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Ideal stand setup

deadeye

Active Member
If you could describe your ideal stand setup on paper what would it be?
Field edge or in timber?
Ridge top, valley, or in between?
Looking up hill or down?
Stand aimed at what direction? NESW?
Shooting lane to what o'clock direction at what yardage?
Looking where deer come from or going towards?
Stand height?

I have hunted river bottom flats for a long time with no field edges. Hunting ridges with field edge is pretty new to me. Looking for thoughts and opinions.

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That question has a lot of variables. Field edges can be okay at the right time playing the wind and having a way to exit without letting deer know your presence is key. Inside corners on edges would be my first consideration hunting edges. My favorite is hunting staging ares in the timber if there's acorns or other food sources to nibble before heading out to the fields at dusk. Valleys can be tricky, wind swirls a lot. Ridge tops are good depending on the time of day and time of year. I like to set up down wind with the shooting lane to my left since I'm right handed. Cover in the stand to stay hidden is important to me & I prefer not to shoot over 25 yards. Good luck this fall!
 
All good advice. But on some properties there is no way to enter a stand away from the deer. Mine for example. No way to get to a stand without crossing a deer path. So I just walk down the least used trail. Cant say wind is always in my favor either. Its good if your trails they use run north to south. So you can sit east of em. Or an east breeze sit west of the trail. Unfortunately my travel routes are east to west or west to east across my property. Tough. But I have found deer in my area are somewhat accustomed to human scent. They tolerate some. And when some Older buck has love on his brain scent is not all that important. Like last November. At least a 5 yr old buck was crossing right near my house at 2pm. I am sure he had a nose full of human. Didn’t seem to mind one bit.
 
You said “ideal.” I like a box stand near the edge of timber so that you can shoot the field and any trails crossing into the open, but with shooting lanes back into the timber on the other side.

A box stand eases the wind and masks movement better. When hunting pressure is on, I often see them heading into the open so they can see what’s coming. A hill top 1/4 mile away isn’t a good shot, but watching trails that head out there from the woods can be very profitable.


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I'll paint it in a different light. Best spots are where big bucks think they have the advantage but cannot possibly get down wind of you. Think of an inside corner or a piece of timber entering out to a food source but right behind you is a bend in a creek or river you are up high. Nearly bullet proof set right there.
 
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My personal preference would be a funnel on the top of a ridge that connects two doe bedding areas on a calm crisp frosty November morning, rising thermals will keep the stand bullet proof.
 
High up on a ridge between bedding areas in November is as good as it gets for me. If I get to pick a wind direction, north east is always my favorite.
I like to set up where a ditch reaches 2/3 or so up the ridge to create a funnel towards the top. I want the wind to be lightly blowing my scent out over the ditch. Where I hunt the terrain is steep enough that my scent will stay above the deer that get down wind on a ridge.
This is a November set up, I most likely wouldn't hunt there any other time of year.
 
Above!
Few random things....
I set up a few stands this weekend...... did every cheap or free enhancement to every stand.... made short, low & good entrance & exit to it- best as possible. Put grape vine mock scrape where I’d like em check. Didn’t walk through massive amounts of bedding or feeding deer.
cut trails to stand from directions I wanted em to come to make it easier to follow those easy walking trails they now can see are lil easier & well defined to walk on. Through extra brush in areas I didn’t want em walking. Tried to get em to swing through & barely not get down wind.
Avoided bottoms with swirling winds. Some aren’t issues - some are. Bagged swirling wind locations. Stands for any winds are ready.... if we get “east wind” 3-4 days straight for example- still several options. Same with any other wind. I prefer stay 150 yards minimum away from bedding or feeding core locations but try and get to position to see into them or see cruising.
Above is great & these are just few “little things” that all add up to a big deal I was working on this weekend. All the little things at every spot usually make the results night & day different.
 
I was out today finishing some things so instead of describing it- I’ll show u ;). Just a super quick clip that gives rough idea of what is done in this spot.
 
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