I religiously follow my guideline of no in-season scouting or "walk abouts" before or after a hunt. I believe the lowest impact possible on the way in and out of stand is critical. I refer tono in-seasonscouting as "damage control".
I think I'll print out your post and show it to the bonehead who was cutting shooting lanes DURING the first week of gun season with a chainsaw 20 yards from my ladder stand. I questioned him on it and he said the deer were used to chainsaws. What a bonehead. Needless to say he ruined that stand site for me. I pulled it and brought it home. I won't let him know at all where my stands are located next year. Thank God he doesn't hunt in archery season.