It’s that time of year when bow hunters will begin to set up treestands, with less than a month until the Pennsylvania archery season begins.

I used to really enjoy hanging stands during those couple weeks prior to archery season. However, to be honest, very few of them ever produced.

I’m a firm believer in mobile stand hunting. Mobile stands are the types that don’t have to be pre-set and are very light and compact. These stands are easy and quick to set up, which allows the hunter to set up and take down their stand each time they go hunting.

Over the years, I’ve learned that mature bucks have a sense to circle around pre-set stands, especially ladder stands. When I started guiding, for several seasons I would put up ladder stands for my clients and most of them would see mature bucks, but very few would ever come into bow range. When I switched to making my clients use mobile stands, we started to harvest more mature bucks.

Mature bucks are extremely cautious and aware of their environment. Any new, uncertain changes within their home range can cause them to change their patterns and alter their travel routes. If a buck notices a freshly placed ladder stand in his core area, there’s a good chance he will start circling a wide distance around it each time he passes through that area.

Other pre-set stands like lock-ons tend to be better for eluding bucks but they still have some negative impacts compared to mobile setups. One of the problems hunters face with pre-set lock-ons is that after hunting the location multiple times, deer start to pick up on your activity from that general location by smelling consistent human scent in the area. This can also alter their patterns as well.

The key is to have the ability to go into fresh, non-pressured areas and set up and take down while hunting. If you plan to hunt that same area more than once, it is best to move to a new tree each time you hunt that location. When deer alter their travel routes around tree stands, it’s most often just enough of a distance where they aren’t picking up as much of your scent. Often deer will circle stand locations only 50 to 75 yards out, yet still out of ethical bow range.

Throughout my bow hunting career, I mainly used climbing stands. Climbing stands are very comfortable. I also felt much safer in the sit-and-climb stands due to the safety rail that was built around the upper section. Nevertheless, I must say climbing stands do not rank at the top of the list for mobile hunters. In today’s age, the most popular mobile setups are saddles and lightweight hang-ons with climbing sticks. Some of these set-ups weigh well under 10 pounds versus most climbing stands that weigh 18 to 30 pounds.

Most of my success over the years archery hunting has been on the first and second times of hunting a particular location. Usually if I killed a buck on the second sit, it was the day right after I hunted the location. Some of this was based on hunting fresh areas as well as being an aggressive, mobile hunter, moving around more to find what I consider “hot spots.” In the deer woods, things are constantly changing. You can hunt a stand one day and see all kinds of deer and the rest of the season that location might never produce, especially in bigger woods. This is why mobile stand hunting can be so effective.

I must say, my beliefs on the effectiveness of mobile stand hunting are mainly based toward archery hunting. Hunting out of fixed or permanent stands while gun hunting can still be a great tactic due to long range shooting. With a gun, you are still able to reach out to those deer that are circling your stand locations.

For comfort and safety, a lot of hunters will only use ladder-style stands. Mobile setups also require a lot more physical challenges for older class hunters. They require much more strength and effort to set up. Hunters should always examine and understand their physical abilities and comfort levels before hunting out of tree stands. If you only feel comfortable hunting out of a permanent ladder stand, then stick to that. Nevertheless, I still believe mobile stand hunting is the ultimate way to stand hunt whether you are a gun or a bow hunter.