Curious what some of you would do in this scenario.

Wepurchased a new peice of IL groundin the Spring of 2007. During the summer we hung several stands where sign and trails were obvious from the year before. One stand in particular was between a major bedding area and a corn field. It was the perfect setting with major trails and arguably the largest bedding area on the 200 acre property. We ended up hunting this stand 7 times last year and it resulted in seeing 2 does and a spike. Not the kid of success you would hope for in such a promising setup.

Thiswinter/spring while shed hunting I noticed the ridge our stand was on had a lot of deer beds around it.Aware that deer were bedding on this ridge,I periodically checked this area for sheds. To my delight, I found a very large antler, that had I foundthe other side, would have gonein the 150's range.

With the 2008 season fast approaching,I am faced with the followingproblems: 1.) we didn't see squat from this stand last year. 2.) After shed hunting I've realized it's locateddirectly ina bedding area3.) There isonly 1 way in and out of this stand. Had I not found the shed I wouldn't even think twice about hunting this area again.

However, I did find a nice shed and if the buck can make it to this fall has the potential of being around 170 inches. Looking towards this fall, what would you do? Would you leave the stand there knowing abuck was bedding in the area this past spring? Would you not put much stock into find ashed 15 yards from your stand since a lot can change from now until October 1? Or would you hit this area hard early in the season knowing there is a chance the buck might cruise through there? I have mixed feelings on leaving my stand in this area since we had very little success last year. But then again, I don't want to blow an oppurtunity to harvest a mega buck! Curious what some of you other shed hunter would do or have done. Thanks!

I would only hunt that stand with perfect wind and at thepeak of the rut. Your entrance could very well be defeating the best of plans.

To me, it sounds like you didnt see much for deer because you were busting them out of their bedding area on your walk in. By the 3rd or 4th hunt probably all the deer knew what you were up to on the property. Perhaps you should reconsider stand placement - look for funnels adjacent to that bedding area. Instead of 'one' perfect stand, look for several good spots in the vicinity so you can spread out your hunting time and have more options with wind directions. Anyway, thats what I would do. A 150+ inch deer would keep my attention.

I agree with the others. It sounds like you may be either too close to the bedding area (in it), or not taking enough care with your approach. You said that there was one and only one way into this stand and with a buck of that caliber he is either able to see or smell you approaching.

I would either move that stand using the information now available toa spot that you can access without blowing out the deer or find a new approach to the stand that doesn't blow out the deer.

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Its probably a wintering area where they get on that hill to stay out of the cold. They may not even be there until after season which is why you didnt see much there last season. Just a thought.

Are there other indicators that he even beds there regularly as in rub lines, scrapes other sheds found on this ridge If didn't find something more convincing that he is actually using this i would move on to better ground.