Move a Stand?

[SartellMN]

I have two stands set up in a fairly good hunting area. I see a lot of deer movement, but most of it is just outside of shooting range. I can sit there and watch a buck tend to a scrape and rub. The question is do I move one of the stands to sit over the rub to try to bag the large buck? My inclination is to just wait and hope the buck wanders over to me. I just hate to move it and screw up his pattern if it spooks him (although the location is fairly close to a house, so I am not sure if a little lingering scent is going to faze him).

[Stratosman]

If you have him patterned now and he is moving in daylight hours...move NOW, but be careful about it, only hunting during the right wind. The reason I say that is because very soon, most if not all of mature buck movement will be during the night. Just be aware of your approach and what if any impact it will have on the deer movement, and make sure you can exit the stand unnoticed as well.

Good luck!

[hartner62]

I agree with Stratosman. Get out there yesterday and move the stand if you have him patterned. Just make sure you give him some room and don't set up right on him.

[96trigger]

I agree with all of the above, that tactic worked for me last year, I moved a stand 100 yards along a field edge. I was done moving it by 2:00 and by 6:00 I shot the buck. Not putting the stand directly on his path is worth repeating. I would put it 20 yards away with a good shot depending on if your right or left handed. Be as sneaky as possible and be as cautious about scent as possible. If you trim branches, shooting lanes etc, use gloves, spray yourself liberally with scentkiller, especially your boots, and then, I'd put some doe scent on them to try and make him feel a little less gaurded. Try and move the stand, and leave the area as untouched as possible. He will notice any twig that is out of place. Go Get him, and let us know how it went.

[Bear55]

I'm with everyone else, go in early and move the stand, hunt it that night and you might just suprise him. Make sure the wind is in your favor and be as quiet and scent free as possible. Good luck.

[Rippinlip]

Boy you are right about scent prevention. I went out the other night and am really concerned about scent prevention, I did one cardinal sin, I did not wear gloves into my stand, I went up the ladder without gloves and latter that night I had a doe and fawn within 15 yards of my stand and she did not look at me, but did in the area of my ladder stand. Needless to say she turned around without alot of alarm and walked the other way, she knew something was wrong, but could not pin point it so the two left.

[FL SNIPER]

Yep...I was just going to write wear gloves when you move your stand and tree pegs (not to mention when you get in and out of your stand). It takes work to screw those pegs in so your sweat rubs off on them and if you want to shoot that buck that night or the next day you need to be extremely careful. By all means move your stand...I shot my last two deer by moving my stand placement and shooting a deer the first time I sat in it. Good luck and keep us posted....we're all in this together! FL SNIPER

[Deitz Dittrich]

I'm with everybody else on this one.. If you have the deer patterned now, move that stand now. If you can move it one of these rainy days(today/tomorrow) it will help wash your scent away.

One thing I have learned hunting these things, if you wait for them to do what you want them to... IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN.. LOL

[lawdog]

I won't disagree with anything said here, but I do think it matters somewhat what you have for places to put the stand, what kind of stand you are talking about and how much limb triming you'll need to do to get a shooting lane. If you have to have a major project and have a big old ladder stand for instance, I would be real concerned about that in and of itself spooking the deer. There is a reason people try to get the stands out early so the deer can get used to them in that area. If you can do it with minimal disruption in the area and place it very inconspicuously then do it, otherwise you might bust the pattern you think you've learned...

[bigbucks]

Move close enough just like everyone else said. You may just have found a stand site that will be prime for years. We hunted an area for a few years & shot maybe one or two deer from a permanent stand, but the deer kept coming out about 50 yards away.

I finally got frustrated & hung a portable half way in between. It still wasn't close enough, the deer were coming to this one oak tree & they'd come in from the other side under the branches & you couldn't get a shot. Finally the Sunday before gun season I went out & built a small platform in that tree. I hunted it for the first time the following Thursday morning & shot the 10th deer I saw, a 6 pointer. We've shot 11-12 archery deer from that stand & passed on at least that many in the 11-12 years since that stand was built. It is the proverbial spot on the spot.