buckeye

I am going to discuss some of my strategies that I use to pick stand locations on a new property. I would like to hear yours as well. I am always looking for something new to implement into my own strategies

First and foremost, for me it starts in the winter months as we all know winter shows the past seasons buck sign the best. Igo slow and try to take in as much as I can inthe area. I will even take notes along my wayin attempt tonot over look anything.I try and examine even the most miniscule sign and take note of it. I will use this information to determine whether this is an area I want to hunt in the futureor not.

I put most faith into the terrain and not so much on deer sign. Deer can and will roam most anywhere so sign basically only tells me there is / was deer in the area and to a degree the potential number andsize (based on track and rub size) of the bucks.

After going over the property and all the terrain features / signthe best I can, I move onto the key decision of most of my setups. This iswhen Iwill take everything I had seen (terrain andto a slight degree sign) and try to relate it to a common place.

Once I can relate and tie as many ofthese different areasto one specificsetup (using my observations along withaerial and topos maps) I know I usually have a hot spot. I feel by doing this I am putting myself in the common denominator of the particular set of woods I am hunting. I will then set stands to take advantage of the other areas of interest andthe different wind currents / thermals.

This is the gist of how I will setup on and hunt a new property for the first time. Next, I let the deer observations dictate the fine tuning of my stand placements.

Let's hear your strategy now!



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Greg / MO

Very similar.

I would say I probably concentrate most on pinchpoints where the available cover or predominant feature in the terrain narrows down considerably.

I'm also a huge "edge" advocate, as it's been proven deer are edge creatures. Most people think of edges as merely the outside line of a wooded area as it turns into a field, but I'm also talking about the edges INSIDE woods which are often created by different flora growing thickly or a concentration of buckbrush or cottonwood saplings which are thicker in one area. Briar patches or honeysuckle can create an edge which deer will skirt around or follow around to another destination.

I'll often simply stand still for a long time, carefully studying my surroundings until an edge just sort of appears. More often than not, I can walk over to it after identifying it from a distance and find travel sign there.

Obviously, I love inside corners -- and missed an easy crack at a 140+ on opening day by not being hardened enough yet and lacking discipline; I was picking my bow up off the ground when he popped out from the woods at 25 yards. It was dark enough to cause me to get down, but I still had plenty of good shooting light out in the open bean field he emerged in. I got busted by a trailing deer which blew at me midway through my draw cycle. If I'd still been in my stand, it's been a slam dunk and another P&Y on the wall.

Let's see... what else? I've never had good luck hunting watering sources; they're simply too abundant where I hunt.

I use aerial websites such as local.live.com extensively to identify potential new hotspots. I've ordered in topo maps before, but my Illinois farms I hunt don't have enough elevation changes to seem noteworthy... and those that do exist I usually find by walking the ground in the late winter/early spring.

I concentrate on corn mainly. (Crop rotations are ALWAYS beans and corn where I hunt; every field is the opposite every following year.). I've had deer hit beans early (exemplified by the 140-class), but once they turn brown I hardly ever see any action after that. Cut corn fields keep producing all year though.

buckeye

Greg

A lot of times the common denominator is a funnel. More times than not this is the case in my experiences. I look for what ties as many of my points of interest together as possible and this is where I will start out at hunting a new location for the first time.

Germ

Well I would but you two pretty much covered it.

I look for is a primary scrape area. Then I find the bedding areas near the prmary scrape. I look for the best spot(funnel) between these two spots. I have taken the most of my big deer on these setups.

I also to setup right in the middle of the bedding area, but I only hunt here during the rut. I set the stand no later then the end of march(if I can) and only hunt it during the rut.

Germ

Oh yeah!!!!!

I hunt old river bottom, talk about your "inside edges"!!!

BigJ71

Buckeye,

I just posted this on your other thread but it seems to fit here better so I copied it:


I love to hunt staging areas and natural funnels, I will take a walk through my prespective hunting area and look for trails, sign, etc.... I am alsolooking for bedding and feeding areas, once located is when I try to find either a staging area or a natural funnel between the two spots. I have found that if there is a field between the two (bedding area and main feeding area) there will almost always be some sort of staging area where the deer seem to hang out before moving across the field. These spots while plentyfull with deer are tough to slip in and out of,andit is a must that you pay very close attention to the wind direction in these spots.

Funnels I have found work very well even if the wind isn't perfect. It's the does I pay attention to, if they are mostly using this funnel then you can bet your a$$ that come the rut they will bring the bucks in tow as well.

I rarely try to pattern a buck. I have done it before but I have found it to be too hit or miss. During the rut they will travel different routes more often than when not rutting. The does on the other hand seem to keep status quo even during the rut. I have had great luck setting up just off ofa highly traveledpath, especially during the peek of the rut.Even if a buck is pushing a doe they will tend to stay close to their normal route and normal feeding/bedding areas. Being in that area will increase you chances of getting a shot at them.

This is another reason why I tend to wait till later in the season shoot does. I don't want them to change their travel routes because someyahoo (me) is in a tree taking shots at them! If the does feel safe in their routes they will continue to use them even during the rut and that's what I want.

This is what I lookfor at least.

mobow

Man alive, have you just opened my brain to like.....a MILLION questions.....[8D]

I am a HUGE fan of ariel photos and topo maps....topo's more so because I understand how to read them better.

I've not killed a buck, just does, so I'm mostly a reader in this thread, which is great.

Germ

You can get some great maps from the county clerks office Mo. I love new satalite photos, they are great place to start. One thing I really check is what is around me. If the placeI have is 10 acers but sits next to a gold mine then you mayhave a great spot. All it takes is 5 acers to have have a honey hole. If it is the right 5 acers. I tend to look for those 5-20 acer parcles. most of the time they are over looked!!

kshunter

Innie Minnie Miney Moe! That tree!

Actually, good info. In a nutshell, I attempt study the deer movement, and place my treestands accordingly. Certain stands seem to be better than others at different times of the year, depending on factors of the rut, food sources, and summer/fall/winter patterns, and of course hunting weapon. My stands are setup as Gun or Bow, but normally not both. Lots of pre-season scouting. Like was said earlier, study aerials. It makes a difference when you aren't able to scout it in person.

Doubled 150

The first thing I do is find a satelite image of the new property on Google maps or terraserver.com. As far as terrain features that I look for when finding a new spot are:
[ul][*]Bottlenecks, funnels or pinch points....I look for these on the satelite image so I generalizethe area Iwill hunt.[*]Interior edges....like downed trees, thick cover, a small creek or a fence row inside the woods. [/ul]
As far as sign goes, here's what I look for:
[ul][*]Staging areas....I don't like to hunt field edges. I like to get back in the woods a bit from the field edge and hunt the staging area where the deer "hang out" before the enter the feeding area, which is usually at dark.[*]Droppings....is some of my favorite sign. They tell me if it's a buck or doe and how often deer visit the area.[*]Secondary trails....When I find a heavily used trail, I look for a secondary trail next to it. It may be 50 yards or so on one side of it. I found that the bigger bucks have a separate travel route than every other deer.[*]Scrapes....I like to hunt scrapes at certain times of the year. I don't hunt rubs that much but I do like to see them.[/ul]
I always have to fine-tune when the season starts.

This year I hunted a new spot. I generalized the area by looking at a satelite image before I even set foot on the place. Then I took a quick walk on it and saw the sign I was looking for andI started hunting. I hunted there 7 times and moved my stand4 times within a 60-yard radius fine-tuning to the proper location. The 7th day produced my avatar buck.