Thursday, August 6, 2015

Time to Scout for Deer Season,and get Blind/Stand Locations Ready

I know it's only early August,but it's time to hit the woods,scout the local deer,pick stand/blind locations,and cut shooting lanes.
Save the cut branches to start brushing in your blind or stand.
Be sure you go with a friend,one of your kids,whoever,just have another person go with you,and have them stand in the areas deer will approach from,then cut your shooting lanes.
Now's the time to put fresh mineral blocks out-(if legal in your state)-I always put a few of the reddish colored stockmans blocks from Tractor Supply out for mineral blocks.
Same minerals as the much,much more costly blocks made by several companies as "specially formulated for deer" mineral blocks. I keep them out year 'round,along with regular salt blocks.
Now's also the time to start getting fall/winter food plots ready-at least in most of the east and NE.
Scouting now,finding trails if you're hunting a new area,hanging trail cameras if you use them,and figuring out the best stands/blinds to use goes a long way towards a successful hunt  if you want to get a big buck.
Pay attention to the angle of the sun in early morning and late evening,then guesstimate what the angle will be during early bow season and choose your stands/blinds accordingly. You don't want to be facing into the sun in am or pm,you want the sun at your back.
As you find the deer trails-look about 5-10 yards to either side for trails made by a single deer-that is often  the trail of the dominant buck in the area,it's a buck trail for sure,may not be the big one-but you'll know from trail cam pics,or the size of the tracks,and size and number of scrapes during pre-rut.

Here's a good article from Field&Stream...
Early Season Whitetail Tactics

Another from Outdoor Life...

How to Scout for Summer Whitetails

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