treestand placement

[jdavis]

I have bow hunted for twenty one years and have harvested a buck every year except for one, when I hunted a specific buck. The question is this. Every year I always second guess myself where to hang stands. I bought a farm 2 years ago and I'm really having trouble deciding what tree, wind direction, getting to and from my stand without being detected. I have always had this problem when putting up treestands. I have 12 stands up and still don't think I have enough or that they are in best locations. Maybe I think too much about it. Does anyone else go through this. What kind of advice have you received about treestand placement or what advice do you have about treestand placement.

 

[OneCam]

Here's how I try to narrow down my stand sites . . .

I start by first identifying areas I can enter and exit without being detected.

Focusing on these areas I then look for patterns within these areas; feeding, hunter, bedding etc.

Next I find the best "funnel" to take advantage of the deer movement patterns. When I say funnel I may not find your classic pinch point but generally the area that sees most of the buck movement.

This should lead me to a small enough area that I'm looking for a specific tree - I try to find a stand 20 yards downwind from the expected deer movement in a tree that will allow me to be reasonably concealed atleast 20' up. Of course this may leave you with multiple sets per pattern pending on the entry route & wind combination.

Then I fine toon my stand placement from there during the season using the Lone Wolf.

Note: Rarely do I pay attention to specific deer sign when trying to locate stand sites - terrain is where it's at

Well I gotta go hang some stands

 

[jdavis]

thanks onecam!! I'll put that to good use. I might even try a lone wolf this year!!!!

 

[Scott]

To me 12 stands on one farm seems like alot, unless you have 500 acres of timber. Maybe your ground does have enough good spots for 12 stands, that I dont know. If it were me, I would pick 5 or 6 of the best stands and stick to them. Onecam pretty much sumed up the easiest way to set up stands. I dont worry about how much deer sign is in a area when I hunt it. As long as there is something to direct the deer flow by your stand. I would rather see 6 deer and be able to shoot them all, then sit in a spot where I see 25 and not be able to get a shot at any of them. Hang stands in higer elevations in the morning(ridges) and lower elevations in the evenings. Not every farm has the ideal funnel. Im never afraid to try hunting some spot that just seems ridiculous to most(ditch, fenceline, stuff like that).