Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

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comeback_kid
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Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby comeback_kid » Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:19 am

I hear a lot of talk on here about having tons of spots (like 30+, 50+) pre-scouted so you can do a first-sit there and not burn out areas. I totally get that.

However, I am wondering how far apart these spots need to be to be considered first sits or fresh sits? If I don't want to burn out an area with my scent, presence etc then does that mean if there is another tree a few hundred yards away that wouldn't be a good idea to hunt soon after I hunted in the same area, but not the same tree?

How do you guys handle this?


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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby llcooljames » Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:22 am

I am sure I burned out a few spots this year sitting them multiple times, Im interested in the replies to this one.
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby tgreeno » Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:51 am

I can just speak for myself. What I consider a "spot" is a different bedding area I am hunting. I do hunt different tree's in the same bedding due to, winds, sightings or sign. The tree's may be 50-200 yards apart. I let the sign & situation dictate where/when I hunt.

Each situation is going to be different. If I set a bedding area and see a buck using a different exit trail. And the next night the conditions are the same, I will not hesitate to move in for the kill the next night, even if I'm only moving 50 yards. Every sit put yourself in the best situation possible, to kill a buck.
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby SonofUlam » Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:56 am

My experience level doesn't necessarily qualify me to give a response, but I thought I'd give my .02 and see if it sticks.

I've tended to think of a "fresh sit" as needing meet at least one of two requirements.

1) it needs to be far enough from my previous spot that any deer that may have busted me (whether I knew it or not) would not be "looking" for me there. For example: I sat a small travel corridor and was busted by a few does and a buck traveling together. For my next sit, I wanted to still try and hunt that buck so I found another corridor I could hunt that I thought he might take out of his bed. My thinking was that given he had not experienced a lot of pressure yet (this was shared private land in the early season) he might still use that bed, but maybe take a different route out next time. I would have just waited before going back, but my time was limited and every day/week would increase the pressure on this shared private land.

2nd Condition: I like to give at least a couple weeks before hunting the same spot/area. That's if the conditions have been favorable (ideally, some rain and not too much other pressure). If it's been dry and/or I know there's been heavier pressure, I'll wait longer or just go to other areas that have a higher chance of success.

As I said- I'm not sure my strategy holds much water, so take it for what it's worth.
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:09 am

comeback_kid wrote:I hear a lot of talk on here about having tons of spots (like 30+, 50+) pre-scouted so you can do a first-sit there and not burn out areas. I totally get that.

However, I am wondering how far apart these spots need to be to be considered first sits or fresh sits? If I don't want to burn out an area with my scent, presence etc then does that mean if there is another tree a few hundred yards away that wouldn't be a good idea to hunt soon after I hunted in the same area, but not the same tree?

How do you guys handle this?

I have spots spread across around 100000 acers of public so I jump around a lot picking them for best setups for weather and wind normally I retry a sit after 2 weeks but shift my angles on it. normally a different exit trail. unless I just think its on fire or my scent was washed away quickly. its like controlled dart throwing. I also prefer beds that get multiple bucks bedding in so even if I bumped one buck the other ones might still have no clue. it takes longer to find these honey holes but in the long run you will want to start focusing on these spots more and leaving the other single bed wind specific areas for when you really know they are in there. its all a game of odds and upping the odds is how you get it done consistent. hunt the beds that are on fire over years of doing this you will delete more than half of your first beds you found. and learn you only need to focus on certain bedding. this is why its important to log in all your hunts. or a couple years you will see consistent timing patterns and stop over pressuring beds when it not necessary. sits also are affected buy how close you can get the farther back you can be without loosing opportunities the more sits you can get. its just boils down to finding out what you can get away with and every situation is different. having a plan b is good too if you blow out the buck attempting the bed just hunt the other beds close buy. so the day isn't wasted.
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:29 am

comeback_kid wrote:I hear a lot of talk on here about having tons of spots (like 30+, 50+) pre-scouted so you can do a first-sit there and not burn out areas. I totally get that.

However, I am wondering how far apart these spots need to be to be considered first sits or fresh sits? If I don't want to burn out an area with my scent, presence etc then does that mean if there is another tree a few hundred yards away that wouldn't be a good idea to hunt soon after I hunted in the same area, but not the same tree?

How do you guys handle this?

one thing to remember to is its not entirely bad to burn a bed all your doing is putting more deer in a different bedding and stacking your odds if you have a area fully mapped out you can create a game plan to sweep the area and drastically increase you odds of seeing deer almost like your driving deer to yourself. I will sometimes purposely do this before the season scouting to up my odds for opening day if I don't have a specific buck targeted buy then. I will take a huge chunk and hit all the meh beds and force the bucks into a primary bedding I want to hunt its pretty aggressive but it can work. if your hunting areas with to much bedding.
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby strutnrut716 » Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:56 am

Great post ! I agree to all of the above answers....

One thing Dan brought up at the scouting workshop was that some people may misunderstand his 3 sits on a spot technique (sit one early , one rut, one late season per year). He pointed out that if you are onto a buck and maybe just miss him by a bit but believe you haven't spooked him, then stay on him ! Readjust by a few yards or do what you have to do to get your shot. If he's hot and not spooked go get him the next night and kill him !
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby Tim H » Thu Mar 01, 2018 10:22 am

strutnrut716 wrote:Great post ! I agree to all of the above answers....

One thing Dan brought up at the scouting workshop was that some people may misunderstand his 3 sits on a spot technique (sit one early , one rut, one late season per year). He pointed out that if you are onto a buck and maybe just miss him by a bit but believe you haven't spooked him, then stay on him ! Readjust by a few yards or do what you have to do to get your shot. If he's hot and not spooked go get him the next night and kill him !


I will second this! I was also at the workshop and was misunderstanding first sits. I was thinking one and done no matter the case. But as Steve pointed out, Dan told us in the workshop, if you are on the buck and playing cat and mouse keep chasing as long as he doesn't know you're there! Once you see him the first time, I think the fun really begins to get on him again. ;)
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby Tempy » Thu Mar 01, 2018 10:47 am

ghoasthunter wrote:
comeback_kid wrote:I hear a lot of talk on here about having tons of spots (like 30+, 50+) pre-scouted so you can do a first-sit there and not burn out areas. I totally get that.

However, I am wondering how far apart these spots need to be to be considered first sits or fresh sits? If I don't want to burn out an area with my scent, presence etc then does that mean if there is another tree a few hundred yards away that wouldn't be a good idea to hunt soon after I hunted in the same area, but not the same tree?

How do you guys handle this?

one thing to remember to is its not entirely bad to burn a bed all your doing is putting more deer in a different bedding and stacking your odds if you have a area fully mapped out you can create a game plan to sweep the area and drastically increase you odds of seeing deer almost like your driving deer to yourself. I will sometimes purposely do this before the season scouting to up my odds for opening day if I don't have a specific buck targeted buy then. I will take a huge chunk and hit all the meh beds and force the bucks into a primary bedding I want to hunt its pretty aggressive but it can work. if your hunting areas with to much bedding.


How long will the bucks stay out of the "meh" bedding in your experience? How much time does this buy you to hunt the bedding that you want to target before they disperse again? Curious if one time being bumped is enough to keep a buck out of those beds for a significant amount of time.
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby Tempy » Thu Mar 01, 2018 10:53 am

ghoasthunter wrote:
comeback_kid wrote:I hear a lot of talk on here about having tons of spots (like 30+, 50+) pre-scouted so you can do a first-sit there and not burn out areas. I totally get that.

However, I am wondering how far apart these spots need to be to be considered first sits or fresh sits? If I don't want to burn out an area with my scent, presence etc then does that mean if there is another tree a few hundred yards away that wouldn't be a good idea to hunt soon after I hunted in the same area, but not the same tree?

How do you guys handle this?

one thing to remember to is its not entirely bad to burn a bed all your doing is putting more deer in a different bedding and stacking your odds if you have a area fully mapped out you can create a game plan to sweep the area and drastically increase you odds of seeing deer almost like your driving deer to yourself. I will sometimes purposely do this before the season scouting to up my odds for opening day if I don't have a specific buck targeted buy then. I will take a huge chunk and hit all the meh beds and force the bucks into a primary bedding I want to hunt its pretty aggressive but it can work. if your hunting areas with to much bedding.


How long will the bucks stay out of the "meh" bedding in your experience? How much time does this buy you to hunt the bedding that you want to target before they disperse again? Curious if one time being bumped is enough to keep a buck out of those beds for a significant amount of time.
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Thu Mar 01, 2018 11:15 am

For myself if my first time sit does not work it becomes situational based off what I have seen or previous history. I have moved as little as 5 yards away for another sit. Sometimes if I go twice without target being seen I just move 50 to 100 yards downwind of original stand. I had 8 stands on 30 acres once, but to be honest it usually takes me about 3 seasons to figure out which tree I need to be in and when. My advice make your decision off what you are seeing, don't give up on a area to soon, even if you only see the buck out of range that's priceless intell. Try to figure out what and why he was doing what he was doing. Use that for following seasons! As years roll by u will eventually end up with a plethora of spots you know when and where gives you high odds.
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:58 pm

Tempy wrote:
ghoasthunter wrote:
comeback_kid wrote:I hear a lot of talk on here about having tons of spots (like 30+, 50+) pre-scouted so you can do a first-sit there and not burn out areas. I totally get that.

However, I am wondering how far apart these spots need to be to be considered first sits or fresh sits? If I don't want to burn out an area with my scent, presence etc then does that mean if there is another tree a few hundred yards away that wouldn't be a good idea to hunt soon after I hunted in the same area, but not the same tree?

How do you guys handle this?

one thing to remember to is its not entirely bad to burn a bed all your doing is putting more deer in a different bedding and stacking your odds if you have a area fully mapped out you can create a game plan to sweep the area and drastically increase you odds of seeing deer almost like your driving deer to yourself. I will sometimes purposely do this before the season scouting to up my odds for opening day if I don't have a specific buck targeted buy then. I will take a huge chunk and hit all the meh beds and force the bucks into a primary bedding I want to hunt its pretty aggressive but it can work. if your hunting areas with to much bedding.


How long will the bucks stay out of the "meh" bedding in your experience? How much time does this buy you to hunt the bedding that you want to target before they disperse again? Curious if one time being bumped is enough to keep a buck out of those beds for a significant amount of time.
it varies but around a week or 2 id say. its helpful in areas with low deer numbers. I started off doing it in Adirondacks with a couple guys years ago we would put standers on down wind ends of ridges and high nobs then send one guy over the top we would systematically hit every ridge then surround the last available high spots and wait for the bucks to come down in afternoons. it takes a lot of knowledge of the area and how the deer escape but after some time we were getting very consistent at killing bucks at end of week. I started doing it in some swamps I'm hunting the last couple years and its definitely helping my sightings. but you really need to figure out the area to make it work. if you miss one bed you could mess it up. I don't do it every place but when the situation is right its worth a try.
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby PK_ » Fri Mar 02, 2018 5:40 am

Remember there are usually several exits for a bedding area. No reason you can’t hunt them all in a row or spread across a couple weeks. Bucks will often just a adjust a little rather than completely abandon a bed. JoeRe gave an example where his 2nd sit he just moved 40 yards downwind of his first tree. Very effective. How far depends on the terrain and cover. Think from a bucks perspective, if he smelled you right there he will likely only readjust his travel just far enough to stay out of harms way but also close enough to keep tabs on that spot as well as not having to change his entire routine or core area. In heavy cover it might only be 30 yards or so, open timber it might be 100 or more yards. I hope that makes sense.

There is no hard rule on this. I have killed mature bucks sitting in the same tree 2-3 days in a row morning and evening. Bucks can get shuffled around either during rut or when hunting pressure spikes (don’t forget about waterfowl opening days, or small game especially with dogs).

But there are spots and times of the year when going in once will burn that area so it is something you have to develop a feel for and go with your gut.
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby Treewalker87 » Sat Mar 03, 2018 1:12 pm

I agree with all the above comments about fresh sits. I consider a fresh sit a spot that I/other hunters have not walked by before-I want to be the first human traffic in that area. It might not even be that far away based on a difference in wind direction. I also consider a fresh sit one in the same tree, but with a good amount of time (3+ weeks) between hunts. This topic reminds me of a study I read about collard bucks in relation to how close they walked from a known hunter's stand over a season.

In short "55 Yards – Increase in the average distance adult bucks traveled away from hunting stand sites from the beginning of hunting season until the end. Auburn University researcher Clint McCoy (shown with one of his captured research bucks) based this finding on GPS location data from 37 bucks across three hunting seasons in South Carolina."
^ https://www.qdma.com/33-fascinating-fin ... -research/

The most important aspect to having fresh sits is your ability to be mobile. If you hunt a spot, observe why the deer moved a certain way and always think about how you could better your next hunt. It might be moving 100 yards away, or maybe 30 yards away... It's how I got my user name ;)
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Re: Distance between spots for a "fresh sit"

Unread postby JoeRE » Sat Mar 03, 2018 1:20 pm

Good post treewalker!

Every situation is different of course. But I shot a buck in 2016 on public land by moving where I set up 25 yards. If I had not, he would have come past just out of range/too thick of cover and smelled me on that second sit to the area. I consider that second sit a fresh sit. I am certain he was on the path he took the second time to skirt my first setup where he smelled my ground scent around that tree around after the fact. He was a homebody spending a ton of time in the area.

So it doesn't take much....particularly in thick cover. Bucks know how to stay concealed "just enough" even when its almost spitting distance from a stand they know about.

How many stories have you heard where the hunter says something like "he was three feet from..." or "if he had stayed on the trail...." Very few of those stories were just coincidences or bad luck the buck knew what he was doing. Its a game of inches....


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