Help!...What do I do?...

[hershy]

…I need your input!...what would you do?...what should I do?...

the situation:…my wife and I have shotgun hunted her Father’s place the last several years…one stand site we have hunted with success overlooks the river bottom from a side ridge that parallels the river…the deer, especially early on opening day, use the river bottom to sneak through the area…this year my father-in-law has allowed one of his good friends to place a stand on top of the ridge to bow hunt from…the stand is ~65 yards from where we usually place our stand through some thick timber…the friend is left-handed, which means when seated in the stand your right shoulder is facing the way most of the deer will come (being right-handed I would have to stand up to shoot)…his stand sits between two well-worn deer trails that a decent buck has been seen using in November (chasing does?)…one of which is on the very top of the ridge…the other trail is between his stand and where we usually put our stand…I do not believe this deer has been seen the last couple of weeks…my usual stand location better covers the river bottom and his has a better view of the ridge top…here is the dilemma – I have not been able to place my stand along the river yet!…the soonest I would be able to put it up would be Friday evening/night before the opener of shotgun season…my question is should I hunt from the other guy’s stand on the ridge or put mine up and hunt over the river bottom?...would I disturb the deer too much by placing my stand the night before or the morning of the hunt?...will the onslaught of the orange armies on adjacent land overshadow me spooking them?...the timber on the river bottom and ridge amounts to a small woodlot so we see more deer moving through than we actually see staying and bedding down on the property…what would you do?...

…check back – I am sure your responses will generate more questions on my part…

 

[bowman]

Hang it and hunt it! As long as you have an easy to hang stand and you know the tree you should be fine. If you think that your tree is better then hunt from yours. If you don't you'll be constantly thinking about it and won't have the confindence to sit as long. At least that is what I would do. Good Luck!

 

[jharrell]

I like the option of two stands. I would hang yours and if you need to, you can hunt the other one if it seems to be working out better. You are only talking about 75 yards and unless it is dense you can shoot to the other location if the trails are close to the other tree. Go with what you are confident in. Just as a side note, a couple of us stomped up the woods one night looking for a deer this year and the next day Rack and I went back to the same spot. I video taped and he hunted. We got there to see a nice 8 point and two does standing right in the area we stomped all over the night before. We set up two stands and within a hour and a half we had a six point standing right under our stands. Not that this is a good practice but the deer will show up. Got some great video that night.

 

[hershy]

...should I hang it Friday Night or Saturday Early Morning?...

 

[Liv4Rut]

if there are guys that are drive hunting all around you and you expect that the deer you are shooting at are gonna be on the move, and not natural movement, i dont think that it will hurt to hang it sat morning. i would anyways, ive done that a million times, just on a whim decided im gonna hunt there in the morning took my stand early in the morning hung it and always seen deer. last year i had 12 bucks come in 20 minutes after i hung the stand. i dont think you can go wrong with fri night or sat morning. just get that baby up !!!!!!

oh yeah and goodluck !!!

 

[OneCam]

Go for the suprise attack and hang it early Saturday Morning. Make sure you get there in plenty of time and take your time so your stealthy and not working up to much of a sweat.

On a side note I've been doing this quite a bit this season.

 

[tracker]

If this is a timbered area the deer should be out of there at night and out feeding.You might spook some in the fields when your driving to the area, but they should just run off and come back to normal activities in the morning.I hang stands at night and then get there early the next morning to see where everything is coming in from.You also have a chance to take a shower and de-scent for a long day's hunt.

 

[deadeye]

since it opens Sat am and bet there will be blasting. I would want to be up in the stand and have the gun in hand and not the stand in hand when mr big comes by. I would hang Friday late afternoon.

 

[hershy]

...well after deciding to hang my stand on Saturday Morning I have now been informed by my Father-In-Law that another one of his friends will be sitting in the other stand!

...guess I will have to resort to plan B...now I just have to come up with Plan B...