I’m hunting in Missouri this week, a long way from the Big Woods, with IMB Outfitters. Something I’m hoping to do this week is show you a few of the stands I’m hunting in and show you how many of the things we Big Woods hunters know can be applied to just about everywhere whitetails are found.
One of the things I talk about in Hunting Mountain Whitetails is the concept that “land is land” in regards to elevation changes, habitat features, etc. The fundamentals of how deer and other wildlife use the terrain and habitat are basically the same — it just looks different depending on where you are in the country. I made a short video from my stand this morning that dives into this topic and actually shows you some of these features in action. I’m also including a screenshot from my onX Hunt app of the area so you can get a feel for how these features appear on a map.
The first thing you’ll see via the screenshot is that the stand is located in one heck of a funnel. The photo of the rub at the top of this post was made within the past day or so by the looks of it, and several very fresh scrapes can be found along the woods edge.
The total elevation change here is 25 feet from the “ridge” to the “bottom.” Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s enough, and the deer use these high and low points similar to how deer use them in mountain country, just on a smaller scale.
Disclaimer: All of the stands I hope to show you this week have been used by this outfitter for years and have produced some very big bucks. I had nothing to do with these locations. But every time I’ve ever been on a guided hunt, I’ve always made notes about the locations, why the stands were placed where they were, and tried to learn as much about their stand placement as possible so that I could apply that knowledge back home. I hope a few of these notes help you where you hunt, too.
