Imagine this, it is early November, and the rut is kicking into high gear. All the hard work during the off season is about to pay off. Shooting your bow, scouting your hunting location, and setting your treestand for those magical, crisp, northwest winds, cold front sits that we dream of in the month of November.
The problem? The week’s forecast suddenly calls for easternly winds, foiling your perfect plan, and ruining what was supposed to be a week of stress-free vacation spent in your favorite tree.
Instead, you are now left scattering stands into unchartered territory in search of plan B during prime time and standing first in line to ladle yourself another bowl of tag soup.
We have all been there, myself included (more often than I care to admit). To be successful in the whitetail woods, preparedness is a priority.
However, being prepared to adapt and overcome when Mother Nature and other external factors throw a wrench into your plans can make or break your season.
Whether it is unpredictable weather forecasts, seasonal pattern shifts or hunting pressure, it is important to prepare for the unexpected ahead of time.
In this article, we will cover some common challenges of relying on a single treestand setup, several alternative Plan B options, and how you can prepare for the unexpected this season.
The Problem With a Single Treestand Setup
First, let’s identify several challenges that make it difficult to rely on a single treestand setup.
Weather conditions affecting accessibility and safety
Accessibility to and from the stand is one of the most important keys to success when it comes to treestand planning. Your stand location may be phenomenal, however, spooking every deer on your way to the tree or not being able to access it safely is detrimental.
Weather conditions can impact the way you travel to and from your stand location, so being mindful of the weather and how it affects your entry and exit routes throughout the season is crucial.
Wind direction is always something to keep in mind when planning a route for treestand access. Without taking it into consideration, you run the risk of alerting deer on your walk to and from your stand that you would otherwise be encountering had you made a game plan ahead of time.
Having several plan B treestand options will allow you to tailor your entry and exit routes to the appropriate stand location depending on wind direction, which will keep you undetected and maximize your odds for success.
Other weather conditions such as extreme drought or rain can also hinder your ability to access your stand. For example, perhaps dry weather allows you to access your setup, undetected, through a dry creek bed.
However, after several hard rains you suddenly find yourself on the wrong side of a rushing river and unable to safely access your stand. Planning for the worst ahead of time would have allowed you to access another location or find a safe route to your original set.
Wind direction changes impacting scent control and shot opportunities
Over the last 28 years of hunting the Driftless Region of the Midwest, I’ve learned a lot of tough lessons when it comes to shifting winds in bluff country along the mighty Mississippi River.
Nothing is more frustrating than putting in scouting effort and finding the perfect stand location, only to discover that the wind is 180 degrees the opposite direction of what was forecasted that day.
Not only do shifting winds alert the deer of your presence before making it to your stand, they also can create rushed situations once an opportunity finally does present itself. This can cause you to force a shot quicker than you prefer in fear of the animal getting downwind of your setup.
Thankfully there are a few ways to combat shifting winds. First, observing the wind direction from your stands prior to the season is a great way to know what you’re likely to see come fall.
Many times, especially in hilly country, wind directions will be forecasted for one direction yet blow the opposite direction at your low lying treestand down the hill. Knowing this ahead of time can allow you to plan accordingly. So, when you see the west wind in the forecast you know you’ll be able to slip into the tree for an east wind sit.
Another way to hunt areas affected negatively by shifting winds is to hunt calm days with thermals to your advantage. When thermals are rising in the morning, pick a stand that is uphill of the trail you expect your shot to come from.
In the evenings while the thermals fall, try and set yourself up downhill of the trail so your scent moves away from the deer.
Hunting pressure from other hunters or game movement shifts
Hunting pressure is another reason why having a backup plan is crucial, especially on public land. All your hard effort in trying to find the perfect spot may be all for not if you arrive at the parking lot to find 5 other vehicles parked at your go to spot.
Making sure you have a plan B, C, D and E will give you multiple options to fall back on just in case the hunting pressure is immense.
You also need to be prepared for seasonal pattern changes as well. What the deer were doing in early October won’t be the same thing they are doing on the last week of the season.
Setting a single stand to hunt from for 3 months is setting yourself up for failure. Food sources change, buck ranges shift, bedding areas change depending on the weather.
Being able to adapt to the changing season and having prepared for it ahead of time will allow you to change plans when the time comes.
Alternative Plan-B Options
Different Tree Stand Locations
The first and most obvious plan of attack is to prepare multiple different treestands ahead of the season. Setting multiple stand locations allow you to diversify your sits throughout the fall, play the wind more efficiently, minimize your impact on deer movements, and give you different options from opening day all the way to the final sunset of the season.
Ground Blinds
Mother Nature often throws several curveballs throughout the year. So having a backup plan for when the weather takes a turn for the worst is a must.
No sense in sitting miserably in the stand, pop up a ground blind and get out of the high winds, heavy rains, or frigid snowfall so you can hunt longer and up your odds of success.
Be aware, deer can be spooky of a last minute blind placed on the edge of the field. So, it is important to take the extra time to brush it in and conceal it properly.
Utilize whatever surrounding vegetation there is to break up the outline of the blind, whether its corn stalks, native grasses, cedar branches, etc. If brushing in the blind isn’t an option, then getting the blind in place well before the season is your best bet.
Allow the deer time to get comfortable with the blind and accept its presence in the field.
Hunting Natural Ground Cover
Sometimes adapting and overcoming means you need to dive into brush and make something happen. Thankfully, the Good Lord gives us lots of alternative hunting setups.
Brush piles, deadfalls, bushes, and natural depressions. Nature has endless ambushing opportunities that you can take advantage of for your plan B option.
Take note of some huntable ground cover spots, spruce them up for your comfort and utilize them when the time comes.
Still-Hunting and Spot-and-Stalk Tactics
Often the action doesn’t come to you, so you must make the opportunity happen yourself. Some alternative methods include Still Hunting or Spot-and-Stalking your game.
Still Hunting is a method where you move slowly through thick cover, scanning your surroundings for deer, instead of stalking an already spotted animal.
To be successful, this method requires extreme stealth and great vision so you can spot the deer before it spots you. This is a great back up plan when stands aren’t producing, wind directions are changing and you’re looking to make the action happen.
Spot-and-Stalk, as the name implies, is simply spotting a deer from a vantage point, creating a game plan using the wind and terrain to your advantage to stalk within range for a shot opportunity.
Again, this method takes a lot of skill and stealthiness to succeed but is an excellent alternative to a traditional stand setup.
Mobile Hunting Options (Saddle Hunting or Climbing Stands)
One method that has taken the whitetail woods by storm is mobile hunting. Saddle Hunting and Climbing Stands allow you to move your setup to different trees, depending on the situation, by utilizing the lightweight, mobile gear.
This mobile style of hunting gives you, the hunter, endless treestands in a single, light weight stand/stick package.
Some advantages of these setups include the ability to diversify setup locations. You can also quickly adjust to combat shifting winds, or set up in a tree that may be less than ideal with a traditional treestand setup.
Whether you’re hunting public land where stands need to be removed daily or hunting private when shifting to a different tree for the evening hunt ups your odds of success, having a climbing stand or saddle option is a great plan B method.
Preparing for the Unexpected
So how do you prepare for the unexpected? First, expect that the unexpected will arise and never rely on a single set or run the risk of a disappointing season. Here are 5 actions you can do to prepare yourself for the unexpected.
- Conduct productive off-season scouting.
- Pick several alternative treestand locations for different wind and weather types.
- Implement different hunting methods/strategies to diversify your sits and become proficient in using them.
- Check weather forecasts daily and apply your contingency plans accordingly.
- Practice patience and mental flexibility (Most important skills in bowhunting!)
Conclusion
When it comes to succeeding year after year in the whitetail woods, hinging your success upon a single treestand setup is dangerous. Instead, identify the challenges you face by sitting in one tree, day after day, and make a game plan prior to the season to be more diverse.
Apply different hunting methods, and be able to adapt and overcome when conditions or challenges arise. If you do, I can promise that you will become a better bowhunter.
Benjamin Franklin said it best, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
Make a solid plan this season, and plan on succeeding!
