My friend and expert bowhunter Terry Drury typically hangs 3 to 6 tree stands in a 100-acre block of timber. Ideally you’ll spread out those stands to cover as much woods as possible, and to have options for different winds. But don’t force that.
“If I’ve got 100 acres but only 25 of those acres are conducive to hanging stands with quiet and hidden access to and from them, I’ll do all of my hunting from maybe 3 stands set strategically around those 25 acres,” says Drury. “Most hunters naturally want to hunt and cover as many acres as they can, and in theory that is good thinking. But if you try to bull your way into tough, thick spots and hang tree stands where the access is poor or where wind is hardly ever right, you’ll blow out bucks of those spots and change their patterns and ruin your chances.”
How many stands do you typically hang in your woods each fall?
My dad & I both hunt on our 33 acre piece. All wooded except about a 2.5 acres that we have planted for food plot. Mostly flat terrain that all drains towards the center of the woods which is swamp. We have about 6 tree stands hung that will let us both hunt at the same time and play the wind. Two stands on three of the four sides. The fourth side is connected to a main bedding area that we like to stay away from. The other three sides are all open to crop fields. Our 33 is like a big drainage low spot between the three main fields. Works well as a good travel route between a large swamp and bedding area especially during the rut. May sound like to many stands but it works well for two guys on a 33 acres piece.
To many variables to answer the question. Technically you could have 100 stands. Are the woods an open type woods or thick woods? Is the 100 acres flat or is their hills and valleys? Don’t forget also are we hunting with a rifle, shotgun, pistol, bow, spear? But in general I agree with what Terry Drury says.
I hunt from a climbing stand most of the time and from the ground the rest so 1 would be my answer. However, the reason I do this is because I am a firm believer that you are never scent free so every time you hunt an area you leave scent that deer passing through will pick up on. I hunt areas when the wind is right and will move to different trees if I hunt the area again. In my mind I do it to keep the deer from patterning me as much as possible, or maybe to just get a different view of the area. Whichever reason it is, it works sometimes. Others…….well, I guess we all have those times!