How long till a stand cools down?

[bigmike23]

You hunt a good stand. You wanna hunt it again. How long do you wait to hit it again?

 

[Jagger0502]

During the rut? Didn’t spook any deer… I wouldn’t hesitate to be back there as often as I can get there.

 

[Spartan]

Completely depends on the deer in your area and how pressured and educated they already are. On one extreme of the spectrum you may only get one shot even if you don't get busted...they'll know you were there from your scent trail long after you've left and will immediately begin avoiding the area. On the other end of the spectrum you can keep hunting it over and over with only a couple days in between. However, during that time you are educating them and they will catch on and move up the spectrum as you pressure them.

So it all depends on your deer in your spots. A hunter who lives 5 miles up the street from you wouldn't be able to provide you with an answer in terms of days for the deer on the property you hunt. And I certainly can't from a different state.

Best thing you can do is monitor the situation yourself. Trail cams help with this, but your best observation tool is your eyes in the stand. If you're noticing the deer movement starting to decrease overall or the deer coming out earlier/later or during dark only, then you're pressuring it. If the deer (specifically the doe groups) keep looking up at your stand even though you're completely still and hidden at that time, then you're pressuring it. You've educated them. Adjust accordingly.

 

[ThePennsylvanian]

You hunt a good stand. You wanna hunt it again. How long do you wait to hit it again?

It all depends on you are seeing, if you are seeing deer and you aren't spooking them hunt it, if you didn't see anything and you don't have any experience throw another hunt at it if you get the same result move on...
It's easy to hunt the easy spots but remember the definition of crazy is repeating the same acts expecting different results......

 

[Plebe]

You wearing scentlok?

 

[bigmike23]

It all depends on you ate seeing, if you are seeing deer and you aren't spooking them hunt it, if you didn't see anything and you don't have any experience throw another hunt at it if you get the same result move on...
It's easy to hunt the easy spots but remember the definition of crazy is repeating the same acts expecting different results......

I'm normally very mobile rarely hunting a spot twice. This location is my only S tier spot because it's an hard funnel. there's a sheer cliff along this mountain for almost a 3/4, and this location is the only spot on that cliff that lets deer down into the valley below. It's loaded with mtn Laurel and saplings so there excellent security cover. I hunted it 6 days ago. The conditions were great for the first hr than the wind shifted to the worst possible spot hence why I probably didn't see much deer. Just wondering how long most would wait to hunt again.

 

[bigmike23]

You wearing scentlok?

No sir. Pretty sure I stunk it up lol

 

[Robert loper]

Completely depends on the deer in your area and how pressured and educated they already are. On one extreme of the spectrum you may only get one shot even if you don't get busted...they'll know you were there from your scent trail long after you've left and will immediately begin avoiding the area. On the other end of the spectrum you can keep hunting it over and over with only a couple days in between. However, during that time you are educating them and they will catch on and move up the spectrum as you pressure them.

So it all depends on your deer in your spots. A hunter who lives 5 miles up the street from you wouldn't be able to provide you with an answer in terms of days for the deer on the property you hunt. And I certainly can't from a different state.

Best thing you can do is monitor the situation yourself. Trail cams help with this, but your best observation tool is your eyes in the stand. If you're noticing the deer movement starting to decrease overall or the deer coming out earlier/later or during dark only, then you're pressuring it. If the deer (specifically the doe groups) keep looking up at your stand even though you're completely still and hidden at that time, then you're pressuring it. You've educated them. Adjust accordingly.

100% agree with this totaly depends on the deer in the area and how they react to human scent my deer in my area are spooked out of an area if they smell humans for awhile but, they usually just skirt the area by going around it 100-150 yards out.
I find a ton of trails which i call skirt trails avoiding know preset stands, blinds, etc. High pressure deer take very little disturbance to change up

 

[Plebe]

No sir. Pretty sure I stunk it up lol

I once hunted a spot almost everyday for a month and it resulted in a shot at the buck I knew was in there. But I had Scentlok, lol.

If only I knew I had bumped my bow sight....

I have seen spots go south quickly when hunters who don't mind their p&q's get in there. On the other hand, personally I've pounded spots and know of others who have and it's been good hunting. Time of year is a consideration and the specifics of a particular spot.

Are you hunting transition, bedding, other? What seasonal phase are you most concerned with?

 

[ThePennsylvanian]

I'm normally very mobile rarely hunting a spot twice. This location is my only S tier spot because it's an hard funnel. there's a sheer cliff along this mountain for almost a 3/4, and this location is the only spot on that cliff that lets deer down into the valley below. It's loaded with mtn Laurel and saplings so there excellent security cover. I hunted it 6 days ago. The conditions were great for the first hr than the wind shifted to the worst possible spot hence why I probably didn't see much deer. Just wondering how long most would wait to hunt again.

I would sit it the very next day and again and again if I was consistently seeing deer. It just depends on what I'm seeing. That how I make my decision.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

I would hunt it again soon also. Scenario #1, you blew it out. You won't know if you did unless you actually hunt it again. If you did blow it out and they are going elsewhere you don't do any harm hunting it again. Scenario #2, you didn't hurt it and they are using it. If you hunt it again you might get a shot. The only guarantee is that if you don't hunt that spot you won't kill a deer there.

My guess is that if it is a hard funnel in the terrain, they are still using it but may have shifted when they are using it. When you hunted it, do you know deer were downwind from them blowing or did you just assume deer were in the thicket and smelled you. My feeling, and I may be wrong on this, is that airborne scent lasts a very short time, like a stream of smoke in the air. I think it moves off just a quickly as it arrives and if they aren't actually there to smell it then they missed it. Contact scent, like from touching something lasts a lot longer, in my oinion.

 

[elk yinzer]

I've found a couple rut travel/funnel/terrain corridor areas via scouting and confirmed with cameras, that I'm pretty confident if you sat a week straight, you would get a crack at a good buck cycling through as long as you can keep the entries and exits clean. I haven't put my money where my mouth is and tried that because there wouldn't be much action in general in those areas and I think I'd want to gouge my eyeballs out after about three days of it.

On the flipside, there's a lot of bedding areas that I hunt that I consider to be about one and done for the season, or maybe two or three hunts at best.

 

[BTaylor]

I've found a couple rut travel/funnel/terrain corridor areas via scouting and confirmed with cameras, that I'm pretty confident if you sat a week straight, you would get a crack at a good buck cycling through as long as you can keep the entries and exits clean. I haven't put my money where my mouth is and tried that because there wouldn't be much action in general in those areas and I think I'd want to gouge my eyeballs out after about three days of it.

On the flipside, there's a lot of bedding areas that I hunt that I consider to be about one and done for the season, or maybe two or three hunts at best.

I agree with this, funnels, pinch points or travel spots are easier to get away with multiple hunts because the deer are generally moving through in a small area and if you have good access and mind the wind, they can be pretty bulletproof. Feed and bedding areas, deer tend to mill around the area which increases the likelihood they will pick up your ground scent. Those spots for me are usually best on the first sit and activity begins going down almost immediately. May get a couple of good sits but I have seldom had a good third in a row. Stopped hunting a spot more than 2 consecutive sits several years ago for that very reason.

 

[Shapeshifter]

I typically don't like to over hunt my stands, but during the rut I have few sites that if I have a great sit with lots of action and i can get in out without spooking any deer I don't hesitate hunting them again the next day and day after that. This is of course assuming you have the same wind and conditions as the previous hunt. Having said all this you should still be aware that every time you visit that stand site, no matter how cleanly you think your got in and out you are still contaminating the area with your scent. Doesn't matter if you have scent lock and wear rubber boots you still will leave small traces of human scent and your deer activity will decrease.

 

[philsanchez76]

I would hunt it again soon also. Scenario #1, you blew it out. You won't know if you did unless you actually hunt it again. If you did blow it out and they are going elsewhere you don't do any harm hunting it again. Scenario #2, you didn't hurt it and they are using it. If you hunt it again you might get a shot. The only guarantee is that if you don't hunt that spot you won't kill a deer there.

My guess is that if it is a hard funnel in the terrain, they are still using it but may have shifted when they are using it. When you hunted it, do you know deer were downwind from them blowing or did you just assume deer were in the thicket and smelled you. My feeling, and I may be wrong on this, is that airborne scent lasts a very short time, like a stream of smoke in the air. I think it moves off just a quickly as it arrives and if they aren't actually there to smell it then they missed it. Contact scent, like from touching something lasts a lot longer, in my oinion.

^this is good advice. I hunt public so I have no way of really knowing if someone else is pressuring my spots when Im not there, but I try to only hunt a spot once every 7-10 days. This has proven to be the average time it takes deer in my area to get back on the same pattern they were before I stunk the place up. They almost always still use it but do so more after dark. That said, there have been times where ive hunted the same area 3 days in a row cuz I had a gut feel I could keep adjusting enough to get a shot. And that has been successful too, but really only during the rut.

 

[ThePennsylvanian]

I've found a couple rut travel/funnel/terrain corridor areas via scouting and confirmed with cameras, that I'm pretty confident if you sat a week straight, you would get a crack at a good buck cycling through as long as you can keep the entries and exits clean. I haven't put my money where my mouth is and tried that because there wouldn't be much action in general in those areas and I think I'd want to gouge my eyeballs out after about three days of it.

On the flipside, there's a lot of bedding areas that I hunt that I consider to be about one and done for the season, or maybe two or three hunts at best.

True in this scenario, you have understanding of what the deer should do, and in you neck of the woods this tactic is a common one. Big woods hunting is a super game of patience!
And truth be told I don't know the type of habitat the OP is dealing with. All I can say is I apply the logic of don't pass up sign to find sign, but I guess it would if I hunted a stand that was hot, I'm not gonna hunt another stand hoping it was hot too, but alot of factors play into this too. For me to continue hunting a hot stand the conditions have to stay relatively the same, i.e. wind direction, entry and exit track availability temps, or change temp, food sources and so on.