Stand Cool-Off: The Age-Old Question

[JNG]

I've been having a running debate with some buddies of mine about how frequently you can use a stand without starting to pressure the deer (either to avoid the area or be more nocturnal). Now, understanding that you might hunt a stand every day in a transitional area in the heat of the rut where you're seeing different deer all the time--and putting that circumstance aside--how many days do you usually let a stand "cool off" in between hunts?

 

[jason765]

I dont, it doesnt seem to matter in the area I hunt. Me, my dad, and his wife all took good deer out of the same stand within 24 hours, first morning dads wife stuck a big doe, that evening I stuck a nice 8-point and the next morning, dad stuck a tall 7-point. Im sure that some stands do need to cool down especially if you are spooking deer, and it has a lot to do with the land you hunt, whether they are bedding there, eating there, just passing through or all of the above.

 

[Mike H]

I can't hunt more than 2 days in a row because of work. But I believe that you are overhunting a stand when deer sightings fall off. Unless other reason such as food change etc. Other than that if you are not spooking deer while walking in and exiting your stand you should be good to go.
The wind always determines my entry, exit, and stand location. Sometimes easier said than done. I have changed stands in the middle of a hunt because the wind changed.
Once deer have your stand location pegged good luck there.
Scent you leave behind also is a factor here. Pee is ok[I do it in scrapes] other than that I don't touch anything with bare hands, or spit, etc.
They say the first time you hunt a stand is usually the best. I save my good spots till nov.
If you are spooking deer while walking or exiting your stand, or flat spooking deer while in your stand

 

[Cam]

Tough vote for me on this. I pay very close attention to the wind. I will only hunt a particular stand if the wind is right for it. If it isn't, I go somewhere else or stay in for the day. Took me several years to learn that patience pays off sometimes in big ways if I am willing to give up a day of hunting to wait for the right wind.

For example: There is an area behind my house that the neighbor owns. I have hunted there for years and had great luck - keeping the wind in mind. Last year, some jackass has decided that he was going to hunt the same area (this is a whopping 2.4 acre area) because he has a daughter who is dating another close neighbor's son and the landowner allowed him to do so. I call him a jackass due to the fact that he tromps all through this tiny wooded area sometimes 4 days in a row with the wind completely wrong for that spot. As a result - Sunday was the first day I sat in this stand.....nothing. Walked the standing corn beside it to sit and watch the area from a distance.....nothing. I can watch this area from my back yard and see deer (lots of deer) from the time the crops start to come out until they are planted in the spring.......seen nothing so far this year. I normally have two deer out of this spot by now and his actions have either driven them to moving out of the area or to being completely nocturnal this early in the season.

This is a long way to say that the number of days I spend in one location depends completely, for me, on the wind. I'm also very mindful of getting in and out as undetected as possible (although I firmly believe they know I'm there as soon as I get out of the truck and begin walking!)

 

[1911Shooter]

I have been very lucky with the amount of ground I can hunt and therefore the amount of choices I have for stands. In the past few years there have been times that I havent hunted the same stand twice in a year. I normally hunt every weekend and about once or twice a week. With that said, this year I have hunted the same stand almost everyday and I have seen deer every time. I am not 100 percent sold on the fact that it matters as long as the wind is in your favor and you dont spook them everytime you enter and leave the woods. I try to wait until it has been dark for a little bit to climb down and I also wont climb down if there are deer around me. Something I have done different this year is sparying the bottom of my boots with scent killer, and when I do this I drench them.

 

[HICKMAN]

if there is ONE thing I am learning this year, it's that I will have a few more stands and locations to hunt next year based on the wind.

 

[Willie]

Wind is critical and so is your approach to the stand. EVERY time we walk into a stand we compromise it more and more.

 

[JNG]

I'm inclined to agree with Willie. In October especially it seems like there's no way to dress appropriately for the 7:00 pm temperatures without sweating up a storm during the 2:30 pm walk in. I can usually make it to the stand all right, but I haven't found a way to climb the thing yet in warm weather without perspiring at bit.

I just can't believe that doesn't make a difference. That's why I think some sort of cool off is advised. Seeing does every day is one thing, but seeing mature bucks is something else.

 

[Anonym]

I have no problems hunting a stand consecutive days as I pay special attention as to how I get to and in it. Don't spook the deer with light and noise, and they don't know when you are in it or not.

 

[42769vette]

i currentlly have 9 stands my father and i share. we usually wont hunt the same stand on consecutive days unless its the only stand the wind will allow or we see somthing from a stand we cant live without

 

[rao]

My experience has been that the first time you hunt an area is always the best, provided you are in a good area. However, I typically won't hunt a stand more that a couple of days in a row. If I'm in a good area and don't want to move to another section, I will sometimes simply change my route and move my stand to another spot not far away. However, I have hunted some spots that hosted so much deer traffic that it never mattered how often I hunted in the same spot...but those spots are few and far between.