Where do you install your deer stand in large hardwoods?

A big question every novice deer hunter has is where do I set up my stand? The question really must be how do I decide where to install my booth. Even seasoned hunters ask themselves that question sometimes when in new territory.

The answers to the question have some common rules no matter what terrain you are hunting, but a lot has to do with the specific terrain you will be on. This article will focus on what I am most familiar with, and that is hunting large forests without agriculture in the area.

Hunting in large forests can be very difficult. Apparently, there are an infinite number of places where deer can hide. With plenty of oak trees around and a generous mast in recent years, they don’t have to travel far to find food during hunting season. Most likely there is a stream or at least a small crevice where deer can get water nearby. So what does a boy do?

It will take a lot of leg work and more than a couple of hours in the woods to figure this out. The first thing to find out is where the deer lie. Think about the geographic features of the area you are in. In the northeast it is quite mountainous, if not exactly mountainous. My experience is that deer like to lie near the top of ridges when the weather is decent. They do this so they can spot a predator from a distance and put the ridge top between them and danger in a hurry. Also, the sun stays on top of a ridge longer than in valleys, so it tends to get hotter there.

In cold, windy climates, deer tend to go to valleys to protect themselves from the wind and take shelter in the thickest things they can find. One really cold and windy day after deer season ended, I was walking where we hunted and kicked three deer that were lying under a huge oak tree that had flown off a few years earlier. It was in a little narrow valley between four good sized hills on really thick cover. They let me get 20 feet away from them before they shot out. It scared us so much!

So keep the terrain and weather in mind and look for signs: footprints and droppings. Although there may be a good number of signs all over the place, there will be areas with more signs than others. Finding the actual beds is your goal. Here’s a hint: find a thick brush. Among saplings, mountain laurel, swampy areas, this is where deer like to lie down.

Now there are a couple of options. You can settle in the bedding area or attempt to ambush them on the routes to and from food and water. There are advantages for both.

Notice that earlier I said bedding areas, plural. Deer don’t go to sleep in the same bed every night like us. Depending on the weather conditions and hunting pressure, things change. So finding the active bedding area can be a bit tricky. But if you are right, you can act throughout the day. They return early in the morning. The deer will then lie down for the day, but will not lie down all day. They will get up and sail a bit. I’ve shot so many deer between 10 a.m. M. And 2 p.m. M. As early as the end of the day when the deer or more active. Many boys leave the forest at 10 and return at 2 for the evening. I think you are missing a good hunt by doing this.

One late archery season, around 1:00 pm, I had a doe come up to my tree stand and looked around a bit and finally lay down 20 meters away. He was quite alert for a while, but finally lowered his head. Every time the wind blew a little hard or a dead branch fell from a tree, he could see an ear lift to question the possible threat. Finally, about 2 hours later, his head snapped up. He got up very easily and just walked away, flipping through a bit and glancing back from time to time. You could tell she was worried but not scared. About 15 minutes later, my hunting partner appeared in the direction the doe was looking. She had made him go off into the distance, but he didn’t run away. It was a really good learning experience.

The second option is to look for probable routes for the deer to enter and exit the bedding area to find water or food. They will go through really thick stuff in the valleys or up the side of a hill. I have hardly ever seen them travel on top of a hill in daylight. There may be a sign there, but it’s almost always done at night. While bedding areas change, the best food and water supplies generally don’t. If you can find some mature oaks, you will notice that the forests are a bit more open as large trees tend to make it difficult for young trees to grow. Also, if there are houses within a mile or so, look for routes to and from the houses. Deer view their shrubs as a smorgasbord and easy to collect, especially when the ground is covered in snow and acorns are hard to find.

The trails leading to food and water tend to be many coming from the bedding area and funneling onto some trails. Try to find several places to set up stalls along these routes closer to water and food than the bedding areas. That way there are fewer trails so you can minimize the chance of being on the wrong trail that day. These mounts work best in first light and then in the dark.

By spending quality time exploring and paying attention to the type of land you are hunting, you will see more deer and greatly increase your enjoyment of hunting.