I always enjoy learning from others as to how they came to pick a given site for a deer stand. I can't remember all the times I've come across old wooden deer stands nailed in trees and thought why someone picked the spot and how many deer were taken from it through the years. I've even read and heard comments from other deer hunters how finding an old deer stand can be a sure fire way to decide where to put up a stand. No doubt, if the terrain and surroundings haven't changed much, it's likely that deer have been passing through the area for generations.

I have five stand sites on the small, 80-acre tract that I'll be hunting for just the second season. I'm not ashamed to say it's taken me an entire season and the entire summer to find what I feel are good places to ambush a buck on his way to or from his bedding and feeding areas. They include...

1. A short, 8-ft tripod dug into a heavy, grow up fence line at the South side of a pasture. It offers roughly a 100-yard shot where deer often exist a somewhat long finger of brush that shortens their route across the open pasture.

2. A 10-ft tripod at the opposite side of the same pasture that also overlooks the edge of thicket that runs along the side of the pasture. It's also near a small pond that deer get to by walking along the edge of the thicket and towards the stand. The stand is also close enough to the pond, which is surrounded by timber, to cover it as well.

3. A ground blind located near the 10-ft tripod that serves the same purpose in cold, wet weather.

4. A ladder stand near the opposite side of the pond that offers a view of deer that can't be send from the 10-ft tripod. It's also near a travel route that deer and hogs use to reach a thick, bedding area.

5. A ground blind in a heavily wooded area near the outside corner of a neighboring pasture. There's actually two pastures that create the classic "hour glass" funnel for deer movement.

I pick my stand sites now based on how easy it is to get a truck/trailer into. Topography and cover also play a factor in it.

I put little stock in old stand sites. Productive locations change over the years, habitat changes and and as much as we all want to believe the stand was selected and hunted by some wise old sage it’s possible it could have been put there because it was easy and accessible and occupied by a fool

Sounds like fun

I use a road feeder and look at a aerial map of the place. Feed a lot of areas I like and see which corn disappears first. Also will sit on a high spot or area with a lot of views and see where the deer are moving. Look for old sign from the last season. Put up some trail cams to check activity on trails or travel corridors. If none of that works then throw up a corn feeder and protein feeder inside a pen and make them use the spot I like the most.

All of the above plus be cognizant of the predominate wind.

Here's an old deer stand that's located next to the Spring Creek Greenway in northern Harris County that must be at least 25 feet off the ground. It's not, however, the highest deer stand that I've ever run across. I can remember one in another area of the county that someone had built near the top of a pine tree. It must have been at least 50 feet in the air. Might have even been closer to 60. I wish I could have asked whoever built it why they felt they needed to be so high off the ground to kill to a deer.

Having enough stand sites so that you don't over hunt them is also a plus. I remember reading about a study of radio-collared bucks that found the residual human scent left in a deer stand after a single hunt can be enough to make deer avoid it for a couple or more days.

"No matter how little you are hunting an area you are influencing the likelihood of a deer using that area again, at least for a few days. Even if you never fire the gun, there is a strong likelihood that you were still detected by at least a few deer."

Source

Pine trees grow fast. Probably has been there awhile and wasn't 50 foot off the ground when it was originally installed

I like to look at satellite photos and pick out funnels and pinch points. Then I'll try to do some ground scouting, and maybe even hunt the area a few times on foot. End of season scouting plays a big roll in what I'm doing with next year's stands.

We do have a few stands on property that have been there for 40 or more years, and they are usually productive.

One has a ladder stand on pretty much the only oak tree in my area. My main rifle stand is setup in between 2 draws with feeders at the mouth of both of them.

Trees add length (or in this case height) from the bud at the end of the branch. So the deer stand stays at the same height it was originally installed.....however....the tree will eventually grow around the nails and even the wood if it doesn't rot first.

PS Sawmillers really LOVE to find the remnants of old deer stands with their $1000s saw blades. Actually met one sawmiller who found a rifle barrel in a tree (apparently it had been placed in the Y of a young sweet gun tree and left for the tree to grown around it.

For the box blind or tower stand, I look for where I can be generally south of the feeder and accessible by truck and trailer.

Tripods and ground blinds are for areas I have scouted and found good sign.

Deer travel the low draw areas on our place so I try to pick a spot where the blind can be elevated on the side of a hill. Hard to see in those mesquite flats without being elevated 20-30 feet

It would many years later when I began to study deer behavior more for myself that I realized why many of the places where older hunters would recommend, turned out to be such great spots. I don't know if they understood why a particular spot was a good place to wait on a deer or if it was because they had killed them at that spot before. I can remember one particular spot that I realized years later was a saddle in the top of a ridge. With deer and especially bucks being rather lazy creatures, I read that bucks prefer to use saddles to cross over ridges simply because they offer them the shortest climb.

Well, ill bite even though I dont have the time, I guess because I think stand placement is the single most important part of deer hunting and I think I have some good insights. The keys I consider......
1. "IF YOU FEED THEM THEY WILL COME." This is pretty much true and it trumps any decision making on stand placement. All my decisions on stand placement are based on the assumption that a corn feeder will be used for a rifle stand. This type hunting may not be for you but the vast majority of Texans(and me) do so ill address that. If you bow hunt and/or hunt without a feeder then there are completely other factors to consider. Even though feeding is the most important given, you should still do everything you can to pick the best locations to do the feeding.
2. SPACING. I always hunt big properties and I START by predetermining an approximate number of stand locations it should have. The number of stands is somewhat arbitrary but know there can be too many or too few and they can be too close or too far apart. There would always be more stands than hunters. Certain areas may have stands closer together than others based on natural food sources or other expected reasons for higher deer density. The opposite holds true for areas that deer density is expected to be lower, but all areas will have some deer and its hard to determine where the biggest buck will be so every area should have a stand but just not as high a concentration. For instance if you have a large wheat field I would set up close to it but i would also have a higher concentration of stands close by to catch the expected higher numbers of deer coming and going.
3. VISIBILITY. Some will disagree with me on this yet its the single most important thing to consider, IMO. I feel that deer pretty much roam all over the landscape at some point in time so its critical to see as much country as is practical. Even though its easy to kill a deer by seeing nothing besides under the feeder, it should be understood that EVERY deer will not come in to a feeder so its important to be watching as much country as you can. It is very effective to use a spot and stalk technique from a starting point of a stand over a feeder or corned roads. Visibility can take many forms and doesnt necessarily mean open country. Even in thick cover you can look for splotchy inconsistent openings or long and skinny openings like roads or fencelines or ROWs. High ground that offers visibility is my favorite. Besides togography a tall stand or tree can help offer visibility. You can make your own visibility by cutting senderos, either narrow or wide or long or short. A quick note on hunting open country versus thick cover....a good friend of mine that resides in the big city of Burnet is a well respected deer hunter and once told me "a deer just needs a dent in the dirt and a little broomweed" to feel secure.
4. SATELLITE OR SECONDARY stand locations. I hunt big country/propery with a lot of space between stands. Because I set up where I can see a lot of country, I will often see a possible shooter at a distance in between stand locations. I try to anticipate this and put some type of tripod or something where I can hunt these gaps in between primary stands. Often a ghost type buck thats never seen at a primary stand can be spotted from a well placed satellite stand. I also always carry extra light weight tripods on my truck to set up at a moments notice if I see a shooter where there is no stand.

The majority of our stand locations have been in their current general vicinity for 50 years. When we do setup a new location, the primary factor is visibility. I use a portable 12 ft tripod to hunt other areas, especially late in the season.

I put a stand in an area that deer use, such as a trail, natural crossing, or food source. One of the leases I am on is in East TX. There is usually a bumper acorn crop. I have found that feeders work great for hogs, not so much for deer. Most of the deer I have taken were not at a feeder. If I had not scouted, and found areas the deer use, I would have been out of luck. If possible, I do like an area I can drive to. There is a convenience factor regarding setting out equipment, filling feeders, and retrieving game. However, I do have one stand that is walk in only. When I harvest something, I quarter it on the ground, and make several trips carrying it to camp. It can be done, but does take some planning.

Lots of good info being shared.

The subject of visibility brings to mind a couple of points. I've seen creek bottoms where you might be able to see 100 yards or more from the ground, but just a few yards once you get just a few feet off the ground. These are the types of places where ground blinds excel. Also, visibility also means choosing a site where you won't stand out like a sore thumb, even though I've yet to find one where deer never notice that something has changed. I've heard of cases where hunters used old abandoned sheds and even junked vehicles as a deer stand. It makes complete sense that deer would be far less likely to pay attention to such things after they've been there for decades.

The need to stay mobile is another good point. Once you confirm that a particular travel route is being used heavily, you may find adjusting the stand site just a few feet can make a tremendous difference in your field of view, and/or making it just a tad harder for deer to pay you and the stand any attention.

Finally, I suspect we all do our best to visualize deer taking specific routes past our deer stands. Once I'm in the stand at a new site, I usually shoulder my rifle and practice aiming at specific points that I'm thinking will be be likely spots where I will see and take a shot at a deer. I want to know exactly what trees or other obstacles might interfere with a shot so that I can be ready for any last-minute adjustments.

Some very, very good info on this thread!

I guess with me if I'm getting on a place and have the option to choose my location the first thing I'm going to do is get on google earth and look very closely at the topography finding water sources, creek drainages and thick bottoms which are close to road crossings or pear flats. If the place has limited water like a good many of the ones down south and out west do, I'm concentrating on a good, solid water source first within 1/4 to 1/3 of mile from where I'm going to set up.

After I've found that I will try and set my stand up at a higher elevation with plenty of country to look at in as many directions as possible and if I'm down south and their are multiple senderos coming together like a wagon wheel I'm setting up right there!

As stated above by others, once you are in good spot it is time to spend some cash on feed...and more feed, and more feed!!!