Distance from bedding to tree stand.

[BuckSutherland]

I have a stand in the SE corner of the property. About 150-200 feet in front of it there is a mix of maple, birch, lots of basswood, and maybe a few red oaks. Its a fairly open area now and the deer like to just walk through. It sits on a little hill that is south facing. I was thinking of cutting some of those trees downs and planting some spruce, pine, and fir trees in there this spring. Is that bedding too close to the stand?

 

[Dukslayr]

For me this is hard to say without knowing your access routes and predominant winds. At first glance it looks like you have some open areas up north that might be great places to open up and plant into bedding cover as well. If you can set things up to situate yourself between where they like to go (to feed) and where they like to sleep with good access routes and favorable predominate wind then you’ve got a good combo. It’s a bonus if you can get good access and hang stands for multiple winds. Here in Missouri it seems about 60% of the days I hunt are north and/or west, the next 30% are south/southwest and the rest is some combo of east wind.

 

[BuckSutherland]

This map sucks. Google earth has not updated for our area in 5 years I think. A bunch of the open areas are now food plots. Some of the other open areas are already planted to bedding. We have access trails right on the property lines. Dominant wind is out of the west and north. I like to access this stand from the south line. Apple trees were planted 4 years ago in that opening. I want to clean the rest of the opening up and plant clover this year.

We pretty much just hunt the edges of this 40. There are 3 stands up by the road. Just across the road is the remnants of 70 acre alfalfa field. That used to be the destination food source. To the south is a clear cut that is now 10 years old.


They travel heavy across ours, but as our woods gets a little older and more cover (it was select cut 6 years ago) I want them to stop going all the way to the clear cut and stay on ours.

 

[Skelly]

With the right wind and the right access you should be fine setting up that close.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

150 feet is only 50 yards. I'm not sure I personally could enter and egress my stand that close to bedded deer without alerting them...unless I had some type of a serious screen, a strong wind, and some impressive ninja skills. And bedding that close to a food source will probably just attract does. It all depends on what you're looking to do. Evening hunts and you're going in while they are already there potentially. A morning ambush getting in before they return to their beds might work better.

 

[Bill]

I only have a couple south facing hillsides where I know bucks bed on the little shelf’s. For me no stands with in about 80 to 100 yards From there.

I do have one stand right in one shelf area but have only hunted it once in 5 years.

I’ve tried making buck beds and gave up. Doe bedding is easy. Buck beds are more elusive to me. So I guess I could have stands right next to them.

Over the years I’ve seen bucks lay darn near anywhere from fields to thickets. Flat ground and the proverbial 1/3 way down the hill on a shelf.

 

[Rit]

I have a stand in the SE corner of the property. About 150-200 feet in front of it there is a mix of maple, birch, lots of basswood, and maybe a few red oaks. Its a fairly open area now and the deer like to just walk through. It sits on a little hill that is south facing. I was thinking of cutting some of those trees downs and planting some spruce, pine, and fir trees in there this spring. Is that bedding too close to the stand?View attachment 21664

Are you saying you would harvest the trees or hinge cut them? I think if you hinge them you will have plenty of screening cover for access. Access will be the important part though. This set up could work really well when the bucks start looking for the does.

Here is probably the best stand on my property shown on the photo in Red. It sits between the two bedding areas in orange. My access is the white line and the light green is deer travel. They travel through a small plot before they hit the big field. The smaller bedding area to the South is only about 15 yards from my stand. The other bedding area is about 50 yards or so. My access is behind a bunch of hinge cut trees.

 

[BuckSutherland]

It would be hinged, and I would probably throw some other tops and crap in the way so their view is totally obstructed. I am really thinking about building a fully enclosed stand back here and making it an ALL-DAY spot. When I see deer back here its usually around 8-9am and they are trying to head south of our 40 to get back into the clear cut and thick stuff on state land. I could beat them to the spot most days as they are busy walking back from the destination food source across the road to the north and I would already be in the blind.

 

[Tree Spud]

I have a stand in the SE corner of the property. About 150-200 feet in front of it there is a mix of maple, birch, lots of basswood, and maybe a few red oaks. Its a fairly open area now and the deer like to just walk through. It sits on a little hill that is south facing. I was thinking of cutting some of those trees downs and planting some spruce, pine, and fir trees in there this spring. Is that bedding too close to the stand?

I think you are asking the impossible ... stand placement within 50 yards of bedding? You couldn't possibly enter & leave without detection.

40 acres is a twig snap & fart from blowing a buck (and most deer) out of there. Visual movement, road parking & door closing will educate the deer. Hunting is a bad wind will be remembered for many days.

If you understand your property, and say it is a toll booth (travel corridor), don't treat it like a parking lot. Find travel & transition and hunt the edges, make use of your neighbors property to expand your foot print. Use hinge cutting very lightly to "guide" not control movement. On a parcel this small, I would only use game cams up to mid July, after that eliminate checking them. The most time you spend the the less deer there will be there.

Understand the limitations of your property and hunt within them ...

 

[BuckSutherland]

That is solid advice Spud and I agree with most of what you said.

We have 5 stands in yellow.
We have complete edge access from the whole 40. My FIL owns the 10 acres to the west. It hunts more like about 60 acres than 40 cause of the clear cut where we rarely go.
Main deer trails are in red.
We have man made blockades in purple
Bedding is in pink. They bed mainly in the clear cut south of us, but it is getting less use every year. Its 10 years old now. They are starting to bed more on ours as it thickens, but I would like to hold one more doe group. It is basically 2 groups now that call our piece home.

I want to stop the food plots and focus more on cover. The food plots cause too much intrusion. I dont want the deer to leave cause everyone else around will kill anything that moves. The area with the Pink question mark may be a better spot for this extra bedding. We dont go in there, and its barely used since we bought it in 2012.

Deer want to move from the clear cut and other bedding to the field at night, and head back in the morning. The front stands suck in the morning cause we are always bumping deer off, but that's when I had 3 of 4 buck sightings this year.

 

[pinetag14]

With a steady wind and some screening you might be able to get in that close undetected, but on a calm day with a bunch of dry leaves, 50 yards is probably too close. You would definitely need to be slow and stealthy with your access though. If you could add another 10 or better yet 20 yards of distance between your stand and the bedding that would probably increase your odds dramatically. If you've ever watched someone moving through the woods, 50 yards or so is usually when you can pick up the crunching of their steps. Since a deer can hear better than we can i would think 70+ yards would be safe.

 

[Rit]

I have a few stands that are tight to bedding cover. Really surprised at some of the responses as asking the impossible. There isn’t a lot of things to me in the deer woods that happen that are cooler than watching a deer bed, or having a bedded deer stand up that you didn’t know was there. If you are busting deer out you are probably too close or need to work on access.

My access to the above stand does go thru a tennis court so I don’t make much noise when accessing it. My house is just to the right of the tennis court so nothing circles behind me and there is a stone trail from my house to the court. I also cut and cleared a path to my tree which is mostly pine needles. It about as fool proof as access gets. The bucks wear out a path through there when cruising between those bedding areas and not many places I’d rather be hunting come early November.

 

[trampledbyturtles]

Granted Rit that is a very unique situation.
I like to get close to bedding if possible.
Most the time there is no hard surface of anykind when making a move in.
Just alot of crunchy leaves, grass an crop residue.