Hypothetical Situation

[Jrichard]

Now reading all of these big buck equations it makes me start thinking and generating more questions than answers. So here they are. First off, I don't know if there is a thread for this but I am sure there is. I looked in the best tactical threads and I didn't see a thread for this. But I may have just ignorantly skipped over it. But I hear all about these OBSERVATION STANDS. Can someone just elaborate on these? Where to put them? when to sit them? When to start doing them? Off season? During season? Both? What are you looking for?


Now here the Hypothetical situation. Now this happened to me a few times last year. Say you do all of your scouting all off season and even into the season. You found a great funnel and/or saddle that the deer are using frequently (or at least you think they are). You find an awesome staging area and you think you know where the bucks bed(s) is/are. You set up stand and you sit all day long. From sun up to sun down and do not see a single thing. What do you do? Where do you go from there? Do you up and leave? How much hot sign do you usually find on just a walk in? And where is this hot sign located usually?

[Rich M]

Don't overthink it - an observation stand is where you sit to watch the deer movement in an area, and hopefully helps you figure out how the bucks are moving.

That's it - you scouted, you know where you think the deer is, so now you sit 100-200-300 yards off and watch. You don't want to spook the deer, just get an idea of how they travel.

Sounds like you put your time in last year - trying to figure out what you should do is up to you. Sometimes we spook the deer on our way in. Sometimes we do everything right but someone shot the buck yesterday or it gets hit by a car... Sometimes we get the wind wrong...

Seems like you could sit in some observation stands to see where the deer are, how they move thru an area, and if there are any bucks that excite you. Climb up a tree where you can see a ways and watch a morning and an evening, then go to another, then another. Once you determine where the deer are, then figure out how to hunt them.

Maybe you could use some cameras to help figure the deer out?

Many of the guys here hunt a stand 1-3 times per year, and not all day, but evening or morning.

[mheichelbech]

If you think it's that great of a place I'd give it a few more shots assuming your entry and exit are good. Maybe it's more of a seasonal spot, or maybe they just didn't go that way that day, maybe a coyote spooked them into some mother direction. I've seen bucks because of coyotes and I've had bucks go the other way because of them.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Redman232]

I wouldnt setup an observation stand on a funnel in season, theoretically if anything walks thru a funnel you should be able to kill it. So if I found a funnel that had lots of traffic, I would just hunt it. If you're trying to establish an early season pattern then maybe, but the likely hood of catching a buck walk thru a funnel early in the year seems low. Due to vegetation and bucks moving later and earlier due to the heat. I almost exclusively set observation stands to see bedding areas in season and glass crop fields in the summer. Just my 2 cents.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[headgear]

Ideally an observation stand is in any good location to spot a mature buck, in most cases that might be a spot close (but not too close) to a bedding area. If you can get a good look at the area and spot a buck exiting a bedding area you can make your move the next night and setup on him. Certainly a great tool that every hunter should keep in mind, however I will say they don't work everywhere. A lot of swamps I hunt its near impossible to see anything because the trees or underbrush make it impossible so you can spend a lot of time looking at trees. The key is finding an area where you can use the visibility to your advantage.

[rbuckleyjr1]

As far as observation stands go you really should listen to WhitetailAssassin's podcast. He talks about them and goes into great detail about how he does them.

There are a lot of things you should do about your hypothetical situation. Most likely there is a piece of the puzzle you could have missed. Perhaps you had the wrong wind or wind changed during the day. Entry route could have been off slightly. Maybe you weren't concealed in your stand and got picked off before seeing the deer. If this was a rut hunt did you have a good idea where doe bedding was? There has to be a reason for deer to utilize the funnel/ saddle for them to actually use it. You could have been in the right spot and the deer just didn't show that day.