A couple years ago, I had the perfect ambush spot. Trimmed it out 2 months before opening day and returned 3 days before to hang my stand. Since this isn't my land and I know others hunt nearby, I carefully camoflaged my stand with branches I cut and hauled up. I cut a trail through 200 yards of weeds to avoid spooking deer on the way in. And lastly, I removed the bottom steps so that absolutely NO ONE would be able to climb up to my stand if it were somehow discovered.

I arrived early on Opening morning, made it to my tree without spooking any deer and was standing there horrified to find out I'd left the steps I removed at home! [:@] Going home for them was out of the question and I contemplated hunting from the ground, but decided to see if someone COULD actually get in my stand. It's NO FUN jumping in the dark attempting to grab a step you can't even see, but I eventually managed to haul myself up to the stand.

I had been in place for about 45 minutes when I see 2 flashlights headed my way. One guy sets up somewhere to my left and the other idiot walks past where I am ON THE TRAIL I'D PURPOSEDLY AVOIDED. He set up with-in bow range of me and fidgetted and passed gas (I heard him) until the deer that WERE headed towards me got wind of him, snorted and ran off! [:@] I wasn't happy about that and getting down the tree was even more difficult than climbing up!