How many times to sit a stand? Big woods vs Smaller Parcels

[Berkshire Bowhunter]

I know in a lot of cases its easy to burn a stand out quickly because the deer smell your scent after you leave and the next sits become less productive. In some of the big woods areas I hunt the deer density is fairly low, roughly 12 deer per square mile and its hilly terrain with little to no agriculture. I hunt the far western half of Massachusetts which is alot like the Adirondacks, Vermont, and parts of Maine. Dirt roads mainly separate big tracts of land here. With trail cam information gathered over the years it seems in some of these spots a certain shooter buck may visit only once over a 3-7 day period. In these situations would it be more effective to sit a stand for several consecutive days straight? The buck wouldn't smell you were there when you left from previous sits becuase he wasn't in the area either so it seems when he comes through it wouldn't matter how many times you had sat there as long as you carefully plan your access and exit routes. I have listened to podcasts with hal blood and brad kuhnert who hunt wilderness areas that have said they sit all day for 4 days straight sometimes before the shooter buck they are after shows up to check doe bedding/feeding areas. I do hunt some areas that are smaller in size that I will be careful not to overhunt, but I am curious what people think about big woods areas. I have found several good big woods areas with good buck sign to hunt but I am wondering if I should just focus on only a few of those areas to put in a lot of time in vs moving around to other areas after every sit. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

[elk yinzer]

There is definitely credence to that theory in the big woods where home ranges are generally larger and they tend to cycle through areas on somewhat of a schedule. If targeting one specific buck and you have him pegged, that may be the correct play.

My counter to that strategy is how do you know when you've bumped the buck? Hunters probably spook more bucks they aren't aware of than ones they are. If I am sitting there waiting for a buck on day 4 in a row that I unknowingly bumped on day 1, I just wasted a lot of time. I don't have the confidence to sit there like that and stare at the same scenery for multiple days. And the female deers aren't suicidal idiots either, sometimes we take for granted as if trophy bucks are the only smart ones. I presume this is near the rut we are talking, and low density or not you better have some girls nearby. Chances are I'm going to need to make some adjustments to keep the live bait around.

In the end I rarely hunt one individual buck, so I feel my chances are better by bouncing around and hunting fresh areas. If an area is smoking hot, absolutely I'll keep setting up there, but most of the time I am making small adjustments and not in the exact same tree for multiple days on end.

[Berkshire Bowhunter]

There is definitely credence to that theory in the big woods where home ranges are generally larger and they tend to cycle through areas on somewhat of a schedule. If targeting one specific buck and you have him pegged, that may be the correct play.

My counter to that strategy is how do you know when you've bumped the buck? Hunters probably spook more bucks they aren't aware of than ones they are. If I am sitting there waiting for a buck on day 4 in a row that I unknowingly bumped on day 1, I just wasted a lot of time. I don't have the confidence to sit there like that and stare at the same scenery for multiple days. And the female deers aren't suicidal idiots either, sometimes we take for granted as if trophy bucks are the only smart ones. I presume this is near the rut we are talking, and low density or not you better have some girls nearby. Chances are I'm going to need to make some adjustments to keep the live bait around.

In the end I rarely hunt one individual buck, so I feel my chances are better by bouncing around and hunting fresh areas. If an area is smoking hot, absolutely I'll keep setting up there, but most of the time I am making small adjustments and not in the exact same tree for multiple days on end.

Thank you for the insight, I feel the exact same way. I have pretty consistent doe activity in these areas so sitting a stand 4 days straight may affect them as well, which in turn, affects buck movement. Your exactly right about the possibility of bumping the buck without knowing it. That thought runs through my head when thinking about sitting a spot for several consecutive days. When having a mile hike in, it's always a tough decision to commit to a spot a second or third day in a row without exactly knowing if the target buck is due to make the loop and come by or already knows you hunted there and won't come back through again.

[cspot]

From my experience in big woods deer are far more sensitive when it comes to intrusion vs the smaller farmland parcels where human intrusion is more common.