How You Get To Your Deer Stand

[356]

This question is based on another thread on e-bikes. Getting to the stand with minimal disturbance is a priority for most of us. So, what have you found that works best to get to your deer stand?

 

[Tree Spud]

I will take my mule to within a 1/4 mile of stand then walk in. I did have to sleep in my bear blind one night as i was surrounded by about 5-6 bears for most of the night.

 

[Bill]

My favorite way to get to a stand is to be dropped off early by a noisy gas powered side by side that sits there until I'm in the tree. Once it drives off the danger left the neighborhood. If I don't have that option I'm with Spud get about 1/4 mile from the stand and walk. I have been known to drive close to a stand during rifle season if the stand offers a spot to hide a side by side. Last years rifle deer was shot with my side by side in a dip by a pond 15 yards from my box blind.

I could be way off but I think a deer is much more alarmed by a person walking then a machine.

 

[Telemark]

Plastic canoe or an ATV, then walk the rest up to a mile.

 

[KY wild]

I drive my truck to reasonable point and then walk to stand. Myles Keller a famous bow hunter in the 80's said if he could parachute into his deer stand he could kill the monster buck every time. He felt and maybe rightfully so that getting in and out was the biggest factor with success on a property.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

Maybe we could do it better, but we typically have a different routine depending on if it is a morning or evening sit.

For mornings we typically walk in and walk out. It seems like that is a better and less intrusive way to get to and from the stand. For the evenings, we typically walk in and get picked up by the side by side.

 

[matinc]

I drive my truck back 3/4 of a mile and park 20 feet from my stand and get in. It makes absolutely no difference. My God I read stuff like I belly crawl through tick infested swamps two miles up hill both ways and I just laugh.

 

[SwampCat]

Gas ATV to within a 1/4 or less - oftentimes dropped of at the stand. This is cattle country - deer hear and see ATV’s everyday of their life. Many deer dont pay any attention. Support on roof of ranger on left side of pic. Deer doesnt even look up as we ride by

 

[gwm]

We typically walk in and out for both the morning and afternoon hunts. Ideally, we get picked up in the SxS after the hunt, but that's not always an option.

We're on our property a lot and always driving around with the SxS. We've had numerous does, and fawns watch us drive by, but we've never had a mature buck let us do that. I would love to eliminate the walking, sweating, and ground scent, but I think driving to our stand in a SxS will be more detrimental than us walking. I don't believe an e-bike will do well on our hills either.

 

[jsasker007]

I walk out in the morning and stay all day. Used to go out an hour before sunrise and had great luck doing that. I'm too old and broken down with back problems now so this year I'm just hoping to be able to hunt at all. Not being able to walk or move very well puts a damper on my options and distance I can go out. Hunt by myself so I make sure to bring my phone and hope I don't have to use it. Deer have to come out in the right places for me to even try a shot. Passed a couple already because the work to retrieve them would have been too much for just me to tackle. Hope I can hunt every year right up to the end. It's about the only thing I look forward to anymore as far as hobbies. Seems like the deer didn't spook much at all when it's still pitch black in the morning and watching the sun come up from the stand is hard to beat.

 

[Westwind]

I think a lot of hunters don’t have a plan for this. They just walk/ride to their stand.

Have hunted some places where there isn’t a good way to do it but you gotta at least try to come up with the best bad plan.

 

[KY wild]

What about this thought? Anytime I hunt some place that I have not hunted before it is almost always a great hunt. The old saying the first time you hunt a stand is the best hunt I find to be true. So my point is the new stand I go to and leave just like the other stands which seems to say that maybe it is not how I am coming and going but some other factor and I think the factor is all the skin cells that I drop in and out each time. So maybe mature deer is bothered more by your past pattern than a one day change, like noise walking in over the ridge. Just a thought

 

[omicron1792]

What about this thought? Anytime I hunt some place that I have not hunted before it is almost always a great hunt. The old saying the first time you hunt a stand is the best hunt I find to be true. So my point is the new stand I go to and leave just like the other stands which seems to say that maybe it is not how I am coming and going but some other factor and I think the factor is all the skin cells that I drop in and out each time. So maybe mature deer is bothered more by your past pattern than a one day change, like noise walking in over the ridge. Just a thought

The most prolific hunter in modern history only hunts a stand one time a year. Will only hunt when conditions are right.

 

[jsasker007]

The most prolific hunter in modern history only hunts a stand one time a year. Will only hunt when conditions are right.

Who gets that title?

 

[Prairie Acres]

I don't have many good options to get to my stands. The deer are use to hearing our tractor and UTV on the trails. I think for evening hunts I'm going to start driving the UTV within 50 yards of the stand and walk to it. Like Westwind wrote, "best bad plan".

 

[omicron1792]

Who gets that title?

Dr Bob shepherd. Google his name and whitetail

 

[jsasker007]

I don't have many good options to get to my stands. The deer are use to hearing our tractor and UTV on the trails. I think for evening hunts I'm going to start driving the UTV within 50 yards of the stand and walk to it. Like Westwind wrote, "best bad plan".

Quicker travel and doesn't leave "your" scent.

 

[matinc]

Absolutely that why I drive to 20 feet from my blind. Those people walking are leaving scent everywhere. Every breath and boot track along with your sweat build up. It defeats the purpose. Plus walking in or out is way worse than a deer seeing a truck. But I have say reading these stories brings a grin. If I can drive to my blind it two minutes it sure beats the he'll out of your 10 minutes of walking

 

[bigboreblr]

I could see someone trying to keep the light low driiving an E-bike being a bad idea.

Best deer I ever shot. Got there late in the afternoon with no plan. Saw this deer on a camera. Corn still standing in december. Walked up the hill, put a foam seat cushion alongside the tractor path in the corn. Shot the deer about 60 yards away sitting on the ground.

Im not a huge horn chaser though. Sometimes don't look at trail cameras until after opening day. More fun than intel.

You gotta feel good about your hunt. Some guys like a comfortable day. Other guys got to have every conceivable edge there is or isn't. Toughest game to play out there is in your head. Heck, some of the best days in the woods were a 2 hour nap.......

Whatever gets you out there, gets you to stay out there, and keeps your head in the game. Sometimes having too many options just makes you stall out and 2nd guess yourself.

 

[matinc]

Big bore gotta say shooting a deer 10 minutes after seeing it on trail cam is the exact reason I am getting so pissed off about this sport from your own admission. .Lack of fair chase is ruining the experience. Sorry to harp on you but trail cams are ruining the actual hunting process and need to be banned 30 days prior to the end of season. Anybody want to take the challenge. They are not allowed period on my land.