Written by Greg Kazmierski, Whitetail Partners
Most deer hunters spend a lot of time outside of deer season thinking about where the best tree stand location is in their hunting area. While countless variables can influence tree stand placement, I've found three elements that hold regardless of where you hunt.
My insights on these elements come from my experience designing and improving whitetail properties throughout Ohio and surrounding states. I've been blessed with the opportunity to see firsthand how deer use the landscape in various types of terrain and habitat and I look forward to sharing what I've learned. Now, let's take a look at the three elements that make up the perfect stand placement.
Key Attractions
Your key attractions are the specific reasons why a deer would travel in front of the tree stand location. Depending on your desired outcome and the phase of the hunting season, your key attraction or attractions are going to change. I've found it best to reverse engineer a scenario and try to determine all of the important factors that would make up the best possible location.
Let's say that I am looking for a tree stand location that will give me the highest probability of encountering a mature buck during the end of October or early November. Knowing mature bucks will be interested in doe groups during this phase of the season I would first be identifying doe social areas. Food plots or another destination food source and bedding areas make up the most obvious doe social areas on a property.
I also know that a mature buck typically won't risk exposing himself in the open during daylight hours, so identifying or improving travel routes in good cover becomes the next step. A common habitat improvement combination I implement on a hunting property is a developed travel corridor with the addition of a mock scrape and/or a water hole, downwind of the typical prevailing wind direction for the targeted phase of the season.
To summarize the scenario listed above, we have an extended list of key attractions that increase the likelihood of a big buck entering into bow range:
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Doe Social Area (Food Source or Bedding Area)
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Easy Path of Travel (Travel Corridor)
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Mock Scrape
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Water Hole
Hunter Access
How you enter and exit a tree stand location is often the most overlooked, yet most important element. As you access your stand location, you are carrying foreign odors into the core of the deer habitat on your property. If you are continuously accessing your stand locations by crossing over frequented deer trails or disturbing key social areas, the deer movement will likely shift.
When drawing up the perfect access trail to and from my tree stands, my goal is to focus as far away from deer activity as possible. Depending on where you hunt, this can be achieved in a variety of different ways.
When I don't have the ability to make changes or improvements to the property I like to focus on the terrain and identify the areas where I know deer won't be spending a lot of time and will also provide me with a good deal of visual cover. In hill country, steep drainages or ravines make for perfect access routes. The steep edges will usually limit crossing points and provide a visual block as you work your way up to your stand location, reducing your likelihood of spooking deer.
On a property where I do have full control over improving the habitat, I can also achieve the same type of security in a few different ways. The first thing I am trying to do is designate my habitat improvements away from my hunter access and tree stands. This will influence the deer to spend the majority of their time away from where you are spending yours. Outside of this, I am looking to implement some sort of screen cover that will provide me with the same visual block I achieve when using the terrain to my advantage.
An important point not to be overlooked is the wind direction. The best scent control is following wind directions and being diligent to have your scent carried away from the key deer social areas.
Deer Movement Drivers
Your movement drivers are going to be the accumulation of the things that increase the likelihood of a deer visiting that one location when you choose to hunt it. This is where understanding deer behavior and how it changes throughout the fall comes into play. Your tree stands can be in the perfect tree with secure access, but if you're applying hunting pressure at the wrong time your chances of filling your tag are low.
Circling back to the example we used in the Key Attractions section, let's say we are still targeting a mature deer during the end of October or early November. You have found the doe social areas, and you have your likely path of travel, but what puts that buck in front of your stand location on that day?
In an effort to remain as efficient as possible, bucks will cruise parallel to these doe social areas on the downwind side, gathering all of the intel they need in the thick cover without fully committing to exposing themselves in the open. So in this scenario, ensuring your stand location is on the downwind side of the doe social areas is going to be your main movement driver.
Your core movement drivers are going to change depending on the phase of the season and the location of your tree stand. A helpful exercise to implement in the field is always asking yourself why deer are doing what they are doing, logging mental notes of your findings, and using that information to become a better hunter.
Piecing It All Together
For many hunters, the pursuit of success and finding the perfect spot never ends. I constantly find myself making micro adjustments that can make a good spot great, or even making big changes when a deer stand didn't turn out the way I initially thought. While there is no perfect recipe, I have found if you consistently focus on locating areas deer will spend a lot of time, how you can get in and out of that area securely, and what specific things will put them in front of your tree stands on the day you hunt, you will find yourself having more success in the woods.
