ORIGINAL: DropTine249

All Season:

Topography or structure that funnels deer !

Early season:

I look at crop layout and then find the trails and corridors that deer will use to travel to each field. I'll find a field edge standlocation and work back from there. I never, ever hang field edge stands on the same side of the field that the deer are coming in from, no wind direction works for that set-up.

I will work back and locate staging areas, creek crossing, and very important- oak trees. Alot of deer trails follow oak trees from one location to another.

Pre-Rut:

I take a day or two and walk my woods with a friend(s). We look for fresh rubs that are on old rub lines(generally indictes a buck that has some age on him). Find fresh scrapes that are strategically placed. Young bucks scrape all over, mature bucks dont waste their time with pointless scrapes- they scrape where they know they will have/had doe action. We look for an area to hang stands that is danger close to bedding. We want the best chance of seeing this buck during shooting light in teh AM or POM, but also a location that allows us to slip in and out undetected.

Rut:

Sit in the woods near some doe. During our pre-rut scouting we isolate areas that we feel will be very productive during the rut. We also look deeper. We try to find the areas that a mature buck is likely to hold up a doe as he waits for her to come in. These locations will be near remote water sources and in-woods food(acorns). He will not allow her to travel far, thus, their daily travels will be short and to the point.

Post Rut:

I will still hunt areas that hold alot of doe, because some will be coming back into estrous in a few days/weeks. However, after I feel that the bulk of the breeding is over, the weather is cold and the bucks are emaciated- I go back to feeding patterns. But, winter feeding patterns are not like summer. I use tracts insnow cover and mud to pin point bucks travel routes.

I'm going to look for areas that a buck can travel and feed that offers him some sun-light. On really cold days, deer want to stay warm, too. I look for swampy, marshy, grassy areas within the timber that is exposed to alot of sun-light. Generally, I will then hunt that as a bedding area and look for the shortest walk to staging and a field corner that doesnt allow the wind to swirl- then sit it.

Any food located in the late season might as well be considered baiting- deer will flood into oaks at this time of year as they need the fat.