The white-tailed buck was standing broadside at 15 yards when I released the string and dumped the arrow into his chest. Upon impact the 7-pointer reared like a wild stallion, pawed the air with its front feet and made two erratic leaps before collapsing less than 30 yards from my stand. That heart-shot buck was the fourth deer I had taken from that stand that season.
Hunting The Best Stand Site
Finding a good hunting site and zeroing in on a tree where you'll hang your stand are vital parts of any hunt. You must find and sort through the clues of where the deer have been and where they're heading when they pass through an area. Find the clues and read 'em right, and you'll be there on opening day to bag your deer. The real hunt for most deer is in finding and reading the clues and placing a stand nearby.

Among the clues to discover in your detective work are: food sources, travel routes, water sources, bedding and safety areas, and advantage barriers. You normally want to place your stand near the highest concentration of deer or at the intersection of numerous trails. To better understand the relation of these parts to the big picture you can often draw a map or record your findings on a topo map of the region. DeLorme maps and a compass will help you with this project.

Food is a strong drawing card for deer, especially in the fall as they rush to fatten up for winter. Food sources can change overnight as some foods disappear and others begin to fall or become available. Local farming practices can also add or remove foods. Keep abreast of what foods the deer are searching for in your hunting area. Food sources can concentrate deer into a small area that's easy to watch from a well-placed stand.

Travel routes are often the most successful areas for a hunter's stand. A deer that's moving is far more vulnerable than a deer that is lying motionless. Walking deer reveal motion that's easy for hunters to spot, and deer make noise with every step they take. Your odds increase dramatically if you hang your treestand downwind of the intersection of several well-used deer trails.

Water can also be a big drawing card for deer. In recent years severe droughts have gripped many hunting areas. The droughts of the Southeast last summer dried up creeks and rivers. Deer were rushing to farm ponds and cattle tanks to find water. Smart hunters took advantage of the opportunities. The same drought conditions also grip much of the West each fall and winter. Don't overlook watering holes in your search for a stand site.

Bedding areas and deer safety zones are often in dense brush or hard to reach areas. You need to be nearby and waiting for a deer to enter or exit this bedroom. And while dawn and dusk are good times to be hunting, many deer will also rise during midday and take a stroll to munch some food and sip a drink of water. A good stand overlooking these areas can produce opportunities with deer that many hunters will never see. You might have to walk a long distance away from the roads to find a buck's bedroom.

Advantage barriers can be highways, fences, rivers, fields and other natural or man-made obstacles that tip the advantage in your favor. A deer attempting to negotiate the barrier slows its movement and focuses on the required task, and thus it will be less likely to be looking and listening for a nearby hunter. The areas where deer pass through or cross the obstacles can create a concentration of deer-like water pouring through a funnel-and increase the chances of success for any hunter sitting nearby in a treestand.

The Grand Stand
Any stand site that you choose should also permit you to safely enter and exit the stand. Stands that are concealed such as a stand placed high in the forks or among the limbs of a tree are far more productive than a stand that places the user out in the open and possibly exposed to the vision of any passing deer. A premium stand site will also have you high enough above the ground to escape detection by a deer's eyes, ears and keen nose. Deer do look up!

While you are scouting for a stand site is a good time to closely examine the local deer tracks and determine which direction the deer are headed when they pass the site. You do not want deer walking up behind you while you're sitting in a stand.

You must also look at specific trees and determine whether you'll be able to use a ladder, climber or hang-on treestand. Each possible stand and tree offers advantages and disadvantages for hunters. You must also weigh how the tree's location matches your hunting and climbing skills.

Enter and Exit Undetected
To successfully hunt any deer stand you need to be able to enter and exit the area without being detected by the local deer. Make a mistake in your route to the stand and all deer will possibly see, hear or smell you. A mistake on your part can turn a red-hot deer travel trail cold.

I like to wade up shallow creeks, pick my way up a gully or climb up a steep bank and sneak a few precious steps until I reach my stand overlooking the area where I'll be hunting for deer. With the stand site I mentioned at the beginning of this article I climbed up a steep mountain gully, had to nearly claw my way around a cliff, and then I slipped about 20 yards to the stand. I crossed no deer trails along the way.

The deer passing through the area were funneled before my stand because of two ridges. All deer trails were leading from a nearby lush and green rye field (food) to a steep south-facing mountainside (bedding area). The deer went to the hillside where sun-heated rocks helped them stay warm on a cold winter day. Any deer bedded there could see danger approaching from below and could smell and hear any danger approaching from above thanks to thermal downdrafts. The stand where I hunted was about 100 yards away from the beds and at the edge of the funnel overlooking a well-worn trail intersection.

If you can slip through dense brush to reach your stand site, this is a good approach and exit option. Try cutting a small travel lane to the stand if it permits you to avoid being seen by deer. A folding saw and some brush clippers will help you cut a quiet path. You can also use those tools to open a shooting lane and trim brush that obstructs your view or blocks your shot while you're in your stand. Cut carefully, however, to avoid alerting deer to your presence.

While many hunters set up stands where they can enter undetected, they forget that exiting undetected is also important. If your stand is near an evening deer feeding site and you run the deer away as you exit your stand, the deer will soon wise up to the fact that they are being hunted. Your chances of success have plummeted drastically. A stealthy approach and exit is vital to your success.

Pick the premium whitetail hunting site by considering all of the parts of the big picture with the local deer herd and you'll have a front row seat to the action when you go hunting.