Ok, let me start off by saying that I am new to bowhunting and hunting in general, but am eagerly waiting and practicing for deer season to come around. I've been lucky enough to have a friend let me hunt on his property (roughly 60 acres of woods) but I am at a loss as to where to put my 20' hang- on stand. I'll give a short description of the property and see what y'all think about where would be the best place to put it. There is a main road going E to W on the top half of the property, and that's where the entrance is to the land. The house is sort of on a small peninsula, with a big lake in the W part of the property, and there are small runoffs from the lake on both sides of the house for only about 20 yds., making it on a peninsula, sorta. The house sits on flat land, but the sides of it makes it seem like the house is sitting on a plateau, and the sides are about a 45 degree angle. Most of this is dense but few patches of it are open, making it available for bowhunting. That being said, there is a very open spot of land about 100 yds. from the lake with a small stream running through it, and would be perfect for a deer to walk through I would think. This land is still slightly sloping though, but easy to walk on. Any ideas on where would be the best place to put up my stand given my situation? Thanks in advance, I know this is a long post.
http://maps.google.com/maps?source=...ield lake 23430&oq=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl There's an aerial view, zoom in and the house at the end of Hilltop lane is where I will be hunting from. The house at the end of hilltop lane is where we will be hunting from. Thanks again! EDIT #2: Sorry guys, fixed it again.
Colton, Walk the land looking for deer sign, trails, rubs, bedding areas, etc, make not of where they are, if you notice "pinch points" where trails converge. I put some markers in spots where I think deer might be likely to travel, on this map (see LINK) http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=36.97117,-76.66504&z=16&t=T&marker0=36.97302%2C-76.66530%2C3.2%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Smithfield%20VA&marker1=36.97456%2C-76.66335%2C3.0%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Smithfield%20VA&marker2=36.97438%2C-76.66500%2C3.1%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Smithfield%20VA&marker3=36.97410%2C-76.66569%2C3.2%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Smithfield%20VA&marker4=36.97196%2C-76.66640%2C3.3%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Smithfield%20VA&marker5=36.97156%2C-76.66590%2C3.3%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Smithfield%20VA&marker6=36.97117%2C-76.66504%2C3.2%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Smithfield%20VA Use this map source, bouce back and forth between aerial and topo and figure out where your boundaries are and then determine what you can work with best. Add a spot right at the top of the draw between marker A and E as well, that may be a productive little draw looking at the topography again.
Look for topography that limits a deer's movement from one area to another to a narrow corridor. Such a location between a bedding area and a feeding area will produce better.
