Getting to your deer stand discussion(ground or tree)

[Ray Lyon]

So I've read numerous articles/books on the topic, but with deer seasons approaching I thought this would be a good opportunity to share thoughts, theories and experiences.  

A lot of my experiences are from my families fruit farm. In the fall, there's still leaves on the trees and therefore cover in moving to and from the actual stand area's, which are often times 100-200 yard wide long fingers that separate orchards due to swamp/creek bottoms or steep sidehills that aren't suitable for orchards. Many of my stands are only 50-80 yards off of an orchard and I like to rake the path from the stand to the edge of the orchard so that I have a quiet final approach.  I know that the con to this is that some 'experts' say that the fewer times you're disturbing an area with your scent, the less chances of having a mature doe or buck avoiding the area.  I also like to be on stand at least and hour before first light (not shooting light).  It makes for a longer sit, but with food sources (apple drops all along the orchard) that are close to the stands, I like to get in and settled well before first light. This week would typically be the week I do my first raking/fixing of walking lanes and then I would do a touchup after leaves fall in later October. Anyone who's tried to walk into a hardwoods stand on a frosted, still morning knows that it's not much different than walking on an inch of cornflakes.  
Now up at Shrewhaven lodge in the UP, I've used the same approach to raking a spot to my stands when in the oaks. The difference here is that often times I wait until first light to sneak in, looking for deer along the way.  One of my favorite spots is at the top of a ridge and in about 50 yards. I've crested the ridge at first light only to see deer feeding on acorns under the oaks and had it not been form my raked path,they would have been long gone-and if it weren't for my first light entrance the same would have taken place because I would have spooked them in the dark.  This ridge also has bedding areas intermingled with the oaks, thus I often sit for 5, 6 or 7 hours.  The farm is more of a transition hunting area and I'm on fingers between the orchards and swampy bedding areas.
Roger Norris, who hunts at Shrewhaven with us is one of those real early into the stand guys, even in the oaks, and he's got a good track record of seeing some good bucks.  

So there's some starter comments. Please add your thoughts and personal strategies as well. Deer season is fast approaching (at least for us Midwesterner's)

[jonsimoneau]

Good topic. I'm beginning to think that the vast majority of deer are spooked while trying to get in and out of the stand. I think a lot of us are pretty competent at picking good stand sites but often don't think about how to get in and out. I often hunt public land and have always thought my best chance for success is to get way out there to avoid the people. This is probably true but if you are walking through a mile of crunchy leaves on the way in your probably not gonna see much! I too have started to really think about this. I now really try to utilize dry washes, ditches, standing cornfields etc to get to the stand. I also have started raking out final approach routes. I learned this from Uncle Barry. Starting last season, if I have a stand that I must access by walking across a lot of dry leaves for a long ways then I now save that stand for really windy or wet days. I now try to completely avoid walking across an open field in the early mornings as much as possible. I believe that in the early season your going to have to be in a tree that is 100 yards away or less from where the deer are bedded. They just don't move very far in the early season. The more I think about this the more important stand access becomes.

[Ryan Rothhaar]

I was brought up in a way that approaching a stand in a carefully chosen way is second nature..... just part of the process.  ABSOLUTELY the hunt is very much made (or unmade) to a great extent in the approach.  Wind direction is as much or more important in stand approach than while in the stand..you are giving your wind to a very long stretch of ground walking in compared to a single position while in the tree.  Noise/line of sight is key.  Residual scent - understanding the effect and location - while hunting and for a day or so afterwards is also huge.

Stand approach is specific to the situation, but a couple rules I pretty much live by...
1 DO NOT approach a stand in a way to compromise your wind
2 understand where deer may be, and what they can see - I'll give up noise to gain line of sight obstruction every time.... deer make noise, squirrels and other stuff make noise, but deer won't mistake seeing you.
3 never cross a deer trail within bow shot of the stand unless you are in a shooting lane

I rarely (almost never) enter a stand before shooting light. Every minute you spend in the tree unproductive ...like in the dark... is that much more scent stream and chance to get busted.  You are way more likely to get busted stumbling around in the dark than sneaking in with some early daylight.  I know Barry always says "Better an hour early than a minute late"....I figure better 15 minutes early than getting busted by the doe an hour ahead of time        

I do try to get in between the pre-dawn doe/fawn movement and the 1-2 hour after daylight buck cruise thru.

R

[ChuckC]

I agree with Ryan on the entry time, and for those same reasons, especially the sneakability.  

I also think, at least in your situation, this is a farm, and with it being fruit trees, there are people in and out at times.  I think if you drive your truck right up to the field edge, mosey on out and then do your work, then leave, it won't matter at all.

At least, that's what I would do.  I sometimes rake or weed eat a trail PAST my tree, so it doesn't lead right to it.  Heck, I cut a similar trail thru 7' tall itchweed ( nettles ?) one late summer so I could get to my stand.  Guess where I shot my deer !

ChuckC

[Sam McMichael]

Human scent in an area traveled by deer is not necessarily a show stopper. There are many  many places that have heavy deer and human traffic as the natural order of things, so going into an area won't always spoil the hunting. Deer pattern us probably more effectively than we do them. If our scouting/stand maintenance suddenly changes the places and times of human activity, then I think the deer will take notice. I do try to limit my entry into the hunting area shortly before the season opener so that I don't totally stink up the place excessively. All the area around my place is heavily settled, so human contact is a daily experience for our deer. Even so, it is best to limit woods activity and to hunt the wind. They don't pay us much attention as long as we are not too close or noisy.

[tracker12]

I am not much for hunting on my way to the stand especially during light hours.  I like to get in early, get settled in and be patient.  As far as the raking stuff I hunt a lot of public land and to be honest I do not want others to know where I am set up at.  I will move obstacles for my entrance that may get in the way but I leave the leaves be as natural as I can.

[Whitetail Addict]

I'm fortunate in that I can get to my most productive stand reasonably quietly, and with the wind in my favor.

Some of my approach is done on an old tractor trail that doesn't get much leaf fall, then I skirt the edge of a grassy clearing.

From there, things can get a little sketchy. I have to move through a bottom of about 100 yards through some head high goldenrod, through a stand of poplar, then uphill in a stand of beech to my brush blind.

I always cut a path through the goldenrod well before the season, and do my best to keep a path cleared of leaves/branches through the Poplar, and from there to my blind.

This blind in on the opposite side of a hill from some quality bedding, and I do my best to approach it quietly. I don't know if it helps, and laugh if you want, but I've gone as far as scratching in the leaves like a turkey, and clucking occasionally with a turkey call, as I make the final approach to my stand on really dry/noisey days.

Bob

[jonsimoneau]

Ryan, I noticed from a thread you posted last August about hanging stands that you seem to use a lot of low impact entry routes. I think I remember one in particular just off an old logging road. What do you do if you find a really good stand site while scouting that you know will be difficult to access like if you have to walk across a bunch of fallen leaves? Do you not hang a stand there? Rake out the leaves? Move on to something better? I'm really thinking a lot of us are fairly competent at choosing good stand sites but I think we blow it getting in and out. Really good thread.

[2nocks]

I set up one stand this year that I can approach by  canoe. A  few feet into the woods and the stand is there. It would leave no scent and almost no sound. Not sure what I should do with the canoe though, if i bring it up on land or just tie it up. Been thinking if setting this up for a few years because I could get in there very quietly and without crossing any trails.

[bamboo]

when forced to cross long distances of crunchy stuff-I like to drag a 8-10 ft stick in the leaves--it makes steady noise which covers the steady crunch -crunch-crunch --
---it works so well that I have walked right up on feeding turkeys
---if they smell you or see you--nothing will work-

[kbetts]

Grey light for me.  I hate busting deer out in the morning.  I have a collapsible rake that has been worth it's weight in gold.  I like a nice quiet approach and departure.  You've got to be able to leave as well.

[RedShaft]

There is no way the raking thing would work on public lands here.
I do a combo. Sometimes early sometimes late. I have found I rarely spook anything during the witching hour. But I have spooked stuff in the dark many times.

Where I hunt. To access a stand from a specific direction most times isnt possible. And for me personally. We have very few big bucks on public land that it don't matter much to me anymore. i take what I can get usually.

[bear bowman]

The public land I hunt is so heavily hunted and used by the general public, such as joggers, dog walkers, mushroom hunters and horse back riders that human scent is everywhere. I still play the wind when selecting where I'll hunt a given day. In my opinion and my hunting strategy is to hunt the travel corridors. I get in sometimes 2 hours early and it works for me. I've killed more than one buck that was around me an hour before light and was still there at first light.

[Nantahala Nut]

I think patience is key in arriving and departing stands.  Last year I spooked a doe I could have had a shot at on my way in because I was rushing to get to my stand.  Take it slow and remember, once you get out of the car/cabin you are hunting.

I hunt the big woods and there is just no practical way to cut a path that far through the woods without disturbing the area too much.  One of my spots this year is 700 yards right up the mountain to a saddle.  It has a nice drainage I can follow but its thick with laurel

[Ray Hammond]

we tend to forget that deer don't have watches or schedules. They're governed by routine- and circumstance, in addition to their stomachs.

I'm with Ryan and Jon on entry and routes- lowest possible impact, always without compromising hunting by giving scent stream to where I believe the majority of bucks will come from...and just after daylight seems to work better for me. For years I did the early thing, and sometimes it would work, especially if I was close to a bedding area...but I don't like hunting there unless it's an absolute necessity.

Always work the wind and never ever never ever hunt a stand when the wind is wrong or try to cheat the wind...you can't cheat the wind pilgrim.

[Ray Lyon]

As some follow-up to above, yes through summer and fall there is lot's of activity on the farm in the form of tractor and human traffic. It's interesting because I see the bacherlor groups of bucks in person and on trail camera away from the apple picking activity in October, but will still see does and fawns around the apples.  Once late October/early November hit's then the bucks show up where the does are on the fringes of the main supply of apples.  I have enough spots around the farm (these may be 200-300 yards apart) that I can hunt without being in the same spot more than once a week. There's also a night and day difference in visibility from early October and mid November. I can barely see 50-60 yards in the early season in one spot and then in November I can see 400 yards through the orchard, but then again so can the deer. On a couple of my stands, I've used cheap ladder stands to get up the tree and then use my Lone Wolf hang on just offset to actually sit in.  This allows me to get in and out of the stand quicker and quieter.

[maineac]

Great thread

[newhouse114]

And there are those of us that do not hunt from stands, just still hunt. Move slow and quiet and try to spot the deer/elk before they are aware of your presence.

[Whitetail Addict]

Originally posted by newhouse114:
And there are those of us that do not hunt from stands, just still hunt. Move slow and quiet and try to spot the deer/elk before they are aware of your presence.

That was always my favorite way to hunt, and the most satisfying to me, but since my knees went south I'm not as good at it. I find myself tripping over things more often, and I'm not as steady on my feet. I hope when I get my knees done, that will change. We'll see.

Bob

[indianalongbowshooter]

used to get to my stand and hr before shooting light, now I go in right at 1st light and see just as many or more deer including mature bucks.