high seat siting advice

Mungo

Well-Known Member
I'd be very grateful for any input on this:

I am about to put up my first high seat. It will be in a dense, entirely unmanaged wood of about 5 acres (mostly old, neglected conifer plantation, with a few tangles of broadleaf). It is heavily used by roe, but impossible to move around in without making noise (no paths or rides - just deer tracks, which by this time of year have become too overgrown to move along quietly).

I've found a couple good spots where multiple deer tracks converge, and these seem like sensible places to put up a seat. However, having done a bit of exploration, it's impossible to find a spot more than 35m away from any of them that still has a clear shot of the intersection (wood is that dense).

My question: is this far enough? It seems extremely close - almost as if I'd be sitting on top of them, and therefore somehow likely to deter them.
 
I have shot Roe from a high seat at distances from 15 yards to 100 or so.
Get them up and see. If they are in the wrong place then move them.
I used a pruning saw taped to my shooting stick to cut down overhanging branches, it gives that bit of extension you need.
 
It wont matter how close as long as you can get a shot at them ,two weeks ago i was in a box and a buck walked past and just rubbed up against the box they soon get used to them being part of the furniture, just make sure you make a clear path to the seat so you make as little noise as possible getting to it atb wayne
 
I put up a cracking High seat/hide earlier this year with 350 yard half moon coverage for the Red season,shot my first Deer from it a Roe Buck at 35 yards!!!......
 
You'd be better off siting it away from the wood and wait until they emerge if possible! Do you not have access to the surrounding land?
If not, you need to think about being able to get into the seat quietly and prevailing wind, ie position seat in NW corner pointing SW back into wood. You don't necessarily need to cut rides to walk through, but maybe cut visual shoot lanes so that you can see the deer on existing tracks, especially crossings where you will likely see more. A 'pheasant' feeder may help to concentrate activity into a certain area!;)
MS
 
MS is Bang on a 5 acre wood will see as much activity out side as it dose in side. Look for a place were there is little disturbance from stock and place about 4 mtr from a corner so you can look down to sides if possible this will give you good view and a clear shot.
 
Thanks folks.

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure this out. The layout of the land and the borders of the permission mean that it really has to be inside the wood.

Three sides border land I don't have permission on. The remaining corner that is on 'my' land is in a deep gully, and extends into a narrow (25m wide) strip of exceptionally dense conifer plantation along a small burn. The deer use this as a real highway into and out of the wood, and one of the spots I'd identified as a good place for the seat is inside the wood where the tracks converge to go into this strip.

The field adjacent to the wood almost always has cows in it, and I've never seen a deer actually in that field.
 
Sounds to me like you have already identified a good 'choke point'. All you need is to position a seat downwind of it and be in it at the right time! Trail cam can be used to highlight the best time. Feeder could be placed to delay animals on route for a shot. Minor clearance required maybe to give a clear shot? Getting into the seat without being noticed may be your biggest challenge. Good luck!
MS
 
Sounds to me like you have already identified a good 'choke point'. MS

I think so! As I say, my main concern is that the seat would be too close to said choke point.

Fortunately, it is also one of the few parts of the wood that is relatively easy to get into and to move through without making too much noise.

I'll put it up and see what happens. My patience is minimal at best, so this will be a bit of a test!
 
If you are 'real' close, it may pay to drape a bit of screen/cammo netting around the seat to conceal your movement. I don't think you can be too close though. I've shot several deer actually under high seats or had to stand up as the angle down was so steep!
MS
 
I think if you explain your issues to the landowner, and assuming the landowner wants the deer controlled, than you are very likely to get permission to do some strimming, clear some overhanging branches that are in your field of view, and remove any shrub that is not hardwood.
 
Plenty of room, but try not to fart, burp, wear deodorant, or move so quickly that your clothes rustle - some smells drift down - they're unlikely to see you up high at that distance but the will smell and/or hear you! :) good luck
 
I don't think you can be too close though. I've shot several deer actually under high seats or had to stand up as the angle down was so steep!
MS

This happened to me this morning ; make a mental note to yourself to remember if you stabilised the legs of your high seat by embedding a paving slab in the ground beneath ! S
 
Back
Top