1) give myself more options. I just did not have enough early season stands (or places) to hunt. Come the rut I have many great funnels of one type or another to choose from, but I only really had two stands designed specifically for getting close to early season bucks. Neither allowed south winds, and guess what we got the whole month of october[&:].

2) Hunt more from the ground. I have realised I really like the mobility, intencity, and smooth entry/exit of this.

Last season there was one long skinny draw where I hunt that was insane during the rut. My brother had numerous close encounters with mature bucks when he sat in my stand at the base of it but never closed the deal - it was his first year. I sat there once with a camera and had two more big boys pass within bow range. The top 200 yards of that draw was destroyed - you could smell the urine and tarsal when you stood downwind in the field. Almost deer we saw was entering/leaving the area. I am still not sure if I should have hung something right on top of the sign and run the risk of burning it out. I saw the biggest track I have ever seen in a scrape there, it was not a calf track and I have seen a lot of big buck tracks.