Tips & Tactics

Super Shooting Lanes

Super Shooting Lanes

By Kenneth Pate

If you plant corn in your plots to hunt over, you know how difficult it can be to get a clear shot as whitetails pass through the thick stuff.

I have a solution that will not only give you a nice shooting lane, but will attract deer to your plot, as well.

On my land in South Carolina, I plant a row of corn, then a row of Austrian winter peas, alternating the plants throughout the rows situated in front of my stands.

The winter peas grow like a vine, low to the ground, creating openings between the rows of corn, offering an unobstructed shot.

Deer will pause to browse on the plants as they come through, nibbling on leaves, pods, stems or the vines themselves, which is great because they offer stationary targets to bowhunters.

Some hunters like to leave a few corn rows unplanted to have a shooting lane, or mow lanes with a Bush Hog in standing corn. Hunting over mowed corn might not even be legal in some places.

Austrian winter peas are a much better solution, and they are easy-to-plant annuals that grow very quickly in late summer.

If you want to know more about planting and nutritional benefits, there is a wealth of information online.  Simply search “Austrian winter peas for deer.”

Copyright 2024 by Buckmasters, Ltd.

Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd