Funnel stats

[Boogieman1]

Seems most folks like to hear stats and studies so thought I would share mine. Now I will say this is not my typical way of doing business and one can search my previous years of journals if they don’t believe me. I typically hunt a very small window and keep it moving. I recently read a reply that u should never hunt a stand more than once and keep it moving. I think thats hogwash and makes absolutely no sense. Good spots are good for a reason, more times than not it’s cause they swing the odds. Early season I will agree to a one and done cause bucks are cautious and spend most of their time sniffing around on everything.

Any how I had a unique situation this year that allowed bullet proof entrance/exit. I hunted the stand 29 times. I saw 33 bucks during that time, several of them more than once.Out of the 6 matures I had on camera I had 5 of them within 15 yards in daylight. On average would say bucks passed through that area every 7-10 days (that’s mainly night pics) Got first pics of biggens October 23rd in the dark first daylight pics were Nov 15th when 3 of the 6 came through. Thanksgiving day 5 of the 6 came through. Christmas Day 3 of the 6 came through. I had blown opportunity the first week of December and again a week later. Biggest take away for me is that if one moved whatever fired him up typically caused others to move as well.

The avg day sitting in wait typically produced one or two young bucks or maybe a few doe. 6 of those 29 days I didn’t see nothing at all. Particular spot is 7 acres and I have no idea what’s on either side of property line. Had permission to hunt this place for over a decade. Have never seen any evidence of it being a player until this year. I packed my stand in an out every hunt. Owner has men who feed his cattle and relatives who occasionally ride 4wheelers out there. Last thing I wanted to put into someone’s mind is why is a deer stand there, are deer here?

Anyway just my situation and sometimes the man upstairs throws u a bone. Always heard in the whitetail world there 2 words that don’t apply always/never. Yet hunting a stand repeatedly is never a good choice. I beg to differ...

[ODH]

Had permission to hunt this place for over a decade. Have never seen any evidence of it being a player until this year.

Good spots are good for a reason. Sounds like you found one. Curious what might have changed this year, had you not hunted it as much in the past or had you not had a camera in that spot? And did you sit near the cam this year?

[Boogieman1]

Had permission to hunt this place for over a decade. Have never seen any evidence of it being a player until this year.

Good spots are good for a reason. Sounds like you found one. Curious what might have changed this year, had you not hunted it as much in the past or had you not had a camera in that spot? And did you sit near the cam this year?

I’m not positive what changed but have some thoughts. A large wooded area approximately 10 miles away by road was cleared last summer to build a subdivision. Then again I haven’t killed a buck here in many years so it’s also possible some got up in age. I really don’t know. I’ve ran cams here for probably the last 10 mid October’s. I got some good ones coming through but it was usually just one buck and a single sporadic pic in the middle of the night. This year the fact I had 6 peppering it on the regular made me feel like my kinda odds.

Once I determined I was gonna lay the wood to this spot I moved my camera approximately 30 yards past my stand to where the creek really hugs the fence line. Figured this gave me better odds of not missing anything. If they come through they are gonna pass by it anyway.

To add insult to injury I captured the buck i grazed a few seconds later as he ran out of my life. On a positive guess I got something out of the deal Still shaking my head about how I screwed this one up. Couldn’t draw up a better shot opportunity.

[jkelley1487]

I have a few preset stands on shared private land (more people than me hunt it). I leave them alone until late pre-rut and rotate through them depending on wind direction and sign.

I’ve hunted many of them multiple times and killed bucks after numerous sits. I never hunt them consecutively but a few days apart. I don’t really buy the 1-2 sits in an area and it’s burned mantra. I guess everyone’s experience is different.

[Lockdown]

It all boils down to access. If they can’t smell that you were there, you’re good to go. Especially during rut. Not to mention, a great spot is a great spot and only sitting it once is a shame.

When I got an arrow in the drop tine this year that was sit #3 in roughly 10 days. I’d have to hunt that set really hard to burn it out. That is a pretty unique situation though.

[bigredneck61088]

Good info here

[Boogieman1]

It all boils down to access. If they can’t smell that you were there, you’re good to go. Especially during rut. Not to mention, a great spot is a great spot and only sitting it once is a shame.

When I got an arrow in the drop tine this year that was sit #3 in roughly 10 days. I’d have to hunt that set really hard to burn it out. That is a pretty unique situation though.

I agree and probably should have stressed that this spot was basically impossible to get discovered. I walked through a cattle pasture (with cattle) and set in the lone tree in the corner of the cattle pasture looking down into a creek bottom on other side of the fence. I have one or 2 other spots that due to standing water let u leave behind no evidence. But picking a descent spot and wearing the sucker out is not what I was trying to imply. I typically don’t hunt this way but gotta be truthful when getting several bucks on camera bigger than anything I’ve killed that just keep coming. Well... it’s hard to pull the plug and say I prob should try somewhere else.