A two mile long hardwood ridge runs the full length of the farm alongside Spring Lake, a backwater lake in the Illinois River valley. This wetland is used for waterfowl hunting, but is off limits to deer hunting, creating a no hunting zone bordering the north and south sides.
Water in Spring Lake funnels deer moving through the wetland, up into this farm. During the rut, cruising bucks use the main ridge as they move between the no hunting wetlands in search of does.
Deer in the wetland bottoms don't have ag fields nearby, the closest food is just up the ridge on this farm.
Multiple existing fields surrounded by timber lay out well for food plots. To improve on these large hidden food sources, we enhanced them to consistently produce close, bow range shot opportunities. Each have a grain (corn) component and a green (brassica) component.
Trails were installed for access and to adjust how deer flow through the farm. The terrain has created natural deer movement patterns over time. We have rut hunting stands set up in each of these locations.
