Brent,

Congratulations on purchasing land!  It sounds as if the neighbors will do a good job of providing quality forage during the summer.  Hence, you need to concentrate on providing the best food in the neighborhood during the hunting season.  It’s very tough to beat standing corn and soybeans as a source of nutrition and as an attractant for white-tailed deer.  If the number of deer is relatively high in your neighborhood, then the local herd could consume all the food in your plots before hunting season – especially if the neighboring crops are harvested before or during hunting season.

A great tool to prevent that from happening in your situation is an electric fence!  A design using a two-layer system is very effective at excluding deer from desirable crops.  Then, simply remove the fence when you wish to begin hunting.

I’m putting up some fencing to protect some smaller plots at The Proving Grounds today (June 1^st).  Then, I’ll remove the fence just before I wish to hunt those plots.  This technique creates fabulous hunting hotspots!

Yes, standing corn works well as a sanctuary for deer!  I call standing corn an annual forest.  In areas where corn is grown commercially and typically harvested well before the end of deer season, standing corn crops can be the preferred food and cover source in the neighborhood!  Remember that when deer bed and feed in the same plot, they are very difficult to hunt.  In this situation, it is critical to not overpressure the plot and approach the area with caution!!  Knowing where deer bed is one thing.  Knowing how to approach and hunt that area is another.

It sounds as if you can create a fabulous hunting spot!

Growing Deer together,

Grant