Your setup may be the #1 factor when it comes to consistently harvesting deer.
Messages come in from viewers all the time that look like this -
“I found a good looking spot while scouting. Where do I set up my tree stand?”
“How do you know where to setup in order to get a shot?”
“Should I use a tree saddle or stand in my spot? Or should I hunt from the ground?”
While these questions seem simple the answers are complicated because every setup in every spot is different. We’ll discuss general topics here but these tactics are situational. There's an entire section later in the course devoted to situational tactics and setups. In that section we thoroughly break down various hunts we've have over the years and talk about our detailed setups.
#1 GET CLOSE
When bowhunting it’s important to take close range shots at whitetails. We rarely shoot past 30 yards. A 20 yard shot for us on the ground or in a tree is most common. With modern equipment today, it’s possible to shoot much farther but once you go past the 30 yard mark, the deer has enough time to react unpredictably. Not to say you can’t kill them beyond that distance - you certainly can. We just prefer to take closer shots to keep the odds of a quick kill as high as possible.
Be sure to setup perpendicular to the sign (trails, rubs, scrapes, etc.) where you expect the deer to be traveling. This will provide a closer range, broadside shot opportunity at the passing deer.
EXAMPLE:
You find a trail with big, fresh tracks leading in and out of a bedding area and decide to set up. The catch is, there are only tiny trees and some thin ground cover nearby. What do you do? In many cases, hunters will move nearby until they find a more suitable tree or better ground setup. The problem here is it often puts you farther away from the trail. Unfortunately there is no “right” answer. Most of the time, we try and make a setup work within 30 yards of the trail. This might mean hanging 5 feet off the ground in a tiny tree, digging a hole in the ground, using a ghillie suit for added concealment, etc. Our goal is to be close enough to that spot in the trail where we can make a quality killing shot on a deer if it walks the trail. Sitting farther back in a great looking tree might take you out of the game. Setup where the deer want to be.
#2 WIND
The most important factor when setting up is your wind. Is it blowing straight down the trail you expect the deer to walk? Or just off to one side? A few degrees of difference in the wind direction can be the difference in getting a shot and getting busted. The best way to learn what you can get away with is trial and error. Pay close attention with milkweed throughout your hunt and after deer pass by to see how the wind is behaving. Often, there are small tweaks you can make to the setup deal with changing wind. This could mean climbing a tree or the opposite - climbing down out of a tree.
EXAMPLE:
We have hunted in the bottom of ditches and creeks where wind/thermals have caused our scent to pool. Being on the ground in this scenario, the scent pools very close and is more contained. If we jump out of the ditch, our wind swirls and travels much farther. If we hunt in a nearby tree the wind would swirl so bad that nearly every deer approaching could detect us. The importance of paying close attention to the wind cannot be overstated. Spend time learning how it behaves in different environments.
Benefits of Wind
Wind can also conceal movement. If it’s blowing 15 mph, branches will be moving and can make your presence harder to detect by oncoming deer. We’ve walked up on deer calmly feeding many times in high winds and they had no clue we were there. In contrast, a dead calm evening where pressured deer are coming by on pins and needles favors the deer. They seem to move slowly and more cautious in these types of conditions.
Thermals
It’s hard to discuss wind without touching on thermals. They are difficult to understand. We constantly get asked, “How do thermals work?”
In the basic sense, thermals fall in the early morning/late evening and rise during the day while the sun is heating the ground. They can be MORE predictable than the wind in some situations. Dan Infalt from The Hunting Beast has some tremendous information about wind and thermals - especially how they behave in hilly terrain. Here is a link to an informative thread from his website - http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34869-
Dan also has several informative DVD's on buck bedding. Check them out at this link - https://shop.thehuntingbeast.com/9-dvd-s
Here's an example of a time we had thermals work for and against us in the same morning: We had a spot where the stand was bulletproof during the first few hours of the day before the sun got high. After 9 o'clock though our odds of getting busted went way up no matter which direction the wind was blowing. The stand was on a thick travel corridor between two bedding areas that bucks used to get from A to B without being detected. It was not uncommon to see bucks moving through this area at all hours of the day during the rut. The challenge here was always the wind. After hunting it numerous times and getting busted from all directions on various wind conditions we found a “chink in their armor” so to speak. We tried hunting a dead calm, cool morning with light and variable winds. We noticed the thermals caused our scent to hang in the air during the mid-morning time frame right before the sun came up (first 2 hours after sunrise). The bucks passing through during this time did not smell us. Once the sun came up and day winds increased, all bets were off. We went from having mature bucks walk by at 7:00 A.M. to getting winded at 11:00AM.
Here is a video example from this area:
#3 FINDING COVER
If you only take one thing away from this section, always remember to ask this question. What can the deer see? Often we set up in a spot based on what WE can see or shoot and don’t stop to think about what the oncoming deer can see. For example, if you found a good tree to hang in but no other trees behind it - only blue sky - the odds of the deer skylining you increase. Once you’ve found the deer sign that you want to hunt, start looking for trees in that spot before you walk away from it for two reasons: 1) This is the last spot you stood near the trail meaning oncoming deer may stop and smell your ground scent. You want to be able to shoot that exact location, or go farther up the trail but not directly on the trail so you have an opportunity before the deer get to your ground scent. 2) This is close to the deer’s point of view. Look for spots that offer good concealment from this viewpoint but also make sure the spot you choose allows for a clear shot.
Obviously some spots don’t allow for great concealment but that does not mean it shouldn’t be a priority when picking a setup. We’ll break this into two categories - ground setups and tree setups.
Tree Hunting
Preferred height in trees is dependent upon your comfort level. As a general rule, the higher you go, the less likely you’ll be detected BUT the shot angle gets steeper so there are tradeoffs. On average we are between 15 and 20 feet up with a saddle or stand.
The wider the tree is, the more back cover you’ll have as deer approach but there’s a catch. Big, wide trees are harder to climb with sticks, steps, etc. Some of the factory straps on climbing sticks, stands, and saddle platforms will only reach so far. Packing Versastraps along for the hunt may be a good idea as they’ll provide more length should you need it. We bring them along and they are rarely used but occasionally come in handy. You can also hang stands ahead of time if permitted on the area.
There is give and take when it comes to branches and foliage in the tree. The more branches it has, the better the concealment. However, more branches mean fewer shooting options. Most of the time, we try to pick a spot on the side of a tree where we can get a clear shot to the predicted travel or sign we’re hunting. For example, if we find a hot scrape we’ll look for a tree on the downwind side that can shoot the scrape or the trails leading to it. Ideally we’d be able to shoot the trails AND the scrape but sometimes have to give up one or the other.
In areas with tall, straight trees with few branches, it may be important to get as high as possible to avoid the deer’s line of sight. It’s also possible to keep your scent above the deer in some situations. We’ve experienced this a few different times in setups around 30 feet or higher.
AVOID the skyline. This is why back and front cover in a tree is important. If your silhouette is hanging off a tree with sky behind, it’ll be easy for deer to pinpoint your location.
Another important factor to consider is cover between the setup and the approaching deer. Anything that blocks the deer’s vision on its approach will help you get the bow drawn back undetected. This could be anything from a bush, to a small tree, branches, etc. Anticipate this BEFORE you go to set up. This again is why it’s so important to envision what the deer can see on its way in BEFORE it gets there.
Here's a good example hunt where we show the setup from the deer's perspective.
Ground Hunting
Many of the same principles for trees also apply to ground setups. Again, there are advantages and disadvantages. A disadvantage of ground hunting is the lack of visibility. Often we can observe movement from a distance while perched up in a tree, then make a move on the next hunt to set up closer to the deer. However, the advantage of hunting from the ground is the ability to be mobile with your setup. For example, if you observe a buck at 80 yards making a scrape and entering a bedding area, it’s much easier and more efficient to make a quick move on the ground towards that spot than it is to take everything down out of a tree and move.
This is not to say the two can’t work together. In fact, they certainly can and is the preferred way most of us hunt. On several occasions, we gain intel from a tree as we observe deer from a distance, then move in tighter on the ground to get a shot - either through spot and stalk or an ambush point.
When setting up for a ground ambush, it’s helpful to find horizontal cover. Brush piles, downed trees, root wads, bushes, etc. This helps to break up your outline better than simply sitting up against a tree.
Here's a good example or what to look for in concealment for a ground setup.
REMEMBER: It’s also important to practice draw in anticipation of a shot. You should do this in any setup but it's especially important on the ground. Make sure to raise up high enough so your cam is not resting on the ground at full draw. Also be cautious of vegetation that could get caught up in your string or impact the arrow as it leaves the bow.
One of the challenges we discussed earlier was sky lining from a tree. On the ground, this isn't an issue. However, the lack of visibility often means your movement has to be restricted even more since you can’t see the deer coming until they are very close. In a tree, it's possible to spot the deer from a distance and have more time to prepare for a shot. On the ground, this is typically not the case. Deer are wired to detect movement so make sure you're set up in the “ready to shoot” position on the ground. Then when the deer shows up nearby you can make as little movement as possible to draw the bow and make the shot.
IMPORTANT: A major factor when ground hunting is getting a clear shot. Vegetation can deflect your arrow so be conscious of all obstructions between you and the deer.
#4 ADAPTABILITY
We’d argue that the ability to adapt your setup to any situation is the most important skill a deer hunter can have. Sometimes this means setting up in a tree, on the the ground, or still hunting, etc. We’ll have new hunt breakdowns on this course each year that show different situations and how we set up in them.
At the end of every hunt, look at what you did right and wrong in your setup. Here are some questions to ask:
1) Were you too far from the deer?
2) Did you get busted in the setup?
3) Could you have chosen a better tree?
4) Would a ground setup worked better to get close to the deer?
5) Did the deer smell you and is there a better location nearby with more stable wind currents?
These are the types of questions we ask ourselves before, during, and after a hunt. Over time the most common trend we see is that bucks move through thick cover, often in spots where the setup options are limited. This means you’ve got to get creative. So many times, we receive this comment from a viewer - “I saw a big buck pass by at a distance but I could not get him to come close enough for a shot. How do I get them to come by my stand?” The answer most of the time is you can’t. Get down and position your setup in a spot where you can shoot the bucks on THEIR movement pattern.
Jake and Grant killed a buck in the fall of 2019 up in North Dakota. This buck and two others were bedding and feeding on standing corn and canola - there was not a tree within 1/2 mile of these deer. They had to use the standing corn to get as close to the bedded buck as possible then wait patiently for several hours before the buck offered a clear shot.
#5 Getting Creative
