Setting up climbing stand evening before (will it spook deer)?
 

I found a what appears to be a honey hole on public land. It is about a 1.3 mile hike to this spot, and I’m sure making this hike while carrying my climber will make me sweat excessively. I am thinking about getting the climber all set up the evening before and leaving it set up on the base of the tree overnight. The deer could come into contact with it or smell it while it’s down near the ground during the night. Do you think this will spook them and it would be better to just carry it in and set up in the morning? Of course, aside from the excessive sweating, there is the risk of making noise when setting up a climber before dawn.

If its really that far in, you should be ok with leaving it there and not having someone discover it (of course, that's always a risk).

I would set the climber up the afternoon before, take it up and down the tree to make sure all is fine and then just leave it there over night. Might want to take some camoflauged burlap to help better hide it in case someone else stumbles through the area.

Also, I'd suggest putting something over it so you can find it in the middle of the night. I'm a big fan of reflective thumb tacks

If it were me, I'd hike in well before dawn and climb up in the tree. Your bound to make noise and get a little sweaty, best to let the forest calm down as much as possible afterward.

i dont think youll have any problems leaving it overnight... spray it down with scentaway when youleave it... while climbing the tree i rele dont think that little noise will do much in the way of spookin deer unless you just try to make as much noise as possible... just be careful not to trample around in there too much... ground scent can and will spook a good deer fairly easily.

I am not worried about having anyone steal it, especially if I set it up in the early evening. The spot is so far in that I can’t image that most hunters would trek that far. I saw no trees in the area that had been pruned, etc. I am just worried about the deer seeing/smelling the stand at overnight. I hope that the scent away stuff works.

The cool thing about this spot is that it is not too far off the forest trails; I only have to walk about 50-75 yards through the woods to get there, and I have a very specific route that is along a creek edge and already have reflective tacks set up to mark the way in. Of course, the first reflective tack is marked on the opposite side of the path to lead astray other hunters. :D

But this place is awesome. To the south of the stand site is the lake edge with sparse, open timber. Then as you go north towards the stand, there are thicker hardwoods bordered by small creeks/ditches, and the ground is filled with acorns and deer droppings. North of that is an area that must have been cleared out years ago, but is growing back and filled with pine and hardwood saplings and young trees, and lots of other brushy cover. My stand will be up a hardwood on the edge of this area. I have a feeling this is an area where the deer will feel safe to “play” during the day. I guess we’ll see about that on Nov 5th!!

Because nobody would think of that! ;) Joking aside, I think most people know that trick, so take it for what it's worth. Whenever I use tacks, not only do I use the 'tack the other side trick', but I then shoot a compass bearing to the next tack (and write it down so you remember it later), and make sure it's not visible from your trail marker. That way, anyone shining their light from your 'misleading' trailside marker won't be able to find the next one leading off the main trail. It's just too easy to shine your light in a circle to find the next tack, even if you place yours on the 'wrong' side of the trail.

You simply have to follow your bearing from that marker a short way in, find the next one, and follow the trail from there.

I've found so many stand locations following reflective tacks that it's not even funny. Fortunately for them, I'm an honest guy...

Good luck with your new spot!

UpHunter...you got me. I am a simpleton!

I think you will be fine. I killed the buck in my avatar last year doing the same thing.

Just spray the stand , handle it with rubber gloves and lock it to the tree with a cable lock. Guaranteed it will be there next day!

I often leave a climber in a tree over night to hunt the next morning...Typically, I'll hunt it in the evening and leave it for the next morning...All I do is push it up in the tree about 6 feet up...I don't leave it right on the ground just in case a deer might happen to find it in the middle of the night...