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What Determines Your Stand Location?

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Pretty much what most everyone said but entry and exit to and from any set up undetected is paramount, IMO. Funnels or buck travel corridors from bedding area to other bedding areas or food. Wind is still important to me and will always be!

Deer look up a lot more so it's also very important to be well concealed and positioned to where you're aren't set up too close to the funnel or trail you're hunting. I prefer sitting in the shade,20-22 feet high and 25-33 yards from where I intend to get a shot opportunity.

I'm with Ric. For me, access is paramount. Not all properties lend themselves to great access, so in those cases I start with the best terrain features. With the varying topography of the Appalachian foothills, knowledge of the terrain and how deer use it is crucial. I take wind direction, the sun, food, water and cover in to consideration like most as well. I also try to hang in multi-trunked trees, trees that hold their leaves well in to fall, or clusters of trees to hide my big ass. I'll tack on 5-10 yards to the shot to get the perfect tree.
 

doublej

Junior Member
85
0
I hunt almost 100% public.
I rarely post up in the same tree twice. And scout pretty much everytime I am going out, I have a predetermine area(s) with a plan based on what I think is going on from aerials.
Tree selection is somewhere between bedding and food with wind to my advantage...Closer to bedding in the am closer to food in the evening.
But all of this is subject to change pending on what I see...
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Access. The best location, tree, sign, food source, wind, or any other indicator isn't worth dick if you can't get in and out undetected.

Other than that I look for thick places. I would rather hunt 20 acres of thick growth than 200 acres of hardwoods. With exception to the rut a buck is far more likely to come in during shooting light when he is in a thick area versus open. I'm a firm believer in that if you kill a good buck outside of the rut he was within 200 yards of your stand when you got in it. Big deer don't move that far during shooting light. They will move miles and miles at night, but 30 minutes before daylight or dark they are in or within a couple hundred yards of their bedding. The trick is getting in and out of that 200 yard zone without them knowing.

So like I said, The best stand in the world isn't worth dick if you can't get in and out unnoticed.
 
Most all of us listed access as being critical. Joe eluded to the 200 yard distance he feels a mature buck will move before cover of darkness unless the rut is on. So how far away can a buck detect the disturbance we make getting to and getting situated in a stand. I know many things will determine this distance. So lets ask how close do you feel is to close to try to get to a bedded buck.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Most all of us listed access as being critical. Joe eluded to the 200 yard distance he feels a mature buck will move before cover of darkness unless the rut is on. So how far away can a buck detect the disturbance we make getting to and getting situated in a stand. I know many things will determine this distance. So lets ask how close do you feel is to close to try to get to a bedded buck.

Personally I think it's what each buck will tolerate. Some tolerate lite disturbances, some bug the hell out and don't return. Same with cameras. Some bucks don't care about a cam, others spot one and forever avoid that spot. Deer hear stuff all the time. Other deer, coyotes, limbs and hedge apples falling etc. But there is a big difference between that and the Kool-aid man crashing through the corn. Some treat an intrusion as an isolated incident. Others bug out at the slightest hint of a single intrusion. It depends on the skittishness of that particular deer. Some think they can just outsmart you and deal with it. Others don't even chance it. One things for sure, most don't second guess anything. They go with their gut. If they hear something they don't like but aren't sure what it was rarely will they just blow it off.
 

Bigcountry40

Member
4,554
127
I think some of stand placement depends on what part of the state you are hunting also. I have hunted most of Ohio and feel like in different parts of the state the deer act different due to the habitat and geography. The deer in the NW Ohio are very hard to pattern and I hunt recent sign. East and South East I like funnels, especially areas that become very vertical.
 

Mooosie

Junior Member
162
32
I have a farm in vinton county and have a lot of really nice bucks on trailcam and a couple of monsters . The trouble is about the time gun season starts they go nocturnal and only show on trail cams at night . I guess that's why they are big!
 

Strother23

Member
1,405
0
Columbus, OH
I have to agree with a lot that is said. Access is key and then it's goes to food source for me. There are not many if at all natural funnels where I hunt. Farm land and hardwoods. The thickest woods is the neighbors 46 acres and I have 2 stands about 50 yds off the property line. This time of year it's easy to spot the heavy used trails. And I have a few trails can places and I hi t some based on pics I'm getting.
 

rsmith

Member
1,835
52
I have a farm in vinton county and have a lot of really nice bucks on trailcam and a couple of monsters . The trouble is about the time gun season starts they go nocturnal and only show on trail cams at night . I guess that's why they are big!

Get a bow, practice, and slay them early!
 
I would agree that access is definitely something that should be though of first and foremost. However there was a time when I didn't put much thought into how I got there and found some great spots because of the terrain first. As time has gone on I have eliminated a few stands and used access ideas to improve others because I decided access was likely the key I was missing on them. We still have a large portion of our property I don't hunt much simply because of access and knowing I would be marching right through deer to set up. I've actually been thinking of those spots if I were to ever put stands in I may just use one of our hunting shacks to spend the night in and sneak over before daylight.
 

Diablo54

Senior Member
7,082
126
Outside
Access is the most important variable in a good treestand setup. If you spook deer on the way to the stand every time you are ruining the setup. Pinch points are key during the rut. Once the rut is really kicking move into the brush. The single best treestand setups we have are ones where a buck will be cruising from bedding area to bedding area checking does and you beat their nose even though they think it is in their favor.