Treesstand hunting mule deer

[HunterFisher]

I didn't want to hijack the original thread, so in this post: http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,9502.0.html Dick wrote:

Basics for Hunting on Foot
A versatile bowhunter must master the basics of hunting on foot. It is true that most archers perch in tree stands to ambush whitetail deer or black bear, or hunker in ground blinds near waterholes to waylay pronghorn antelope. However, the other 24 commonly hunted varieties of North American big game are almost always stalked or still-hunted at ground level. If you wish to be effective on mule deer, elk, caribou, moose, wild sheep, an most other archery animals, you absolutely have to sneak up on these critters.

So is this to imply that treestand hunting for mule deer is an ineffective method, simply not as effective as still hunting, or is this entirely subjective?  I purchased some property last year that has mule deer all over it and I planned to use a tree stand and a ground blind to hunt it.  I've only taken one mule deer and that was last year at 250 yards sitting on a hillside with a rifle.  This year it's a bow.

[WAcoueshunter]

I think it's accurate to say that treestands are not as effective as still hunting or spot/stalk for muleys.  Whities are more habitual and concentrated...they may come back to the same place every day at the same time.  Not so with muleys.  Maybe if you're sitting over a water hole or something that they need to come back to on a regular basis. 

[ICEMAN]

I could see using one when the migration push is in full swing. Some areas I know where you can sit and shoot on heavily used trails. But during a non-migration.....may not be as effective. 

[Machias]

I know some outfitters who routinely have clients kill muleys out of a treestand.  Those trails are made by animals using them over and over.  Now granted sage brush would be a bit hard,  but muleys leave heavy trails.  Also I have seen guys dig pit blinds along trails and watering holes for muleys and they have been quite effective.  I wouldn't completely discard treestands for muleys, just another tool for the right place and the right situation, IMO.

[DeKuma]

Thanks for the info.  Not really what I would consider a consensus, seems like the anwer here is: 'it depends'. 

I have 24 acres which is all treed except for a long, winding road and a meadow at the top that covers about five acres in a narrow path.  I have a trail that I have been scouting that is a well used travel route from the top and another that is actually an intersection of three trails near the bottom.  Both locations routinely produce many good images on the game cam.  I also sat at the trailer a week ago and from 7:30 to 8:30 am saw seven deer in transit. Since I don't have sage on my land, that's the other side of the hill from me, I bought a treestand this year hoping to catch something moving in or out of the top meadow. 

I have noticed that the movement of individual deer is erratic.  Earlier this year, the bucks that I was seeing were at the same location every 4-6 days.  Now they're there every 2-4 days.  Maybe I need to occupy the tree stand from daylight until 9:00 or so and then hit the trails?  I jump deer every time I walk the property, but I'm not trying to be very stealthy about it - yet.

I have the same issue on our 27 acres in the Huckleberry.  The whitetails are somewhat predictable, but the muleys seem to be erratic at best.  Then around late september, the bucks of both species disappear and the does hang around.  I have a few trails I thought of putting a stand and a cam on and see what happens.  Maybe this year.