The Treestand Dilemma

The Treestand Dilemma

By Ryan Graden

It’s the ever troubling question that all hunters ask themselves as fall approaches and opening dates draw close. “Where should I hang my stand?”

I know for me, as I go through the timber I tend to “see” my hunts play out. “If a buck comes down this trail, I should hang my stand here.” You know what I’m talking about? The BEST place to take a shot is always running through your mind. “Where should I be if they are here or there?”

Setting your stand, especially for bow season, is something that you should spend a bit of time planning out. I’ve met those hunters who just throw up a stand because they have a “hunch” that it’s a good spot. Sometimes it will work. Most likely you are going to see a lot of scenery and not the deer that you’re hoping to see. Hanging your stand is still a “guess” of sorts, but it should be an “educated guess” that will increase your odds of bagging a good, mature deer.

Winter Scouting
When it comes to picking the perfect spot to hang your stand, you really should begin gathering some information during the late winter and spring. Deer are still moving. They need food, water, rest, and some sort of socialization with other deer. While they are in the process of all of this, they will establish some routine travel patterns.

These travel patterns are often observed in the late winter (February & March) by way of deer trails and food sources. I usually find these things while in the process of shed hunting. I make a mental note or sometimes I will write down where the heavily traveled trails are and what direction most of the tracks are going. How fresh the tracks are and anything else that I can note from what I see.

Knowing where these travel paths and trails are is VERY key to placing your stand in the right place. There are deer trails out there that deer have literally used for years! Not kidding. Where I hunt, I know of a few trails that I remember finding when I was a young guy squirrel hunting with my Dad. And now, thirty plus years later, the trail is STILL being used.

Don’t ignore the obvious! If this trail has been used for many years, you can be confident that you are going to see deer on it. You may not see your trophy buck right away, but give it time and right conditions, one could come along. Hanging your stand on a trusted trail is a solid choice that will produce what you’re looking for.

Food Sources / Bedding Areas
As a part of your scouting trip you should also be noticing what the deer are traveling to and from. Follow the trails that you find to get an answer. Most likely they are going to one of two things. Either a food source or a bedding area. Having this knowledge will also give you an advantage in knowing just WHEN you might be seeing them on these trails.

Fall and winter food sources tend to shift depending on the season. In the fall the acorn crop has usually just begun to fall in October. Acorns are a great food source for whitetails who are trying to gain as much weight as possible in preparation for the winter. Bucks will burn a TON of calories during the rut.

Therefore, they have to eat quite a bit to sustain their breeding activity as well as weather the winter. Does, much in the same way, need to gain as many calories as they can too. Some will be carrying offspring that will need the extra sustenance and on top of that, they will need to have a calorie buildup to endure the cold Iowa winters. Knowing this, deer may spend more time in the timber instead of venturing out into plots.

As we talk about food sources, this should lead you to think about three different areas that would be best suited for placing a stand. A food source, a bedding area, and the transition between the two. If you know that the trail is leading to a food source, pick a good sturdy tree on the edge of this food source. Somewhere that will allow you to have a 40-yard-shot if you have the chance and if you’ve practiced!). And by the way, this is where you want to be in the evening or early morning. Deer will be coming to feed in the evening and will be returning to their bedding areas in the early morning.

If this food source is supported by a heavily used trail, consider setting up a stand along the trail. I would aim to be fifteen to twenty yards off the trail in one direction or another. Also, make sure that your stand placement is going to allow you a good broadside shot or quartering-away shot. Allow the deer to travel to your “sweet spot” for a shot. This stand would be good for either morning or afternoon/evening hunting. It would also be a great spot to hunt when the rut is in full swing. Deer often use these paths in the pursuit of does.

Finally a stand in a bedding area. This is always a great early morning stand to hunt but you have to make sure that you are getting in to this stand with plenty of time until their arrival. I would suggest setting a stand on the “outer edge” of where you know they are bedding. I’d also suggest hanging your stand a little higher than the average stand. Deer, as they come into a bedding area are VERY cautious of their surroundings. They look, listen, and smell in all directions. Getting a little higher than their normal viewing pattern would be an advantage in your hunt.

One of my most successful stands is in a bedding area. It has produced a great number of respectable bucks over the last five years that it has been there. The stand is set at 25 feet high and it has saved me countless times! They will look up, but not that far up!

Wind Direction
This is probably the most overlooked and yet most important item of proper stand placement! I can’t tell you how many hunters I have met that are excited about a buck they’ve discovered on their property and how they are going to hang a stand to get him. But when I ask them, “What about the wind direction for that stand?” They have a look of surprise on their face! “Boy, I didn’t think of that.”

There’s always the “perfect tree”, or “perfect angle” that will get us excited about setting up a stand to hunt an area. But the ONE THING that will ruin all your work, the wind! You have to take this into consideration for every stand you set. And if the wind is not right to hunt that stand, DON’T HUNT IT!
A mentor of mind shared a story once of a doe who busted him one time while he was in the stand. The wind wasn’t perfect, but he hunted it anyway. The doe came to the edge of the timber, smelled him, looked up and saw him, and bolted! Days later, the same doe showed up and what do you think she did? That’s right, she looked right up at the stand! She remembered something about that area that registered as “danger” and she was going to continue to be cautious when she was there.

In Iowa, we have a dominant west or southwest wind. Most of the time it is out of one or two of those directions. So, for me, I plan on that wind when I set most of my stands. If I know that 65% – 70% of the time that will be the wind I deal with, I’m going to make sure that if deer are coming out in that area, they will be upwind of my stand.

Now, I do set a few more “backup” stands for the occasional north wind or east wind. Again, making sure to hunt those ONLY if the wind is right for them.

If you’re wanting to hunt areas with ravines or steep hillsides, I would also suggest setting your stands close to these hillsides. Wind, as it blows tends to “follow” these contours of the land and can be used to funnel your “smell” in a particular direction!

Cover
When you have your area for your stand picked out, don’t forget about cover. Even though you are high above the deer that might be coming by, you still need to do what you can to hide yourself.

Too many hunters, when preparing a stand, do WAY too much trimming. They will sit in that stand trim out every branch that could possibly be in their shooting lane or even in the way of their vision.

Your silhouette needs to be broken up by something. A single tree trunk isn’t enough to make that happen. You need branches, leaves, and anything else that can enhance the camouflage that you are already wearing.

Consider leaving a few lower branches below your shooting lane as well as a few branches behind you and above you. You may not have a 360 degree shooting lane if you leave some of this. But consider this, sticking out like a sore thumb will keep you from getting a shot in the first place. Leave some cover! Remember also, hardwoods like oaks and hickories will hold their leaves much longer than others. If you still want cover through the rut, make sure you find one of these trees to hang your stand in.

Shooting lanes
Once you have your stand in the tree you want, along a bedding area, travel path, or food supply, you need to be particular in your trimming!

As I suggested in the previous topic, trimming your stand out is key to a successful hunt. If you have a good idea of where the deer will be when they come by your stand, then you should be able to choose 2-3 areas for a good, humane shot at the animal. One should be your “broadside” shot no matter what direction they are traveling. The 2nd and 3rd shot options should be the “quartering away” shots in both directions.

Trim your shooting lanes wide enough to show the entire body of the deer with a few feet to spare on either end. Take care to trim even the smallest branches that seem insignificant. Even these could be the culprit that could ruin the shot of a lifetime.

Your stand should now still have “cover” to hide you with but allow you some shooting lanes that will allow an arrow, slug, or sabot to sail smoothly towards its target.

The trick is getting that animal to stop in the right place. Sometimes, that is the most frustrating thing. Take time to practice a “moving shot” just for this situation. Most of the time, deer will stop suddenly when they hear a sound, thus stopping pretty quick in your shooting lane. Sometimes it doesn’t work that way. If you practice for a moving shot, you have nothing to worry about! Just hope they are moving slow!

We all like to be successful in filling our deer tags. Whether you are a trophy hunter, or meat hunter, success is what drives us to do this over and over again every year. If you want to increase the odds of filling your deer tags this year, do the work! Spend a little more time than you usually do and hang your stand in a manner that is going to give you success.

Good luck!