Heres something my buddy and I came up with over the last few years and it works. In the mornings, before daylight, we were spooking deer as we headed to our stands. Then one day I was sitting in my stand listening to an armadillo walking through the woods. They make a ton of noise, but it is not foot steps like a man...just a constant rustle in the leaves because they are low to the ground and always rooting around. While I was watching and listening to the armadillo, some deer came through and they did not give the armadillo a second look. I thought...why not try shuffling my feet instead of walking on my way to my stand? I tried it the next morning and I did not spook any deer. OK..I think, but maybe no deer were nearby. I talked to my hunting buddy about it and he said he would try it the next morning. Well...he came back to camp that afternoon excited. He said he started shuffling--without really picking his feet up off the ground--about 150 yards from his stand (in the dark). After going a ways, he stopped to rest for a minute and heard deer feeding in the area of his stand. So he shuffled a ways further. The deer didnt leave. To make a long story short, he did a stop-and-go shuffle all the way to his ladder and the deer were within 30 yards of his stand--they did not even spook when he shined his flashlight on them (it was does)! They finally spooked and ran off when he started climbing the ladder. Needless to say, we use this technique in the daytime now, too. Try it and report back on your experience with it.