Do you hunt in the deep woods? Field edge? These things matter. You want to hunt the food sources in Early season. Just remember if you hunt the does, the bucks will follow. All deer will be in the food sources but may not get into the fields until dark, so you should hunt the main travel corridor between the bedding area and the food. Do you know where they bed in the morning? do you know where they bed in the evening? Deer will often get up late morning to walk the trail and bed down again. Good Luck!
Hunt on the trails to and from bedding and food. In the morning hunt closer to bed, in the evenings hunt closer to the food. Hunt with the wind away from where you expect deer to come from, which may mean hanging more than one stand in one location to set up for different wind directions.
If your just starting out I'd suggest setting up on a field. The reason behind my suggestion is that you'll learn much more while setting up here. You'll be able to witness firsthand the movement patterns of the deer in your area. While you may not harvest a deer every sit you'll at least be able to determine where they enter the field and where they travel from there. Also, you'll be able to determine the times of deer activity. Your chances at harvesting a mature buck are limited on field hunts outside the rut. The mature bucks will typically wait out the light of the day then enter the field right at dark or much later. These are other things you'll be able to learn while hunting fields. Note: when setting up on a field, be sure that the wind is not at your back or blowing you scent into the field or anywhere you expect the deer to be moving from. It doesn't matter what this guy say's or claims you "Will not beat a whitetails nose". Perhaps you'll get luck a time or two with a young buck or doe, but mark my words if that Doe has fawns it's not going to happen if she smells you. It's best to have multiple stands set ups on a field so that you can hunt the right stand giving the wind direction. The woods are nice to hunt and I probably prefer them to the fields, but they are harder to hunt because of low visibility. Most of the time you don't see they deer until it's too late and they are staring back at you. This has happened to every hunter in the world. It's less likely to happen to you in a field set up.
