By Dan Infalt
The number of hunters who set up a tree stand in a location or two and then keep hunting that location repeatedly throughout the deer season is very surprising to me. One of the main reasons I harvest my fair share of adult whitetails is my ability to be a mobile hunter.
A whitetail deer can smell human scent 3 days or more after a hunter passes through an area. One of the reasons hunters do not adapt is because young deer such as that 1.5 year old buck that the majority of hunters are shooting, sometimes still lack the fear of such scent. These hunters shoot that small buck and convince themselves that is a good buck for the area.
The advantages of being mobile go beyond ground scent control. At most of my predetermined ambush sites I have several trees picked out and I decide which one to setup in based on several factors:
- I always set up on the downwind side of the trail.
- I can move my stand over to a new tree if the fresh deer sign has shifted
- I can try to keep the sun at my back so its in the deer’s eyes not mine
- I can quickly move to a new location if my spot is ruined by someone taking a walk, or if I see deer movement in the distance.
One of my most productive techniques is to scout in the winter and spring months and find big buck bedding areas. I will closely examine the beds in these areas and study how the bucks enter and exit these areas. A lot of hunters assume the large mature bucks are all nocturnal and only move at night. This is not true. They move quite a bit during daylight, but that daylight movement is usually limited to the bedding and staging areas. A staging area will be located very close to the bedding area, usually within 100 yards, sometimes much closer. I like to look for several trees within these staging areas where I can hunt from. I look for trees that could be hunted from based on wind direction, and other factors mentioned earlier. I also keep in mind my approach to these spots.
You never want your scent blowing into the bedding area, and you want to try to find a way to access your stand without crossing the deer trails and leaving deer educating scent. All this work, and I will only hunt this spot once or twice a season. However, I will find many similar spots and plot them on a map or in a notebook with notes.
A 2005 bow kill shot while hunting a staging area Occasionally I will just grab my stand and go. I will walk along the transition zone (The area where two types of cover mesh, usually close to the bedding area) and find hot sign and setup. That works especially well when hunting food sources such as looking for that one hot white oak that all the deer are going to for the best acorns, and trying to get there first before all the nuts that fell during the day are all gone.
I use a small, lightweight climbing stand when possible, but most of the trees in transition zones do not accept climbing stands. They seem more suited for open hardwoods. My stand of choice is Lone Wolf, both the Alpha Hang-On with 4 climbing sticks and the Lone Wolf Hand Climber.
The Lone Wolf Alpha Hang-On Treestand These stands are high quality and made in southeast Wisconsin. The sticks attach right to the back of the stand with a couple bungee cords. I also bungee on a small pack with my hunting essentials and my jacket if the weather is colder. They are a critical part of my success in quietly sneaking in and setting up on these bedding/staging areas and allowing me to be a mobile hunter.
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Comments
I was just going to post to your site about this subject. This answers questions I had on mobility. The lazy man's way is always the easiest, leaving stands up and hunting them sporatically. But this has limited big buck success. One question: Aren't climbing sticks rather noisy? any other alternatives other than scre-ins, strapons,climbing sticks? I was thinking of marketing a type of "zip-tie" treestep with enough weight capacity...think it would work? I know they'd be quite, but kinda long.
Posted by: ralph on February 9, 2006 12:12 PM
Ralph,
You'd be surprised how quiet these sticks really are when you know what you're doing with them. They are stackable and we each have a system as Dan described, for stacking and packing them to the stand. Very silent. Obviously they're metal and you can't be clanging them together. Look for a description of this system in our video that will be out soon.
Jarrod
Posted by: Jarrod Erdody on February 9, 2006 02:49 PM
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