I have a spot I have been debating back and forth with myself on whether to hang a stand or not. This spot is one of the areas deer, does and bucks come onto my property. It is at the front end (North) of my property. My brother had a stand close to this spot and arrowed his first deer ever in this spoot last season. His stand was in a different spot though. The pictures below are pics I took of it today. There is one patch of trees where I believe deer may be bedding down. I am not sure if they eat hay but, there are some old hay bales under the patch of trees on the east. I have noticed that there seems to be less hay than there was this past winter but, thats not to say it is not just rotting. The first pic is an arial view. The red circle is where the trees are and the yellow lines are deer trails that run through this little patch of trees. The second is the tree I have been contemplating puting a stand. The third is a pic of the trees with the hay bales. The forth is a pic of the area from a distance. So would any of you hand a stand here or just get them after they come in? Tree stand would be hung in: Hay bales under the trees. Sorry its blurry: From a distance:
I am a beginner but the way you have it all layed out and know where they are runnin', it looks like a great spot to hang one. Nice good tree to hang in, open field, looks like wide open shooting lane. I would hang some scent, make a scrape or 2, put up a camera and leave it alone for a little just to see who moves in. One thing I do know is always have a backup plan.
My thoughts are that if this is main entrance into your hunting property for the deer, then I would be cautious about putting a stand there. I'd be a little scared of leaving my sent in that area and then the deer stop coming in that way; perhaps, I'm wrong. However, I've had experienced the same issue years ago while hunting on an old log road that leads into a pasture. The deer would always use it, and I hunted out of it a few times and shot a deer; however, I never saw a deer in that pasture (30 acre) the rest of that season. The years before I had my stand hung away from the log road and saw deer about every sit; unfortunately, they would almost always be out of range for bow or shot gun. This was the main reason I put my stand next to the log road that year. It might not happen to you, especially with all the new scent covers out there. Back then I just put my cloth in a trash bag filled with leaves and such. (Still do that along with tinks) I do think if you sit there you'll increase your chances at killing deer “if they come into range”.
if you can get/have a food plot around it and cut an area out of the tree and maybe a few bags of corn i would love to hunt it....as long as there are deer
There are deffinately deer there. I have seen them on many occasions. The driveway to the west is my driveway. The house to the west south west is my house. After my brother killed his deer there last season we did not notice any change in their movement. There were deer feeding in a corn pile the next day. The scent thing I am not really worried about as much as the possibility of deer bedding under the trees right beside the tree I would be hanging a stand in. If any one of us hunt it, I would be afraid of bumping deer on the way to the stand.
if you bump deer you bump deer in my opinion if you have a food source good camo and scent elimination system you should be good
From the photo you uploaded it looks like you are going to stick out like a sore THUMB in the tree. Maybe it is just the photo but to me it doesnt look like you have to much cover up there to hide in and you do not want to make yourself outlined in a tree
If I don't hang there I could hang where my brother was when he harvested his last season. When on stand, you can't see the hunter but, the hunter can see everything else. I am more concerned about bumping deer and or ruining the incoming when not hunting this stand due to hunting it.
I agree with jakerat. Looks like you might not have enough cover in that tree then again we are just looking at a picture. If you are this worried about bumping a deer i would consider a different stand location. Knowing as much as you seem to about their patterns in your area mean that you can ambush them on a route from that bedding area to a food source and keep that an active bedding area. Do you have any other stands set up and what direction does the wind usually blow on your property?
I have 4 other stands in addition to those stands I also have 4 sets set up for a climber so 8 total. Most of the time the wind is east to west in different variations from north to south of that if that makes sense. I do have two food plots that I will be puting seed out this weekend. So hopefully it works out where they are coming in about the time the soy bean fields will be harvested. Thats what I am trying for anyways. I feel confident i have all the winds covered and that I will be good to go with what I have now. Its just that this area has been taunting me since last season. It doesn't help I see it every time I leave my house or come home. lol I just wanted some others input before I added a stand.
I am a big funnel hunter and if that is where they are going I say YES what are you waiting for? I have a funnel area and that is the best with 5 trails leading to this one spot. Go for it.
I believe I am having to devolope into a funnel hunter myself. It seems that is what my land is. One big funnel. I have a bunch of bedding areas on my property and this season will only have two small food plots that are about 2800sqft each. I have one mineral station I started back in May that is still going strong. I have recently discovered I have persimon trees all over my property. So I have things that will attract them but, I also have major food sources on either side of my property. They are funneling North to south and east to west in the A.M. and oposite in the P.M. I also have water sources that run north to south along the middle of the entire property and one that runs west to east that borders the south end. Since I am new to hunting as in my second season. I am still developing my skills and hunting style. So it looks like I will too be a funnel hunter untill I aquire more land in the future.
