Stand Rotation for Property Preservation
As the season gets into full swing across the midwest, it can be very tempting to climb into your favorite stand night after night in hopes of tagging one of your hit listers, while lacking a quality stand rotation strategy. While many believe in the "You can't kill 'em from the couch" stigma, it is important to remember that the best way to make sure mature bucks stay on your property, is to not spook them from your property. That is why we use low impact stand rotations to avoid creating heavy hunter pressure on our parcels. With 15 stands spread across 2 separate properties (35 miles apart) it is easy for us to spread our efforts in hopes of encountering bucks, without spooking bucks. Since the season started just 2 weeks ago, we have already hunted 12 different stand locations! Before the hunt, we choose where to sit based on several factors. Wind direction and access are obviously a high priority in determining where we'll hunt, but when the stand was last hunted, and when we plan to sit it again play a large role in where we'll make the climb.
Weeks of Stand Forgiveness
Another critical aspect of preserving your property this fall, is giving your treestands a break. Frequently entering and exiting your property will greatly affect deer movement on your parcel. Your scent, sound, and sight should be kept to a minimum during the hunting season if you expect to kill a mature buck. One low impact stand rotation tactic we employ, is hunting only when the conditions are right. If you can avoid hunting dull warm days when deer activity will likely be low, it will certainly help your odds of an encounter when the conditions are right. Patience is a virtue, and it is also a critical component of a successful hunting season.
Our properties will both be getting a break in order for the deer to have the opportunity to return to their natural patterns. Although our hunts were non-invasive, our efforts certainly did not go unnoticed by the local deer herd. Even the most stealthy hunters can have an impact on the deer movement and activity. After a week or two of uninhibited activity on our property, it can be expected that the deer will be back to normal. That will give us a great opportunity to get out during the next cold front, and hopefully it will yield an opportunity at a mature buck!
