7 Tips for Stand Hunters to Put Into Practice This Fall

If you’re gearing up for an early season stand hunt, there are some things you should be prepared for before opening day. Here are 7 good ones to keep in mind. 

Practice Before the Season Opener

This one is especially useful if you are a bowhunter, since bowhunters take close shots and inches matter, and small errors in anchor point or sight adjustments can turn what would be an ethical shot into something far worse. 

Take your bow to the range before opening day and shoot, and shoot more than once. A few small groups are not enough. Shoot until you can shrink small groups consistently at 10, 15 and even 20 yards. 

Being prepared will pay dividends when a buck walks underneath your stand and you’re actually ready for him. 

Cover Your Face and Hands

This is actually more important for duck and turkey hunters, but all the same, your bare skin on your face and hands can give you away, especially in bright sunlight. 

You can use commercial face paint to obscure the “shiny” nature of your skin, or you can just bring along a cork and a lighter, char it, and use that to cover up your skin. 

A few streaks does it. All you need to do is break up your outline and make your skin less reflective. 

Get Out There Before the Sun Rises 

This one is one you don’t actually have to follow, but it’s way better if you do. If you get up while the woods are still dark and get out to your stand before first light, chances are you’ll be out while the deer are still bedding so they won’t bust you because they saw or heard you. 

It also will give the woods time to go back to being quiet because that takes a little while after you disturb everything. Hopefully, by the time the sun comes up, it will be as if you were never even there. 

Also, it will give whatever scent you lay down just a little bit of time to disperse before the deer start to move, which can potentially give you a slight edge in the field. 

Make Sure Your Camo Shirt, Pants, Pack and Other Gear Are Aligned

While you don’t necessarily need to match your camo patterns perfectly, it’s a good idea to ensure that the macros and micros of the patterns you use across your camo shirt, pants and pack are all compatible. Some patterns work well with others and others do not. 

Also, the general color scheme is likely as important if not more important than that the patterns align. For instance, you don’t necessarily want to mate pants with a mostly green pattern to a camo shirt with a mostly brown pattern.

Match your backdrop and make sure that most of your gear is roughly aligned. Deer don’t have the same eyesight as predators or birds, but you still don’t want to give them any advantage that you don’t have to.

But Don’t Overthink Camouflage Too Much

With that being said, don’t put too much time and effort into making sure all of your camouflage is exactly the same. It’s just not necessary, and remember, the old timers were out here in flannel, denim and buckskin shooting deer just the same. There are other things that matter more than camouflage, as important as it can be. 

Be Still

This is actually probably the most important single piece of information in this post. While camouflage and scent control can be important, nothing is going to bust you faster than movement, and you don’t need to move a lot. Even just moving your eyes can give you away. When a deer comes within sight of you, stay as still as possible until you are ready to release the string; and keep your draw hidden, too. 

Be Quiet

Just like movement can bust you, so can noise. It’s nearly as important to be quiet as it is to be still. Don’t move, and don’t make noise, and be quiet even if you aren’t sure of deer in the vicinity because if they hear you before they see you, you won’t get a chance to see them.

Mind the Wind 

Lastly, find the direction from which you expect the deer to approach your stand, and make sure you set up downwind of that. Sometimes deer can still scent you when they’re upwind, but you’re not doing yourself a favor if you don’t play the wind to your advantage.

Here for a New Camo Shirt or Gear? 

Hopefully you found these tips actionable, but for our part, if you’re here for a new camo shirt or pack, or even a jacket or some hunting pants, we have you covered. Shop our collection and if you have any questions about what we sell, get in touch with us directly.