Just like last year (my first hunting real Whitetail), I can't get to OK until the day after gun season opens. Unlike last year, I did not get a blind placed near a feeder months before. I have two feeders and only the gravity feeder has a camera. That one gets plenty of deer. I'm brainstorming what's the best approach to not getting busted. I'm attempting to see which directions the deer approach the feeder from via looking at the cell photos, and will note the wind direction when there (wind from the east is most common).
The gravity feeder is in a clearing that is within about a 1/2 acre spot with fencing to keep cattle out (none now) which was intended for hunting by past owners. The "hunting pen" is surrounded/partially filled with oak, cedar, and (darn) locust trees, save for gaps to the west (a vehicle gate), east (a little wider than a gate) and south (about 1/3 the side of that fence line is open). As best I can tell, the deer seem to most often jump the east or south fence vs walk through the gate. Really heavy cover is about 200 yards to the west of the hunting pen on a neighbor's place and my bit of Lake Eufaula back water is about 200 yards to the east of the pen.
Until I get done harvesting deer this year, I think I'll brush-in my 360 ground blind among the spindly trees/bush at the right margin of the photo (near the west gate, and likely downwind), and hope for the best. Past owners put a climbing stand in the tree aligned on the buck's back or a ladder stand about 15 yards behind the one the camera is strapped to.
May get another ground blind to put by my camera-less broadcast feeder where I hunted last year. After the cooler is filled, I think I'd like to get a two person ladder stand where one was before.
Ultimately, I'd like to try a bale blind on a sled/skid I can leave out all year and/or an elevated box blind outside of the pen with line of sight to the feeder and the presumed paths between the pen and the lake. Or a box blind on a sled/skid.
Good luck and happy hunting to all!
The gravity feeder is in a clearing that is within about a 1/2 acre spot with fencing to keep cattle out (none now) which was intended for hunting by past owners. The "hunting pen" is surrounded/partially filled with oak, cedar, and (darn) locust trees, save for gaps to the west (a vehicle gate), east (a little wider than a gate) and south (about 1/3 the side of that fence line is open). As best I can tell, the deer seem to most often jump the east or south fence vs walk through the gate. Really heavy cover is about 200 yards to the west of the hunting pen on a neighbor's place and my bit of Lake Eufaula back water is about 200 yards to the east of the pen.
Until I get done harvesting deer this year, I think I'll brush-in my 360 ground blind among the spindly trees/bush at the right margin of the photo (near the west gate, and likely downwind), and hope for the best. Past owners put a climbing stand in the tree aligned on the buck's back or a ladder stand about 15 yards behind the one the camera is strapped to.
May get another ground blind to put by my camera-less broadcast feeder where I hunted last year. After the cooler is filled, I think I'd like to get a two person ladder stand where one was before.
Ultimately, I'd like to try a bale blind on a sled/skid I can leave out all year and/or an elevated box blind outside of the pen with line of sight to the feeder and the presumed paths between the pen and the lake. Or a box blind on a sled/skid.
Good luck and happy hunting to all!
