Successful white-tailed deer bowhunting here in the Midwest is particularly dependent upon intelligent placement of tree stands. The primary thing to remember about treestand locations is that they be flexible. That is, a stand placement in the early part of the season can be right then but totally wrong later in the season. If carefully chosen a strand can be red hot even in a heavily pressured hunting area.
A stand placed on an escape route in a heavily hunted area gives the bowhunter all kinds of action. You are allowing other hunters to drive deer toward your position.
Pre-season scouting aids in locating deer during the first part of the season. Their trail toward a feeding area can be located and a stand placed near it. At the very beginning of the hunting season, deer are not as easily spooked as later in the year. Therefore, a stand located near open areas works well. However, a few days into the hunting season and deer, particularly big bucks, change their feeding habits. They come to open feeding areas much later, usually after dark. At this point it is time to move to another stand location.
Some hunters move 20 to 30-yards back into heavy cover along the same trail to the feeding area and about 15-yards to the side and downwind. Big bucks seldom walk directly on game trails but will follow it off to the side. If the hunter is downwind from the usual prevailing wind, the chance of deer smelling him is less. Continue reading – https://dongasaway.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/early-season-treestand-placement/