Stand location
 

This is my first year hunting whitetails and I need some advice on stand location. I'm going to attach a picture of a possible hunting location. The red lines indicate game trail with heavy sign. The blue line is my entrance route. The yellow line represents the prevailing wind, out of the north/east blowing south/south west. The blue circle is an active watering hole. I don't know if it's active in the winter time or not. This is public land, very active and the whitetails are extremely hard to see. It's also very dense forest/swamp, with few open areas.

Where would you setup your tree stand?

RE: Stand location
 

Just based on wind direction and the trails you have mapped, I would suggest southwest of the water hole, just to the south of where all the trails intersect. Also, where the two trails come together in the northeast portion of the map, set up to the south of the intersection to keep the wind in your favor. A topo map would also help a ton, asyou would be better able to see geographical pinch points. Good Luck!

RE: Stand location
 

Thanks for the tips roller! It pretty much all flat land, not much in the way of elevation variance, so practically no contour lines. You can see the swamp/river area to the north of the trails; one trail cuts straight across. That's the only real funnel I can see.

RE: Stand location
 

Well looking at the picture and where the water source is located, like roller said its a natural funnel where the 3 trails come together any time you can get a spot where you can narrow the trials from 3 to 1 you stand a good chance in success, not to mention the water source makes it a good early Bow hunting stand....and that way youcan get in there in a real hunting situation and see how every thing pans out for you....

Is the woods thin(open) or is it really confined??

RE: Stand location
 

hey BOWHUNTER818, thanks for your feedback too! The woods are really tight. Very dense brush, lots of hardwoods with a few clumps and lone stands of evergreens.

RE: Stand location
 

Well it sounds like you cound be harrboring some Brusier bucks in there..get out and scout it out get a good set of binos and go sit. But if i were to hang a stand i would put one up right where those 5 trails come together and the wind would have to be right to hunt that stand....GOOD LUCK WITH IT THOUGH!!
Looks like a good property..

BH818

RE: Stand location
 

Oh, and did I mention the brambles? They are dense, and wicked sharp. My upper thighs look like they've been through some kind of Chinese torture.

RE: Stand location
 

Also I forgot to ask, how far from the trails I should set my stand? Right over? 25 yards away?

RE: Stand location
 

Take care of those "brambles" you dont want those things stickingyou early in the morning getting to your stand..but back to the stands location clear some really good shooting lane be sure not to give yourselfup though dont skyline yourself...me personally i would want to be off the trails to provide me with the best shot opertunity so i would find a nice tree and probably hang a ladder stand or a hang on cause i hunt dense woods my self and noise travels---a long ways-----but yeah clear some lanes and some trails to and from your stand and lanes to shoot through....you should be set..

When does the season start in MASS.???

BH818

RE: Stand location
 

Bow starts 10/13, shotgun starts 12/01, and muzzleloader starts 12/15. Thanks again for the feedback BH.

RE: Stand location
 

No problem....its my pleasure but you have plenty of time to get it right before your season starts...so good luck! I just saw that your new to the forums so welcome if you see at the top of the BWhunting forum and at the top of the DEER hunting forum there are those 2008-2009 sign-ups....if you like to hunt a fair amount sign up for both i did it last year for the first time and its a blast a good way to meet new people and learn some new teqniques to make youa better hunter......we all learn something new

Good luck

BH818

RE: Stand location
 

Cool thanks for the tip.

RE: Stand location
 

My experience in hunting public land is that many hunters will show up in the prime locations on opening day. I've found the best spots are escape routes, hard to reach locations that lazy hunters won't walk to, or unexpected locations such as just off he main road. I have a spot on a game land in NC that is 100 yards of the main road leading to the area. I've killed two bucks there and have seen deer 90% of the time I hunt this location. Its so close to the road, no one else considers it.

When hunting public land, you not only need to scout the deer, you need to scout the other hunters.

RE: Stand location
 

I'll speculate a few things on my behalf to show my decision process...

Choice #1 - If you just want to get "any" deer, then I would suggest 6 o'clock or 8 o'clock stand positions from the "hub" of the 5-spoke trail intersection, this will help your odds with all the trails converging, also the prevailing winds and the least amount of human scent going into the area.

Choice #2 - If you want to go for a buck, then I would suggest scouting more in the direction of the 10 o'clock trail from the "hub", as that particular trail looks like it's going towards a thicker pine grove, along with a swamp. Possibly a bedding area??? If this holds true, then find a smaller trail running along side a well used trail, as bucks tend to follow doe trails toward food and bedding areas, but in a little thicker cover and of course downwind.

RE: Stand location
 

I would go by the trail closest to the waterhole until that freezes up.

RE: Stand location
 

Public land, find the thickest woods no one else wants to go and sit and wait. The brusers will come.

RE: Stand location
 

If you can find any kind of a trail through that thick stuff you described, I would set up about 20 yards downwind of that trail and you should be good to go! That's how I like to ambush em!