Treestand Location

[mfrobert]

Hey Guys / Gals - - This season will be my third year hunting this new property that I'm on. Each year I've learned a little bit more about deer travel, but I'm still 0-2 and haven't tagged anything I have however seen quite a few. Below is a screenshot of the property with just about as much info as I've been able to put together. I would absolutely love any feedback you could possibly give me. Thanks in advance!

 

[jblomenberg16]

I'm a very "average" hunter and don't have any trophies to my name that would suggest I'm at all an expert. But a few things I've picked up from hunting similar property (woods with access to fields of beans and corn, with some natural waterways on it).

1) Deer are like people and need food and water. Being near a food source and water source, or on a major trail that leads to one or the other is always a good thing

2) Think about where weather and wind will come from during hunting season. If up is north on your map, most of the time wind and weather will be out of the north west, so positioning yourself accordingly to be down wind would be a benefit to you.

3) Sometimes geography and features can act as a natural funnel. A lot of times deer will travel in cover to stay out of sight of predators and hunters.

4) I like to have a few options for shots. Most of the deer I've seen have been in the woods, but I've had a few in the cut corn field adjacent to my stand.


Given that you have both corn and beans nearby, there is a good chance the deer have been using that for food during part of the year. Not sure what trees you have in the woods, but there could also be some potential food sources. The water hole would be a very natural place for them to get water. The creek running through the field and woods could be some what of a natural funnel, and could also be a highway of sorts for them to walk along when the corn is up.

I see you've marked some rubs in green, and perhaps some game trails. Where those two green lines form a Y wouldn't be a bad spot for a stand, and maybe even just a few yards into the woods so you have visibility to the corn.

If you have the ability to put up a few stands you might look at having a couple options. Something a bit more south where the creek enters the woods could also give you good visibility of both the woods and the field. What is the property like immediately north of you? Is it more woods and cover or does it open up into more fields? Given that you have roads and houses to your south, that could certainly influence their behavior and they may not move too far south on the property once they start getting in rut and become more skittish.

 

[MRP2003]

Good Challenge!

Bow or Gun or both.

Who and how many are hunting the properties around this property? Deer could be spooked or killed before getting on your property. Have you walked the perimeter to see if there are any stands just on the other side of the property line or right on the property line?

Does anyone else hunt your property? If nobody else hunts with you, maybe you should bring a good friend a couple of times. Place them the opposite side of the property or even in an unlikely spot for deer.

How much time are you spending hunting/observing the property? Maybe you need more time each season or your doing too much.

What is the path you take to your stand(s)? Are you spooking the deer when you are going in?

Have you used any game cameras? Do you know what is coming on your property. Cameras are great in gathering information and patterns

The corner where your woods touch the next block of woods is probably a good area where the deer travel as they will try to keep some cover.

As Jblomenberg suggested, a place around the Y should be good.

Also with the long clearing could be a good spot with a gun

I hunt two properties.
One is small and hilly with very few crop fields in the area. With this one, the deer have changed their paths slightly every year. When I get to understand the path they are taking, which is usually near the end of the year, they seem to change the path the following year. The path also changes as the season goes on. The bucks typically take the paths with a lot of cover and the paths are usually hard to see.

The second, is a larger piece of woods surrounded by crop fields with a small river/big creek running through it. The bucks do the same thing, stick to a lot of cover and find the places which are very tough to get into. They also change their paths each year. Also have many other people that hunt the same land and the surrounding properties so building a consistent pattern can be difficult. I always seem to find the place where the bucks were hiding at the end of the season. Cant put cameras up as fear of getting them stolen.


Will be watching this post to hear other feedback as well as the OP

 

[mike trible]

I would put a treestand right at the SW corner of the woods that is on the east edge of the property, right where the fenceline joins the woods. I would take a thermos of coffee and some binoculars and be in that stand about an hour before sunup for a few days and just watch. I'd sit there till at least 1030 and then leave. If you want to make an evening sit I'd be there by at least 2:30pm and stay till about an hour after sundown. Enter and leave as quickly and as quietly as possible, do not cross the open field walking. You should have a favorable wind most of the time and you should be able to view most of the property. I would leave that stand there all season as an observation stand as the season progresses and patterns change. IMHO

 

[Dirty Steve]

For me,....NW corner of property where the two properties meet and the woods line on both pinches down to a corner. I'd be 50 yards or so back off that corner in the woods. That will be a travel location from one wood lot to the other during the rut. I would also not over look the tree line following the creek across the property. The location for me there would be in the middle where the drainage way across the field runs from the north woods to the creek. That will be a travel corridor, especially if the drainage way across the field is depressed lower than the field. The tree line extending east to the next woodlot will be a travel corridor as well. If your at the drainage way point described above, you can cover two locations. I have hunted areas like the tree line across the field a lot. You may not see a ton of deer, but you will see bucks, likely mature bucks using those locations to travel from one area to the other without having to cross into the open. Sit all day and pay attention to the wind. Don't hunt the tree line unless you have a north / south (generally) wind.

Dirty Steve

 

[Vamptepes]

Just inside the wood line near that creek off the corn field. I have a stand location in use the same tree in every year corn is planted and always kill 1. They don't care for soybeans around here as much. Or on the north side of a south side slope.