St.EdsHunter

I was just added to my girlfriend's father's lease in Texas about 1/2 way between Houston and Dalas. The place is littered with stands in the lower parts of the property (I think its about 1200 Ac) almots 15 in total.
I am supposed to add 2 new stands before the 2005 season and im kinda at a loss. All the spots I have see any nice bucks from are covered by those on the lease so what is a guy to do? I have seen a few spikes and forks in an area where no one has hunted besides me (girlfriend privlages hooked me up the last two seasons).
On this lease if a person isnt there, their stand is free game to the guy who asks first so i dont want to shaft the other guys who might want to hunt one of my stands. How soon should i put the stands up and what should i look for in these areas where everyone else has writen off?

timbercruiser

Welcome to the board. 1200 acres isn't that big of an area to scout. I would get the best map/aerial I could of the lease, plot out the current stands and try to find the best unoccupied area. If you don't have any luck by yourself, talk to the current members and see if you can get any good feedback. Locate the does hangouts and that is where the bucks will be during the rut. Look for sheds if possible.

Coastie

timbercruiser has some good advice there, the only other thing I would suggest is to not base any decision based on deer movement at this time of year. Patterns will change several times between now and opening day of the next season and weather and feed availability will have an affect on those patterns as well.
Why are the stands concentrated on the lower portion of the property, is it an accessability thing or is there something else going on, sometimes an overlooked area, regardless of the reason for it being ignored can turn into a honey hole.

Mr. .45-70

Along the lines of what Timbercruiser wrote, in addition to the doe hangouts, I would look for the thickest cover of the lease where there are no stands. A buck is a buck is a buck and once hunting season starts and they know they are being hunted they are going to move into the areas they know from past experience will offer them a safe refuge.

Once you've located these spots, take a little scouting trip and check out all the spots that have thick cover. I'd be willing to bet that you'll find some good buck sign. When you do, set up your stands on the edges of the thick cover.

Mr. .45-70

timbercruiser

Another thing, while scouting note old scrapes and rubs, even if you don't see any deer in the area.

St.EdsHunter

Thanks Guys;
The reason for the back of the property being hunted so hard is that all the "Big Bucks" have been seen there. There is a gas-line right of way and the dee often cut across it but it is covered by stands. There is a big hill only 200 yards from camp where an old broken tripod sits looking down over about 30 ac and i saw two forks cross it durring the rut this last year but i have heard bad things about trying to hunt an open hillside where there is a lot of wind. ???????