How would you rate these factors in setting a bow stand?

[deerpassion]

anyone watch midwest whitetail??? best stuff out there in my opinion.... been watching for three seasons now , and BIll winke preaches the fact that getting in ANS out undetected is of utmost importance... how else do you expect the deer to move naturally

[wdswtr]

You guys have kinda got off on the wind thing and we know it's all important but it doesn't seem to be what the original poster was looking for. I took it as, if you had a property to hunt and you had these 5 factors, how would you rate them when deciding a stand site. Not necessarily the stand position(down wind) but the site itself and why. I'll rank mine again based on the property i hunt which has all these. For me

#1- pinch/funnels

#2- cover

#3- food

#4- Trail cam pics

#5- sign

Assuming i can have the wind in my favor for all these.

Your last sentence is exactly my point lol.

Edited June 20, 2012 by wdswtr

[sweet old bill]

all those are great tips and sure will increase the odds in the hunter favor. I also have one other problem and that is age, as you get older and no longer can hunt in tree stands I find I have to have the wind as my niggest factor, the other is how to use natural blinds over mfg blinds. The key also becomes when I SEE A DEER CAN I DRAW ON IT. So many times now being on the ground the big bucks you can see will only come in if the wind is in there face. I just love that 7 to 10 days when the bucks are chasing and the doe's are not ready yet. I hope all get out this year and get the buck of your dreams. I have seen just two bucks with there horns growing in the area, one looks like he will be a good one. The other may be a small 6...

[phade]

anyone watch midwest whitetail??? best stuff out there in my opinion.... been watching for three seasons now , and BIll winke preaches the fact that getting in ANS out undetected is of utmost importance... how else do you expect the deer to move naturally

He won't hunt a spot if he can't get to it without the right access (ie. not having to access in a spot where you disturb bedding or blow scent the wrong way). IN fact, he actually looks for access routes and then scouts areas where he can hunt around those access spots...that's certainly different.

People should treat stands like a recipe or directions...you need to follow them in order. Wind means nothing if you blow the spot up walking in.

[dave6x6]

Phade, It was actually some advice i heard from Winke quite a few years back that totally changed the way i hunt my stands. He was describing his absolute, best killer stands and what made them so great. After that I realized that i have a couple set-ups that have all these characteristics so i tweaked a few thing. Now, I have three stands that are so hot, that it's almost impossible not to stay in them all day long. I'll still hang 20 stands and sit in many of them throughout the season, but when things get crankin', i'll be in one of these.

[Woodsman20]

Some interesting perspectives ...

Dave specifically what was his specific advice that made a killer stand!!

.

[dave6x6]

On the surface, it wasn't info that an experienced hunter like you Woodsman hasn't heard or read 100 times in magazines. And it wasn't new to me , but what clicked was that he was describing his best stands and by luck, i had similar features that needed to be taken advantage of. And many of those posting on here have touched on them as well. Basically what they are are pinch points, with fool proof entry/exit routes, where the wind blows towards a deer dead zone. I know what your thinking. DUH . We all know about not letting our wind blow toward where we think the deer might be. He talked about his best stands blowing his wind where deer "can't" be. What i call "hard" downwind pinch points. A river or lake, a steep bluff or drop-off, or maybe a fenced pasture all are examples of the hard backside of the pinch. If you can find bedding cover on the upwind or "soft" side of the pinch, now your in business. Left and right of the stand widens out to thick woods or scrub and hopefully food source. Thats not asking too much is it. LOL

[phade]

_{My best stand was one behind a house about 150 yards in woods that served as a funnel between two doe bedding areas. The predominant wind blew from the stand to the house, and mature bucks were not often passing between the stand and the house due to various factors. They were running the funnel on the far side of the stand. It was a luxury as I was able to sit it several times a year, which in my book is almost impossible to do and still hunt effectively without blowing up a spot. That stand alone had produced more mature buck opportunities than all of my other grounds and stands combined.}

_{I miss that stand as I no longer hunt there. Those types are hard to come by.}

Edited June 22, 2012 by phade

[Woodsman20]

Dave - what are you talking about - those spots are everywhere LOL!!!

Phade, that sounds like a good set-up - wait for that property for come to sale and buy it!

[dave6x6]

Great example Phade. "Hard sided funnel" I think i'll copy write that phrase. LOL

[deerpassion]

_{My best stand was one behind a house about 150 yards in woods that served as a funnel between two doe bedding areas. The predominant wind blew from the stand to the house, and mature bucks were not often passing between the stand and the house due to various factors. They were running the funnel on the far side of the stand. It was a luxury as I was able to sit it several times a year, which in my book is almost impossible to do and still hunt effectively without blowing up a spot. That stand alone had produced more mature buck opportunities than all of my other grounds and stands combined.}

_{I miss that stand as I no longer hunt there. Those types are hard to come by.}

thats something im gonna have to get used to or at least have an open mind about, not used to having deer so close to houses n people... was up last week and saw a couple a does and a little buck in velvet right off 90 close to some houses and all i could see was a small wood lot that maybe they were bedding in .. im so used to driving out to WMA's where once you get in the gate, there is nothing but woods n swamp... so i usually get as far away from any kind of structure or hot spot for lazy hunters... be movin all my stuff up in a week n a half though n gonna start scoutin some..

[Doc]

One thing I've noticed is that everybody puts wind direction pretty high on their list of "important features of stand selection", and I definitely agree that a deers nose is a prime defense mechanism. However, most of us talk like there is always a nice constant wind direction, when in my experience, that almost never is the case regardless of where I go. For me, the wind shifts are particularly devastating since I hunt in hill and valley terrain. Thermals drive me nuts with wind often reversing direction right at the most critical times of the hunt.

I love to mess around with milkweed seeds while on stand, and they really show you just how messed up our perception of wind direction really is. It's not unusual to watch those little seeds float in one direction and then take a 90 degree shift as soon as it get just a few yards out and then shift again, and again. It just shows how inconsistant one of our prime features of stand selection can be even when we think we have it all figured out. There's not a whole lot you can do about wind variations other than note which direction seems to be the most prevalent and then cross your fingers and hope that one of those unfortunate twists and turns doesn't happen when the deer comes along. It's the one element of stand selection that requires the biggest portion of luck.

[dave6x6]

You are right about that Doc. The other problem i have with a couple of my stands are that a buck may come from any given direction at any given time. In ag country, chances are your going to have food source on all sides and in my case, bedding scattered in all directions. I like every other hunter is very aware to try and set up their stands down wind of active trails and yet i hardly ever see big bucks using these trails. Of the last six bucks i've shot, only one was on an obvious trail. And that was our access trail. high stands and scent control attempt to put things a bit more in my favor, but when the wind is really un-predictable, i will most often leave my best stands alone and hope for the best in one of the fringe stands.

[Woodsman20]

I do the same thing on off wind or weather days.

[Doc]

I like every other hunter is very aware to try and set up their stands down wind of active trails and yet i hardly ever see big bucks using these trails.

I have found exactly the same thing when it comes to bucks. As soon as there is the first hint of rut, I have noticed that unless a buck is scent-tracking a doe, they tend to travel crosswise to the major trails. That can mean having them pushing through some brush in a wacky location that doesn't even give you a shot. My theory is that it makes a whole lot of sense that a buck can cut more hot doe trails by traveling across the major trails, scent-checking as many different trails as possible instead of following a single trail. That probably accounts for all these stories that you hear about how the buck came in behind the hunter. So even if the hunter does have the wind in his face, in those cases, all that good planning doesn't help him out at all.

So how does that relate to stand placement? Well it certainly does relate to hacking in a few extra shooting lanes ..... my "just in case" shooting lanes.

In terms of considering the wind direction vs. this frequent ugly travel pattern of bucks when placing a stand, I haven't figured a way of factoring that in other than relying on just plain old luck.

[G-Man]

the rut, you can throw the wind right out...i hate..yes hate hunting the rut. Deer are much more patterenable before and after, and i can set stands according to predominant wind direction. everyone loves calm wind days for hunting but there are thermals and constant wind shift that are very suttle. A good 5-10 mph predominat wind takes care of a lot of that. and my biggest deer are shot with high winds 15-20 or more. The reason everone says to stay in your stands all day in the rut is because deer are totaly unpredictable at that time. ...with the exception if you have a hot doe in the area you will see bucks.... Hope fully those that put time in can get a jump on them bachlor groups this oct 1 if they get the season open then!

[dave6x6]

G-man, I too love the early season and have shot a few oct. bucks but my feeling on the rut(mostly seeking and into chasing phase) has changed drastically since i found and tweaked my set-up like i talked about earlier. It's often times is hard to get the shots off on the bucks on the move, but it sure is fun when you find yourself in an esterous filled woodlot. Doc, i was thinking the same thing about the luck factor but didn't dare say it. Sometimes when i mentioned anything about relying on luck to some serious hunters, i got a big, "you make your own luck" shpeel. LOL I'll take anyones luck that they don't want cause in hunting, sometimes your the dog, most of the time your the hydrant..

Edited June 25, 2012 by dave6x6

[RangerClay]

I try to find pinch points between food and bedding areas.

[5.9cummins]

Im curious to see what factors you think are most important for stand site selection. Rank these factors that make up your decision. For information/conversation sake...please dont simply answer "all of them"...add a little insight into your answers...

*not in order

-food sources

-cover

-trail cam pictures

-physical sign (tracks,rubs,scrapes)

-funnels/pinch points

1. Funnels / Pinch points - almost exclusively my determining factor in the rut.

2. Cover - Both for the deer and myself (a good tree or blow down) I see bucks (particularly big ones 10 fold more in thick cover.

3. Physical sign - don't pay much attention to it unless its a rub the size of my thigh or scrape the size of a Volkswagen.

4. Food on either side of my funnel is a good thing (better yet a bedding area).

5. Trail cam photos - they are nice but fairly useless in my opinion.

I have one that tops these all and is my first and foremost criteria when determining where i set up - PREVAILING WIND DIRECTION.

Edited June 30, 2012 by 5.9cummins