Terrain and Tactics – The Art of Positioning a Tree Stand to Hunt Deer with Outdoor Writer John E. Phillips
Day 3: Using Tree Stands to Hunt Agricultural Fields for Deer with Outdoor Writer John E. Phillips
Editor’s Note: Tree stand placement not only determines how many deer you’ll spot but also your likelihood of seeing a big buck.
  I define agriculture as crops and also green fields and food plots planted for deer. The tree stand hunter needs to remember that since most croplands have wide-open spaces, deer won't appear on them until just before dark. Or, you may see deer leaving these agricultural areas just at daylight.
Merely putting up a tree stand on the edge of an agricultural field may not pay buck dividends for you like pinpointing the trails the deer use to and from the field will. Follow those trails for 1/4- to 1/2-mile back into the woods, and locate the places where other trails join the main trail. Look for secondary food sources in this section. Deer often will move before dark down a main trail and stop to nibble on acorns or shrubs before they go to the agricultural fields. If you hunt in the woods near the field, then when you see a buck, you'll probably have enough light to take the shot. But if you hunt on the edge of the field, the buck most-often won't come into the field until after dark.
  You'll find this tactic especially productive when hunting green fields that have intense hunting pressure. Once the bucks have determined that hunters come to the shooting houses on the edges of the green fields in late afternoon, very rarely will they move into the fields before black dark. The reverse tactic will pay buck dividends for the morning hunter. Take a stand 1/4- to 1/2-mile away from the fields where you assume the bucks have fed at night. As the sun comes up, expect the bucks to come down the trail that leads from the food source or the agricultural crops to their bedding area. Most often, the further you set-up away from the food source, the better your odds for seeing and bagging a buck when you have enough light to shoot.
To get John E. Phillips’ Kindle books, “Bowhunting Deer: The Secrets of the PSE Pros,” “How to Hunt Deer Like a Pro” and “How to Hunt Deer Up Close: With Bows, Rifles, Muzzleloaders and Crossbows,” click on them, or go to http://www.ASAzon.com/kindle-ebooks, type in the name of the book, and download it to your Kindle, and/or download a Kindle app for your iPad, SmartPhone or computer.
About the Author
John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors. Click here for more information and a list of all the books available from John E. Phillips.
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