Help me with whitetail setup

El Jason

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Okay, braved the monsoon weather today to do some scouting for an upcoming late archery season. Didn't take my camera, but here is the geographical setting.

Canyon with creek in the bottom, bottom is about 100-200 yards wide with some timbered benches. The sidehills are steep and mixed Ponderosa and Doug Fir. The tops of the ridges are winter wheat.

I found a lot of tails crossing a side drainage. Near the mouth of the side drainage is a nice flat bench, about 100 yards wide. There is a good row of rubs at the point of the bench.

There are also some very well used trails going up the sidehills towards the wheat.

It seems to me the most likely place to hang a tree stand is along the line of rubs, correct? How far off of this trail should I hang the stand? I was think of putting it the very upstream point of the bench, where the side drainage comes down.

I'm going to try and pick up a trail cam this week, I've never used one, but I've never bowhunted whitetails either. Time to see if this old dog can learn new tricks.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Advice? Bad jokes?

Thanks.
 
If it were me I'd put my stand on the trails leading to the wheat. Rub lines are sporadic but deer will use the trails leading to food regularly. If you're hunting bucks in the rut the key is to hunt does ;)
 
If it were me I'd put my stand on the trails leading to the wheat. Rub lines are sporadic but deer will use the trails leading to food regularly. If you're hunting bucks in the rut the key is to hunt does ;)

perfect advice. Hunt the does in the rut. food source early and late season.
 
If it were me I'd put my stand on the trails leading to the wheat. Rub lines are sporadic but deer will use the trails leading to food regularly. If you're hunting bucks in the rut the key is to hunt does ;)

Exactly. I've always done ok setting up on a trail between a bedding area and food source. Heard somewhere that a rub line only tells you where a buck has been, not wher he's at now or where he will be.
 
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