Well this being my first real year into bow hunting and harvesting my first deer my first night out actually (Doe) I decided id purchase a summit Viper X5. Well the stand is awesome and soo comfy but the problem i have is the only place i can use it is the pure hardwoods which is still alot of land.. Im use to having the deer come out of these hardwoods into the more brushy stuff and making there way to the feeding areas(cornfields). Where i have my stand right now there is a monster rub and I haven't used my dirtbike trails in there in about 5 years and they are pry still 6 feet wide. It is so thick between them the deer are using the trails instead of making so much noise through the brush. I feel like i might be spooking them all out when i move in. It also gets dark so early. Any opinions.

Yellow is a dried out swamp.
Blue is the Fence line to a huge cow pasture.
Red is my dirtbike trail and they travel these trails heavily now since i dont ride dirtbikes anymore.

Red x= where i have my climber right now and several rubs around.

It's hard to tell from the picture but i would probablt put my stand where the intersection is, but once agian i cant tell without seeing the land to well. Looks like a fine piece of land.

I marked a few spots I would hunt in blue.

Like muzzy, not knowing the lay (topo) of the land, I would look for trails leading to the feed plots (corn fields), signs of recent activity, and pick a spot either leading to the corn field on the left or the one on top.

I really like the spot marked on the left next to the left cornfield. I have seen the hugest bucks shining in that field. The problem is i do not own that field but they only use it for gun huntuing. The guy would not care if my deer ran wounded over there. Right where it is marked blue it dipps down and there is a small swamp thats dried up. I should go check if there is some possible climbing spots in there. Any more imput would be awesome!!

thanks!

Whatever that is between the south and middle corn fields (ie. fence line or tree line). Where this line meets up with the wooded area between the other corn field to the NE I would hunt in that patch along one of the heaviest trails.

Well i went out today and moved it. The thing that makes me the most mad about being a newbie in hunting is never knowing the best spot to put my stand. I always feel like i might be waisting my time not hunting the right spot(Good thing i bought a climber). Anyways...

Heres a pic of a spot that overlooks a cornfield and also a dried up swamp. I was thinking about putting my stand in that tree. The hard woods are only about 15 yards from that but you cant see it in the picture. And then where i was hunting in the deep hardwoods i was next to this....Do you think it would have to be a pretty nice sized buck to do that or could a little stinker pull it off?

Now all you have to do is be patient. The deer will come. Get there early and stay late.

That rub could be from a buck of any size.

As for where to set up...remember that when you set up in corners, you are actually covering more trails with little effort.

At the top right of your photo, there is a peice that looks sorta like a triangle with a nice grassy looking lane off to the right.

I would hunt the hell out of that point early morning and evening during the rut!!!! Set up about 10-20 in, and you cover the woods, the lane, and the feild with one shot. I say set up there, as there is escape and beddincover on all sides, and the lane makes for easy walking for the deer. REMEMBER that deer are a predominately lazy animal, and will ALWAYS take the path of least resistance, that offers them an escape route.

And this my freind....is a PERFECT ONE!!!!

That swamp looks great don't it???

It is a GREAT bedding area for does, and I would only hunt it in the morning in early archery season, and in the early morning during the rut. And then only when the wind is right and I could get there w/o spooking deer.

It is gonna hold deer, but I would find a route they use TO and FROM it, and post along that route about 50-60 yards away from th swamp, and about 20 yards off the trail.

It would be a stand that will pay great dividends,but only if the wind is right, you are SUPER quiet and scent free. It would be advisable to hunt it no more than one day a week.