Stand Placement & Degrees of SHooting Lanes

I struggle with my inner stubborness sometimes.
I absolutely CAN NOT set up in an area, sit down, and face ONE direction.

I always feel the need to be in a location that offers 360 degree views, and long distance shooting opportunities maximizing my kill zones.

Drives me nutz to sit down in an area where i have only 1 shooting lane, especially when it isn’t even offering my maximum weapon range.

I see hunting shows where they use ground blinds and close all windows but one.
I see many people hunting from tree blinds that offer up minimal shooting lanes.

What do you prefer to do; and why?

I’m trying to convince myself to sit more “Back to the wall” type areas rather than having the ability to see/hunt 360 degrees from my chair.

Discuss

As an example, i tend to sit on wood edges/field edges/ but only where i have a great view into the woods….I cannot sit just inside the woods and give up the opportunity that the field edge provides.

I have a buddy that is the exact opposite. He will sit in an area with a single shooting lane, that only offers 50% or less of his weapon’s accurate range….BTW, i see 10x the deer he does; but i think he’s sleeping half the time too

Ha. I have the opposite problem out in SD. I can see a mile in every direction. The challenge is getting a box blinded erected in an area the deer tend to travel.

Next year we are building a blind that will mount on the car trailer and be mobile. This year I’m implementing a hay bale blind. I don’t like hunting from the ground, but I think this blind is going to be the ticket.

Here is a pic from one of our stand locations. there are similar trails to your left and right when facing this trail. Most all of the bucks pass on this trail so I sit with my gun up concentrating on this lane. I ignore the other lanes most of the time because the deer cross this lane so fast. Other stands offer more of a view. You just need to adapt to how the deer move.
DT

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Bow season, I like to leave myself brushed in as absolutely much as I can stand (I’m a large object to hide when your talking bow range encounters). Drives my buddy nuts when he helps me set up stands with how much I leave in. I can only think of one time leaving cover in the way has cost me an opportunity bow hunting, and I very seldom get picked out of the tree.

Gun season – I still dont prefer it wide open, but I do be sure to have multiple ‘lanes’ in spots I know deer are likely to pass through that are cleaned, but still try to keep it to a minimum in order to keep human disturbance down. But, I don’t hunt field edges so its not comparable scenarios, I hunt very heavily with my ears and it drives me nuts when I have to rely on seeing them versus hearing them first (I also do NOT like snow on the ground come gun season, dry leaves make soo much more noise). Our place is also typical ‘bluff country’ so there are very few places that I have the possibility of maximizing my .270’s range potential, my favorite gun spot has a maximum shot distance of about 75 yards. Partly why I don’t mind leaving brush up though, on a deer that’s not running full bore you can pick out holes in the brush with a 3×9 scope when the deer is 50-70 yards away and the .270 has a flat enough trajectory to place it through smaller holes in the brush. (This spot is a staging point for deer normally, so even though its orange army season its still very rare to have them come through on a run, normally they stop right in front of me to re-group).

Not sure if you’re talking bowhunting or gun. For bow, imo, it’s almost impossible to find a tree where you can shoot 360 because of the wind. When I pick a tree for bowhunting it’s based on prevailing winds and deer travel routes.

If seeing deer is your goal then I agree, it’s tough to beat a field edge. For shooting deer, I prefer in the woods watching a funnel or intersecting trails on the down wind side. Also, experience (and blowing deer) have taught me that trying to call or rattle from a tree where you are exposed from 200-300 yards is probably not a great spot for a bow. When deer are focused on a sound they will pick up your movement from a long ways away. There is more than one way to skin a cat, do what makes your hunt enjoyable.

*For shooting deer, I prefer in the woods watching a funnel or intersecting trails on the down wind side.*

I’ll have to try this strategy more as I tend to sit where I can see multiple trails. Do you mostly hunt from a tree?

However I typically gun hunt.

Having only hunted one time with a bow two years ago and shooting a big doe within 10 minutes of getting into the woods… Virtually no compound bow practice in my lifetime.
I was quickly reminded this past weekend when I sat in a typical spot offering a shot in multiple directions that a BOW IS BIG AND HARD TO CONCEAL MOVEMENT. Lol.
Gun hunting I have no problems hunting 360°.

But i got busted a few times this weekend when I had deer come in from all directions. Haha. None of them shooters anyway, but reality is I needed better concealment. I could’ve let one fly 10 minutes after setting up again this weekend on Saturday , had her ranged, didn’t see my draw and gave me the perfect angle. Looked like a 1.5 yr old w/2 young ones… She walked on. My concealment was sunrise and shading mostly.

So, I’m finding that I should try sitting in areas where I can sit down and get into a comfy shooting position with a bow, and only shoot in that prepared direction. And that goes against my grain; but mostly wanted to hear others strategies regardless.

I should probably get a tree stand, but at 6’7″ and nearly 300# +gear. I don’t have as many options as most with stands. I use full body leaf cut suit and a 3′ tall leaf cut blind, play the wind.
I’ve never hunted from a tree.

Having the confidence the deer are going to come through a spot sure helps me to sit on it. Got a couple of areas that its no problem sitting all day opening weekend. Those spots tend to depend on other hunters pushing deer to them. After that weekend Im on the move.

As far as deer coming in behind me those are bonus deer if I get a shot at them. I need to concentrate on the good spots out front.

On the ground with a bow, that is an extra layer of challenge I have very little experience in. I’m the fattest squirel in the woods in bow season, only 2 stands under 20′ (the 2 ladder stands I have). I am trying out a 2 man ladder this year, bought it for my brothers kids in gun season, but it’s actually really comfy and plenty of space to lay stuff on the second seat area (and a 500 lb capacity). For my set ups I do like you suggested, I place the stands so that my ‘most likely’ shooting zone can be shot from a sitting position. Whenever possible I prefer to shoot sitting, it’s a more stable position when your hopped up on adrenaline, and I’m too tempted to move too much when standing.
The perfect killing zone, for me, is a spot where it’s most likely for a deer to be broadside in my lane where I can shoot seated and has a big tree/patch of thick brush or what have you right before the lane to conceal me drawing back. Finding that scenario is a lot harder said than done.
As far as location, come to think of it, almost every stand I have set up are pinch points of some form. My best late october/early November spot is a pinch point created by a pasture fence corner(inside corner), 4 trails intersect at the fence corner as the deer prefer to stay covered in the woods instead of exposing themselves in the more open pasture (the woods actually extend about 20 yards into the paature, so in part I think they just don’t feel like jumping the fence too). This area is also a crossroads of sorts between two of the more ‘major’ doe bedding areas in the area, it’s not uncommon to get bucks passing through anytime between 10am and 2pm in the coming weeks as they work from bedding area to bedding area looking to pick up the next hot doe.

So many variables to consider. Specifically, even for gun, it’s all about pressure and weather. The vast majority of mature bucKS seem to be where the other deer are not. They don’t like crossing open areas in conditions where they can’t smell or hear. Wind = heavy cover. I love watching my open fields and having 300, 400, or more yards. But almost all my big bucks have come in the woods in thicker cover

I always to to play the wind first as I only bow hunt now, but while I do some edges along a food sources. I like to try and set up in a tree set back from the very edge trees. Depth helps you blend in. On edge stands I also try to take into consideration two facts. How is the deer going to move past me and can I use the tree to hide my movement and I’m right handed so I’ll set up on the side that allows me to move the least.

In the woods I’m looking for something that forces or restricts deer movement patterns (pinch points) or trail crossing and set up near it. If that tree doesn’t exist, I will set up off the funnel/crossing and cut several shooting lanes to cover the movement to or from the funnel as best I can. I try to cut those in the summer (usually July) although I will clean up a bit of regrowth in season if needed. Most of these areas are in or near thick cover.

I’m not a blind guy but if the right situation pops up I’ll go with it. But I get pretty frustrated loosing so much ability to see the surroundings. I really like to see and hear the deer coming as early as I can and my experience with blinds is that you loose some of that.

Makes sense what many of you are saying.

Sit in high usage funnel areas in thick cover, allowing yourself a shot straight in front of you; forget about the other 270 degrees around you and you’ll be prepared to shoot each deer that walks that path.

Here is about 22 year snap shot of my farm. Red X = mature bucks, Purple = food plots, and Yellow is primary deer trails. When looking back at everything we have killed, weather, time of day,…. I am in the woods much more than in the field. My food plots get hit early by does/young bucks. Seems like lateer after dark or hour or two before sunrise the big boys stop in. I’ve shot the vast majority of my bucks in crappy weather (rain/sleet, windy) along intersections where a main trail intersects with a secondary trail. So history has taught me to look past the High visibility spots and focus on the high percentage spots

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As Randy says, so many variables.

What I’ve found is that with experience, scouting, and patience in the stand, it’s generally possible to determine the “flow” of deer through the area. These days, of course, trail cams can also help. Then you can position stands and cut lanes accordingly, but almost as important is that you know where to watch.

I had one stand years ago that I named The Median because it was like sitting in the median of a deer freeway. There was a northbound and a southbound lane. But it took me two years of sitting in the wrong spot before I saw enough deer to see the pattern. I kept wondering if deer were getting around behind me or moving way out from my sight lanes.

As it turned out, the deer had a very narrow funnel that for some reason they stuck to like glue. I never determined why this was as there was no discernible “funnel” that directed them there.

But the end result was after moving my stand, I cut one narrow shooting lane and it was game on for 10 years after that. I believe I shot 8 bucks off of that stand and then others shot deer as well. Always down the same lane.

Grouse

The problem we have on our 300 acres in regards to this post are:

The open areas are wide open fields or pastures. All the trees surrounding these fields and pastures are not ours!! So we can hunt the open spaces, and we do see occasional deer move through them, but not the bigger deer. Funny but the one place we own the trees, the field next to it is not ours!!

So I hunt in the thick deep woods where my shots are all 20-50 yards with a .30-06. When we first started hunting this land 15 years ago, we hunted what I call the people trails. The walking paths or 4-wheeler trails. If you didn’t see a deer opening morning, you weren’t going to see one all season. So I started going into the deep woods, no trails, and found that the higher I went up the hill, the bigger the deer get(MI River Bluff country). So I now drop off the edge of one of these hills and stay high, I have two stands, one I can get about 100 degrees of rotation in and the other around 80-90 degrees. There’s no water, no food, just deer passing through. Others in the party are content on the people trails and shoot small bucks and doe. I have had encounters with some good sized deer back in these parts, and the doe and small bucks.

I guess I’m in the opposite camp, I should start a post as to why I should sit in an elevated blind over our pasture land with open views and longer shots!!

My answer to your question, if over time you believe or have reason to believe deer are in the thick stuff, climb a hill and put your back to a tree, or find a blowdown and hide amongst it. Find as much of a lane as you can and see if you can ambush one!!

ET

Haha Cougareye; i did shoot an 11pt last year in an open field :D.
May not be considered a “Big” buck by many true trophy hunters; but it was certainly a shooter for me.

Every property truely is different. I usually hunt primarily in SE MN near preston/lanesboro on various friends lands. That area hunts soo much differently than in SW MN where i always shoot a deer.

Been hunting our private land in SW MN for soo long it’s just hilariously predictable when/where you will see deer. I should just try being in the thicker/less visible woods for a year or two and see how that pays out.

I kind of have a feeling that my next hunt (Probably in a week or so) will end quickly as i know the deer flood into my hunting grounds. I also built some nice blinds in key areas and i think that’ll for sure put a mature doe on the ground…But from hearing you guys; not likely a larger buck. But; mature deer is my goal for this year. Gender not as important. Heck; i traded my 11pt antlers for pheasant meat last year

I wouldn’t forget the other sides of the stand from the ‘primary’, I just base that stand off the most likely side with a few ‘back up’ lanes.

Better yet if you can find a good spot with the off side as eliminated from even being a possibility, like a real steep, near vertical bank in the case of one of my spots, not impossible for a deer to come that way, but very seldom.
But there is always more than one way to skin a cat, what I like and prefer may drive someone else nuts, and vice versa. Like you said also location (edit-i hate auto corect) plays huge roles, nit only in layout but in deer behavior as well.