Well as deer season gets closer and closer my partners and I get together and discuss the plans for the fall. One questions that comes up every year is stand height. I would like to know from you folks about how high you like to be in a stand? The second and I love this one is deer "going nocturnal". My belief is that it just gets darker earlier and that's that but they say they get this way because of hunting. What's the thought on this?

DOA,

I hunt as high as the situation dictates when using a stand, but I'm on the ground for about 80% of my bowhunting. I've found still hunting to be more successful for me. With stand position, I want to be where deer are, out of their line of sight, high enough to keep my scent to a minimum, and in a place that affords me good visibility.

I don't think deer "go nocturnal" so much as they react to increased human presence in the woods by retreating to their secret hideaways and limiting their movements during daylight. They are still active throughout the day, but do not venture as far as they would under cover of night. I've seen this on many occasions: several or single deer occupying a space the size of a living room and not moving out of it for a space of 12hrs, but alternating every hour or two from their bed to feeding and drinking. As deer are ruminants, they simply cannot afford long periods of inactivity and not feeding.

some guys i hunt with say the higher you get up the tree the better off you are,but i have shot more deer from ground stands then they have from tree stands,as far as deer turning nocturnal i think that it is due to shorter days and an increase in human activity in the woods during that time of year that makes them feed when there is less activity.behind my house is a large plot of woods that has a lot of moto x tracks and riding trails in 7 years i seen 1 deer during daylight hours but at night you can see a lot of deer i think these deer feed and move only at night due to the year round activity from people riding during daylight hours just my thoughts

As far as how high to go ... it depends on the surrounding trees. I go as high as I need to to not be skylined by approching deer. In some cases this is relatively low and in others a bit higher. As for deer becoming nocturnal.. Absolutly here in Ohio. We have a large amount of pressure and the deer that have head gear that warrants serious looking are no dummys. They KNOW what time it is and also hear and smell the increase of hunters even on private land and move accordingly. I got to hunt a cattle farm of over 500 acres a couple years in a row and there were several REAL nices bucks on the property that I saw consistantly during the summer. Once fall got here I saw sign but not the deer. Tracks, rubs, and scrapes but no bucks. I saw the does and kenw they were still around and there was some territorial marking going on but the bucks were definatly moving late in the evening and I am not talking 1/2 hour after sundown I am talking about 9:30-10:00 range and they are bedded up 1 to 2 hours before sunup.
They don't get big by being stupid!

Greg

The best advice I can offer is go only as high as your background cover. A hunter up 20 feet when the background is sky sticks out like a sore thumb. Never get yourself outlined against the sky, or anything else for that matter.