Just curious for people in clubs, how does the club manage bow hunting on food plots? We have our food plots set up with entries that allow someone to get into the stand/shooting house without having to walk into the field. It causes minimal foot traffic in food plots.

But, for bow hunters that can’t hunt out of shooting houses, they need climbers or lock ons to hunt the fields. The challenge is that they enter into different areas of the fields and disrupt the way we’ve set up the fields.

I want to be fair and give everyone equal opportunity, but find a happy medium that works. I’m just looking for ideas from others that I can try to incorporate.

Thanks

A bow hunter that takes care of his scent has minimal affect on a food plot to me. Nowadays it’s all the people checking cameras around greenfields and the traffic that goes with it that has more affect on deer.

Totally agree with above

One club i was in we specifically had fields for bow hunting and fields that we couldn't bow hunt that way some of the fields stayed fresh for rifle opener.

Good plan

I always wore 18” rubber boots with my pants tucked for bow hunts. Had several plots with climbers right off the edge and I’d walk right down the middle of the plot to my tree. Never had a problem seeing and killing deer out of those plots.

Preach Brother!

I’ve walked through the middle of a field bow hunting and had deer feed right where I walked and never get spooked. Scent control! We don’t allow checking of cameras unless you sign out to hunt that spot and you must hunt that spot.

Don’t over think it

Thanks for the input. Not trying to overthink it, just trying to get ideas. I do believe that bow hunters (at least good ones) tend to be more careful about scent, etc than most rifle hunters.

We don’t allow personal baiting within 200 yards of food plots which I think keeps a lot of traffic out of the area and all cameras need to be cell service.

That’s great, until all the shooter bucks are on the “gun fields.” I’d be out on that rule.

Pressure and scent control. If your hunters are getting out of the stand and it’s still daylight educating the deer in the plots then your sightings are going to go way down. Once the deer started getting pressure and catch on to what’s going on it will hard to hunt them

Sure glad I'm not in a club anymore. Rules and people don't go well together.

We don’t allow bow hunting on plots at all. Even if you play the wind right it’s hard to get out without clearing the plot. I honestly try to avoid bow hunters all together when looking for members.

We have ladderstands on most fields, at the opposite end of the field of where the shooting house is (if there’s a tree to put one). That way bow hunters can hunt them, but they can still climb a different spot on the field (which I do). You just can’t leave your stand on the edge. The ladder stand also provides a way to hunt the field with a wind that isn’t favorable for the shooting house. Let’s face it, in most clubs, you’re going to have those people that will sit on a good field regardless of the wind. I think a trip across the field after dark or before deer get in there is better than sitting all afternoon hoping they don’t smell you.
One other thing….who actually has shooting house backed off the edge of the field where you can’t be seen or heard getting in and out of it?? I wish ours were, but they aren’t. Most I see are sat on the edge I guess so people can see every inch of the field. 🙄

We don’t do anything specific. It won’t hurt a thing.

I fixed it for you.

Not allowing bowhunting over food plots is idiotic. Why the hell do you plant the food plots early? It's amazing how people justify their own agenda with stupid rules.

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