Finding the perfect tree stand location can create a challenge.   Some people will walk into the woods and just throw up a tree stand anywhere.  This can provide success in harvesting a nice deer, but it can also require luck and being at the right place at the right time.   If you want to increase your odds and have more chances at getting that opportunity at getting a nice deer, there are a few factors that you should be aware of.

Scout your location for signs of existing deer traffic.   Look for existing deer tracks, scrapes, or rubs on trees.   Find trails that deer have been following into or out of bedding areas.  Be aware of natural funnels or pinch points between travel corridors where deer will have to cross between patches of woods or cross a creek.   Find some good cover and just sit and watch as deer travel through your area.   Keep records of deer you see and the time of day they are moving.  These signs will provide you with much needed information about the existence of deer in your area of hunting and their habits of movement.

Along with these signs of deer traveling in the vicinity, you must rely on your instincts.  Going back to the hunters of the caveman days, instincts gave them the edge over their prey.  If you start to think like a deer and can visual yourself seeking cover in a certain dense area, know that you have easy access to food and water, and you simply feel safe in your comfort zone area of the woods then you will be able to narrow down a good location for a stand.  If you walk into the woods and you just have that gut feeling that where you are is a good spot, then your instincts are telling you to settle into the location.  So many times your instincts are ignored while placing a stand, and you just end up moving back into that location at a later time.

If you have studied the signs of deer and scouted their travel paths, then you will have vicinity chosen and narrowed down an approximate location in which you want to place a stand.  This is just the beginning of finding that perfect stand location. There are some additional factors to consider that will enhance your hunting experience and improve your chances.  Consider entry and exit paths to this stand; play the wind direction; know your shooting distances; take into account the size of the tree; have backdrop cover; hunt the shadows; and consider the height of the stand. These are all very important. Knowing when to actually move your stand will also aid in your hunt being successful.

Entry and exit paths are one of the most vital parts of stand location. The importance of undetected routes should be apparent to most hunters at this point.   First, if you can’t get to your stand without alerting deer, right off the bat you are at a disadvantage.  Bumping deer or sending them scattering will easily allow the deer to become aware of your presence, and they will avoid the area where this occurs.  Even when they move freely during the daylight hours, deer that have repeated encounters with hunters are nervous. Their senses become keyed at a higher alert level; they’re more fidgety, and they are more likely to run first and not stop until they are far away from that area. Sloppy entrance and exit paths should be your foremost concerns about putting up a new stand location.  While there are many factors that make a route to a stand a good bet or not I will point out a few here that will make your routes easier.

Choose a path that will allow you to keep a low profile.  Walking along the bottom areas while staying out of sight, traveling drainage ditches, or any other low lying depression keeps your silhouette broken up and more undetectable.   Utilize the terrain of the land to keep you hidden and you will be seen less.  Try to stay off deer trails as much as possible.  Human odors will drift as you travel to your stand.  Equally as important is the human odors left behind.   Deer can detect human scent left on a branch as long as two days ago.  Following the lowest areas of the land will provide you the advantage of not leaving any of your scent on or near deer corridors.   This scenario will aid you in one of the best low impact entrance and exit routes there are.

Another good route is to use waterways which offer the same key advantages.  Just be cautious not to leave human scent on overhanging branches, grasses, etc. Moving within water helps you to avoid leaving any odors behind. This route also helps in keeping you at a low elevation and is a relatively quiet way into your stand.

Knowing the habits and most likely travel paths of the deer you are hunting becomes very important on your way into and out of your stand.   On morning hunts you must try to avoid feeding areas as deer will be out early usually before light.  Midday travel will bring you closer to deer within bedding areas. If you know the habits of deer then you may know where these areas are and will be able to avoid them while walking the area. This may require you to walk many times the distance of a straight path but the goal here is to minimize human odors and to remain undetected. It’s important to use a good scent control such as Dead Down Wind to cover your scent. Spray down your boots and clothes to help mask your existence in the area.

Going in before first light is a judgment call based upon how well of a low impact route you have into your stand.  If you have an easily traveled route that allows you to get in undetected then it is a good idea to be in your stand at least 30 minutes before shooting light.  However, if there is a chance you will bump feeding deer on the way in it may be better to wait until gray light. The advantage of gray light is that you can simply see much better. This slight ability to see due to more light allows you to possibly see deer before they see you.   Any movement at all should be an alert to freeze until you can move. By seeing the deer first you can allow the deer to move along or possibly get into a position to shoot. While approaching a field or open feeding area you can quickly scan for movement and be prepared to take cover or even get a shot if deer are spotted.

One exception to this gray light rule can be during firearms season.  Here the advantage is to be in your stand at least an hour before first light. You do risk bumping some deer on your way in, but they could just as easily be bumped back when other hunters start moving about. Stand fast and they could just come right back to you.

Poorly planned entrance and exit routes have the ability to mess up a hunter’s plans faster than anything.  If deer know of your presence, it will not be long before a previously bustling area of activity will fall silent to any traffic.  Most of these deer will just become nocturnal and only move to feed during the darkness of night, but if you can keep yourself undetected, it will go a long way to keeping a hunting area fresh. Carefully plan those routes, and you will see greater success.

Wind direction can be a tricky thing to predict. Knowing which way the wind is moving while upon a stand will help you keep your scent from blowing into the path of traveling deer. A Whitetail's nose is by far its best defense in detecting unfamiliar odors.   Keeping your stands on the downwind side of the deer will keep your scent out of his path.  Tree stands should be set to take advantage of the prevailing winds with an additional stand set to cover any change in wind direction.  This way no matter from which way the winds flow the hunter will have a stand to cover that area and not disperse his scent across the fields. Bucks will usually approach a field or food source from a downwind side so that it has the ability to scent-check for danger. These bucks will lurk in the shadows and sniff the air continuously in an effort to identify every odor it can. You walk into a fast food place, and you will smell fries cooking. If a deer would walk in he would smell fries, burgers, salt, ketchup, mustard and everything else in the place. This is why their nose is their best weapon as they can detect everything in the area. This is why even if you are confident that you will not get detected, prevailing wind direction should still be a very important consideration when choosing the perfect tree.

Shooting distances is another factor that can get overlooked in a hasty moment of trying to get that stand hung.  Regardless of your choice of weapon, you need clear cut shooting lanes that will allow you to get a good shot off when the opportunity arises. As a bow hunter I look at the tree and consider obstacles before I hang a stand in that area. What is my ideal shooting distance?  I try to clear for a 20 yard shot, but if the area allows, I sometimes will clear out for longer chances. Can I easily trim some small shooting windows in various directions or will it require some major pruning of tree limbs?  What time of year am I hanging the stand in that area? If it’s a pre-season timeframe I am more liberal with the amount of trimming that I do. I try to anticipate deer travel routes and clear lanes of small windows in multiple directions. The goal here is to leave your shooting lanes to where they look as natural as possible. Deer will then dismiss them as harmless and ignore them as the season opens. Deer notice major changes in their environment so removing too many branches will get you busted quickly.

If I am hanging a stand on a short notice and season is open then low impact is the key. Utilize midday hours when deer traffic will be least active. As in any trimming situation whether in season or well before, I practice my scent control methods and minimize leaving any human scent behind.  This is an active time and deer are wary of their environment. They know if something has changed and spook easily.  However it is a must to remove all obstructions within your lanes. The tiniest of limbs can deflect an arrow and cause you to miss a shot. Carrying out any trimmings so as not to leave the fresh cut limbs near your stand area will reduce the chance of being noticed. 

Regardless of whether shooting lanes are cleared during or before the hunting season, the most important thing is to make them look natural.  It should appear as if nothing has changed within the environment at all.  Be aware of the little things such as what time of the year you are trimming, control odor from dispersing, removing cut limbs, and keeping lanes to a minimum will keep deer unaware of your presence and increase your odds of success.

Tree size will also aid you in hiding yourself in cover. The object here is to become one with the tree.   If your stand hangs on a tree that is wide enough to hide your body or create a backdrop then it makes it much more difficult to see your silhouette. Choose a tree that is wide enough to ensure that both you and your stand just blends into the tree.  

Sometimes artificial cover may be necessary to further hide your outline.   Using a camouflage cover or cloth to wrap around the bottom of the stand is one such cover.   Utilizing tree branches that retain their leaves is another way.   There are also kits of fake type branches like the artificial Christmas tree branches that you can affix directly to your stand so as to create cover. What you are trying to accomplish is to create a natural backdrop of your stand and yourself on the side of that tree. The last thing you want to do is look like a big dark blob hanging on the side of a tree. Creating a natural backdrop and hiding your silhouette is a must.

Another disadvantage of choosing a tree that is too small is the instability of the tree. A small tree will sway with the wind or shimmer every time you move.  Creating less movement is always better to keep from being noticed by deer. Trying to accomplish a shot with the tree swaying due to your movement is not only unethical but unsafe. Always try to select a tree that will not sway but will support your weight.

Shadows can be a wonderful help in hiding you and your equipment, but at the same time they can make sight more difficult. Choose wisely and lurk in those shadows to remain hidden.  It is much more difficult to be seen tucked into the shadows of a large tree or canopy.  Your outline will be masked better by the darkness and any glares from your equipment will be greatly reduced. Without the direct sunlight ,any shiny surfaces will be less obvious.  Placing your stand in the shadows will aid in not shining a warning glare into the eyes of an approaching deer

Being in the shadows also improves a hunters own ability to see what is going on around him.  It’s much more effective to look from the shadows into the brightness than the other way around, so always try to use the shadows to your advantage and lurk back in them.  It will not only hide yourself better but will allow you to spot approaching game easier.

How high should I go with my stand? This question gets asked more than any other. If you go too high, you risk having bad shot angles and could have more obstructions to shoot through. Not to mention being afraid of heights can make it downright dangerous, but if you hang your stand too low you make it easier for the deer to wind you. The advantages of lower heights can be better viewpoints, better shot angles, and possibly less obtrusive cover to shoot through. Regardless of the height you select for your stand, the ideal tree should provide adequate cover around you. If it doesn't, it might be advisable to make adjustments to your stand to be able to adjust to a new height.

There will be tradeoffs that you will have to determine which is important to you and what risk you are willing to take.   In either situation it is always recommended to wear a Hunter Safety Systems (HSS) harness to secure yourself to the tree in case of a fall.   The HSS fall arrest system will catch you and allow you to safely descend the tree or remain safely attached to the tree until help can arrive. Every single hunter that hunts from a tree stand should be wearing a safety harness. 

Making adjustments to your stand locations is sometimes inevitable.  It is impossible to always get it right the first time.  If you are repeatedly being busted by deer or simply seeing them travel around you, then you need to make a decision about moving your stand location. Realizing when to make an adjustment is the first step and then taking the initiative to make it happen will help your luck at harvesting a deer.

Finding the perfect tree and hanging your stand properly makes success much easier to grasp.   Wind direction, shot distances, tree size, backdrop cover, and stand height all factor into your success. Some of these factors are more critical than others and special attention must be given to entry and exit points and wind direction, but when consideration is given to all of them collectively you will find that ideal tree in which to hang a stand.

By Miscellaneous Authors

This section is for articles published by a host of amateur authors. Some of these authors are former staff members but many of them are just regular people that had an article in their heart they wanted published. Here at TalkHunting, we believe everyone has a message and we try to accomodate that when possible.

Comments(2):

1. Great Tips Dave

   I still have a lot to learn and with great articles like this I am getting better!

   Monday, November 08, 2010 Dennis

2. Good article.

   Nice article Dave, thanks for reminding us how critical our choices can be. We've all, at some time or another, wished we had set up a little diferently in order to gain an edge. Thanks.

   Thursday, November 11, 2010 Scott