The first steps to finding a proper location to place your tree stand or ground blind is to use the information contained in chapter four to learn how to recognize and then scout good deer habitat, then use the information contained in chapter five to learn to recognize the favorite types of foods that the deer populations in your area prefer and then, to use the information contained in chapter six to learn how to recognize and interpret deer sign. Then, once you have perfected these skills, finding a proper stand location consists of locating their bedding areas and their favored food sources along with the most frequently used trails that they use to travel from one location to the other and then set up along one of those trails.

However, although this may sound like a simple process, deer habitat often covers a large range and thus, simply walking out into the wood and looking around for a bit is not a productive use of your available time. Therefore, in order to locate Whitetail Deer in unfamiliar territory, you first needed to understand deer habitat. So, with that in mind, it is helpful to imagine yourself as a deer and then to be aware that there are only four things on a deer’s mind at any given time which consist of finding a readily available food source, finding a safe place to sleep, avoiding predators, and finding a suitable mate during the breeding season.

But, why start with bedding areas instead of food sources you might wonder and, the answer to that question is because suitable bedding habitat is the more scarce of the two resources in any given habitat. Therefore, because a prime bedding area is prime real estate, the deer will return there over and over again at the end of each day. In addition, it should be noted that mature bucks spend more time in their bedding area than any other location because dense cover provides shelter from both hunters and natural predators. Also, prime bedding areas are usually far more clearly defined than food sources and thus, first locating bedding areas helps you to narrow down the deer's location. So, what constitutes a prime bedding area? Well, the answer to that question is thick cover and I do mean thick! In fact, all deer, and especially mature Whitetail bucks, require security in their choice of bedding areas so that they can sleep soundly without feeling threatened by predators. Thus, they specifically look for areas of thick cover where they feel safe.

Then, after you have located and identified one or more bedding areas, your next step is to locate and identify the feeding areas. However, in order to accomplish this, you first need to understand what deer like to eat which is covered in chapter five. Therefore, if you know the location of all of the food sources in the area you intend to hunt in relation to the position of the bedding areas, then you can extrapolate the likely routes of travel to and from the bedding and feeding areas by taking into account the terrain, the location, and type of cover available in the area.

Therefore, the best strategy for getting a shot at a trophy buck is to find both his bedding and feeding areas in places where you also find rubs and scrapes along frequently used trails and then, set up near the bedding area on one of the trails leading to a feeding area. However, many avid Whitetail Deer hunters prefer to hunt overlooking favored food sources instead of watching the trails leading to these areas and this strategy is often successful as well especially in areas where agricultural crops such as corn or soybeans are grown since the deer will often enter fields containing these crops during the early morning and late evening hours. Also, because carbohydrates are exceptionally difficult to come by in Nature and are highly prized by most animals, mast crops such as White Oaks that are dropping acorns as well as wild grape and muscadine vines as well as apple, peach, pear, and persimmon trees are also prime locations to hunt for deer. In fact, may farmers will gladly grant you access to their orchards if you ask their permission to hunt there.