Stand Placement- 5 Things Not To Overlook

1. THE SUN

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Yes, that’s obvious, but do you take the sun into consideration when hanging your stands? I’ve had multiple encounters with mature bucks, only to be busted by my movement prior to releasing an arrow. My mistake wasn’t the wind direction or how high or low I was in the tree, it was the sun beaming down on me and being totally exposed with lack of breakup.

An afternoon sun setting from one of my favorite stands.

It didn’t take long to learn from my mistakes. After pondering over past hunts, I found that the majority of mature bucks I encountered would travel with the sun to their backs when approaching my setup. Put yourself in their hooves, would you want to walk into the blinding sun?…..heck no! Now sometimes it’s inevitable to have the sun at your back, but there’s a couple things that can help you seal the deal. I’m a fan of hunting edges. Whether it’s a field edge or hugging a creek bank I love the low pressure end results. Being near the edge makes it harder to hide from the sun vs. deep in the timber where there’s plenty of trees for breakup. Before hanging a new set ask yourself if this set is a morning or evening spot.

Here is a buck I waited three years to shoot. The sun was to his back, but I had great breakup to hide my movements.

Typically, I’ll try to find a tree in front of the tree I want to sit in and trim shooting lanes. When trimming the shooting lanes, be cautious not to trim too much and expose yourself. This is why I like to see the land layout during the late winter early spring months. The majority of hunting season will be this way and give you a better idea of what it will look like. I’ll then take a closer look of where exactly the sun will rise and where the sun will set. There’s no doubt a lot of deer activity occurs the first and last hour of daylight, so I do my best to keep the tree between myself and the sun as much as possible. This may come off as common sense, but it’s a factor that could cost you big time if you ignore it.

2. MORE THE MERRIER

A good friend of mine and well known outdoor writer, Don Higgins, really emphasized this factor to me and I continue to do it today. The more stands you have up the better; even if the stands are only twenty yards apart it can make all the difference in success or failure. Constantly sitting in a fresh set will increase your odds on the element of surprise and keeping the deer guessing is exactly what you want. Unfortunately, I burnt out what used to be my best stand. The reason was obvious; I sat there entirely too much and educated the deer. The wind was in my favor and all the variables were perfect, but what a lot of hunters-including myself- overlook is the fact deer do move after daylight. Say you shoot a deer from that stand and trample all around that site, eventually deer will associate your scent with danger and steer clear of that spot; and this is why jumping around stand to stand will give you the edge and the element of surprise.

3. STAND POSITION

This is an easy one for me. I place my stand where I have maximum concealment and put less emphasis on how high up to sit. I know hunters swear that the higher up you are the less likely the deer will smell you. While some of this may be true I wouldn’t want to sacrifice my cover for height and scent. Besides, hopefully you’re playing the wind in the first place and it shouldn’t be a factor. Most importantly, hang the stand at your comfort zone. Don’t fall under pressure in hanging a stand too high; losing your life isn’t worth it. When hanging my stand, I try to envision where most of the deer activity will occur.

Based on that, I will try to put the stand where the deer will be on my left side. I’m right handed, so if you’re left handed do the exact opposite. Self-filming most of my hunts and trying to shoot a bow at the same time is one of the hardest challenges I’ve had yet. Having both the camera and readied bow on the left side makes this challenging task less difficult. This doesn’t work out the way I always want it to, but it does save me a lot of unneeded movement.

4. THE STAND

It seems the older I get the more comfortable I want to be in a tree stand. In high school and early on in college I bought/built the cheapest stands I could possibly afford. Take my advice and save your money and buy a stand that is truly comfortable, silent and, most importantly, safe. Besides, I’m sure a lot of you spend countless hours in a stand each year and the last thing you want is an uncomfortable or unsafe stand. I can also think of several occurrences where a squeaky stand has cost me the deer I was after. Do yourself a favor and get rid of your junky stands and buy a stand that meets the above criteria. Personally, I use HAWK tree stands. The stands are lightweight, very comfortable, safe, and SILENT. HAWK was thinking of the serious hunters when designing their stands. For example, every contact point on the platforms are welded. Unlike a majority of stands out there with minimal spot welds on the platform, HAWK stands won’t creak, pop, or make the unwanted noises that many other stands make. Save your pennies because you get what you pay for.

5. OBSERVATION STANDS

With a busy schedule and limited time to hunt each year, I take full advantage of any chance I get to deer hunt. I’m a firm believer in hunting the wind, but sometimes the wind isn’t right for the spot I really want to hunt. Instead of sitting at home or jeopardizing the spot I want to hunt, I’ll climb into one of my observation stands. Typically, I try to set these stands overlooking a big field where there should be a decent amount of deer traveling periodically.

Here I watched a nice buck from afar before moving in closer the following afternoon.

Even if the stand is not in the exact area you really want to hunt, you can observe valuable intel from stands like these. So instead of doing nothing, get out there and see what the activity is like in your area. Then, when the timing and wind is right you will be prepared.

The next time you are hanging a stand I hope you take some of the things I mentioned above into consideration. Remembering the little things when hanging your stand can make all the difference between success and failure. Stay safe, and best of luck hunting this fall.