How to access opening day sit

[swiftni]

Found a big buck, he came out 30-40 yards from north tree line. Came out 20 minutes before dark.

I can sneak up the north tree line in a ditch and have a clean entry without being seen (hopefully). Red line.

I could cut across the bean field to set up south of where he entered for a 20 yard chip shot. Blue line.

Not sure bedding location, but there are lots of bedding opportunities north and north east. Field due north is standing corn, northeast gets thick and nasty (don’t have permission on either). Could be bedding on the edge or up to 150 yards back. Can’t figure out my best option for access, but I want to hunt this tomorrow for opener.

Any thoughts? Would you worry about walking through a bean field? NE wind tomorrow.

[Brad]

Found a big buck, he came out 30-40 yards from north tree line. Came out 20 minutes before dark.

I can sneak up the north tree line in a ditch and have a clean entry without being seen (hopefully). Red line.

I could cut across the bean field to set up south of where he entered for a 20 yard chip shot. Blue line.

Not sure bedding location, but there are lots of bedding opportunities north and north east. Field due north is standing corn, northeast gets thick and nasty (don’t have permission on either). Could be bedding on the edge or up to 150 yards back. Can’t figure out my best option for access, but I want to hunt this tomorrow for opener.

Any thoughts? Would you worry about walking through a bean field? NE wind tomorrow.

So, I didn't see this post in time to give you any input before your opening day, but I'm interested in what happened. My thought when I see your two options is that either one of those gets you busted if he is entering that spot because he has scent checked the field where the thermals are dropping to. It's hard to tell from your pic if there is an elevation change making a low area, but often those fingers like the one south of your bucks entry is a creek drainage that does pull thermals down. My opinion is with less experience than many of the guys on here, but I would think the best thing to do is find the area he's coming from and intercept him there.

My opening day I was hunting an area that I knew for certain was going to get a ton of pressure and had a bean field that a good number of bucks including some really nice ones were entering the field leading up to opening day. I knew there would be multiple other hunters all around the edge of this particular bean field or just into the timber off of the edge. They were entering from a finger similar to the one in your picture, which was a creek drainage. I went down the drainage about 250 yards from where the bucks were entering the field, not far from a couple points with what I knew were bedding areas. I watched a large buck come out after sunset and bed down on the point opposite where I was, where he could smell that entire area as the thermals drop. I'm not going to get into what happened next, because I'm still unhappy about it.. but lets just say, what I am describing to you is exactly how it played out. When I came out after dark I ran into 4 other groups of hunters that were around that bean field, and none of them would have even known that buck was there.

[swiftni]

Found a big buck, he came out 30-40 yards from north tree line. Came out 20 minutes before dark.

I can sneak up the north tree line in a ditch and have a clean entry without being seen (hopefully). Red line.

I could cut across the bean field to set up south of where he entered for a 20 yard chip shot. Blue line.

Not sure bedding location, but there are lots of bedding opportunities north and north east. Field due north is standing corn, northeast gets thick and nasty (don’t have permission on either). Could be bedding on the edge or up to 150 yards back. Can’t figure out my best option for access, but I want to hunt this tomorrow for opener.

Any thoughts? Would you worry about walking through a bean field? NE wind tomorrow.

So, I didn't see this post in time to give you any input before your opening day, but I'm interested in what happened. My thought when I see your two options is that either one of those gets you busted if he is entering that spot because he has scent checked the field where the thermals are dropping to. It's hard to tell from your pic if there is an elevation change making a low area, but often those fingers like the one south of your bucks entry is a creek drainage that does pull thermals down. My opinion is with less experience than many of the guys on here, but I would think the best thing to do is find the area he's coming from and intercept him there.

My opening day I was hunting an area that I knew for certain was going to get a ton of pressure and had a bean field that a good number of bucks including some really nice ones were entering the field leading up to opening day. I knew there would be multiple other hunters all around the edge of this particular bean field or just into the timber off of the edge. They were entering from a finger similar to the one in your picture, which was a creek drainage. I went down the drainage about 250 yards from where the bucks were entering the field, not far from a couple points with what I knew were bedding areas. I watched a large buck come out after sunset and bed down on the point opposite where I was, where he could smell that entire area as the thermals drop. I'm not going to get into what happened next, because I'm still unhappy about it.. but lets just say, what I am describing to you is exactly how it played out. When I came out after dark I ran into 4 other groups of hunters that were around that bean field, and none of them would have even known that buck was there.

Unfortunately, I only have permission on the field and not the bedding or staging properties.

BUT I took the blue route in, and the wind was stiff N / NE. Shot a big doe at 6:30 because she stuck around too long and was getting spooky on my ground scent. At 7:15 two bucks entered the field from the north corner, and I shot the big one I had glassed and found the night before working a licking branch at 4 yards. Awesome way to start the season!

[Wihunter95]

Awesome!

[Buckslayer#13]

Congrats well played

[Bonecrusher101]

Way to go! Got yourself a buck and a doe!

[MitchB]

Dude, I don’t know why you’re asking, seems like you have a pretty good handle on it. Congrats, nice deer!

[Brad]

That's awesome! Great buck, & an outstanding hunt! Hope you get another tag!

[218er]

I would have said use whatever cover is there and don’t walk across the bean field during daylight, you’re probably being watched. That being said, you obviously have it figured out. Nice buck, congratulations!

[Huntress13]

Nice!!

[Jrdeerhuntr]

Glad it worked for you - I wish we could have seen the south end I would have liked to travel from the south, to not leave the ground scent.

[swiftni]

Thanks everyone! I was definitely worried about the eyes, but it seemed to work out! Now time to find another target for my second tag.

[swiftni]

Glad it worked for you - I wish we could have seen the south end I would have liked to travel from the south, to not leave the ground scent.

Here is the full property, I was worried about spooking anything in that long tree line south, couldn’t get down in the ditch there either - but I could have spooked stuff in N tree line just as easy.

[Groundhunter@1]

Good stuff