Staging areas designed and maintained around wildlife food plots are important for landowners and hunters to improve success of supplemental food sources for game. Brandon Bobo, a senior wildlife biologist with the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) explains how, where, and when to do this.[video]https://youtu.be/3eSy2UeBcEg[/video]
Admittedly, I've had a lot of mixed results with this goal over the years. For whatever reason, sometimes I've had some luck but often times I can't really completely understand or explain why deer prefer some staging areas and some others that seem great, they seem to not "like" very much. I've come to the conclusion that it depends on the individual deer and how they "Feel" about a spot. So far I've never been able to really work out a consistent formula for what makes a great staging area from area to area. At least not in regards to what mature bucks will consistently use.
if i could define what would be a staging area, it would be a flat area with thick canopy with an open understory
