How long do you keep your treestand at one spot without seeing anything till you move it to another spot? One day? A few days? A week? I am hunting state gamelands and state forest. No obvious deer trails to be found. I more or less set my stand up where i can see the furthest and it is not so think that o cant get a shot off.

I think you should scout a bit more for fresh sign if you aren't finding 'obvious' trails.

Hang your stand in that area, and move it as necessary.  If you're gun hunting you won't need to be as precise as with a bow.

With that said, my experience has shown that it doesn't pay to sit in the cheap seat.

When I see deer movement that isn't within bow range, I move the stand after the deer move through.

For instance, if I realize I'm in the wrong spot for the morning's activity, I move by around 10:00 - 11:00.

If I realize I'm in the wrong spot for the evening's activity, I either move the stand after dark or pick the tree out and be in it the next morning.

I hunt public land pretty much exclusively and am typically in the stand all day.

Find the thick nasty swamps on your land your hunting, find the deer trails leading into them,  hang stand from a good tree on those trails and get there verry early

Wen I hunted public land I would get there super early and sometimes even nap until first light. Hunters movig around pushing deer are your friends

Double tap

Flatulence, maybe i just don't know what a deer trail looks like, but i spent probably 40 days total hunting over a few seasons and have yet to find one. I have given up on ever finding one. That is why i am asking how long to stay in one spot.

Would i be better off setting up in s different spot each day until i see a deer or should i give each spot a few days or a week until i give up on it ?

Sorry my friend, I wasn't putting my thoughts on paper very well.

Look for tracks.
Tracks

Droppings.
Droppings ( moist = fresh )

Rubs.
Rubs ( made this year or last...)

Scrapes.
Scrapes ( last year's scrapes will be harder to spot, but look for broken branches above a suspected scrape )

Bottom line is you need to scout a bit more before you hunt.

Find fresh sign and either hunt it or set up trail cameras to get quicker success.

Even though hunting just to hunt is nice, it isn't as much fun as hunting where the deer are.

Thanks for the links Flatulence, but i have been looking for all that stuff and have never seen any it. A few droppings on occasion, but never anything close to fresh.

The reason i started this thread is BECAUSE i never see der sign. Walking around endlessly looking for somethong i don't think i will ever find is frustrating. Therefore i figure the only logical thing to do is sit in a trresyand amd hope something walks by.

Deer need three things:  Food, water and shelter.  

They leave the protection of their bedding areas in the evening to eat at night, and go back to sheltered areas the morning.  You have to look for signs of recent deer activity between those spots, and then set up nearby.

Locate the thickest brush/pines, and the nearest likely food source and look for trails between them.

Also if you're not seeing them, you could be spooking them on your way in to your stand.

What time of day are you going out, and how long are you staying out there?

Is there any mast, crops or water nearby?

Do you shower before heading out?  Use any scent killers, or are you covered head to to in Axe body spray?

I hunt the morning and evening. Mornings i am in my stand an hour before sunrise. There are no farms where i hunt. I shower and do not use deodorant.

Look for oak trees that are dropping their acorns, apples, persimmons, just about any kind of wild fruit you's eat yourself, plus browse.

Also look fro scrapes and rubs.

Maybe try some scent free hair and body wash ?

I use Dead Down Wind's stuff.

So does anybody have an answer to my original question - how long do keep a treestand in the same spot without seeing anything before you move it to another spot?

One day?  A few days? A week ?
Wtf, it soynds like a simple question.

It depends. Are you hunting it everyday? I never hunt the same spot more than twice a week and never back to back. There is also the possibility that you have been spotted. Many times you can be seen and never even know there were deer in the area. I have had deer walk underneath my blind without me ever hearing them. Another year, after a week of not seeing any deer I moved my tree stand over three trees (45 degrees). A buck came in and the entire time he was looking at where my stand USE to be. He was looking in the wrong spot. He obviously saw me and I never even knew it.

I've been hunting in the same permanent tree stand my uncle built in the 1960's.  Pretty hard to move it without a pry bar and a sawzall!!  :)

That said, the stand is strategically placed in a very well travelled portion of a woods that serves as a natural "choke" point and is one of the few available pieces of cover for the deer to use once the crops are out of the field.  The stand is about 50 yds from a river in a woods not more than about 75 yards wide at it widest point.  That woods branches into a couple of small fingers in each direction that lead to good bedding locations and also some trails used for year by game to go from our woods to some other woods in the area.  There is also food and water near by from both the crops in the field, as well as a decent number of trees dropping acorns.

The stand is literally placed on a deer super highway, so it isn't a matter of if, but when they will walk through there during the course of the season.

Knowing the lay of the land and picking obvious spots that deer must cross frequently if they are in the area is certainly a consideration.  Being able to find signs of activity, like posted by DueNorth help you find out where those areas are and can help  you find out their major trails.  Like others said, sometimes other hunters are you best friend, as they will push deer towards you if you are in a good spot.

Yes i hunt it everyday.

You first mistake is to hunt a stand in October so much.....after about 3 sits, it's probably burned out. The biggest mistake hunters make is to hunt too much in October.

I'm not sure how you can't find deer sign in PA. It's hard to find an area in the whole state that DOESN'T have deer trails all over. You need to have someone teach you a few things then you will see them all over.

As far as moving your stand......if I don't see deer or deer sign, I never set up there to begin with. One sit will tell ya if it's a decent spot. No deer means move to find them.

Where in PA are you? I have a free weekend coming up.

There is no hard and fast answer to your question.  Either your presence scared the deer off, or the deer weren't there to begin with.

Based on your OP:



I'd say find another spot, one with deer sign.


Patience is necessary.  This is my third season hunting deer.  I have no deer to my name.  

My first year out, I saw no deer.  My second year, I saw one about every other time I went out, but only took two shots and missed both.  

This year, I've seen deer on the two occasions that I've out.  Day one, I saw six deer all day, problem is they all saw me, as in the came into bow range staring at me in my stand.  Day two, I had one come in, unaware of me, presenting a perfect broadside shot at 15 yards, but I couldn't take the shot.  Early muzzle loader season means only antlerless deer may be harvested, and that deer had antlers.  Thankfully, it was some busted ass looking headgear, or I'd be pissed at the missed opportunity.  

I'm headed back out to that same spot this week.  If I don't see any more deer out there on my next two trips, I'll change my location.

Some good advise so far. When to move depends on many things. If deer know you are there they may actively avoid your stand. Finding sign would be my first goal.

I am in pike county PA. If anybody has some free time, i got a $100 bill with your name on it if you can find ONE fucking deer trail. I am serious.

Sounds like maybe getting a climber treestand and moving it everyday till i see something may be a good idea. Yeah or neah?

Where in Pike County? I hunted over in the area around Promised Land SP and it had deer all over. That was quite a few years ago though. Most of the deer were around the safety zones near the cabins and condos. You couldn't walk 20 ft away from the condos and not see deer droppings. I only hunted buck season then and when we came back to the cabin at night the deer were on the sand mounds eating grass.

I would try the areas around the swamps up there.
I think a climber would be a good idea. That way you can move easier.
I have a Summit Viper, very comfortable climber.

I'd say if you aren't seeing anything after sitting all day, it's time to move.

Sgl 183 and state forest off route 6. I was going to hunt afew miles south but blooming grove township is closed because of frein.

You allowed to put out bait? If yes you can use that to see how deer move in/out to get there. Not suggesting you hunt over bait BTW...

Also when you get fresh snow after season is over, take a hike through the area you hunt. The trails will be very obvious.

No bait allowed.

How would snow tracks after the season help locate deer for next year?

You are too far East or I would gladly help you out and make 100$ lol. Deer travel more or less, the same routes year after year. Finding tracks in the snow will show you where the deer trails are much easier.

Basically, deer are lazy. They take the easiest route possible up and over the hills and whatnot. They won't go up steeper hills than they have to, and follow trails that generally have more than one exit route(ie over the ridge or down to the valley). Look for flats, draws, and lowgaps between the hills, and creek crossings with the lowest banks, that's where the deer will travel.

serious questions:

is anyone else hunting the property?

Any other vehicles in the access lots?

Have you seen any squirrel?


Find the densest squirrel population you can, find some thick cover or water nearby, there's got to be deer sign.

PS: as someone else stated...once more hunters are in the woods, that stand you're on now might look like grand central.

I had a friend hunting with me today and he found a deer trail 25 yards from where i just moved my stand to on monday. He didn't read this thread so he didn't get $100. Lol

We stalked for hours today and each of us kicked up a deer.

Taptap, in the 6 days i hunted this section of state forest i have only seen one hunter in there. Never saw any cars in the access lot(he must have come from close by, he came by quad). I see a good amount of squirrels. This forest has tons of oaks.

Deer trails generally follow the path of least resistance between the things that deer need.  

Deer aren't complicated animals, they need food, water, and shelter.  In the absence of large crop fields, ridge lines full of mature oak trees are hot spots.  Deer will walk along the top of the ridge and browse.  Water is self-explanatory, but don't get too hung up on it.  They don't drink all that often, from what I have seen in this part of the country.  A small puddle along a trail is the same to them as a lake or river.  Shelter can take many forms.  In bad storms, they will hole up in thick stands of cedar trees.  On cold, clear days they might be found on the south facing slope of a grassy hill.  Often they like to bed where they have good visibility.

Look for breaks in woodlines, holes through fences, ridge lines, and saddles (low spots on ridges where crossing is easier) and likely spots to ford creeks.  You'll find deer trails there if there are deer in the area.