I arrowed this buck in 2006 on public property out of a tree that offered all the elements described in this story. He was one of nine bucks I saw that evening chasing a single, hot doe.

Easing into a spot I'd scouted months earlier, I crept toward the multi-trunked maple, ever cautious to avoid spooking deer I knew had to be close. At mid-November, the trees sported few leaves, but the maple's multiple trunks and many limbs would provide all the cover I needed.

It was a tricky tree to ascend that involved climbing sticks placed on three adjoining trunks that enabled me to reach a spot straight enough to strap on my Lone Wolf stand. Settling in, I surveyed my surroundings. I'd trimmed this tree in early spring, and things definitely looked different now.

What hadn't changed, however, was the impenetrable autumn olive thicket surrounded by scrub brush and tall grass that had drawn me to this spot in the first place. With a northwest wind finally here, my scent was blowing toward an area deer seldom used. With a strong front moving in and the temperature plummeting, I just knew this was going to be a great night.

At 4:30, I caught movement to my right. A doe was streaking into the thicket, followed by a procession of bucks. Over the next few minutes, no fewer than eight bucks followed the same trail the doe had taken. Straining to see into the dense cover, I caught movement off to my left and spied yet another buck headed my way. As the 8-point walked right under me, a larger buck materialized 20 yards away and turned to follow the smaller buck. Quickly coming to full draw, I swung ahead to my shooting lane…

Almost exclusively, I hunt public lands where hunting pressure has fine-tuned the resident whitetails' ability to pick off a gnat at 100 yards. When I first started hunting, the old Baker climbing stand had recently been introduced to the whitetail world, and deer seemed relatively easy to fool. Not so nowadays.

When you think of all the time you spend scouting, shooting, and shed hunting, shouldn't you take stand placement just as seriously? After all, even if you're the best archer in the world, you cannot kill a buck if deer pick you off before you can loose an arrow.

It took me many years of less-than-consistent success to learn how numerous variables fit together to produce a perfect stand site. Now, with many seasons under my belt, I weigh many critical factors before I ever commit to spending time in a particular tree. No longer do I hope to see deer and have them wander into bow range. I expect to see deer and have them within bow range on every hunt.

Does it always happen? No, but consistently I do have shot opportunities. The fact is, if I don't believe in a spot 100 percent, I won't hunt it. Below are the elements I employ to pick the perfect stand trees.

Location
No matter what pattern I am hoping to exploit, all my stands include some type of funnel, whether natural, like an interior edge or head of a draw; or manmade, like an old fencerow or inside corner. To find these funnels, I first study topographic maps and aerial photos. I then wear out boot leather before spring green-up, when the woods are like an open book, to confirm my suspicions. I also trim-up the "keeper" stands at this time.

During the season, if I'm running into too many hunters or the deer aren't moving according to my plan, I often hunt "fresh" stands I've pinpointed through remote map reconnaissance. Even when hunting a spot I've never set foot in, I still consider numerous variables before ever committing to a specific tree. Sometimes I'll stand there, treestand on back, for 10 minutes or more, scrutinizing every tree within a comfortable shooting distance of the terrain trap I'm keying in on before ever placing the first treestep.