Deer Stand Placement Question

[Scioto]

Hi all,
In a few weeks, I will be doing some post season scouting of a new hunting area here in Ohio, that I know has some good whitetail bucks running around.  The area that I plan on scouting, is heavily wooded with lots of hills, ridges and draws, and a wide brushy wooded creek bottom that runs down through the center of it all.  In this type of terrain, what are some thoughts on where to set up my stand? Looking at a topo, I don't see very many text book saddles that would act as good funnel. Do the deer typically bed down in the creek bottoms, or use them to travel?  I am a newbie bowhunter, and could use any input.  Thanks!

[BigRonHuntAlot]

Jeff, Deer change their travel routes during the season due to food sources, Hot Does and hunting pressure. Where you place a stand with info from post season scouting may not offer a deer in the early season. Look for rubs on trees and other sign like tracks and deer droppings.
 Deer seem to use creek bottoms for both travel and bedding depending on temperature and available cover.  Take some binoculars with you when you go and glass often.  Look for obvious funnels for stand placement. You may try setting up some scouting cameras to help.  Best of Luck to You.

[Charlie Lamb]

Scioto... incorporate the use of one of the online mapping/arial photo sites like Terraserver or Google Earth. (I prefer the Google Earth if your computer will support it).

Amazing what you can learn from a good arial photo when used in conjunction with your topo.

Plot any trails or other obvious sign on your topo when you go to scout. You may see patterns develope before your eyes.

If you own a GPS, turn it on when you leave the truck and walk every deer trail you find... that can help a lot! Add scrapes and rubs by making them waypoints.

Look for sign near the thickest areas you can find on the property. Set up down wind of those densities near buck rubs or scrapes if you can find them.

That's just an ultra quicky set of tips. The learning is the fun part anyway.
 

[Flatstick]

BigRon has some good advice. I would also like to add that post season scouting offers a great way to learn the "lay of the land". In season scouting shows you the fresh sign at the time but all the leaves and foliage can hide subtle funnels or saddles that are very noticable during post season scouting. The cover and food sources can change through out the season but the "lay of the land" remains the same. Map it out, even if it is just rough drawings of the area. Make notes of the sign found,deer seen, etc...

Just my opinion:

Post-season = Learn the land.
Pre-season = Watch from a far.
In-season = Follow the sign and remember what you learned from post season.

[elkbow]

scioto,go to the most available food source and backtrack.this is the start of late season here and the deer will be yarding up soon,some probably have.we don't have much agriculture here so acorns are they're #1 staple.i'm in pike co.so i assume from your name that your in scioto co.check south facing hills for bedding,for stand placement i would recommend starting on an east facing hill that contains white oak,if theres acorns you'll find deer there.just remember that those big boys will be looking to put on a lot of fat before the nasty stuff gets here.i know it don't sound like much info but its a start.

[Ralph Renfro]

Keep in mind normal wind directions when looking for stand locations. If you have prevailing southerly or northern winds, a really go practice is to locate a stand on both sides of the place you expect to see deer. Then remember thermal air currents. When the sun is rising, thermals are rising uphill, when the sun is setting, thermals are running downhill. So a lot of guys hunt high in the mornings and bottom stands in the evening.

[rappstar]

i think everybody pretty much covered it...find the food sources (possibly acorn stands) and bedding areas (the thickest suff you can find with rubs near it this time of year).  plan on hunting somewhere in between (the travel route) for a good buck.  Hunt the acorn stand if you want to pick off some does.

[Molson]

Post season scouting??????  Heck we've got near two months of bowhunting left!!  Take your bow and hang your stand on the best looking piece of thick creek bottom and get after 'em.  If you've got a pine grove near the creek bottom, hunt there.  Save that scouting stuff for mid February or March!!  

[NightHawk]

I like hunting benches on the side of ridges especially during the rut

[greenie]

All good advise. Once you get a lay of the land, stop and do some thinking. Try to hunt the area with the the least amount of impact as possible. Good hunting spots in Ohio are getting harder to come by every year. Make a list of important info. Such as food sources, bedding areas,rub lines,good stand/blind sites in relation to wind directions. It somtimes takes hunting an area a while to figure things out. I have found over the years if you stop and think before you rush in and screw everything up,you'll up your chances.   Good Luck.

[Dave Pagel]

If you have deep cuts or ravines, look for trails around the high side of them.  The deer often choose the easiest route to cross these cuts and the top is likely the spot.  I did this in Iowa and took a 140 on the first time I sat the stand.

Dave