Observation stands

[mheichelbech]

When or what will make you decide to set up and use an observation stand?

How many times will you go without seeing the or a buck to say it's not worth hunting that area?
How many times do you need to see him before you move in to hunt?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[backstraps]

I use observation stand if I suspect a shooter on the property and want to see his travel route.

I typically use observation stands prior to season.

If I am out of town hunting I have set observation stands in the afternoon. If I see a shooter I pinpoint where I need to set an ambush site and I move in the very next day if wind conditions are the same.

So many times if I see a buck one afternoon, he will usually been seen there another day or two if conditions are the same

[ Post made via Android ]

[mheichelbech]

What if you don't see him? Or don't see any deer movement, do you sit again, how many chances do you give it?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[backstraps]

If I'm local, I will give it a few afternoon sits if my wind is good.

If I'm out of state, I try to get a morning sit and evening sit in an ob stand before moving on. Usually my out of state hunts are pre rut or rut....that's why I do the am sits.

[ Post made via Android ]

[dan]

a good observation point will be able to see deer very clost to there beds. And it will watch multiple bedding areas at once from a distance on the winds that the buck would bed there on. If I don't see a shooter I move. Sitting in an observation stand in consecutive sits gains little. There should at least be a week between sits. You can sit them more than your kill positions because your back where it don't effect the bedding. In a lot of cases I can shoot a doe (if the population allows) or even get lucky on a nice buck at an observation stand. It don't hurt to put a food plot under an observation tree...

[mheichelbech]

a good observation point will be able to see deer very clost to there beds. And it will watch multiple bedding areas at once from a distance on the winds that the buck would bed there on. If I don't see a shooter I move. Sitting in an observation stand in consecutive sits gains little. There should at least be a week between sits. You can sit them more than your kill positions because your back where it don't effect the bedding. In a lot of cases I can shoot a doe (if the population allows) or even get lucky on a nice buck at an observation stand. It don't hurt to put a food plot under an observation tree...

So if you do not see the expected buck after one sit, do you move stands or vacate to hunt a different buck somewhere else under the thought that the target buck is not in the area?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[dan]

I keep moving till I find him... By not gettin g my scent in there, he may show up in a few days, or a week, or who knows when, but he won't smell i have been there... People really underestimate the damage of human scent... If you only hunt a spot when he is showing himself, your odds go way up from hunting him by playing a guessing game like we have to most of the time getting our scent in there whan we guess wrong.

[mheichelbech]

I keep moving till I find him... By not gettin g my scent in there, he may show up in a few days, or a week, or who knows when, but he won't smell i have been there... People really underestimate the damage of human scent... If you only hunt a spot when he is showing himself, your odds go way up from hunting him by playing a guessing game like we have to most of the time getting our scent in there whan we guess wrong.

Excellent point! I saw firsthand 2 years ago, the effect of residual scent when I had cut a shooting lane and hunted the tree the next morning. Buck got within 20 feet of where I trimmed (I used gloves and all scent protection measures), slammed on the brakes and immediately went on alert. I could have shot him but he was not the one however, it was a learning experience seeing how he reacted to my scent from the prior day. Also, the wind that day was well in my favor so I know it was from the trimming.

[ Post made via iPhone ]