stalking standing corn

[keith brimmer]

anybody do this?i remember reading about it or seeing a tape on it but dont remember any details except do it on a windy day.any tips

[Bowsey Wails]

My favorite way to hunt. Windy day is a must. Snow on the ground is a huge advantage. You gotta move super slow and maneuver into a shooting lane after you spot your deer.

Tim

[Ron LaClair]

Wind rattles the corn and covers any noise you'll make. Move cross rows slowly and look up and down each row. Binoculars are a big help allowing you to see farther down the rows and better distinguish the difference between a rock and a bedded deer. When a deer is spotted move down an adjoining row until close enough to step into the row for your shot.  

[Jeff Strubberg]

Can't do it anymore around here.  Farmers have gone to dense seeding.  Stalks aren't three, four inches apart here anymore.

[ChuckC]

Wensels et al have an old video out.  Something like "Hunting October Whitetails" .  One of the group gives a very detailed description of how they do it and it makes good sense, even if alone, but even better if in a group.  I have done it before..a bit.  no luck yet, but it sure is fun.
ChuckC

[Tim Fishell]

Check out Bowhunting October Whitetales 1&2 by Barry Wenzel and Rick Blass (?sp).  They have a segment in there about stalking corn.

[bridog]

I agree with Jeff.  It's next to impossible to do around here in Minn to.  Seems like you have to bust through the rows and they are narrower than I remember them to be or maybe I'm just wider...

I know people that have done it.  Snow, as said before is VERY helpful unless it is a field that has wide rows.  Try to do smaller fields that have been partially stripped.  That way you can at least get your bearings every once in awhile.  You can almost get motion sick when your 1/4 mile into a field, at least I do.

Brian

[Plug]

Very hard to do in DE since most of the corn is harvested before the fodder gets broke down.  With the narrow 30" rows and the stalks still being leafy you simply can't see up and down the row, let alone have a clear shooting lane.  

This year could be better because of the drought.  Or find a field still standing in November.  I shot a doe doing it a few years (well, many years) ago but put in a lot of hours doing it.  If you want to do it just for the sake of it have at it that's great, but if you are looking for productivity IMO it's a lot slower than hunting in the woods.

Now if you can take a staging area stand about 30 - 100 yds. in the woods alongside a corn field or section of corn field that was just harvested that day you have the best of both worlds.  Deer that have been on a deep woods bedding/corn field feeding pattern, plus the deer who have been bedding in the corn.  They tend to really hang in that zone for a day or two after the combine has taken away their bedroom.

I love to hunt the woods alongside of fresh picked corn fields.  Especially if the white oak mast is poor.  (This year in DE it will be good)

[KILLER B]

When i used to live in Michigan I shot several deer walking corn rows i missed one of the biggest bucks i have ever seen from about five yards away it doesn't take much of a corn stalk to send your arrow off target.  Took me a week to find it so grandpa would pop a tractor tire! But i find it very relaxing and extremely exiting when you finnaly put the sneek on one. And like many others have said wind and snow are huge bonuses.

[ishiwannabe]

Dan Fitzgerald has a tape on it too....he shoots a wheelie though, instinctive. Good info though...

[bmfer]

I shot a doe doing this with my " other " bow, it can work if you put the wind in your face.

[ArrowAtomik]

It is hard to do without breaking down some stalks.  Seems it was probably a better tactic before rows were planted so tightly.
Last year (before I turned to Trad), I shot a nice doe in a NJ cornfield that I spotted a few hundred yards from the road.  Hours of stalking her, but it was a blast.  Used the wind and got to within 35 yards and she came in the rest of the way trying to scare off whatever was crackling the stalks.  I wisht at the time that I had a longbow in my hand for the 10 yard broadside shot.  Pins, stabilizer, bubble-level, etc, kind of killed the climax at that point.

[bowmac]

I have a book that is probably out of print now "Toad's Tricks to Taking Whitetails in the Corn........and Everywhere Else". Living in Iowa our corn is planted close also but I have taken 2 does over the years hunting that way. Both shots were taken with me kneeling at around 12 yards. Wind is necessary and slow stalking. I also have shot numerous cornstalks while attempting to shoot deer. Also the Wensel's do cover this in one of there older video's.

[heydeerman]

I have Toads book and it can be had thru Buckmasters. Hunting October Whitetails can get you started. Best way to hunt IMO. You can be aggressive when the conditions are right.

[2-BIG]

I have taken several deer stalking cornfields and it can be slow but exciting at times. I like to do it on windy days or after a rain has soaked the stalks to make them silent. I learned the location in each field that the deer like to bed and it really helped to weed out a big portion of the cornfield that would have made an all day stalk out of it.

[Bowsey Wails]

The corn is also planted close here, thats why you need the wind or rain to cover the noise. It is also the case that stunted stalks, wet areas and racoon damage create open spots in the corn. I hunt my brother-in-law's 1500 acre dairy farm, 800 acres of corn, the rest grain, soybeans or pasture. There are a couple of small woodlots and hedgerows and it is here that you'll find all the other hunters (I was surprised at how many). Yes, hunting in the corn is tough, but thats where the deer are once the season starts. As 2-BIG said, you can learn the places favored by the deer, and yes, stalks do cause arrow deflections, but so do twigs. I think the most intimidating aspect of the corn is inability to see very far, but that works in your favor as well. Wind swirl is most pronounced where the corn meets hardwoods, so I try to avoid being to close to an edge. No backpack, fannypack or quiver. Leave 'em at the field edge. If you need a second arrow, you probably need to relocate anyway.

Tim

[Ron LaClair]

I'll say it again...   BINOCULARS!! I've never heard anyone stress that point but it will make a BIG difference extending the distance you can see down the rows.  

[luv2bowhunt]

I an with Ron on the Binoculars... they are a HUGE asset in that thick jungle of brown!

Corn stalking is one of my favorite ways to hunt... I get bored sitting in a tree stand for hours on end, stalking gives me the chance to move around and feel like I am making something happen. I still have not taken one while corn stalking but have had several close calls and even missed one a couple of years ago.

I like it windy and I also like some rain too when stalking the corn.

Kevin.

[Aeronut]

I have never been able to hunt standing corn around here.  The farmers have harvested it by the time deer season opens.

Dennis

[Bowsey Wails]

That will probably happen here this year as well; crops were in early this spring. It all depends on the moisture content of the corn.

Tim