Deer Hunting Flexibility: Be Ready To Adjust

It was mid-November and the whitetails were running frantically all over the woods. It was the last morning of our week-long hunt, and I was anxious to get an arrow into a decent buck before we had to head home. I was set up in my climbing stand on a hardwood hillside, and by mid-morning I had already seen numerous deer.

Then what appeared to be a hot doe came trotting down the ridge, and a young eager buck was following right on her trail. They were 60 yards away and out of bow range. Sitting in my stand I knew it was likely that another buck may be coming down that same trail that the other two were on. I also knew that if one did, it would also be out of bow range.

This could be my chance for a buck but only if I were closer. That’s when I made the decision to get down and move my stand closer to that trail.

The most common method of deer hunting is to get in your stand before dawn and sit there until late morning or midday. Break for lunch, then again to sit in a stand from early afternoon until dark. Getting down and moving around is considered unproductive and prone to spooking deer.

I know all this, too. But I also knew that if I stayed put, my opportunity may slip by. So I gathered my gear and descended my tree and quickly and quietly as I could, moved about 40 yards closer to the trail and quickly went up another tree. It all took less than 10 minutes.

A few minutes later, a nice 8-point buck came trotting down that same trail just as I hoped and predicted. When he passed by, I mouth-grunted to stop him and slipped an arrow into his chest and watched him stagger and fall 50 yards away.

I managed to score on the last morning of our hunt, but only because I chose to adapt, be versatile and be willing to move my stand location.

The author with a bow-buck he was able to arrow after making a quick move with his climbing stand to a tree just 40 yards away, but a move that put him bow range.

Sometimes we hunters can get set in our ways and do the same things over and over even if it’s not productive. The fear of the unknown, reluctance to change, and uncertainty of the outcome can all make us want to stick with the comfortable, the tried-and-true tactics that may have worked in the past.

Changing stands, moving from one stand location to another during your hunt, is a tough decision. You can’t help but wonder…

“What if I spook deer while I’m walking around?”

“Am I hurting my chances by creating more noise, movement and spreading my scent?”

“What if I move to another stand and a buck comes by the stand I left?”

All those questions are legitimate and might be enough to cause most hunters to just stay put.

But you have to also wonder…

“What if I stay put and don’t see a buck?”

“What if I see a buck in the location that I considered moving to?”

All those factors have to be considered to make your best choice. Sometimes staying where you are is best. Sometimes moving to a better place is the move you need to make to score.

Now I am not encouraging moving and/or walking around just because you’re not seeing deer. Getting antsy and moving every time you get bored is not a good strategy and may very well spook deer. Making a move has to be carefully pondered and executed.

Factors to be considered are the timing of the season, what you have and have not been seeing from the stand, and the area’s history. Much of that may depend on how much you’ve hunted a particular stand and its track record. If you know that a stand usually produces a buck during the second week of November, then by all means stay there that week.

But if you’re in a new spot with no past history to draw on, such as I was in the opening story, what you’re seeing from the stand tells you that the better location is up the ridge or down in the creek bottom, that’s when you need to seriously ponder making a move.

During the rut, it’s hard to pattern deer movement as they seem to run about anywhere. The hot doe is likely to run anywhere and the buck or multiple bucks will follow her regardless. When you see a hot doe go by, she’s leaving a luring scent trail that virtually any buck in the area will follow. If that doe’s track is out of range or not where you can get a shot, that’s when you have to seriously consider moving to get in range or her path. Sometimes a buck that followed a doe out of range will return maybe several hours later back down that exact same trail going the other direction.

Not only are there times when you should consider moving from your stand while you’re there, but hunting the same stand the entire season may need reconsideration. There are some stand locations that are productive the entire season and can easily be hunted from September through January. These types of locations are typically food sources, travel corridors and pinch points.

But it’s rare that a stand is productive from the heat of September to the chill of January, as conditions change so much throughout the whitetail woods. Even a lush food plot will change in four months when plants die or become less palatable as the weeks go by. Native plants in the wild also change quickly and their time of ripeness can sometimes last only a few weeks. Obviously it is best to have multiple stand sites and have them in different locations where you will see deer activity at the various times and conditions throughout the seasons.   

There’s a common philosophy among deer hunters that the first time hunting a stand is always the best chance to see and kill a mature buck there. That means saving a promising spot until optimum conditions and hunting it when the time is right. After you’ve hunted it, your chances go down because of you disturbing the area. Leaving scent and disturbing the woods educates the deer and makes them more cautious, if not making them avoid the area altogether.

But what if you could keep moving around and hunt a different spot every time? Each hunt would be the first time and give you optimal chances of scoring. That would be an ideal situation, and you would likely tag out quickly. But most of us don’t have the luxury of accessing that much property.

In order to be versatile and have the ability to move quickly, you’ll need a hunting setup that is lightweight and easy to use. Hunting from the ground—whether from a blind, thick brush or simply against a big tree—is likely the best way to be able to move your location swiftly and easily. But that’s dependent on the terrain, and hunting from the ground is often not the best arrangement for bowhunters.

Utilizing lock-on or climbing stands is one of the best ways to move locations quickly. When the situation dictates, you can change locations quickly. These types of stand also avail the hunter of adjusting to changing conditions, wind directions, food sources and hunter pressure.

The availability or attractiveness of food sources will change as the deer season progresses. A hunter with the mindset and hunting equipment that allows for an easy move to a new location has an advantage that can pay off.

Having a lightweight stand that is easy to carry and set up is needed to move quickly and quietly. Several treestand manufacturers have setups that fit this bill. A lock-on stand with climbing sticks that packs up compactly and easily is a good choice. A lightweight aluminum climbing stand, such as what I use, can also be used to change locations quickly, assuming you are very familiar and accomplished with it. The Tree Saddles are also a quick and convenient way to hunt and change stand locations.

My favorites are the Lone Wolf lock-on stand with three climbing sticks that attach to a bracket on the post. It is lightweight enough to carry long distances and can be set up attached to a tree, with or without branches, quickly and quietly. The stand that I use the most is a Summit Bushmaster, now out of production but similar to the Open Shot. Weighing 16 pounds, I can walk anywhere without feeling overburdened. I can climb up a tree in minutes with it.

An important characteristic of the versatile hunter is the knowledge and ability to see change and quickly adapt to it. Reading deer sign and knowing food sources will help discern the local deer’s habits and movements. If you notice fewer acorns and droppings in an oak ridge, it may be time to move on. If a farmer harvests his crops, you’ll need to find another natural or agricultural food source.

A few years ago I got a nighttime trail-camera picture of a giant buck in mid-November. I kept my camera at that location for two more weeks without getting a single picture of a decent buck, much less this particular big one. I felt that two weeks was enough time to give that spot a chance, and since he didn’t show again, more recon was needed. I ended up moving my camera four more times before finally capturing another picture of him. And this was on a 14-acre tract of land. The easiest solution would have been to employ more cameras, but at the time that was all I had access to and the hide-and-seek game of trying to locate him again was part of being adaptable, and frankly, part of the challenge also. Incidentally, I got that buck on camera four more times that season but never saw him in person. I found him dead that following March.

I was telling that story to a hunting buddy that season, and he was complaining about not getting any good bucks on his cameras.

“If you’re not seeing them, you need to move your cameras around,” I told him.

That’s easier with today’s cell cameras and the ability to use multiple cameras, but moving cameras to different locations depending on the conditions is still an effective tactic and is often necessary.

Most hunters choose their stand location before entering the woods. With a particular spot picked out, they march to that tree and climb up. But what if you come across a fresh scrape or rub on your way to your stand? Do you plug on regardless, or do you consider that this new fresh sign, new information, causes you to change and decide to set up there?

Do you have the flexibility of your mindset and your equipment to make a change mid-stream? Whether it’s a hot scrape, a new food source or a freshly worn trail that you see, should you decide to hunt that sign instead of your original stand site? Having a versatile and adaptable attitude—and a stand that can be quickly and easily set up in a new spot—may be the change needed to finally surprise that buck and nail him.

One of the biggest factors in hunting whitetails is the wind direction. If the wind is blowing from you toward the deer, there’s virtually no chance that you’ll see those deer. Much has been said and written about the importance of wind direction and how critical it is to have the wind blowing away from the deer. But what if you get up in your stand and the wind changes direction? You may have previously been in good position in regard to the wind and expected deer approach, but if it changes, as it often does in Georgia, you may need to move.

To stay may ruin your chances if a buck shows and your scent is blowing toward him. Not only will he spook that morning, but he may never approach that area again. The challenge here is trying to determine if the wind is going to remain blowing that new direction. There are several apps for your phone that will help here. If it stays that way, you need to move. But you don’t want to change your stand only to have the wind switch back. This is just another one of the many challenges of deer hunting. But if the wind changes and stays that way, will you have the ability to move your stand and better your chances?

The point here is having the mindset and ability to move when the situation dictates. Don’t be an old curmudgeon and hunt the same stand regardless of the conditions.

The whitetail world is constantly changing, and you need to change also at times. Otherwise, you could be left behind, and the buck will be going elsewhere.