Put your time in fixing stands, shooting lanes and food plots and you’ll be a good ways toward a successful deer season
My Grandpa Joe, a hickory-tough old fellow who cherished all aspects of the hunting experience, was fond of reminding me, “The hunting’s only part of it.”
What he meant was that there was joy to be derived from anticipating the coming rites of autumn, that readying one’s gear was a simple yet rewarding pleasure, and that there was something good and noble about being fully prepared for the field.
His heyday was a time when whitetails were pretty much absent from the sporting scene, but his enduring wisdom is applicable to the sport to an even greater degree than the small game that furnished the bulk of his hunting experience. Quite simply, getting ready for deer whitetail season is something that should be an integral and important part of every hunter’s overall approach to the sport.
Unless your hunting is exclusively limited to public lands, some preseason “sweat on the brow” work should be a part of your dog days of summer. This includes clearing shooting lanes from fixed or permanent stands, food-plot preparation, putting new stands in place and repairing existing ones as needed, clearing ATV trails, perhaps putting your hunt club’s camp area in shape, or any of a number of other efforts.
Among these, the most important focus on labor connected with stands and food plots. Whether you are planting food plots and placing permanent stands for the first time or doing plot renewal and stand maintenance, this should be done far enough in advance of opening day to allow deer to return to their regular behavior patterns after things settle down. That translates to hot, uncomfortable work, although this can be mitigated to some degree by performing these essential chores in early morning or on the too-rare day of low humidity and less than stifling temperatures.
This isn’t the place for a full-scale discussion of food-plot preparation or perpetuation, but it should be an annual part of your overall approach to the sport. Just keep in mind basic considerations such as liming, timing, fertilizer, plot size and where you will situate a stand or stands utilizing the plot. Doing this in consultation with a savvy hunting buddy or two is advisable both work-wise and from the standpoint of where you decide to locate plots. Pretty much the same is true when it comes to erecting and repairing stands and clearing shooting lanes.
With most ladder, two people are almost always required to put it in place safely and securely, and it is far easier to clear a shooting lane properly if one person is actually looking down the lane from a stand and pointing out what needs to be cut. Also, preseason work of this sort goes smoother and is more enjoyable if done in the company of others. It isn’t the ultimate deer hunter’s delight, but when you stand proudly admiring a fine buck taken in a food plot you started, nurtured and hunted, the rewards suddenly seem well worth the effort.
Having some knowledge of whitetail behavior and patterns on the ground you will be hunting is an obvious benefit, and there are varied ways to acquire this information. When it comes to reading sign — noting bedding areas, well-used trails, heavily utilized food sources such as oaks beginning to drop acorns, pawpaws laden with fruit, a persimmon tree just waiting for a cool spell to start dropping what is sometimes described as deer candy, muscadines with a bountiful crop, apple or pear trees near an old, abandoned homeplace or any of many other items deer favor in the early part of the season, food plots getting plenty of use — nothing beats feet on the ground. However, there is a downside to that approach.
Essentially, any and all intrusions into the land you will be hunting have the potential to disturb deer, alter their patterns and heighten their alertness. Those are things you want to avoid, so take steps to minimize what might be described as the “scare factor.” There are many ways to do this. When possible, do your scouting and observation from a distance with the aid of binoculars or even a spotting scope. Game cameras, especially those that allow you to access recorded data without actually visiting the place the camera is located, are also helpful. If you have to walk the ground — and in many places, that is the only way to get really good scouting data — try to do so at times of the day when deer are less likely to be active and you are less likely to disturb them. Also, keep in mind that driving through a hunting area in a vehicle, especially if deer are accustomed to seeing them on a regular basis, disturbs the animals far less than a walk-through. Whatever your situation and scouting approach, just keep in mind that while it is essential, minimizing pre-season whitetail-human encounters is important.
An overlooked yet significant aspect of getting ready for the wonders of deer season involves personal fitness. Obviously, it doesn’t require a well-conditioned athlete to scramble up to a ladder stand or inch-worm up a tree in a climber, but even then, agility and being limber are positives.
But often, because of long walks to and from stands, a fit individual is better prepared for the adrenalin rushes that are a part of the sport. And then there are the strenuous times of trailing a wounded deer or dragging one out and loading it up.
Fitness also translates to more alertness, greater overall pleasure being derived from the hunt, and besides, you are better off health-wise for some pre-season training. Whether it takes the form of daily walks, swimming or other workouts it is something the hunter needs to do when getting ready.
In the final analysis, the Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared,” may sound trite, but it’s tried and true not only for budding woodsmen but for all deer hunters. The consummate deer hunter is someone who studies to improve, works hard — well, maybe plays hard is more accurate — at his craft, and annually enters the adventures of autumn not only with a sense of keen anticipation but with the comforting knowledge that he is well prepared.
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