Here's one for ya:
How do you rotate your stands over the course of a season? Particularly for a relatively small land area?
I usually spend at least the first 3-4 days of WI gun season continuously on a 30-acre plot, and may come back for late-season dates if I've got the time. The answer will probably vary based on the property, so I'll describe it a little. It's basically a long-ish rectangle with a steep finger going down the middle. On the one end is a cabin and mostly open ground. The rest of the finger is farmed. Down the right side is a pretty average wooded draw, and the left is considerably steeper with a pond, creek and small valley. That's basically how the turf is for miles, agriculture on the flat parts and woods on the steep parts.
I have three stands, because honestly, 30 acres with a rifle ain't much and collectively they give me a pretty good view of the area; and if I can't hit something it's easy to descend an get into a better position. The first stand is up on the farmed area. The other two have relatively good views of the slopes on either side. There's also a couple ground blinds, basically fox holes with branches or pallets piled around them for a steady rest and cover.
So the answer is "hunt the wind," right? Even though deer can come from any angle, I generally try to, leaving the most-travelled paths in my face with the wind. But sometimes it just seems like there's not a prevailing wind - the terrain features really cause it to whip around and it seems like it's blowing a completely different direction every few minutes sometimes. So I try to plan for thermals, higher in the morning and lower in the evening. And all that usual good stuff.
So I guess that's a really long intro. I just wanted to express the "obvious" stuff, and inquire more about the empirical, the voodoo, the rules of thumb. After you dismount a stand to grab lunch, would you come back that evening or let it rest for a day or two? Is it blown for the season? Would you try your evening blind the next morning, and your morning stand 2 evenings later? Etcetera.
Realistically, the hunting pressure from a gun season probably means all bets are off for a parcel that size. And it's not like I've been particularly unlucky. But I was just wondering what peoples' thoughts are on whether to reuse stands, and if so how often, or if you generally consider any mature deer spooked out of an area and think you'd be better off checking a fresh spot to best your chances?
How do you rotate your stands over the course of a season? Particularly for a relatively small land area?
I usually spend at least the first 3-4 days of WI gun season continuously on a 30-acre plot, and may come back for late-season dates if I've got the time. The answer will probably vary based on the property, so I'll describe it a little. It's basically a long-ish rectangle with a steep finger going down the middle. On the one end is a cabin and mostly open ground. The rest of the finger is farmed. Down the right side is a pretty average wooded draw, and the left is considerably steeper with a pond, creek and small valley. That's basically how the turf is for miles, agriculture on the flat parts and woods on the steep parts.
I have three stands, because honestly, 30 acres with a rifle ain't much and collectively they give me a pretty good view of the area; and if I can't hit something it's easy to descend an get into a better position. The first stand is up on the farmed area. The other two have relatively good views of the slopes on either side. There's also a couple ground blinds, basically fox holes with branches or pallets piled around them for a steady rest and cover.
So the answer is "hunt the wind," right? Even though deer can come from any angle, I generally try to, leaving the most-travelled paths in my face with the wind. But sometimes it just seems like there's not a prevailing wind - the terrain features really cause it to whip around and it seems like it's blowing a completely different direction every few minutes sometimes. So I try to plan for thermals, higher in the morning and lower in the evening. And all that usual good stuff.
So I guess that's a really long intro. I just wanted to express the "obvious" stuff, and inquire more about the empirical, the voodoo, the rules of thumb. After you dismount a stand to grab lunch, would you come back that evening or let it rest for a day or two? Is it blown for the season? Would you try your evening blind the next morning, and your morning stand 2 evenings later? Etcetera.
Realistically, the hunting pressure from a gun season probably means all bets are off for a parcel that size. And it's not like I've been particularly unlucky. But I was just wondering what peoples' thoughts are on whether to reuse stands, and if so how often, or if you generally consider any mature deer spooked out of an area and think you'd be better off checking a fresh spot to best your chances?