I agree. I know my different timbers that I hunt and I know how the deer travel and where to setup in different wind situations on the properties soI see no need to walk around in the timbers except when I am hunting. When I am on my way to the stands in the fall I can observe scrapesand rubs.I want the deer to feel safe inthe timbers that I hunt. I also never hunt the same place in the woodstwodays in a row so that the deer feel no pressure. I think that if one wants to look for sheds in late January once or twiceand then mushroom hunt in spring a time or two thisseems to have no effect on the deer in my timber though.
Ialso do no preseason shooting lane trimming as I don't find thatI need to. I do 90% of my hunting once the leaves have fallen and I can always seem toget myshot as there are natural shooting lanes created by nature. I know guys around here that go out a little bit before season and spend all of this time cutting shooting lanes and stinking up the woods with their scent. I am always on the move with a climbing stick lightweight hangon setupand if I walk over to somewhere and start cutting trees and limbs I have just put my scent on a trail or on bushes and I have found that it isn't necessary.