Help with stand placement (with map)
09-01-2015, 05:50 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 3
Help with stand placement (with map)
I was fortunate enough to get permission to hunt this plot of land. I needed help with stand placement. I did chose a marked location on the map that I believe is a funnel or pinch point. I was looking for some feedback on this location. The funnel is 60 yards wide.
Last edited by brian55013; 09-01-2015 at 05:56 PM.
09-01-2015, 09:24 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Germany/Calif.
Posts: 2,664
If you set a stand up on an inside corner of a wood line, you are getting 90 degrees of view. On an outside corner 270 degrees. The middle of a wood line 180 degrees.
Most of the stands here have been in the same spots for centuries. And I can only think of a very few that are on the inside corner of a wood line. Usually on the shortest way home to a bedding area, a morning stand, usually for Boar.
The evening stands are almost always in a position for the widest field of fire. Best guess is because the Deer are leery coming into feed and it can be difficult to predict where they are going to pop out of a wood line.
I really haven't thought about it a lot, I usually use spots that have been in use forever.
Occasionally I'll set up for a specific Deer that I have already got figured out and have it's habits mapped. Then the only criteria is a decent field of fire, the breeze and a safe direction to shoot.
Two ways I set up, ambush between where they feed and where they bed down (mornings) and where they are feeding (evenings). The best shot in hunting IMO is when they are feeding head down, not too much that can go wrong there.
Most of the stands here have been in the same spots for centuries. And I can only think of a very few that are on the inside corner of a wood line. Usually on the shortest way home to a bedding area, a morning stand, usually for Boar.
The evening stands are almost always in a position for the widest field of fire. Best guess is because the Deer are leery coming into feed and it can be difficult to predict where they are going to pop out of a wood line.
I really haven't thought about it a lot, I usually use spots that have been in use forever.
Occasionally I'll set up for a specific Deer that I have already got figured out and have it's habits mapped. Then the only criteria is a decent field of fire, the breeze and a safe direction to shoot.
Two ways I set up, ambush between where they feed and where they bed down (mornings) and where they are feeding (evenings). The best shot in hunting IMO is when they are feeding head down, not too much that can go wrong there.
Last edited by MudderChuck; 09-01-2015 at 09:50 PM.
09-02-2015, 03:57 AM
#4
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 3
Thanks for the insight guys(Rockport & MudderChuck), I plan on hunting the funnel unless the wind tells me otherwise. I spent a lot of time studying this map and its elevations. The funnel itself is 60 yards wide with my stand placement 25-30 yards into the wood-line with its elevation a bit higher than the field south of me but with a 50ft drop in elevation north of me (remaining width of funnel) I'm not real confident in where these deer will be bedding or feeding, but guessing especially during the rut this should be an active cruising route considering bucks tend to stay in cover vs. crossing open fields. This land owner has owned this land for over 30yrs and nobody has ever hunted it. I guess you could say im so pumped to hunt it, I just wanted to be in the best possible spot to break this land in right. Thanks again!! and any other thoughts would be very appreciated..
09-02-2015, 04:13 AM
#6
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 3
Agreed!! In my experience bucks tend to stick to the cover of the wood-lines 10-30 yards in around open fields cutting corners (inside corners). I have seen big bucks in open fields but not that often, especially if there is a lot of cover available.
Last edited by brian55013; 09-02-2015 at 04:19 AM.
09-02-2015, 04:26 AM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
Thanks for the insight guys(Rockport & MudderChuck), I plan on hunting the funnel unless the wind tells me otherwise. I spent a lot of time studying this map and its elevations. The funnel itself is 60 yards wide with my stand placement 25-30 yards into the wood-line with its elevation a bit higher than the field south of me but with a 50ft drop in elevation north of me (remaining width of funnel) I'm not real confident in where these deer will be bedding or feeding, but guessing especially during the rut this should be an active cruising route considering bucks tend to stay in cover vs. crossing open fields. This land owner has owned this land for over 30yrs and nobody has ever hunted it. I guess you could say im so pumped to hunt it, I just wanted to be in the best possible spot to break this land in right. Thanks again!! and any other thoughts would be very appreciated..
09-02-2015, 04:42 AM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Germany/Calif.
Posts: 2,664
I've been doing things the same way for so long, doing anything different just doesn't cross an old mans mind. Thanks for a new insight.
During the Rut I've seen Doe pop out most anyplace with a Buck on her tail. They can show up in some really odd places. Like on top of a bald knoll at 3 in the afternoon. I usually track the Doe and the Bucks find the Doe. Cover can be the last thing on their minds.
During the Rut I've seen Doe pop out most anyplace with a Buck on her tail. They can show up in some really odd places. Like on top of a bald knoll at 3 in the afternoon. I usually track the Doe and the Bucks find the Doe. Cover can be the last thing on their minds.
09-02-2015, 05:03 AM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
I've been doing things the same way for so long, doing anything different just doesn't cross an old mans mind. Thanks for a new insight.
During the Rut I've seen Doe pop out most anyplace with a Buck on her tail. They can show up in some really odd places. Like on top of a bald knoll at 3 in the afternoon. I usually track the Doe and the Bucks find the Doe. Cover can be the last thing on their minds.
During the Rut I've seen Doe pop out most anyplace with a Buck on her tail. They can show up in some really odd places. Like on top of a bald knoll at 3 in the afternoon. I usually track the Doe and the Bucks find the Doe. Cover can be the last thing on their minds.
Last edited by rockport; 09-02-2015 at 05:08 AM.
09-02-2015, 05:50 AM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Germany/Calif.
Posts: 2,664
Yeah, its a % game. It can certainly happen anywhere. They end up in odd places here by design. A mature buck will purposely corral a willing doe into odd areas thinking he can have her to himself there. Personally I have better luck predicting how they will search for hot doe than I do predicting what they will do once they have found one.
I have one picture in my mind from years ago. Two trophy Buck side by side, looked like brothers, making a Bee line for a Doe maybe a mile away, in her bedding area. The time of the day and the lay of the land had nothing to do with what they were thinking. I couldn't have drawn a straighter line between two points. They looked to be in a hurry.
I remember thinking where the heck did they come from? I'd been hunting and scouting this area for years and had never seen them before.
I guess one of the brothers fought the other off, I saw him a few more times. I couldn't bring myself to shoot him.
Just one of those things that stuck in my mind.
I'm debating now about harvesting a two year old Doe, she is hanging out by the railroad tracks. On one side I think I should get her before a train or car does. On the other side, she is a really a beautiful Doe, long legs, muscular, solid Chestnut color. I'll probably let her go and hope for the best.
