No prudent buck hunter wants to burn a good stand site before it produces, but how do you determine when to hunt hard at every opportunity and when to give your stand a break?
By Steve Bartylla
The author has come to the conclusion that when you have one or two stands that are hot, you’d better hunt them as often as you can. Of course, every precaution must be taken not to alert the local deer.
It was incredible. As I sat in my stand high on a ridge about a half-hour before dark, I glassed deer after deer pouring out into the southeast corner of an alfalfa field below. Despite the date being Oct. 15, bucks were chasing does and carrying on like it was early November. Amazingly, three of these bucks were shooters. The two biggest of the group -- one in the 160s and another pushing B&C -- got down and dirty in the mud. Their fight rivaled any I’d ever seen during the peak of the rut.
I had to act. The next day, after showering and engaging in the same tedious scent-eliminating rituals I would employ for any real afternoon hunt, I grabbed a stand and slipped back to the field. Rarely will I hunt field edges this early in the season, but the previous day’s observations made it clear that the remote corner was the place to be. Sitting on the ridge the day before, I’d passed up only one small buck. But I knew the field corner would put me in that great position of having to choose which of the three shooters to arrow. It was definitely the place to be!
A DREAM SITUATION
After carefully getting the stand in place, I slipped back out using the same route I’d taken coming in. Things couldn’t have been better. The observations made during the previous day’s hunt had removed any need to scout, and I was able to minimize disturbances by going directly to the location. What’s more, I’d employed my odor-reducing strategies, and virtually no trimming had to be done around my stand site. After factoring in the abundance of buck sign littering the area, I knew I had a winner.
All that was left now was to do everything right and make the shot when the time came. To be safe, I decided to give the area three days’ rest just in case the deer happened to pick up a hint of human scent in the field or around my tree. I reasoned that as long as I gave any lingering scent a chance to disperse naturally before my return, the deer wouldn’t associate it with hunting. I was determined not to mess this up.
Six days after first seeing the action in the field, I headed back in. As you can imagine, I was pumped. That feeling intensified further after seeing even more fresh buck sign than I had when I hung my stand. Climbing up my tree, I couldn’t help but believe that this was going to be an awesome sit. I was far from disappointed.
The deer started piling out at least 2 1/2 hours before dark. It wasn’t long before I had 21 deer in the field in front of me, including the three shooters I’d seen previously. In addition, a newcomer showed up, a buck that would score somewhere in the 150s! I decided not to get greedy and take the first shot that one of the four bucks might offer. Although I came to full draw twice, the commotion of chasing does, sparring, two all-out brawls and a sea of bodies blocking vitals resulted in letting down both times.
Nearly an hour after pitch dark, the deer finally dispersed enough for me to sneak out safely. Despite not getting a shot, I knew that my entire “safety first” approach had been the correct route. It took all of my willpower to give that stand another break, but I knew it would be well worth not messing up this “once in a lifetime” situation. I rationalized that I could trim my normal stand rotation from four days to three, since none of the deer had shown any sign of knowing I was there. Besides, I was going nuts to get back there.
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