Food Plot Hunting Stand Location?

[Mennoniteman]

Milkweed is hands down the best wind indicator for hunting and scouting purposes. I've carried a pod in my pocket for many years and I'm still learning about the finer points of wind patterns an air movement. There would be times that what seemed like baffling changes in wind direction was easily seen and explained with milkweed floaters. Example...One of my stands has a large white pine 25 yards away. On partly sunny days with light/calm winds, that pine will actually draw the airflow towards it...when the sun shines on it. During cloudy periods, the wind will flow in a good hunting pattern, but when the sun came out and warmth would hit that pine, it acts like a chiney. It actually draws air AWAY from the prevailing flow. The air draws over to the pine (across and through my shooting lanes). When the floater reaches the pine, it rises straight up until it gets above tree top then does a 90 and blows away with the REAL prevailing wind.
The day I figured that out was enlightening. I couldn't figure out why the wind seemed to be periodically screwing me. The the milkweed showed what was happening...Something seemingly irrelevant as sun, then clouds, then sun over and over was changing the micro pattern of airflow 90 degrees. It happened over and over that day. There was no doubt the cause. Sun heating a lone, dark colored tree.
There's no way I could have figured that out without milkweed.
Foliage is another driver of wind patterns. Choosing a stand site for November hunting based on summer air flow patterns is not always the best way. Airflow changes when the leaves drop.
Here how I set up a milkweed pod.
The clip keeps it handy. I don't have to dig in my pocket to find it, or drop it. The rubber band keeps the floaters contained because the pod naturally opens as it dries. It's easy to pinch a floater from the tip of the pod. If you aren't carrying this while hunting AND scouting, then you're not properly equipped.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Tap, thanks for sharing that with us, we're learning some valuable tricks here. And wind can be downright baffling sometimes. Allen

 

[Tap]

Tap, thanks for sharing that with us, we're learning some valuable tricks here. And wind can be downright baffling sometimes. Allen

You're welcome.
These types of threads pop up from time to time where the poster is asking for advice on stand placement. In order to choose the right spot, AND the best access to that spot, ya gotta know what the wind is doing...what it's REALLY doing and understand WHY it's doing what it does. The "WHY" is huge and we'll never beat the frustrations if we don't know "why".
Wind patterns in hilly terrain is still frustrating at times, but it's a lot less frustrating when you start understanding WHY the wind gets fickle. There's usually a good reason why wind is shifty. I used to think crazy wind was a mystery...not so much anymore thanks to milkweed.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Triple C]

This has been an interesting thread to follow. 6 of the 9 bucks we have taken off of our property since 2012 have been out of our food plots. 5 of the 6 food plot bucks have been taken from the same plot. 4 of the 6 bucks from food plots were harvested during morning hunts. 2 in afternoon hunts. Of the bucks harvested in food plots, 4 were taken during or just prior to rut. 2 in mid December. The plot that has produced the most bucks has a 2 man ladder stand located about 25 to 30 yds back from the plot on a knoll in thinned pines. The most productive plot is simply an awesome setup. It has a natural sanctuary of thinned pines and thick wetlands to the south where most every deer sighting comes from. Any wind out the south quadrants is huntable on this plot. In my opinion, this plot is an anomaly and is unique to our property. The other plots see far fewer bucks during daylight hours. But...as far as harvesting a doe, I would almost bet the farm that any of our food plots would provide multiple sightings in any afternoon sit regardless of the time of year. It's very rare to sit an afternoon sit on a food plot on our property and not have deer in the field prior to sunset.

I guess if this proves anything it is that every property is unique regarding deer activity. I know one thing for sure...if you were hunting our place and I wanted to put you on a good buck I would insist you hunt the plot that has produced the most bucks. Having the stand located far enough off of the plot so that movement from the stand is hard to detect surely plays a key role in the productivity of this plot.

 

[CTM1]

As a guy who watches the hunting shows and sees bucks getting shot in the plots all of the time I figured plot hunting was where it was at. Of course when I tried this in my own plots it proved to be a total zero. Now of course I take into account NYS is not Lee Lakosy's Iowas farms etc but it still leaves me wondering. I am not sure if my 150 acres even has a day time bedding area where I could set up near. So I think I will hang a few stands across the road from the plots and up high on the ridges and see how that works out. Of course the kicker would be watching a buck(s) running around in the plots as I sit several hundred yards away.

 

[Tap]

I think that something that needs clarified here is... Are we talking about gun hunting or bow hunting over plots?
IMO, bowhunting over plots is a lot more risky that gun hunting them.
Firearms allow the stand to be placed farther away from deer travel routes which makes being winded less likely and access easier.
Bow stands over plots require being right there on top of the plot making odor busts and access problematic.
Big difference in tactics between bow and gun stands.
Picking effective, close range stand sites is one of the big challenges for a bow hunter. There's a lot more margin of error for gun hunters.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Blizzard Ridge]

My opinion is if you are going to hunt plots or fields hunt as high as you can stand to get, play the wind and brush that stand in as tight as you can handle and still have shot opportunities. I hang my stands in the thickest tree I can find then just trim out enough to get the stand hung to the tree. After hanging the stand I cut two or three windows out to where I believe my shot opportunity is going to be. I have watched guys make this mistake too much. They want to have 360 degree shot opportunities and they get busted and ruin the stand site. They want to always have a wide open view toward the food source. This is the worst mistake they can make. I mean where do you think all of the deer are going to be? Unless your buck is the first deer to hit the field (very unlikely), then you take a risk of getting busted by the doe and fawns that are the first to the plot. I had a client from New York that complained about a stand I had on the edge of a picked corn field. He said that he needed more shooting lanes to the field edge. I explained all of this to him and he continued to argue. I ended up taking one limb off on that side to make him feel like he won. Had I cleared everything he wanted cleared I would not have killed my 174" ten point that I killed last fall. I would have been busted by the doe and small buck that were under me on the field side and my deer would never have come across the field for me to shoot him at 12 yards on the woods side of the stand.

 

[Tap]

My opinion is if you are going to hunt plots or fields hunt as high as you can stand to get, play the wind and brush that stand in as tight as you can handle and still have shot opportunities. I hang my stands in the thickest tree I can find then just trim out enough to get the stand hung to the tree. After hanging the stand I cut two or three windows out to where I believe my shot opportunity is going to be. I have watched guys make this mistake too much. They want to have 360 degree shot opportunities and they get busted and ruin the stand site. They want to always have a wide open view toward the food source. This is the worst mistake they can make. I mean where do you think all of the deer are going to be? Unless your buck is the first deer to hit the field (very unlikely), then you take a risk of getting busted by the doe and fawns that are the first to the plot. I had a client from New York that complained about a stand I had on the edge of a picked corn field. He said that he needed more shooting lanes to the field edge. I explained all of this to him and he continued to argue. I ended up taking one limb off on that side to make him feel like he won. Had I cleared everything he wanted cleared I would not have killed my 174" ten point that I killed last fall. I would have been busted by the doe and small buck that were under me on the field side and my deer would never have come across the field for me to shoot him at 12 yards on the woods side of the stand.

Stand choice based on concealment is another good reason for post season scouting. Years ago, I've made the mistake of looking at a tree in July or August and thinking it was a good set-up, only to come back 2 or 3 months later only to find out the stand stuck out like a sore thumb after the leaves dropped.
For my area, certain tree species are better than other species for stands. White oak and beech hold leaves into the spring sometimes. And, for whatever the reason, individual trees within a species, hold leaves better than others. Look at a patch of white oaks in March...some are still thick with leaves while the oak right next to it is bare. And that seems to hold true year after year. Some individual trees just always hold leaves for a long time. Remember those trees. Put them on you map. Those are great stand trees. Maples and other early leaf-dropping trees are less desirable for stands.
Everything looks good in the summer. The woods are thick and finding concealment looks like a piece of cake.
Come back a couple months later and you can't understand what you could have been thinking when you went to all the labor of prepping that tree.
If you're hanging in the summer and it seems like a flip of the coin as to whether you should hang in that maple here, or that oak over there, pick the oak every time.
And the oak, beech (or whatever species holds leaves in your area) doesn't have to be the tree you place the stand in. A 15 foot oak growing along side a less desirable stand species can still give you the cover you need, and it's actually better cover than being in a 90 foot oak.

 

[THE LLC]

Everyone is talking food plots but it's the middle of the summer, time to put out more hunting stands. Where and how do you hunt your food plots? An elevated hut right in the middle? A ladder in the woods on the trail to the field? A hang on along the upwind field edge? Ground blind? This may be one of the most critical decisions with a food plot. Do you have any wisdom, new innovations, good ideas or suggestions for stand placement and how to access the stand?

Regardless of the type stand I use I hunt as far away from the food source as I can and still reach it with my rifle. I have a tool that let's me operate 300 yards away, so I'm not getting any closer than absolutely necessary. Most folks don't get it, to be successful on mature bucks, your setup has to be 95% in their favor. Anything less and they'll get the drop on you faster than you do them.

 

[antlercrazed]

I hunt about 80 yards off my plot and set my stand up for the predominant wind for the prime time of the year and my entrance isn't around any bedding area.

 

[Steve Daniel]

Everyone is talking food plots but it's the middle of the summer, time to put out more hunting stands. Where and how do you hunt your food plots? An elevated hut right in the middle? A ladder in the woods on the trail to the field? A hang on along the upwind field edge? Ground blind? This may be one of the most critical decisions with a food plot. Do you have any wisdom, new innovations, good ideas or suggestions for stand placement and how to access the stand?

I try to put my stands about 300-400 yards away from the Food Plots. Locate their travel routes, and any pinch points and set your stands 75-100 yds. from these. Deer tend to get more cautious as they near a Food Plot in the Daytime. It also helps if you can locate their bedding areas and find your pinch points between it and the Food Plot.

 

[Mennoniteman]

I try to put my stands about 300-400 yards away from the Food Plots. Locate their travel routes, and any pinch points and set your stands 75-100 yds. from these. Deer tend to get more cautious as they near a Food Plot in the Daytime. It also helps if you can locate their bedding areas and find your pinch points between it and the Food Plot.

I'm surprised how far away a lot of you hunters hunt from your food plots. This year we shot four nice bucks, two in food plots and two within eighty to one hundred yards of the fields. Three to four hundred yards would put me in or past the bedding areas in most of the spots I hunt. Not saying we're doing things the right way, just baffled by the big differences of opinion and trying to learn some things here.

 

[Charlieyca]

75 yds away from my plots would put me off my property or onto another plot. Because of our limited size and thick growth we are limited to hunting plots, or hunting with 10 yds of visibility.

 

[Steve Daniel]

When I can I like to hunt 100 or more yards back in the woods from our food plots. Deer kind of amble toward the food plots. For every deer killed in a food plot. we probably have 5-10 killed back in the woods going toward the plot. Deer are not as wary when they get back in the woods.