This has been bothering me for a while so I have to know. the only deer I see in my tree stand comefrom right behind me, ther isabout 90 sqr. yards of open land in from of me. when I went to drag out the doe I shot 2 weeks ago I noticed a lot of trails. what I have been debating about doing is for muzzle loader season go sit in that thick area behind my stand oh say 60 yrds. or so and hopefully a buck comes throught. what do you think?

my philosophy is, if what you are doing is not working for you, try something new. when i was sitting all morning on stand and didn't see anything i got up and walked about 20 ft. from where i was and sat down. 5 min. later the big bucks walks through and i shoot it. if i would have stayed where i was, no shot. try it and find out what happens. you can always move back....

Turn your stand around? If you still have a shot doing this then it's better than walking through the area and leaving your scent there.

Claymores work well too. Set one out about 60-90 yards behind your stand and ambush the buggers!

I agree with MN deerman. People make fun of me because one of my favorite deer stands is at the edge of a field but My back is to the field and it faces some of the thickest stuff in wisconsin. Iget a deer there every year.

Because of similar experiences I'm beginning to think of treestands as a dual purpose hunt/scout tool. Leaving the dirty work for portable ground blinds or still hunting. I only say think this because, in the past, I've seen as many deer from the ground as I have stands. Yet another part of hunting that defies logic.

I'd say move a bit. If you've got a climber, you can easily move it.

NOTE: I bought a climbing begininng of 05 season, and love it. I don't like carrying it, but... I like being in it. Very comfy & secure (Summit Viper)

Who wants to carry a big old sword into the woods?