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Finding Sweet-Spot Stand Locations!

There’s more to chasing mature whitetails than releasing an arrow. It all starts by locating the sweet spots.

By Brian Strickland

I got disoriented as I made my way up the steep grade toward my stand. Although the eastern horizon was beginning to spill a little light across the landscape, it was not enough to penetrate the thick, damp fog that seemed to swallow up the pine forest around me. Since this was the first time I had ever headed up to this stand setup in near-dark conditions, I was beginning to scratch my head and wonder if I was going to make it there before shooting light. However, as I continued up the hill in haste and my nervous breathing quickened, I saw in the fog a rotten pine that I remembered from when I hung my stand the previous afternoon. Quickly scooting up my climbing sticks and nocking an arrow, I settled in to wait for the whitetail parade to begin—or at least that’s what the evidence I had found the day before suggested.

I was set up in a saddle that led deer perfectly toward several timbered bedding benches located to the north. To the south, some 300 to 400 yards away, was a lush alfalfa field carpeting the valley floor. And here I was, right in-between the benches and the alfalfa.

Although there were a couple of other travel corridors the deer could use to ascend the steep hill, the evidence in my saddle screamed major travel corridor. Needless to say, I was eager to see if this setup would pan out, and even giddier to take part in my first sit of the whitetail season.

It was barely ten minutes after I settled in that I saw the bulky, gray hide of my first visitor directly below me. And it didn’t take long to make out the eight-point rack adorning his head. Like a young sentry standing guard, he stood motionless and inhaled every scent molecule as he surveyed the opening at the crest of the saddle. After his nose had been satisfied, he headed into the opening followed by a smaller fork horn. The pair milled around a mere 20 yards away for several minutes. The morning fog seemed almost ghost-like as it oozed around the pair of young bucks. It was the perfect morning to be in the whitetail woods.

Shortly after that first pair of racked visitors disappeared in the direction of the benches, the fog began to thin. Minutes later I looked down the hill toward the alfalfa and spotted the next group of deer filtering my way. From that moment on, deer poured through my setup in a steady flow. I stopped counting at 35, and even though a third of them were branch-antlered bucks and a 5x5 and 4x4 had caused me to grip my bow a little tighter, they all needed another year or two before I would send a carbon shaft their way.

I must admit that my greed for big antlers caused my arrow to stay on my bowstring that morning. Still, it was a memorable morning nonetheless. The sheer volume of deer, coupled with the anticipation of the first morning of a new season etched those few foggy hours in that saddle sweet spot near the top of my bowhunting-experience list. Besides, a handsome Pope and Young candidate decided his fate by strolling through that same well-used saddle two mornings later, and he didn’t get away.

When it comes to successful whitetail hunting, the name of the game is location, location, location. It doesn’t matter in what state you hunt, if you’re not spending time where the deer are, you might as well stay home.

There’s no doubt that every whitetail hunter is looking for those especially sweet stand locations that seem to produce like clockwork season after season. Whether it’s a funnel, an inside edge or the perfect saddle or ridge, finding those sweet spots is the real key to repeated success. With that said, let’s take a look at several sweet spots you can call your own next time you head into the whitetail woods.

Bedding Edges

If I have a favorite sweet-spot stand location, it would be on the downwind edge of a bedding area. Sure, bowhunting those spots can be risky, but if you use the terrain to your advantage and limit its use, rewards will often come in the form of heavy antlers.

If you’ve hunted a particular piece of ground for any length of time, you should know where the bedding areas are. The real key to hunting those areas successfully is to be invisible. That being said, not all bedding areas are equal with regard to their huntability, so focus your efforts on the ones where you can use the wind and terrain to your advantage. In the mornings, hunt the ones where the wind is blowing from the most likely feeding area towards the bedding area, and find a stand location on the edge of the bedding area. During the predawn hours, approach that sweet spot crosswind or downwind.

To make this setup even better, look for locations that allow for a super-sneaky approach up a deep draw or a creek. This provides you with the ability to retreat or approach undetected. And be patient! It may be an hour or more after first light before the deer will appear moving back toward the bedding area.

A few seasons ago I found one such bedding-edge sweet spot on a small farm I hunt in Kansas, and it has been one of my go-to spots ever since. There’s a deep creek that runs along the south end of the bedding area that I can jump into a few hundred yards from my stand. I actually use the roots of the tree I hunt from to climb up out of the creek. One morning last fall I rattled and called in 13 bucks to within 20 yards of this sweet stand location.

Saddles and Benches

I guess it’s because of my western bowhunting experience that I naturally gravitate toward benches and saddles in the whitetail woods. Although these ideal travel corridors are not located everywhere whitetails live, if you do hunt where ridges and valleys are found, then definitely search out these up-and-down sweet spots.

The easiest way to locate these terrain features is to spend some time studying topographical maps of your hunting area. That’s how I first located the saddle I hunted in the story that opened this article. It was not until days later that I confirmed its location and potential while ground scouting. Simply put, saddles are low spots on a ridge line or the lower points between two hills that make for easier travel for wildlife, and they can be excellent locations for waylaying an unsuspecting buck. Besides using maps, another way to locate these areas is by standing in the valley floor and looking for the low spots on the higher slopes above.

Benches can also be very effective in hilly terrain as bucks will often use them to scent-check an area during the rut. These parallel travel corridors and bedding areas on sidehills are often excellent stand locations. They can be located with maps and/or with much ground scouting. If using topographical maps, look for sidehill areas where the elevation lines suddenly swing farther apart.

Although wind is an important factor when hunting whitetails every-where, it is perhaps even more critical in hilly terrain because of the swirl factor. Hunt these areas only when you are on the downwind side of a valley and the wind is pushing your scent up and away from you, or during the early morning hours when still conditions exist.

Inside Edges and Corners

Locating stands along field edges has been part of bowhunting whitetails from the beginning, and it’s an effective way to hunt. Such setups offer great visibility, the chance to see many deer and a fair chance to fill those early season doe tags. However, if you’re looking to hang your tag on a mature buck, then set your sights on the inside edges and the corners of the fields. Before the rut and pre-rut phases kick in, bucks often use the inside edges of food plots and crop fields as staging areas before entering the fields to feed after dark.

To find the right inside edge, look for the most deer sign and where the trails intersect, which is usually near a corner, and focus on these areas. Depending on the situation, I typically hang my stand 20 to 30 yards off the field edge or farther in if the sign dictates. Remember that as soon as the rut kicks in and the bucks begin to think about more than just their stomachs, they will begin to regularly cruise the downwind side of those sweet inside edges to scent-check for does in estrus.

Wind is always a factor in the whitetail woods so it’s a good idea to determine the predominant wind direction in any area you bowhunt. For example, the wind is predominately out of the south/southeast on the properties I bowhunt in southeast Kansas and western Oklahoma. Therefore, I generally look to set up on the inside edge near the northwest corner of most of the fields in that region. It’s near these corners that bucks tend to hang out before entering the fields. That’s because it’s from the brush of those corners that they can scent- and sight-check the does that have already moved into the field. That makes those downwind inside corners ideal sweet spots to intercept traveling bucks.

I learned this the hard way several years ago during an early November Iowa bowhunt. The long side edge of a cut cornfield was littered with tracks, scrapes and rubs, so I hung my stand right in the middle of that long side edge. As the afternoon hours ticked away, numerous does and young bucks passed within spitting distance. Then, as the evening waned, I caught the glint of antlers to my right just off the far corner of the field. Sure enough, it was a mature buck milling around about 30 yards back in the timber off that corner. Not wanting to arouse the suspicion of the deer in the field, I didn’t call but watched through my binoculars as he worked the inside corner of the field. Not once did he ever leave the security of the timber, and needless to say he never once came my way.

Funnels

Regardless of the time of year, some stand locations simply produce season after season. Natural terrain and vegetation funnels are prime examples of that. In fact, my top three Pope and Young bucks all came from such setups, and although I don’t have a bowhunting crystal ball, it would be fair to say that number will only increase in the future. Funnels are go-to sweet spots and can be especially good during the rut.

Although saddles and benches are certainly funnel setups, because of their uniqueness in the overall terrain, they deserve a section of their own. However, the funnels I’m referring to here are the ones found on any property, regardless of the region they are in. Some of my favorite ones are bottlenecks and narrow pinch points, open gates, creeks and creek crossings. The key to successfully hunting these setups is to develop a sound entrance and exit strategy, and to never compromise them if the wind is not ideal.

Bottlenecks are patches of timber that narrow down like the waist of an hourglass, often to as little as 5 to 20 yards wide. Bucks will naturally use these bottlenecks to travel from one area to another, so the narrowest spot will often be a prime sweet spot for a stand. During the early season look for these tight spots between feeding and bedding areas. And when the bucks start looking for the girls, the same bottlenecks will become buck superhighways.

Although often overlooked by bowhunters, manmade funnels like open gates can be excellent locations when trying to tag an elusive buck. Most deer would prefer the ease of an open gate to jumping over a fence. Success here dictates that you arrange this sweet spot early, giving the deer plenty of time to get used to the setup.

Don’t over-think funnel setups. Keep it simple and always be aware of the wind. Although deer may come from either side of the opening, hang your stand to take advantage of predominate breezes and focus your attention in the upwind direction.

Creek crossings can be another sweet location for killing a good buck, and they are relatively easy to hunt. Unless pressured, deer typically cross where the creek banks gradually slope down, and these areas will be torn up with tracks. What’s great about these areas is that you may be able to use the creek to get in and out of your stand. Not only will you stay hidden, but scent will be kept at a minimum.

Creeks also often create natural brushy edge cover that provides excellent security for traveling bucks. However, because the wind can swirl, it’s a good idea to only hunt them with a steady wind.

Regardless of what sort of sweet-spot stand location you find or prefer, all have the potential to consistently produce dandy bucks. If you can find them early enough, position your stand correctly and never let the wind compromise your setup, you just might tag the buck of a lifetime.

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