Mount Dave

I have been archery hunting for 3 years now. This year has been the only year i have been sucessful, taking a doe early in the season. During these three seasons i have only saw does, and a small buck every now and then. Recently i have really been getting into searching for information on stand placement, and i figured this would be a good place to ask. So where do you guys hang your stands and why? What makes your most productive stand so good? And what do your really look for when your scouting, whether its before or after season? Any input or advice would be appreciated, thanks

deer-hunter18

I just mainly look for deer trails that are walked on a lot most of the time i look for where a few of the trails intersect at one point and hang a stand about 15 yards from that.

mobow

really depends on the time of year. Late in the year after the rut, I concentrate on food sources, well, really, all year, but this time it is really important. Early in the season, I hunt bedding areas and travel routes. During the rut, well, who knows.....bucks just get stupid and could be anywhere, but if you find the does you'll have the bucks. Again, food is where to be. Most importantly, though, is the wind. What direction is the wind coming from. One patch of ground I hunt is only about 50 acres, and I have 3 stands hunting the same trail on the same hill. The wind dictates which stand I hunt.
Another thing, get them in early before season starts, and get the heck outta there. I have been hunting this property since I was young, and am 32 now. I saw more deer this year than I have EVER seen back there, but the main difference is I started hunting the wind.

buckstar

Dave, I've been bowhunting for over 25 years and for the last 20 I've been fairly sucsessful. I concentrate on food sources early in the season. The area I hunt has alot of cropfields of corn and soybeans and also plenty of apple trees and oaks. So locating the right food source on a given day can be difficult. My stands are set up early near these areas and I just hunt the ones that seem to be showing the most sign with the wind direction in mind. Later in the season, when scrapes and rubs become evident I concentrate on those areas, usually spending the most time where the rubs and or scrapes are in bottle necks or near doe bedding areas. It helps I suppose to have hunted the area you hunt for a number of years as you will start noticing patterns the deer use. I know on my ground the deer bed and feed in virtually the same places year after year but suttle changes in the habitat like blowdowns, absense of undergrowth and poor acorn crops make them change sometimes. Different crop plantings do to and you have to continually keep up with them or better yet try to stay a step ahead.