Jimmy S

OK, so you have spent time scouting your woods before deer season and now are convinced where to setup Opening Day. Let's assume this is a new area and scouting was necessary. Not to be confused with areas you have been hunting for years and are probably on a 1st name basis with the deer. What convinces you to make the move to another location? Also let's assume your decison is not influenced by other hunters. I ask this because one of my true faults is I can become stubborn and stay on one location when I maybe should have moved earlier. The easy answer is "when I don't see deer" but using that logic, some may use the.... "I will see deer sooner or later from the same stand" logic . Also, you are hunting an area with low deer numbers, say 10-15 deer per square mile. It is the pre-rut and hunting pressure is low.

SW Iowa Hunter

With that few deer in the area, if I knew I was in a good spot I would stay unless I saw deer using another trail. I think rather than move you should figure out why you are seeing no deer. Where are they? Are they only moving at night? Where is the food source? Water? Bedding? Has it moved since I scouted and put up my stand? How often am I hunting the stand? Am I doing something that is causing the deer to change patterns from when I scouted? Scent to much? Over hunting the stand? Sorry so long but if I know I am doing any of these mistakes or any of the deer factors have changed then it is time to move on and try some place else. I will have about 10 stands out in a number of different areas so it is easy to change spots for me but someplaces make it alot tougher.

If you are limited in the area you can hunt you might at least put up more than one stand so you can hunt the wind correctly. You also can switch stands and might notice something else you were missing. Deer change thier patterns so much during pre-rut and rut that sometimes pre-season scouting can give false information. Trail cam is another good way to tell deer movement. A $70 dollar trail cam on the trail to your stand may tell you when the deer are coming through. You might be too far up the trail and they get there after dark or something.

Sorry so long

RustyOlRanger4x4

If I dont see anything then its time to move

Jimmy S

SWIH...Some good points, especially relating to scent control and overhunting an area.

ROR...With 10-15 deer per square mile how long do you stay before you decide it's time to move? That's my point. Even with good scouting that leads to evetually shooting a deer, you won't see deer every day.

Double Creek

Let the sign dictate when it is time to move. If you are still seeing very fresh sign, I would give it 3 to 4 hunts, if I see nothing, I will assume the deer are traveling at night and I will try to get closer to their bedding areas.

RustyOlRanger4x4

I have a problem sitting still so to be honest, saying I move alot would be an under statement If I set up a stand I better see some sort of life or ill be in a new spot the next day

Handles

6 hunts, 1/2 a.m. 1/2 p.m. I might not move that stand if I don't have to and may come back later during the season for one more hunt with good wind.

killer243

i would hunt the stand for 1 or 2 days and if i believe i am not going to see deer i move. if i think i will see deer and after about 3 days of hunting i will still hunt the area and look for some good sign and such. however i believe the most important thing to have is comfidence in the stand you are sitting in.

davidw

I think killer243 has a good point on this.
" believe the most important thing to have is comfidence in the stand you are sitting in."
If you have done your homework and are confident you have good stand placement, don't start second guessing yourself. You have to give things time to play out. Of course you also have to be careful not to over-hunt a stand and burn it out. It is a very fine line. I always try to have more than one stand setup in a particular area that I am hunting. It gives me more optins for wind and various weather conditions and even different times of the day. If I had to guess, I probably move a stand after 4 or 5 hunts if I find some place better but I won't move just for the sake of moving. Move the stand when the conditions, i.e. food supply, hunting pressure etc, warrant it.

TURKEY FAN

I give it a weekend, then next weekend relocate.