and the decreased amount of time for scouting.

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