A treestand location isn't a great spot to hunt, just because you were able to combine great deer sign with a few deer trails. Make sure to include these 5 important treestand tactics for whitetails, when scouting and planning the perfect bowhunting ambush.
Quality Treestand Setups
A great tree to help hide your profile helps, but do yourself a big favor and make sure to add a high quality, quiet and comfortable treestand, to the mix. While a great tree can be a major plus to a stand location, try not to rule out a smaller or poorly angled tree if it is in a better locations based on trails, habitat diversity, improved access or better positioned to blow your scent in a safer location.
Combination Deer Trail Tactics
While 1 great trail can be all it takes within the perfect funnel, the convergence of 2-3 deer trails or more in 1 location is even better! Often, deer trails that form a bowtie of movement on the upwind side of your treestand are hard to beat.
Treestand Location and Habitat Diversity
Obviously a field edge between a woodline and an open ag field, works to create deer traffic. However, whitetails are creatures of edge habitat, so the more habitat changes you can get to take place in one location, the better. One of my favorite treestand tactics for whitetails on public land is to find locations by aerial photos and topo maps, where several habitat types come together at once. Elevation changes, old growth, new growth, swamp, fallow field, and tree or shrub variety are a few of the pimary examples of the type of habitat change I look for when scouting new treestand hotspots. The more habitat locations that you can find to merge together in a single location, the greater the potential for deer movement.
Spook Proof Treestand Access Tactics
A great treestand location is not great at all, if you can't access it without spooking deer - or at least a very low probability. This is why it is important to limit the amount of habitat improvements that you make on private land. Creating whitetail habitat dead spots is a great tactic for allowing you to not only access your treestand setups without spooking deer, but for being able to blow your scent while you are sitting in your stand, into a non-deer area.
Scent Free Downwind Treestand Tactics For Whitetails
A great tree, a quality treestand, several deer trails, diversity of habitat and spook proof access is all for not, if you can't control your scent while you hunt. And forget about dusts, scent wicks, sprays, magic boxes and carbon clothing, because if a mature buck is downwind of you, your hunt is likely over. The best tactic for effective scent control, is where you locate your treestand.
Conclusion
Can you think of a great location for the perfect treestand whitetail ambush hotspot? If you can get the above 5 tactics working for you in your next favorite stand location, it will be difficult for you not to find whitetail success this season.
