Can you find the Redneck blind that is hidden next to this food plot system? There are 3 food plots, several Switchgrass pockets, an Egyptian Wheat planting, 2 mock scrapes and 1 waterhole. This hidden food plot system is tucked within a 15 acre valley, and allows for a complely non-invasive hunt.
Non-Invasive and Hidden Food Plots Are Critical
The 1 factor that commonly (probably more than many think) destroys a deer parcel, is overly pressured food plots. If the deer can see you, hear you or smell you when you get into a deer blind, I recommend cutting back the food plot, getting rid of the plot, screening your approach or completely changing your access. Those are the rules I hunt by, 100% without exception. If a food plot isn't hidden from your access and blind locations, then a change should always take place.
*Hiddenhabitat improvements are the only way to go, in particular on parcels that are 1000 acres in size or less. Spooking deer, should rarely if every, be an option.
Hiding A Food Plot
In the food plot system shown above, we have had great success being able to hunt non-invasively, while shooting mature bucks. The hidden blind within a sea of Egyptian Wheat is not only important because as a hunter you would have a hard time seeing the blind from the food plot, but because it is substantial enough to completely block our access to the blind. Once we approach the blind, we can open the door and get inside without making any sound. By keeping the blind on the ground, we don't have to blow deer out of the food plot by climbing a ladder and exposing our site and sound to the deer within the hidden food plot. By adding switchgrass to flank the food plots as well as within pockets on the benches within the valley system, we further reduce the amount of visibility for deer to see our access routes.
*Hidden food plot access allowed us to experience some incredible gun and late season hunts as a family, while still making sure that we didn't spook out the food plot movements.
Conclusion
If it isn't hidden, I wouldn't hunt it. If you live in some of the low pressure states such as Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, South Dakota and Nebraska then your access and blind locations will be much less critical. However even then, if you are going after the oldest buck in the neighborhood, taking a conservative approach is always best.
If you live in a high pressure state, such as MN, MI, WI, OH, PA and NY, you just can't afford to ever knowlingly place yourself in a position to scare deer off of a food plot. More important than the quality of your plantings, the variety of the seed or even how much lime or fertilizer you dump on your food plots, your plots have to be hidden or in my experience, your herd and hunting dreams can never be met.
