First off, I want you to know I love what you guys do! How you manage your land, deer, and how you respect each deer harvested. You give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the harvest. Hard to find that now-a-days. I am new to hunting, its only my second season. I am stationed in North Carolina and hunt on a local friends land. I attached a picture of his land with this question to help explain my problem. I placed a corn pile with some buck jam on it in the corn of the field with waist high grass where I thought there was a lot of traffic (the red dot). About a week later I checked the corn and found it wasn\’t touched. I then placed a trail cam and thought maybe I should give the pile more time and see if I can catch any pictures. I came back after waiting another week and had 42 pictures of just raccoons and birds. In my frustration I decided to search the entire property. While I searched I found tracks all over (they are represented in blue dots). I know now why they didn\’t want my corn. they are eating out at the bean fields on both sides of the field where my corn is located. While looking in the woods near my corn I found a large deer trail next to a large ditch. While following it I found multiple rubs about 2-4 inches long. Some rubs were on top of old rubs from previous years looks like. I got really excited because this is my first real sign of a buck other than tracks. I want to harvest that big buck this year and I was wondering if you could help me improve my chances with some big tips? Where are they likely bedding? Where should I hunt this weekend? Should I move my trail cam? How do I judge wind? I really appreciate you taking the time to read this question, especially since it is lengthy. I look forward to your help.

P.S. This weekend is opening day. I don\’t have a lot of money so I using baking soda to kill my scent on EVERYTHING. I wash my hunting clothes and boots in it and then dry them with baking soda. I store them in a plastic bin and sprinkle them with baking soda. I also shower with a unscented soap mixed with baking soda. I did this whole routine before I searched the land for signs so I hope I didn\’t ruin my chances with my scent. I think I made a mistake by touching the rubs but I don\’t know.

(Red dot: Corn pile with cam)
(Yellow: Deer stands)
(Blue: Deer tracks)
(White: Ditch)

Sincerely,