Where do you install your deer stand in large hardwoods?

A big question every novice deer hunter has is where do I set up my stall? The question really must be how do I decide where to set up my stand. Even seasoned hunters sometimes ask themselves that question when they find themselves in new territory.

The answers to the question have some common rules regardless of what terrain you’re hunting on, but a lot has to do with the specific terrain you’ll be on. This article will concentrate on what I am most familiar with, and that is hunting large forests with no agriculture in the area.

Hunting in large forests can be very difficult. There are seemingly an infinite number of places deer can hide. With lots of oaks around and a generous mast in recent years, they don’t have to travel far to find food during hunting season. Chances are there is a creek or at least a small creek where the deer can get water nearby. So what does a boy do?

It’s going to take a lot of legwork and more than a couple of hours in the woods to figure this out. The first thing to find out is where the deer lie down. Think about the geographic features of the area you are in. In the northeast it is quite hilly if not exactly hilly. My experience is that deer like to sleep near the top of ridges when the weather is decent. They do this so they can spot a predator from a distance and put the top of their ridge between themselves and danger quickly. Also, the sun stays longer at the top of a ridge than it does in valleys, so it tends to be warmer there.

In cold, windy climates, deer tend to go into valleys for shelter from the wind and huddle in the thickest matter they can find. One really cold and windy day after deer season was over, I was walking where we hunted and kicked three deer that were sleeping under a huge oak tree that had been blown over a few years earlier. It was in a small narrow valley between four good sized hills in very thick cover. They let me get 20 feet away from them before they got away. It scared the hell out of us all!

So be aware of the terrain and weather and look for signs: footprints and droppings. Although there may be a fair amount of signs everywhere, there will be areas with more signs than others. Finding the real beds is your goal. Here’s a hint: look for a thick brush. Between small trees, laurel forest, marshy areas, this is where the deer like to sleep.

Now there are a couple of options. It can settle in the bedding area or try to ambush them on routes to and from food and water. There are advantages to both.

Note that earlier I said bedding areas – a plural. Deer don’t lie in the same bed every night like we do. Depending on weather conditions and hunting pressure, things change. So finding the active bedding area can be a bit tricky. But if you’re right, you can have action all day. Early in the morning they will go back inside. Then the deer will lie down during the day, but it won’t stay lying down all day. They will get up and sail around a bit. I have shot as many deer between 10 am and 2 pm as early or late in the day when the deer or more active. Many boys leave the forest at 10 and return at 2 for the night. I think you’re missing out on a lot of good hunting by doing this.

One late bow season, around 1:00 pm, I had a doe walk up to my tree stand and she was poking around a bit and finally lay down 20 yards away. She was quite alert for a while, but finally lowered her head. Every time the wind blew a little too hard or a dead branch fell from a tree, he could see an ear that perked up to interrogate the possible threat. Finally, about 2 hours later, her head popped out. She got up very easily and simply walked away from her, flicking through the pages a bit and glancing back from time to time. She could tell that she was concerned but not panicked. About 15 minutes later, my hunting partner appeared in the direction the doe had been looking. She had driven him off into the distance, but she didn’t run away. It was a very good learning experience.

The second option is to look for likely routes for deer to enter and exit the roost area to find food or water. They’ll go through really thick stuff in valleys or along a hillside. I have hardly ever seen them ride on top of a hill in daylight. There may be transfers there, but it is almost always done at night. While bedding areas change, the best food and water supplies generally don’t. If you can find some mature oaks, you will notice that the woods are a bit more open, as large trees tend to hinder the growth of young trees. Also, if there are houses within a mile or so, look for routes to and from the houses. Deer look at your bushes as a smorgasbord and easy to pick, especially when the ground is covered in snow and acorns are hard to come by.

The trails leading to food and water tend to be many, coming from the bed area and funneling down to a few trails. Try to find a number of places to set up stalls along these routes closer to water and food than rest areas. That way there are fewer trails where you can minimize the chance of being on the wrong trail that day. These mounts work best at first light and then into darkness.

By spending quality time exploring and paying attention to the type of terrain you are hunting, you will see more deer and greatly increase your enjoyment of the hunt.