Discuss Hot Spot Treestand Challenge 3
Whitetail Deer
Pat you didn't lay out the prevailing wind direction or maybe I missed it.
Never mind I found it within the box. BTW did you get my pm?
Click on "Objective." It's WSW.
P.
I am assuming the wind is blowing "from" wsw, not "to" wsw ?
Wind is always from the direction it is coming from. So it is coming from the WSW....
It says the deer bed in the trees to the south. Is South the top on this map?
Pat, What your instructions do not indicate is what time of the year it is. Is it pre-rut, rut, post-rut? September, October or November? What kind of weather do we have? Hot, cold, wet, snow?
If we knew that, it may help.
Thanks!
Didn't he say the hunt starts Nov. 11???
I was thinking the same thing about knowing when the hunt takes place. I see the winner is announced on 11/10 but is that when we are to assume this hunt is? My rut stands are usually completely different than early season stands.
I think I may have mistakenly entered this twice, after I submitted my answer the first time, a second window popped up on my computer...I ended up closing it, and I submitted my answers again from the original window that I had up..hope I didn't forefit my entries. There is a weathervane on the map to indicate N/S/E/W directions as well as the direction of the wind, based on everything that was given I think there are 2 definate stand locations at least in my mind...I hope I am right.
CT - I guess we're idiots together, I did basically the same thing. I went back to look at the map after submitting and I got click happy and submitted the same response again. Sometimes my finger moves faster than my brain.... which ain't too tough.
Very challenging....I love the interactive pieces here. Yet another reason Bowsite is my first stop when I hit the computer.
so am I way off saying 1,3, and 7 are not it?
It's a game, don't take it too seriously. Enjoy it for what it is! I know where my stand would be. Too bad it probably isn't where Pat will shoot his buck :-(
The map needs to be rotated so that North is at the top of the map. I have done a lot of map work and do a lot of map studing and have always had maps with North to the top. I guess if I worked and hunted south of the equator then it may be different. DD
I went with 5 and 9, based on the wind. Just my opinion, only saw a couple other options....
"I went with 5 and 9, based on the wind. Just my opinion, only saw a couple other options...."
So did I. Regardless if they're the ones Pat used they are perfect spots based on wind, rub lines, terrain, and so on.
That dry gulley is a terrain feature that a mature buck would love to use.
I'd hunt that stand set-ups in a heart beat!
Great interactive feature Pat!
Looking at it, I would think that it would be difficult to get a stand in #9 as it was stated that was where they bedded. It stated that every morning the deer file off from the wheat field, and bed in the trees to the south, and then reverse this movement in the evening...it also said that you are to intercept the deer as they move between food and cover, so with that said I chose 1 & 5 as they are both on the down wind side of the trails, on main travel routes between the bedding area and the food source, without actually getting into the bedding area like stand #9 would be...it's just the way I saw it, and would hunt it, not to say that I'm right, just saying it's the way I'd approach it. -- Van
I chose 2 and 9 I like the gully trails and rubs by 2 and the wind was great. So days I wished i lived where i could hunt more. would be great fun to do the scouting and stand placement on a property like that.
I entered 5 and 9 as well. I guess great minds think alike
Hey Rupe, why 9? I noticed all the rubs in that area, but thought the wind would also blow your scent back into the area that the deer are supposed to be bedding in...I'd think entry and exit would be tough morning and night. I picked 2 and 5. Without seeing the land first hand, it's tough to know. That's what makes this kind of challenge fun, though.
I chose 9 for the morning and 2 for the evening. Of course, I think I screwed up and submitted before I was ready with 1 and 1 (I hadn't changed the stand sites before I hit enter, accidently). Still curious to see the thinking. You can get to 9 while they're in the field, and get to 2 while they're in bed. Both appear to be on the downwind side of trails. Only thing that concerns me is that this is probably the doe/young buck travel routes. The buck Pat is hunting is probably heading WSW, instead of due south.
looking at everything i went with 5 and 9 higher concentration of rubs plus prevailing winds.. stand 5 puts you on funnel or pinch point with wind in your face and will be only busted by deer crossing the road, if most of the deer are eating wheat big buck will go up gully for cover... stand 9 afternoon look at all those trails hitting that pinch point going back to the fields you should get them before they pass you again major rub area.. just my guess!!
Pain, the #9 stand is way back in the woods near the bedding area. The mature bucks will most likely head to the bedding area first and/or they'll be scent checking the areas for does.
There are lots of rubs there too which tells me at least one mature buck is in the area.
I'd sneak in from the grasslands and sit until late in the day.
As to my evening choice it was a toss up between stand #2 and #5. They are so close (according to the map) as to be virtually the same area and I'd hunt either one but since #5 is back in the woods a bit near those rubs I figured it's a staging area for mature bucks and that gulley is a terrain feature any mature deer will use.
Plus bucks will be the last to enter the fields so I like the fact its still close to a food source, but tucked back in the woods. That gulley and finger are good funnels and again #5 is a classic inside corner stand site.
I'd hunt #5 or #2 all day too if I had too.
I went with #5 over #2 because your wind would blow over that one back trail in stand #2, but it would be a great morning stand "if" you could sneak in undetected.
I'd love to see an overhead picture to truly get an idea of the area, but in any event that's my choices and my reasons.
If I was there I'd hunt #2, #5, and #9 all day or as much as possible and I'm confident I'd have a shot at a mature deer!
My strategy for hunting 5 at night is this: Hunting it at night allows bucks to come to me. I wont mess up any bedding areas at all, it has a great approach. Rubs suggest to me this may be a staging area for the bucks hitting the area before going out to feed. Wind blows over and past me, no trails behind me. I also like pinch point area which bucks like. The most important thing to me is I think bigger bucks would use this travel route as it would allow them to scent check woods to the SW and then drop down to scent check Wheat field. They love to catch crosswind and this approach lets them do it best. As far as morning, I think Stand 9 is best. Like Rupe, I would approach through grassland and woods edge, which is good, but not great. Deer are coming from wheat so I doubt Ill interupt them. The intersection of trails is a good spot to find a buck cruising area for does, and the rubs suggest they really like this area. Wind is in my favor, although one trail is compromised. You cant always have the wind in your favor 100% of time! This area my be a staging area due to all the rubs, may be a spot they hit before going to bed. Also, or maybe a rutting area. I bet youll find some scrapes there also. I also think this would be a great all day spot.
I went with # 5 for both AM and PM. The wind being the primary factor. Looks like a staging area in the PM, with the bucks moving along the dry gulley. In the morning because I think they would take the same route back. At least this is where I would start out hunting. If I wanted to be more aggressive I may move deeper in to the woods to the west.
I went the same as you BR ,#5 looks to be best both ways,i liked #7 but it would be all wrong for the wind ,If I could put the stand ont he the down wind side of the runs it surely would have been my first choice but after studying the setup and terrain features with that gully the wind it just looks to good,But big old whitetails never seem to do anything by the book!!!
I went with 5 for both. I am always wrong, so anyone who went that way is out of it with me.
I went with stand 1 and 9, but I think I misunderstood the wind direction. Is the wind blowing from WSW?
I went with 5 and 5, the wind is perfect and the rub lines and the gully... it all adds up to success for me.
Before I pick a stand, I need to know if I can wear my scent lok suit....
I as well went with #5 for both. Location is perfect for prevailing winds. Intersepts morning and evening deer activity. It is set off from the feeding area enough, along with rubs galore to suggest a regular staging area. I would hunt this stand all day.
went with 5 in the evening and 2 in the morning if those are the only trails in that finger you will get a crack at a P&Y buck traveling that finger.
It looks to me that if your in #9 the wind will be blowing staight down the rub line and into the bedding area. 5 in the morning and 1(or 2) in the afternoon.
Stand #9?? That's probably the worst to hunt with this wind direction. You end up with scent being carried straight thru travel routes....?
I chose 5 in the morning and 3 in the evening. Main reasons were wind and sun. 5 in the evening looks to me like a lot of staring into the sun whereas 3 cuts down on this some. On 3 the deer may go downwind but I'm thinking thermals might help some and hopefully I'd have a shot before the deer got down wind.
Otherwise, would have chosen 5 and 5
I chose #4 in the morning. Hunting an edge in the morning is always a good idea and the wind would cooperate for the most part.
I chose #2 for the evening hunt as I felt the wind was as good as #5 but the sight lines and shooting lanes would likely be better in #2.
I also went 5 for both. Wind works for both. The bucks will follow the does from feeding to bedding, and vice versa. Also stand 5 isn't too close to either bedding or feeding.
Stand 9 is downwind from the vast majority of the trails coming from the green field.
Again the map doesn't show distance, but I'm not concerned about the deer to the east of me.
There are 3 trails coming off the green feld and over 5 intersecting trails that will be upwind of me.
As I stated before I would hunt stand 5 all day and be happy, but you are seriously limiting yourself to a small area with only 1 main trail in front of you.
That's why I'd hunt the #9 until the morning then head to #5 later in the day. Stand 9 is a bit downwind of the beginning of the rub line coming off that trail.
Lastly sometimes it pays to hunt the wind as close as possible. If you cheat as much as you can with the wind you will kill more deer. No matter where you sit something will eventually smell you and lastly all the mature bucks I've killed walked crosswind with the wind coming at them from the side or wind to their backs.
One last thing the stands they pick may be were they had past success, but that's really irrelevant to a degree. In Iowa I hunted a stand set that the locals didn't approve of and went against the past success and I killed a 188 inch giant...the following year we set-up another stand site and my brother missed a 180-190 inch deer.
That buck came from the SAME direction ona different wind, bu the exact same trail. One wind was a howling northwest the latter was a howling southeast.
We saw 23 bucks from that stand I called the "killing tree". The "professionals" we were hunting/filming with weren't too impressed with our choice until they saw the footage! LOL
I went #5 for both too. Almost went with #9 for morning.
I'll be in stand #9 in the am and stand #3 in the pm. Pat, please send me my new climber when you get back from Kansas.
Rupe - The map does show distance.
Hey, This is fun. At least I think like alot of you and said 5& 9. We can be pretty certain the fact that north is not up was no accident. Thanks Pat SS
Thanks for the explanation Rupe...I did see all the sign and the terrain features are there at site 9, just wondered about the wind blowing into the bedding areas...I agree, if you get in there early, the chance of stickin' a big 'un is high! ;)
I'm slightly confused about Rupes line of thinking.
How could you not be concerned about the deer to the East scenting you from the #9 stand in the morning if you may be hunting the Eastern #5 stand in the afternoon?
I would think you'd want to reverse them, #5 in the morning, then #9 in afternoon.
I would hunt #5 all week, morning and evening, because you should be able to come and go from the stand without disturbing the area. #9 you run the risk of spooking deer.
I would like to see a top map and an aerial map of the surrounding properties. Topography plays a key role in dertiming wind direction and thermals. I'm basing my guess on relatively flat ground.
Me personally, I would hunt stand 1 in the morning. With the wind direction, the deer aren't scenting you until it is too late and mature deer will love to use that gully to get to the food source; plus there is a rub line there. It is lacking a great deal of sign, but I think it would produce.
I also like stand 9 and would consider hunting this stand all day long. Yes it is in the thick of the bedding are, but if you get in there early with good scent control, the wind direction, deer sign, and travel corridors it is a no brainer in my mind.
Knife2sharp, For one this is the RUT...deer will becoming from all over the place. From the map it shows a lot of deer bed to the west of stand #9, I am sure those bucks will cruise those trails in the afternoon looking for does.
Second if the deer did smell my scent blowing to the east in the morning when I hunt there that's all the more reason to hunt in stand #5 in the afternoon as they will avoid #9 area.
Third if I limit myself to stand #5 all day I am chopping off a lot of the woods. I want to be near or right in those bedding areas in the A.M. when those bucks are on their feet cruising.
Fourth like I said all the bucks I've killed or filmed being killed have come to me with the wind at their backs or they walk perpendicular to the wind so I'll sacrifice some downwind deer to hunt that advantage.
Finally I'll have killed one that morning so the afternoon stand is moot. LOL
p.s. stand site 6 is a good morning spot too, but stand #9 is the stand near the highest concentration of bucks sign i.e. rubs
In stand 9 your scent will carry right into the bedding area. Stand 1and 3 is too close to the field. I chose 5 for both morning and evening. The wind is perfect and it would be easy getting in and out of without spooking the deer. Plus, there are more rubs on that side of the thicket and it has a dry gulley that bucks would probably use to sneek in and out of the field.
I like most others like stand #5 a lot, but for the morning hunt, I'd go with stand #2...Stand #1 appears to be a little too close to the field for me, #2 is far enough away but close enough. I debated going #5 am and #5 pm, but in the end went with #2 am and #5 pm. For an all day sit, #9 would'nt be bad either. Will be interesting to see the actual results.
I put #5 in the AM: Deer coming from the fields in the AM are less likely to stay on trails in cover since they are mostly leaving under the cover of darkness.
#2 in the PM since they will moving toward the fields while it is still light and will use every ounce of cover.
Don't have much argument with 5 and 5 though or 2 and 2.
I deffinetly like #9 for the morning stand for a number of reasons. First #9 is downwind of the majority of trails(100%downwind from food source trails) Of the two trail's that are downwind they are not a direct trail from the food source and if there would be a buck cruising between opposite bedding areas the hunters scent would be further assisted by the morning thermals.
the best evening stand in my opinion would be #2 for three main reasons. the first reason is that this stand is downwind of the most important trails linking the food source to the second main bedding area.Of the two trails that are downwind those trails more or less run paralell to the direction of the wind.2nd reason is also very important and that stand#2 occupies a different geographic sector of the property.The third reason is that this stand is between the bedding area and the main food source but still close to the wooded area next to the bedding area incase those deer are a little late getting on thier feet say during a full moon. also this spot would allow the hunter to get out of the stand while the deer are on the food source.
Bob Strimel
"In stand 9 your scent will carry right into the bedding area."
The map says they bed in the SOUTH the wind is WSW so the wind will NOT carry into the bedding area. It is partially blowing from the bedding area
I would hunt any of them anytime!!! seriously though 5 for sure in the morning, and maybe I'm not seeing things, but what about 7? five different trails converge at that one point, the wind position is iffy, but I've gotta think you could catch a calm day, and use proper scent control.
most of those rubs may be downwind of stand 9 but I believe the the does will be bedding above and to the right of stant 9. And that is where I believe the buck's will initially go and give me a shot, and then they may travel from right to left providing me yet another shot.
Most of the time Ive found that the bucks will make a lot of rubs in the chase phase of the rut. But when its magic time nov 11 they will be all over the does.
wich leads me to believe that those rube to the left of stand 9 is a travel corridor between opposite ends of the property. probalbly very good late morning or mid day.
I guess it depends where you think the bedding area is. The wind is blowing from the top of the map towards the bottom of the map -more or less. " The deer file off the wheat field and bed in the trees to the south." Just about all of the trees are to the south of the wheat field. If the deer are bedding in the evergreens to the south of the majority of the cottonwoods, then yes stand 9 is downwind of the bedding area. If the bedding area is where the cluster of rubs are, in the middle of the cottonwoods, then your scent is blowing right into the bedding area from stand 9, you're basically IN the bedding area in stand 9 if that's the case.
I put 5 in the morning as you can sneak in from the road and along or in the tree line and catch them before they bed but far enough from the field to catch them in daylight, the sun is behind you and wind in your face. For the evening I choose 2 because access from the road, stay right of trail to tree, nice cottonwood plus alittle open, sun should be on right shoulder, far enough away from bedding but not too close to field to catch them in daylight; rubs along this trail indicate bucks using trails. Downwind from trail.
Hi Broadhead...
Wouldn't the sun be in front of you at 2 in the evening? Normally I thought that the sun is lower in the horizon during winter, a, and b,would be setting in the west, pretty much in front of you, wouldn't it?.
# 5 in the morning - perfect wind and should be minimal spooking of animals. # 1 in the evening. Figure if they are unpressured deer they should hit the green field well before dark and I should have no issues getting into it earlier in the afternoon + the wind is good for it as well. Does should draw plenty of bucks this time of year.
Lee
Ratt: if you look at the compass west is off half way between front and right so I would adjust my tree stand alittle left to put more on my right which wouldn't bother me because I'm left handed anyway lol; plus the deer should be coming from the left so I'd be looking more to the left anyway and by the time the deer get to my right I should be looking down to the ground. I think the sun would be in my eyes in stand 5 in the evening thats why I never choose it for the evening otherwise I would have hunt there.
any prizes to the winners for picking the correct stand? haha
BJ - Yes, a Summit Viper stand for the first to pick both correctly. 5 second place prizes yet to be announced.
5 & 5 the stand is closest to the road and I don't have to cross any trails. In the mornings scent will be rising on cool mornings. My second choice woiuld have been was 5 morning /2 evening. 2 to catch a P&Y before it's to dark, probably near a staging area. I'm getting older and don't like to walk far. Took this sixty yards of the road in a funnel area.
This seems like a no-brainer, but like most things that seem to easy - there are surprises:
I like to hunt a nexus or confluence of trails.
I like #9 in the morning - the prevailing wind is blowing into the bedding area, but if I get there in the dark, before the deer do, should be OK.
And #5 is the obvious choice for an afternoon-evening stand. Near the road (so the place isn't mucked up with ambient sceht) and downwind of the trail.
All ya gotta do is figure out which stand Pat was in when he took that buck last year. You know, the one in the Muzzy ad on the home page. ;)
I took #9 in the morning (read: get in there early and quietly!) as the deer will be in the field feeding/chasing does and heading your way with the does to bed as the sun comes up. Given they stay at least close to the trails the wind is in your favor also.
Then I took the obvious choice of #5 for an evening hunt. Nice area to see the mature bucks working towards the fields in the evening, good wind, and a short shot.
I played the game before reading all the posts to the thread. I see the numbers 1,2,5 and 9 coming up a lot. I had it narrowed down to those four choices on my first pass over the map.
Rupe, I agree that staying in 5 all day limits things, but I like the fact that I can get in and out without buggering things up too much. 9 was tempting, but I'm just not as sure about my scent.
Pat, the set up for the game said baiting wasn't allowed. Can I bring my decoy? You know how much I like hunting with a decoy! hehee.
I'd hunt 5 all day long....
iowaPete
Pat, can you at least advise if anyone got it correct?
The Muzzy buck is a CT deer if I remember correctly. Hard to keep all of Pat's bucks seperated. LOL
I like 2 for both. Walk in does not disturb deer in field and keeps scent away from travel routes. Evening is perfect staging and ambush spot.
5 both ways, if you sat it for a week you'd kill a bruiser.
Hi Kaiser... I liked that location too.... but not knowing deer very well and whether a deer would actually do a full circle or not did 3 in the evening just in case those maximum rubs in the center might have been that dominant buck and he just sauntered down to the fields along that wooded finger.
Aloha...
7 would be an awesome stand if it were just put on the NE corner of the intersection of all those deer trails rather than the SW corner as it is now.
Man! I'd hunt that one then....
iowaPete
7&7... Scent Lock suit, forget the wind and hunt!!
I am working 9 to 5 on this one.
MORNING 1) I can slip into stand 9 in the morning quickly from the dry grassland (from the south) without making too much noise ( most deer are in the wheat we think!)
2) We know the deer are leaving the winter wheat each morning and headed for the timber in the south.
3) We are looking for a P&Y buck and the rubline is in place. In fact, I believe this is an early season-pre-rut hunt but frankly I would hunt this spot up through the Rut.
4) It isn't the most perfect ideal downwind spot but perhaps just at enough angle that it may be okay.
5) There are no evergreen trees so the summit will need to go as high as can reasonably be..maybe 18 feet and hopfully there are other trees to blend into with the background.
EVENING
1) Quck easy access with minimal disturbance.
2) The rubline is in place.
3) There is a pinch or bottlneck there.
4) The stand is downwind of the pinch.
5) The deer should be filtering out of the bedded trees and heading for the winer wheat.
while I like 9 too for the mornings my concrens are, yes you can slip in the morning undected but whats happens if the buck doesn't show up first? lets say you don't see your buck and some does and young bucks bed down, now your stuck, so you have to hunt all day. With all the rubs it looks like bedding area( rubbing when they get ready to leave in the afternoon) so what happens if you spook some deer, now they're not going to feel safe and change their bedding and could alter their trails. I like 5 as its a transistion area so a spooked deer will probably still bed in area 9. I like 3 in the afternoon as a buck would use the cover to the field but as the stand is put they would be coming in from behind. I like 5 because the rubs indicate bucks are using that trail and since that side is close to the road less distrubance going to and from the stand but in the afternoon the sun would be in my eyes that why I went with 2 in the evening. Use those 2 stands means least distrubance, less chance of them altering their habits and even if the buck is using trail by 3 by the sign eventually you'll get a crack at him on the eastly trails. Don't distrub their feeding and bedding and they will be less likely to change their trail, spook them and you need time to repattern them.
I forgot to add with the evergreen trees in front of 5 they might block the setting sun then I would hunt 5 in the evening too as the rubs indicate they are pausing there either in the afternoon waiting for dark before going in the field or pausing in the morning feeling safe( in cover) before bedding. Of course a wind change would allow you to hunt some of the other stands.
I don't see a lot of difference between #2 and #5 they are only 60 yds apart both cover the rubs and trails. #2 has one trail down wind. If it leads to another wood lot it could be used by buck crusing for does but that does not meet the stated objective so I'm not going to worry about it being down wind. #5 has some rubs down wind and even though there are no indicated trails there the rub pattern indicates that the bucks might be running the edge of the woods in the morning trying to cross scent does so I am going to worry about that. So even though I think they would both be good I would at least start with #2.
Hi everyone
from what I have read here I have choices that seem much different than others! I took more thought into the way bucks change there routes even abandoning there normal trails this time of year to put the wind in there favor to smell does, scrapes and rub lines. the only thing I wish was that on the entry we could have put our thoughts as to why, even though the correct stand was choosen before this started.
YES>>>>Now, I just hope I was one of the first 6 to get it right!!!!!!
Well, I got the stands right. Unfortunately, I think I got the morning and evening switched around!
Is there any way to find out how you guessed? I can't remember. I got the stands right, I'm just not sure about morning/evening. Guess we'll find out soon enough.
what were the correct stands and how are you finding all this out! i'm missing something!
"If I was there I'd hunt #2, #5, and #9 all day or as much as possible and I'm confident I'd have a shot at a mature deer!"
I still would hunt stand 9 and kill a buck...no doubt.
BJ,
Go to the Live Kansas feature hunt.
Morning stand 2, evening stand 5.
sweet i picked those stands in the correct order! when do we find out who wins!
So Pat, if stand 2 was a good morning(bucks didn't go passed) than 5 would be just as good in the morning if not better, more cover? hold them longer and also what direction is the # 5 stand? is it facing west, you said in the evening the deer would be facing you but it looks like the stand faces west so deer would be off your left shoulder and the sun maybe in your eyes but as I said there might be enough trees to block it. I'm left handed so 5 would be better for me in the morning and swing # 2 little left and it would be good for me in the evening. lol
I would use stand 5 in the morning and stand 7 in the evening.
Congrats on a great hunt in a super area!
And it was fun following it.
Three questions:
1. What was the criteria for determining "the best stands?"
Was the determining factor where the bucks were killed, or where you had "the most action," or where the most bucks were seen,...or something else?
What were the determining factors for choosing the stands, on the ground during that hunt?
And were there other stands close in ranking to 2 and 5?
Buckstopshere - check out the results page and the original contest pages, it explains the criteria. It was not based on his most recent hunt, and I am unaware if Pat even sat in any of those stands.
As for the other stands besides 2 and 5, Pat gives a run down of the other possibilities on the results page.
Wow, I didn't know the game was from the Box. That ranch is legendary. Wish I had 10,000,000.
"Well, I got the stands right. Unfortunately, I think I got the morning and evening switched around!"
Me too midwest!
1 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon.
