When it comes to being cautious, I always try to go the extra mile to be sure that my activities don’t tip off the bucks being hunted. If you recall, I took the same odor-fighting precautions when going in to hang my stand as I always do for any hunt. Furthermore, because of my observations, I was able to go directly to the tree, hang my stand and head straight out without doing any unnecessary scouting. As tempting as it was to nose around and see all the buck sign in the area, I knew where the stand should be. I also knew that any further investigation might pollute the area.
In addition, I hung the stand during the late morning hours, giving time for calm to return to the area before the deer would return for their afternoon feeding. And even though I didn’t have to do any trimming in that situation, if I had I would have used a pruner instead of a saw. Deer may not be afraid of sawdust odors, but they are curious, and I don’t want those odors to draw them in to an area I’ve disturbed. And last but not least, knowing what I know now, I would have worn Elimitrax over my boots in that situation (had the product been available back then), to further ensure that no human odor was left lingering on the ground.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Over the years, I’ve determined that hunting a “great” stand that has horrible access is a futile act. A hunter simply must be able to get to and from his stand without spooking deer. This often means being willing to stay in a stand until the deer move off well after dark, no matter how late that may be. This is especially true when hunting field edges.
If the deer do detect my presence, I’ll give the area a day or two off and then I’ll be right back in the saddle. There are two exceptions to this. First, if I’m busted in the stand by a mature buck or doe, I’ll move that stand the next time in. I’ll usually put it just far enough away so that the deer aren’t staring up at my new tree.
The other exception occurs during the rut. Specifically, it involves hunting a funnel that is being used predominately by roaming bucks. Because this situation is usually vastly superior to my other options, I’ll sit the very same stand every day until the rut is over or until I tag out, regardless of what I may spook.
I’ve found that many of these funnels are “buck only” funnels that separate doe groups or are used by bucks when they’re transitioning between two areas of protective cover. However, when you’re hunting funnels that are also used heavily by does, educating the does can be every bit as dangerous as educating Mr. Big.
CONCLUSION
In fairness, I must point out that hammering hot stands also requires taking odor control to the highest level. You simply can’t depend on trying to hunt a certain stand when the wind is always favorable. And if you try to hunt it when the wind is not right without going to the extreme with odor control, you’ll simply burn it out very quickly in the game!
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