Cooling off period for your tree stand?

[kludge]

So I'm wondering... after taking a deer from your stand, especially if there is more than one deer at the time you take the shot, how long do you wait before using that stand again? Or are you back in it the next day?

 

[Leadeye]

I have several tree stands out, some permanent. I move around based on wind, food, and what I'm seeing on cameras. Over the years though, I've come to believe that it's mostly just luck.

 

[w_ADAM_d88]

I'll hunt that stand again the same day. I have killed a deer before early in the morning and continued sitting in the stand for 3+ more hours and seen deer again in the same area. Even seen deer come up and cautiously sniff another dead deer.

 

[Crappiepro]

I've shot deer just a few hour's after shooting one from the same stand.
A few time's it's just been a matter of minutes.
I feel like the real problem is when they see you in that stand, seem's like after that they will avoid that area.

 

[phylodog]

We have ten stands on 1K acres and we hunt whichever affords the best chances based on the wind and what the cameras are telling us. We hunted the ever living crap out of the same stand last year looking for a particular buck. We saw him on three different occasions and had him within bow range twice but never got him. If you're careful on your approach and they aren't spooking while you're there I don't see an issue hunting it regularly.

We both killed our bucks out of the same stand ten days apart this year and we hunted it an additional two days between them.

 

[huntall50]

A good spot for a stand is a good spot for a reason, you see deer out of it most every time you hunt it. Seeing does/young bucks is different than seeing mature bucks. Play the wind, control your in/out and minimize your scent.

 

[trailrider]

I've shot deer just a few hour's after shooting one from the same stand.
A few time's it's just been a matter of minutes.
I feel like the real problem is when they see you in that stand, seem's like after that they will avoid that area.

I agree. They don't seem to know what the heck just happened when you shoot one unless they see you and associate you being there with it. Agree that if wind is right...hunt it whenever

 

[HICKMAN]

Shot a doe last Friday at 4:30 and was covered back up in does within a half an hour.

 

[Willie]

The very best time to kill a deer in a stand is the very first time that you hunt it. Every visit after that compromises the stand. Deer seem to pattern us better than we can pattern them.

 

[Mgderf]

The very best time to kill a deer in a stand is the very first time that you hunt it. Every visit after that compromises the stand. Deer seem to pattern us better than we can pattern them.

This is only true in certain circumstances I believe.
The properties I hunt are adjoined. There are 4 properties in a row that total less than 15 acres of woods.
My brother and I both hunt it every year for the past 8 years. There are only 4 different stands on the entire hunt site so 2 are usually occupied and 2 empty.

Both of us have shot multiple deer from the same stand, or within sight of another stand.
All 4 of our stands are within a rocks throw from houses. It's close enough that I can smell coffee brewing in the morning.
I hear the land owners start their cars and leave for the day. I can hear leaf blowers going, sometimes I can hear kids playing in the yards behind me.
Cars and trucks traverse the road on the far side of my hunting plot, as well as joggers and people out just walking their dogs.

With all this activity and smells we still harvest around 6-8 deer a season between us.

My point is, I'm hunting "urban deer". they are a LOT more tolerant of human smells and sounds. Still can't let them see you in a stand though.

 

[ADDICTED2TONE]

I used to be anal about not pressuring the bucks I was chasing and hunting stands and seeing does not caring that I was there changed my point of view after I learned that to hunt the big bucks you gotta hunt the does and hunt the wind.
My worry about pressure was just silliness on my part. Hunt the does and hunt the wind and the bucks will present themselves. You hunt the does and hunt the wind and them two rules will pay dividends in the woods without driving you crazy worrying about stand locations.

 

[Willie]

Yep,... too much pressure moves them to where there is no pressure..

Penn State study revealing how deer react to hunters | TribLIVE Mobile

 

[Sgt7330]

The very best time to kill a deer in a stand is the very first time that you hunt it. Every visit after that compromises the stand. Deer seem to pattern us better than we can pattern them.

This is very true. Over 20 + years deer hunting I can only think of one stand that didn't burn out or diminish after multiple hunts. Wind and especially entry and exit routes are the most important. The biggest factor is hunting pressure and not just from you. The other hunters nearby play a major role in exhausting a stand area too

 

[cschwanz]

I shot a doe from one of my favorite stands last year at 8am. Got down, got her al dressed out and the guys I was with wanted to hunt for another couple hours so I climbed back into the same stand. Shot a 2nd doe an hour later.

Few years ago, my dad and one of our hunting buddies doubled up on opening day bucks from the same stand. Friend shot a nice 8pt mid morning, dressed it out and went up to the truck to hang out( and start drinking, lol). My dad moved down into that stand and shot a 12pt that afternoon.

 

[Aggar]

I hunt depending on wind. My property is big. I have 160 acres,75 tillable and rest in woods. Dad just bought a neighboring property of 110 acres. I only have 3 stands up. Mine are just hard to get into without spooking out the woods. It's 1/4 mile wide by mile deep. Now that dad has this property I can come in from the sides easier. And part of my woods is so thick you can hardly walk through it. I saw more turkeys than deer this year. I didn't have the luck with me this time.