I agree about sitting right on top of the food plot. I learned real quick that I need to be sitting off away from it and catch them leaving the plot. Hard lesson but I’ll be ready this year
Since I been watching hunting videos the last 25yr s they all hunt on field edges, and I never hunt field edges, lol kinda funny! I knew better for yrs that bucks just won't step out til dark in the high pressure areas I always hunted. It took me a long time but I finally figured out, those guys are on giant tracts with zero pressure, but like whs says they don't tell you that! They run a 5 minute sponsored list and then show a easy kill shot and say the product killed the deer, I fell for all the gimmicks over the yrs ( rub line slime! Lol) I finally just quit buying all the crap, I buy seed and feed and fertilize now, oh and trail cams and SP's and batteries! Jeff stergous for the win again! My main main!😂😂😂
I've been hunting since 1978. I started out hunting on the ground, then moved to elevated stands. Now I'm back hunting on the ground. It's a challenge to do, either, especially when hunting pressure ruins you plans. Having a plan B is the best advice Jeff has brought up.
You’re the man Jeff! Been listening to your advice for two years now. When I started I knew nothing! Since then, I’ve implemented as many improvements as I can and have gone from 1 stand set up to now have 7 different setups this year! Can’t wait to see if it produces better results this year! Hoping for the best!
Your keen eye for detail and practical advice in assessing and improving deer stands is truly invaluable. It’s clear that your experience and insights come from a deep understanding of what makes a successful setup. Your ability to point out the key flaws and offer practical solutions reflects not only your expertise but also your commitment to helping others enhance their hunting experiences. And I am Floating Village Life.
Great video Jeff. I hope all is well. I turned 70 this year....been switching to the FT ladders this year. So much easier for these old bones to get in and out of...they are great!
I learn something every video and I appreciate the time and effort you put into them. Hunting a new piece of land this year and have tried to apply every bit of learned knowledge I can
I have food plots, but I typically hunt the entrance and egress points of the plots. I’ve found they’ll hang up inside the wood line in the transition zones alot of times and mill around until they’ve walked to both edges of the wind to check to see if there’s anything in the plot. They’ll also change up their routine every once in a while due to extended browsing or other external pressure, it’ll either delay or cause them to show up early. Majority of the time it’s always later than when they normally move through or they may not move through at all. All because something changed up their routine, being farther back sometimes in those transition zones increases opportunities
Jeff I still love these vids.you always keep me thinking on what really matters from a to z with our whitetails.thanks a bunch and keep them coming.thanks and good luck to everyone
The right tree that is very comfortable concealing and safe is where its at ! Over the years I've been in too many crooked, leaning, half dead, so small that if you move the entire tree shakes kind of trees. Always regretted putting stand up even if it was dynamite spot
I have so many different set ups. One in particular I shot two nice bucks (for my area both 9’s) and I was close close to both. Second one went behind the stand. One another stand I’m within 28-30 yards of the waterhole. I get lucky occasionally. Most interesting set up to date was a spur of the moment set up behind a big autumn olive getting just high enough off the ground to shoot over top of it while having most of myself hidden in the bush. I was maybe 6-8 ft up, mainly because I had forgotten my strap. Walked out with a nice 8 who knew something was up just couldn’t find me. Lol. I’ve sat everywhere from ground blind to 30 ft up. Creativity has lead me many places with success when I add your teachings to it
Man I needed this one! Be busy with life and work and haven’t had a chance to do much in the woods this spring/summer did get the food plot installed after the heat dome killed the first one and it’s highly populated. I got mineral block out also. Buy scouting has been lacks found a monster for my area last Sunday. Gotta figure out somehow where he goes once season starts. This is very resetting for me right now
I still prefer to hunt on the ground. No cover close to multiple trails. Ideally i have a tree to lean on and 2 or 3 in front for being able to setup for the shot. My second go to is 3-5 rows back in a cornfield... On a stool... Overlooking a turn row, tile strip, or another travel corridor in the field not the field edge.
I’ve been in the bad access category for a while on one property, there’s so many deer on it that no matter which way you come from you’re busting them (80 acres property) and all the surrounding properties are hunters as well and not the friendly kind. I’ve been successful a few times there but I’ve never got a chance on the few absolute monsters I have on camera
Lot of great tips. I was just wondering ive spooked deer before in or around bedding in the morning. What do you do about that. The beeding was a good ways from food
That depends...I'm only hunting bedding during the pre rut thru rut and into opening day of gun. Maybe the 2nd day. And then the 2nd rut too. Then I don't worry about it too much. As long as the food source is protected and not spooked...the bedding area is less critical for sure
Jeff sprayed my small plots July 27th in Oklahoma mainly ragweed, broom weed, etc.. getting a good kill, would seeding straight into the standing dead weeds work? Or do I need to till and spray once more?
Hi Hayden! So hard to say...for example do any of it already go to seed that you have to wait to germinate? Is there soil exposed so seed can get into the soil? If you aren't concerned about future weed growth and your seed can work onto the soil with plenty of sunlight to germinate it, then it should be ok 😊
Hi Jeff, I recently purchased two bags of seed from you radish and big boost brassica. Do you recommend running over the seed with side-by-side or a drag to cover it or just placing the seed directly on the soil and letting it be?
They are both very high quality! This will be my 6th season using First Lite and then I used Sitka for 4 seasons. I liked the company, quiet fabric, camo, layers and windproofing but then this year with the changes they made I have been blown away. I also like that a few of us have been able to test the gear and they actually listen to our recommendations for improvements. I have worn Sitka for years so it's tough to say...but man, the First Lite gear has been incredible and it is very hard to imagine anything better! Comparing what I wore from 2016-2019 there is no comparison First Lite is better in many ways. Again I don't know what changes have been made since then tho...
Man the more I watch the more discouraged I become and the more I wonder how the hell I’ve even filled my last few tags. I realize I don’t know much about trails, have a hard time figuring out the best ways to get in and out of spots or even where to put my spots and why. Feels like I’ve become spooked by saturation. I’ve been given so much incomplete, or at least non- specific to my situation, information that I simply cannot fully comprehend. Have my kills just been pure dumb luck?
No they are t just dumb luck. A lot of this is way over thinking it. If you are chasing a specific mature animal and you only ever plan to harvest that single deer maybe get that crazy about it. But in order to hunt you should enjoy it and not get discouraged, pay attention to the wind and try to not make a bunch of noise. All kinds of animals walk around in the dark the deer don’t know that’s a human. Use minimal light to walk in the woods
Do what works bud. Get out and try. Pay attention to whats going on when you hunt, and use that to inform your hunts later. Over time, you'll start nailing em a lot more consistently. Dont think about it too much.
If you have filled your tags then you are already ahead of the curve brother. I am sure you scouted, found sign and decided where to hunt, if you didn’t do that then I’d say you are pretty lucky but I’m sure that’s not the case. All this other info is just another tool to put in your tool bag. Keep doing what you’re doing.
It all depends where you hunt, I hunt in a area that’s all boreal forest and in the great Canadian Shield, most videos are irrelevant to my type of hunting, each season I prove to myself over and over again, deer act differently everywhere in the world, snow fall after snowfall, the trails change ( snow melts comes again ) the deer don’t have any beat down trials here and they literally just randomly walk around, there are no field destinations for them, odd patch of hard wood that’s good but even then they are all over the place
Definitely if the access is good, your downwind is covered and you aren't spooking out a bedding area in the aft noon in the way in or a food source on the way in during the morning
Hi Rob! Those are incredible stands...the hang-ons too! American made in MI and they have been around for 27 years. USA steel as well... You can call Jack (the owner) at Family Tradition Treestand - 5175433925 or their site at: www.familytraditiontreestands.com/treestands-accessories/ladderstands/
The dates on you TrailCam photos are just a couple days ago. When did you plant those Brassica? No crushing BW and planting in these plots ? I am just crushing BW here in NY now
Nice...good catch!! We rolled all of our buckwheat on 7/20 and 7/21...also spraying at the same time. We then seeded on the 30th and 31st...into the that h of the brown, shriveled up and dead buckwheat. Depending on the weeds I hit with 2 quarts per acre of Glyphosate, and smash it down at the same time. If the buckwheat is a lower height like waist high or less you can seed into, smash and spray. If there are stubborn broadleafs like pig weed, smart weed, water hemp, for example, I combine 2 quarts of Glyphosate with 1 pint of 2-4D, smash and spray...and then I wait 7-10 days and THEN seed. If the buckwheat is chest high I smash, spray and wait 7-10 days to plant. The type of weeds determine if I spray 2-4D or not. I hope that helps! We received great germinating rains last night which was perfect.
I wish you got to choose your sponsors 🤷🏻♂️ I can say tho...the ads that appear individually target a viewer's patterns. Which doesn't make sense sometimes
The only person who would say that, is a person ignorant of food plots. Absolutely hardest to hunt and much harder than a big woods, public land hunter could ever imagine, with no room for mistakes. Make 1 mistake and you ruin your land. One of the hardest things to do in hiring is to keep your food plots in daylight use...which less than 5% of all hunters with food plots can establish. But you wouldn't understand that...if you have zero experience nice with food plots and are a poor hunter. Like some...
I agree about sitting right on top of the food plot. I learned real quick that I need to be sitting off away from it and catch them leaving the plot. Hard lesson but I’ll be ready this year
It's such a hard lesson Adam. It doesn't help that nearly every TV hunter hunts almost exclusively on food plots!
Since I been watching hunting videos the last 25yr s they all hunt on field edges, and I never hunt field edges, lol kinda funny! I knew better for yrs that bucks just won't step out til dark in the high pressure areas I always hunted. It took me a long time but I finally figured out, those guys are on giant tracts with zero pressure, but like whs says they don't tell you that! They run a 5 minute sponsored list and then show a easy kill shot and say the product killed the deer, I fell for all the gimmicks over the yrs ( rub line slime! Lol) I finally just quit buying all the crap, I buy seed and feed and fertilize now, oh and trail cams and SP's and batteries! Jeff stergous for the win again! My main main!😂😂😂
@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 that stand in the beginning looks like a family traditions tree stand they are the best stands ever made
@@troybrake5686
Truly the best whitetail habitat and behavior channel on UA-cam. No frills or gimmicks all knowledge
I really appreciate that! Keeps me fired up to keep creating content! Thank you ...
I've been hunting since 1978. I started out hunting on the ground, then moved to elevated stands. Now I'm back hunting on the ground. It's a challenge to do, either, especially when hunting pressure ruins you plans. Having a plan B is the best advice Jeff has brought up.
You’re the man Jeff! Been listening to your advice for two years now. When I started I knew nothing! Since then, I’ve implemented as many improvements as I can and have gone from 1 stand set up to now have 7 different setups this year! Can’t wait to see if it produces better results this year! Hoping for the best!
Your keen eye for detail and practical advice in assessing and improving deer stands is truly invaluable. It’s clear that your experience and insights come from a deep understanding of what makes a successful setup. Your ability to point out the key flaws and offer practical solutions reflects not only your expertise but also your commitment to helping others enhance their hunting experiences. And I am Floating Village Life.
Great video Jeff. I hope all is well. I turned 70 this year....been switching to the FT ladders this year. So much easier for these old bones to get in and out of...they are great!
Man Bill they are awesome! And 70!! But still working hard in the woods... hopefully not by yourself as much my friend 😊
Great videos, they always remind me of why I enjoy rifle season. Never once come across a deer that checked the trees 100-150yds away.
I learn something every video and I appreciate the time and effort you put into them. Hunting a new piece of land this year and have tried to apply every bit of learned knowledge I can
I have food plots, but I typically hunt the entrance and egress points of the plots. I’ve found they’ll hang up inside the wood line in the transition zones alot of times and mill around until they’ve walked to both edges of the wind to check to see if there’s anything in the plot. They’ll also change up their routine every once in a while due to extended browsing or other external pressure, it’ll either delay or cause them to show up early. Majority of the time it’s always later than when they normally move through or they may not move through at all. All because something changed up their routine, being farther back sometimes in those transition zones increases opportunities
Jeff I still love these vids.you always keep me thinking on what really matters from a to z with our whitetails.thanks a bunch and keep them coming.thanks and good luck to everyone
The right tree that is very comfortable concealing and safe is where its at ! Over the years I've been in too many crooked, leaning, half dead, so small that if you move the entire tree shakes kind of trees. Always regretted putting stand up even if it was dynamite spot
First food plots going in this year! Older kids got into it as well. Stand location is tough for me, appreciate the video
Man that's great you can have the fun with the kids!! Good luck this season!
Jeff started spitting poetry at the end!
I'm a poet and I don't know it? 🤷🏻♂️😁
The BEST thing to do is buy 1000 acres, and not let anybody else hunt there. :•\
100% this. Be rich and be able to hunt whenever you want.
I have so many different set ups. One in particular I shot two nice bucks (for my area both 9’s) and I was close close to both. Second one went behind the stand.
One another stand I’m within 28-30 yards of the waterhole. I get lucky occasionally.
Most interesting set up to date was a spur of the moment set up behind a big autumn olive getting just high enough off the ground to shoot over top of it while having most of myself hidden in the bush. I was maybe 6-8 ft up, mainly because I had forgotten my strap.
Walked out with a nice 8 who knew something was up just couldn’t find me. Lol. I’ve sat everywhere from ground blind to 30 ft up. Creativity has lead me many places with success when I add your teachings to it
Man I needed this one! Be busy with life and work and haven’t had a chance to do much in the woods this spring/summer did get the food plot installed after the heat dome killed the first one and it’s highly populated.
I got mineral block out also. Buy scouting has been lacks found a monster for my area last Sunday. Gotta figure out somehow where he goes once season starts.
This is very resetting for me right now
I always enjoy your practical information! Thanks for all the great content you put out.
Thank you very much for watching the videos, I really appreciate it!
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751
My pleasure! 🇺🇲👍😎
Such a great video! simple and to the point!
Great video title, lol. I have had some sucky stand locations before, continually learning.
Haha, me too! Hopefully folks can learn from my own mistakes 😁
Great advice Jeff!!! Gonna try to implement these tips in your old stomping grounds (Pontiac lake recreation area).
Thanks Jeff for another great video.
You are welcome Jerry...thanks for watching so many of them!
Just saw this. Fantastic title
Ha, thanks a lot Travis!
First….to congratulate the quicker post!
Oh so close, Kurt!
Definitely made me rethink 2 of mine that i will reposition right away.Thanks Jeff!
Well thanks Tex...now YOU make me question a couple 😊 Appreciate you and your experience too!
I like to hear all your knowledge 😊
Thanks Ken I really appreciate you watching!
I still prefer to hunt on the ground. No cover close to multiple trails. Ideally i have a tree to lean on and 2 or 3 in front for being able to setup for the shot.
My second go to is 3-5 rows back in a cornfield... On a stool... Overlooking a turn row, tile strip, or another travel corridor in the field not the field edge.
Getting ready for 2025 season i cant wait
Hunt the rain, snow, wind this afternoon, or wait until morning? My season over after Friday.
Good information on stand access and tree selection! How many stands/blinds is the Sturgis farm up to?!
Hi Alex, thank you! Boy that's actually a tough question. Roughly 20 stands and 10 blinds. Just enough 😁
@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 good problem to have! Do you look to relocate a stand if it hasn't been used in a few seasons?
I’ve been in the bad access category for a while on one property, there’s so many deer on it that no matter which way you come from you’re busting them (80 acres property) and all the surrounding properties are hunters as well and not the friendly kind. I’ve been successful a few times there but I’ve never got a chance on the few absolute monsters I have on camera
Can you do any sort of mods to the property
Lot of great tips. I was just wondering ive spooked deer before in or around bedding in the morning. What do you do about that. The beeding was a good ways from food
That depends...I'm only hunting bedding during the pre rut thru rut and into opening day of gun. Maybe the 2nd day. And then the 2nd rut too. Then I don't worry about it too much. As long as the food source is protected and not spooked...the bedding area is less critical for sure
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 i pretty much do the same. Hunt around bedding during the rut. Usaully around the end of october i will start
Jeff sprayed my small plots July 27th in Oklahoma mainly ragweed, broom weed, etc.. getting a good kill, would seeding straight into the standing dead weeds work? Or do I need to till and spray once more?
Hi Hayden! So hard to say...for example do any of it already go to seed that you have to wait to germinate? Is there soil exposed so seed can get into the soil? If you aren't concerned about future weed growth and your seed can work onto the soil with plenty of sunlight to germinate it, then it should be ok 😊
I guess a lot of what was in the video could be translated to ground blinds aswell? Just got a tidwe blind and I’m eager to get to using it this fall
Most definitely...and it's just so critical to hide your blind!
Love these tips!
Thanks a lot Adam!
Best on You Tube for sure..
For my morning hunts I use a thermal scanner by rix to make sure I don't spook any deer
rookie here - its all about your walk-in, wind direction, cover
Thanks for the knowledge
How do you access the stand if it's surrounded by buck bedding ? Are you coming in through the trail or through the wooded area?
Thanks Jeff
Hey Jeff, Where did you get your bow holder on the front of your E bike?
Do you ever walk over deer runways getting to tree stands being that your access in threw the woods ?
Hi Jeff, I recently purchased two bags of seed from you radish and big boost brassica. Do you recommend running over the seed with side-by-side or a drag to cover it or just placing the seed directly on the soil and letting it be?
Let the dirt tell you what she wants.
How well do you like the first lite compared to Sitka? I hate the Sitka pattern but it is very warm
They are both very high quality! This will be my 6th season using First Lite and then I used Sitka for 4 seasons.
I liked the company, quiet fabric, camo, layers and windproofing but then this year with the changes they made I have been blown away. I also like that a few of us have been able to test the gear and they actually listen to our recommendations for improvements. I have worn Sitka for years so it's tough to say...but man, the First Lite gear has been incredible and it is very hard to imagine anything better! Comparing what I wore from 2016-2019 there is no comparison First Lite is better in many ways. Again I don't know what changes have been made since then tho...
Man the more I watch the more discouraged I become and the more I wonder how the hell I’ve even filled my last few tags. I realize I don’t know much about trails, have a hard time figuring out the best ways to get in and out of spots or even where to put my spots and why. Feels like I’ve become spooked by saturation. I’ve been given so much incomplete, or at least non- specific to my situation, information that I simply cannot fully comprehend. Have my kills just been pure dumb luck?
No they are t just dumb luck. A lot of this is way over thinking it. If you are chasing a specific mature animal and you only ever plan to harvest that single deer maybe get that crazy about it. But in order to hunt you should enjoy it and not get discouraged, pay attention to the wind and try to not make a bunch of noise. All kinds of animals walk around in the dark the deer don’t know that’s a human. Use minimal light to walk in the woods
Do what works bud. Get out and try. Pay attention to whats going on when you hunt, and use that to inform your hunts later. Over time, you'll start nailing em a lot more consistently. Dont think about it too much.
If you have filled your tags then you are already ahead of the curve brother. I am sure you scouted, found sign and decided where to hunt, if you didn’t do that then I’d say you are pretty lucky but I’m sure that’s not the case. All this other info is just another tool to put in your tool bag. Keep doing what you’re doing.
It all depends where you hunt, I hunt in a area that’s all boreal forest and in the great Canadian Shield, most videos are irrelevant to my type of hunting, each season I prove to myself over and over again, deer act differently everywhere in the world, snow fall after snowfall, the trails change ( snow melts comes again ) the deer don’t have any beat down trials here and they literally just randomly walk around, there are no field destinations for them, odd patch of hard wood that’s good but even then they are all over the place
Jeff any tips to keep turkeys out of the food plots
Ive ditch the stands and went to the saddle
Top three hunting teachers I’ve had in my life
1. My dad
2. My mistakes
3. Jeff
The thing is, every square foot of the wild is potential food or bedding. So good luck not entering the woods through any of it
Can I within reason safely put my lockon above major trail?
Definitely if the access is good, your downwind is covered and you aren't spooking out a bedding area in the aft noon in the way in or a food source on the way in during the morning
I stay out all day sometimes. Up in tree.
What kind of ladder stand is that
Hi Rob! Those are incredible stands...the hang-ons too! American made in MI and they have been around for 27 years. USA steel as well...
You can call Jack (the owner) at Family Tradition Treestand - 5175433925 or their site at: www.familytraditiontreestands.com/treestands-accessories/ladderstands/
It’s called hunting and not killing. 😉
😁🦌
Morning Connor!! Thanks 😁
The dates on you TrailCam photos are just a couple days ago. When did you plant those Brassica? No crushing BW and planting in these plots ? I am just crushing BW here in NY now
Nice...good catch!! We rolled all of our buckwheat on 7/20 and 7/21...also spraying at the same time. We then seeded on the 30th and 31st...into the that h of the brown, shriveled up and dead buckwheat.
Depending on the weeds I hit with 2 quarts per acre of Glyphosate, and smash it down at the same time. If the buckwheat is a lower height like waist high or less you can seed into, smash and spray. If there are stubborn broadleafs like pig weed, smart weed, water hemp, for example, I combine 2 quarts of Glyphosate with 1 pint of 2-4D, smash and spray...and then I wait 7-10 days and THEN seed.
If the buckwheat is chest high I smash, spray and wait 7-10 days to plant. The type of weeds determine if I spray 2-4D or not.
I hope that helps! We received great germinating rains last night which was perfect.
Bucks, bucks, bucks. Is there a channel that doesn’t talk about trophy/buck hunting? I’m a meat hunter not a trophy hunter.
Dude just be speaking riddles
Just have a buddy listen and explain 😊
A sponsored appears on this video,Kamala Harris,are you kidding.
I wish you got to choose your sponsors 🤷🏻♂️ I can say tho...the ads that appear individually target a viewer's patterns. Which doesn't make sense sometimes
Her face is everywhere yet Trump is not represented. Obvious favoritism from all media.
@@jamesgarner8188 She’s got to spend all that money! Plus no court costs to pay for.
At least it's not for a senate race you can't vote in. 😂
Number 1 you don’t see deer
Hunting a farm deer , not big deal, food plots are for a city hunter, who doesn't know woods, sad
The only person who would say that, is a person ignorant of food plots. Absolutely hardest to hunt and much harder than a big woods, public land hunter could ever imagine, with no room for mistakes. Make 1 mistake and you ruin your land. One of the hardest things to do in hiring is to keep your food plots in daylight use...which less than 5% of all hunters with food plots can establish. But you wouldn't understand that...if you have zero experience nice with food plots and are a poor hunter. Like some...