Am i in the right place or not?

Devil's advocate here but if your bait is new the deer might shy away from it not go to it.
Also are you leaving a bunch of scent when you go scouting, might be spooking your deer out as well.

Good luck though !!
 
I started bow hunting for deer at age 16. On my own with no information, no clue what I was doing. I hunted public and private, never saw a deer.

After many fruitless outings, I eventually learned rule #1 of deer hunting: Find deer, not a place to hunt deer.

You can make an unproductive property productive, but that takes hours and hours of year-round preparation and work, and it generally takes 2-3 years to establish adequate food and/or cover to get deer to move into an area and use it.
If I was a Midwest whitetail hunter, I’d listen to this guy.
 
A few things to consider that I've used over the years.
I'll break down a few levels of hierarchy for how I got started.

Phase 1 - Just get started
Find public, learn on it, grow your experience levels, embrace the suck etc.
I started hunting at age 25 and cut my teeth on public, ground hunting whitetail in open country in Oklahoma.
I got my teeth kicked in repeatedly, but it was the best thing I could have ever have done to cut the learning curve.

Phase 2 - Use your sphere of influence and inner circle to potentially gain access.
Do you go to church? Ask someone there if you could possibly hunt their ground.
Do you play sports? Do any of your teammates have farm ground to hunt?
Do you have any buddies who hunt? Ask them where they hunt and try to join them.
Does anyone at your mom/dad's work own land? Can they ask for you?

A lot of my hunting peers and land owner friends are often talking about how they are allowing someone from church or a friends' kid come out and hunt their land.
People want to see next generations come up and learn the joys of the outdoors. So more often than not you will find people who want to help you.
Be humble and willing to learn. You will be surprised how many people will be there to help and ensure you have success.

Phase 3 - When all else fails - knock on doors
I'm 37 and I still knock on doors, write people hand written letters, or stop them on a tractor for a conversation.
People struggle with communication these days thanks to technology and people miss out on the power of a handshake and in-person convos.

I still offer to do work on their farms or clean up of their property, I offer to take and teach anyone in their families that may want to hunt, I build relationships that last and benefit the land owner too, not just me.

I moved to Missouri back in June of 22 and I now have access to 5 properties and over 1,200 acres to hunt.
Not to mention we are truly blessed with tons of public around here to explore.


Last and not least - if for some reason you cant get this all figured out by second antlerless rifle, shoot me a message.
 
A few things to consider that I've used over the years.
I'll break down a few levels of hierarchy for how I got started.

Phase 1 - Just get started
Find public, learn on it, grow your experience levels, embrace the suck etc.
I started hunting at age 25 and cut my teeth on public, ground hunting whitetail in open country in Oklahoma.
I got my teeth kicked in repeatedly, but it was the best thing I could have ever have done to cut the learning curve.

Phase 2 - Use your sphere of influence and inner circle to potentially gain access.
Do you go to church? Ask someone there if you could possibly hunt their ground.
Do you play sports? Do any of your teammates have farm ground to hunt?
Do you have any buddies who hunt? Ask them where they hunt and try to join them.
Does anyone at your mom/dad's work own land? Can they ask for you?

A lot of my hunting peers and land owner friends are often talking about how they are allowing someone from church or a friends' kid come out and hunt their land.
People want to see next generations come up and learn the joys of the outdoors. So more often than not you will find people who want to help you.
Be humble and willing to learn. You will be surprised how many people will be there to help and ensure you have success.

Phase 3 - When all else fails - knock on doors
I'm 37 and I still knock on doors, write people hand written letters, or stop them on a tractor for a conversation.
People struggle with communication these days thanks to technology and people miss out on the power of a handshake and in-person convos.

I still offer to do work on their farms or clean up of their property, I offer to take and teach anyone in their families that may want to hunt, I build relationships that last and benefit the land owner too, not just me.

I moved to Missouri back in June of 22 and I now have access to 5 properties and over 1,200 acres to hunt.
Not to mention we are truly blessed with tons of public around here to explore.


Last and not least - if for some reason you cant get this all figured out by second antlerless rifle, shoot me a message.
When it comes to phase 2 I don't have to many people with that much land or know very many people. Phase 3 I'm gonna try soon I got a neighbor that let's people hunt on them alot and they have 195 acres. And with deer season 4 days away I think I should be fine I got 2 places to hunt with good oak trees and 1 has a field of just regular grass doubt that's gonna help but maybe? So now I'm just getting things ready on my end such as making sure the rifles ready and making sure I got everything ready and just the little things also I may hit you possibly around muzzleloader season
 
When it comes to phase 2 I don't have to many people with that much land or know very many people. Phase 3 I'm gonna try soon I got a neighbor that let's people hunt on them alot and they have 195 acres. And with deer season 4 days away I think I should be fine I got 2 places to hunt with good oak trees and 1 has a field of just regular grass doubt that's gonna help but maybe? So now I'm just getting things ready on my end such as making sure the rifles ready and making sure I got everything ready and just the little things also I may hit you possibly around muzzleloader season
That grass field could be good. I've shot many deer in grass fields. Make sure you sit on the down wind side side.
 
Last night was my 5th bowhunting outing of the season. The first 4 we’re in spots I planned out a year ago. Fresh sign was sparse, and I saw a total of 1 deer, a yearling buck.

On Monday I did a little scouting in a different area and I located fresh sign, bedding, food, staging zone, and connecting trails of a doe and 2 fawns.

Last night I sat on a log in the staging area, just outside the bedding area. 15 minutes later a doe fawn walked into my lap and I double-lunged her at 8 yards, and watched her flop over 5 seconds later.
 
Last night was my 5th bowhunting outing of the season. The first 4 we’re in spots I planned out a year ago. Fresh sign was sparse, and I saw a total of 1 deer, a yearling buck.

On Monday I did a little scouting in a different area and I located fresh sign, bedding, food, staging zone, and connecting trails of a doe and 2 fawns.

Last night I sat on a log in the staging area, just outside the bedding area. 15 minutes later a doe fawn walked into my lap and I double-lunged her at 8 yards, and watched her flop over 5 seconds later.
Sweet sounds like a good spot to me. I filled my tag on the 5 acres so I think I'm in the right spot for does maybe not bucks though but time will tell
 
Your 5 acre spot sounds like a prime prime spot where a buck will lead a doe to lock her down when it's time to breed. Rut might be pretty crazy in that spot. I know the urge to check cameras is strong, but I would stay out there as much as possible from here on out only going in to hunt.
 
I would figure out where
I was going to set up on several likely places and different wind directions on the 5 acres and stay the heck out of there. It doesn't take too much pressure on a woods that small to run deer out. Deer may end up using that woods as a safe place once the season starts and other properties get pressured by hunters walking around , checking cams and looking for sign as well as agricultural harvests and activity.
 
Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

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