I have seen the word "bottleneck" used in a lot of the responses. Bingo!

I love looking for a new spot....and whether it is big woods or farmland, it usually boils down to "why would the deer walk past here?" When the answer is because of a food source, or bedding area....that's fine, but now we are just in the general area.

Bottlenecks FORCE a deer to walk down a specific trail. That's what I am looking for.

Mine is at the top of a very deep, steep drainage that leads down the hill to a lake. The deer go around the drainage ditch and cross at the top, which happens to be only 30 yards inside the woods at the bottom of an open field. If they want to remain in cover they have to cross within that 30 yards, giving me nice 15 yard shots. (plenty of them break cover and walk right across the open field, but a grunt or weeze brings them in) I don't think I've ever sat there and never seen a deer if I've sat for over 4 hours. I've had some fantastic experiences there. One morning in early November I rattled in 6 different bucks. Wish I was there right now with my camera.

I hunt river bottoms ALOT. But not just anywhere, mostly........bottlenecks, specifically if s ridge is running close go the river is where I like to set up.  One such spot is only 50 dry yds wide, but the deer are force within 30 of the ridge due to the cane thicket.  In the morning I sit with my back to the ridge for rising thermals, in the evening I sit in a cutout of cane for the dropping thermals. BINGO!!!

But you ask for my MOST successfull.  It was only 100 yds in from the edge of the woods at the very end of a long abandoned fire road in the river bottoms. Nothing here except for  pine and cottonwoods ( odd combo huh).  At the end there is a drainage like "creek" that runs from the slough to I don't know where. BUT the drainage makes a snaky "S" shape here and there is an Autumn Olive bush right here and that's where I sit, I have been hunting this same spot since I was 8 (32 now) and I kill a deer there every year I get to make it.   It is aptly named "meat maker"

Bottlenecks FORCE a deer to walk down a specific trail. That's what I am looking for. [/QB][/QUOTE]

-This is the real deal here. seems like the word bottleneck could be used on about every post here. if you can find an area between point A and point B that the deer or any animal for that matter, HAS to walk down to get there and back, you're in business!

Gee... It's tough to say... Productive? For deer activity? For meat all season long? For a shot at a big buck?

Depends on where I am hunting as well....

Does will gravitate to food sources... Bucks seek solace and security most of the time... Except when things change as the rut begins!,!!

Down South, we hunt plated pines, river bottoms, crop lands,  and swamp bottoms....

Me, regardless of the terrain... I will seek out  the transition areas 50-100 yds from food sources most of the season for meat, uh hum does... Many times you may find bucks as well....

But as October progresses, I try to find the nasty out of the way places with cover that allow access to those areas I have been hunting for does... I find these areas, give security and access that the old bucks demand...  Usually they won't even let you know that are there until, they start rubbing and scraping!

But as the acorns drop, the deer change all their patterns as they seek out the best sweetest acorns in the woods!!!

The Wenslel brothers books are some of the most insightful books on picking stand sights, and I feel I learn more each time I retread them...

It ain't rocket science, but it ain't easy either!!!    :D      :D       :D

My stand behind my father's house has rewarded me with opening day deer the last two years. Many deer have been  seen or passed over. Lots of doe in this area. It is somewhat of a bottleneck, but quite a wide one. It's really where four bottlenecks come together so I guess it's really a hub.

x marks the stand location. Arrows are deer travels. It's only 12 acres where I can hunt. The Virginia pines seem to be the hub or crossroads. The stand is near the three way meeting of well worn deer trails.